Melody of Moominvalley’, ‘Top Racer Collection’, Plus More Releases, News, and Sales – TouchArcade

Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for March 7th, 2024. In today’s article, we kick things off with a bit of news from our pal Mikhail. Isn’t that nice? After that, it’s the usual Thursday business. Lots of new releases, including New Star GP, Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley, and Top Racer Collection among others. We take a look at all of the ones worth doing so for, throw the rest in the Bin Bunch, and then finish things up in our usual manner with the lists of new and expiring sales for the day. Let’s go!

News

RPG MAKER WITH Coming to Switch in Fall 2024

NIS America is bringing the newest RPG Maker game creation tool to the West this fall on Nintendo Switch. It includes a set of premade sample games and assets, and will feature easy to learn tools. Creations from the game can be posted online and you can also try out others’ games. I’ve been a fan of tools like this, and will be checking this out on Switch.

New Releases

Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley ($19.99)

I only learned about Moomin after coming to Japan. I don’t think it was very popular back in Canada, but perhaps I just missed it. It’s quite popular here, however, and in many other places. In this game, you play as Snufkin. You’re on a quest to restore Moominvalley after a bunch of parks suddenly were built all over the place. You’ll have to do all kinds of things to bring nature back to the valley, and that will also involve helping out many familiar characters. I think our pal Mikhail is going to be doing a review of this one, so keep your eyes open for that.

Top Racer Collection ($19.99)

If you know, you know. The Top Racer series (originally known as Top Gear in the West but going under its Japanese name here for legal reasons) offered up some of the finest racing on the Super NES back in the day, and it makes a comeback in this collection from QUByte. You get Top Racer, Top Racer 2, Top Racer 3000, and a special fourth game that is basically just Top Racer with some cars from Horizon Chase. QUByte has put a bit more oomph into this than some of its other retro reissues, with brand new menus and online multiplayer. I’ll have a review of this soon.

New Star GP ($29.99)

The folks at Five Aces are back with their take on the arcade racer. You’ll take control of a motorsport team, upgrade your car, choose your pit strategy, and try to come out on top against your opponents. You can also race against a friend in split screen multiplayer, if that’s your preference. This is a really good game, and I’d handily recommend it to anyone looking for a bit of F1-style arcade racing fun.

TV Studio Story ($12.00)

Another Kairosoft sim, this time focusing on the exciting world of TV program production. In theory, this is fairly similar to the likes of Game Dev Story. You’ll have to come up with the shows you think people will want to watch, hire some famous stars to appear in them, and then produce them as best as you can to pull in viewers and money. The bigger you get, the more elaborate your productions will become. Seems fine for what it is, though I don’t think it will change anyone’s mind on the Kairosoft formula.

Arcade Archives Tank Battalion ($7.99)

This week’s Arcade Archives release is turning back the clock to 1980, when genres were few and fresh ideas even fewer. Namco, having spent a number of years working with Atari by distributing its games in Japan, decided to put its own spin on Atari’s Combat. Tank Battalion has you controlling a tank in a maze of walls, blasting away at computer controlled tanks who threaten your base. You’ve probably played some variation on this before, maybe even from Namco, but this original game doesn’t appear very often. There’s a simple charm to it, but I think this one is more for the historians than anyone else.

Eldgear ($19.99)

Time for another KEMCO game, but it’s not the usual fare by any means. As you can see from the screenshot, this is a turn-based tactical RPG. It doesn’t even come from one of KEMCO’s usual development partners, which means if nothing else it should have a feel of its own. Take advantage of the terrain and a wide array of attacks to defeat your enemies, and enjoy a story of some kind. Something about a mission to seal some ancient ruins. Good luck with all of that. If this your kind of sandwich, grab a plate.

Ancient Weapon Holly ($17.99)

This is a roguelite action game where you play as a humanoid weapon named Holly who has been sealed deep beneath the earth for tens of thousands of years. Well, she’s awake now, and she’s kind of cranky. Maybe she’s just hangry, I don’t know. But she’s ready to destroy all of humankind, and you’re going to help her get out of the labyrinth she’s stuck in to do just that. She’s been weakened great from her old fierce power, but I’m sure you’ll figure out how to get her back up to speed in time to cook us all. It’s a good premise, but the game itself is a little on the bland side. You might like it more than I did, though.

Astro Duel 2 ($19.99)

Time for another round of Astro Duel, offering up both top-down shooting action and platform fighting for up to six players via local multiplayer. You can fight with each other or against each other, with a variety of modes on offer to keep things fresh. With different ships to choose from and a decent arsenal of weapons to make use of, you should be able to find a set-up that fits your play style. This looks quite good, and I’d imagine fans of the original will be all over it.

Chip and Charge ($2.49)

This is a really, really basic tennis game. It has six different backgrounds, eight computer-controlled opponents to go up against, and lots of cosmetics for you to customize your player with. A second player can join in on the fun via local multiplayer, but I think that you can only play co-op. That seems odd to me, but maybe I missed something. Well, it’s a couple of bucks and change.

The Bin Bunch

Bottle Tap ($3.99)

Become The Wild ($8.99)

Car VS Cops ($3.99)

Trading Simulator ($3.99)

Temple Escape ($3.99)

Fortress Defense ($3.99)

Sales

(North American eShop, US Prices)

Looks like Thunderful is doing another sale, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out the historic low prices of SteamWorld Heist and SteamWorld Dig 2, both of which are excellent. Not too much in the outbox to get excited about, but you might want to consider Nuclear Blaze and the Portal Companion Collection while they’re at a nice price. Check those lists!

Select New Sales

Birth ($8.24 from $10.99 until 3/18)
Hellstuck Rage With Your Friends ($5.59 from $6.99 until 3/20)
Diamond Hands To The Moon ($5.59 from $6.99 until 3/20)
Mediterranea Inferno ($8.99 from $14.99 until 3/21)
Latte Stand Tycoon+ ($2.49 from $9.99 until 3/26)
Fantasy Blacksmith ($2.49 from $9.99 until 3/26)
Curious Expedition ($2.99 from $14.99 until 3/27)
Curious Expedition 2 ($6.99 from $19.99 until 3/27)
Cake Bash ($6.99 from $19.99 until 3/27)
Paper Cut Mansion ($6.99 from $19.99 until 3/27)
Swordship ($7.99 from $19.99 until 3/27)
Togges ($7.99 from $19.99 until 3/27)

Wavetale ($11.99 from $29.99 until 3/27)
LEGO Bricktales ($13.49 from $29.99 until 3/27)
Cursed to Golf ($7.99 from $19.99 until 3/27)
Firegirl: Hack ‘n Splash Rescue DX ($3.59 from $17.99 until 3/27)
Say No! More ($2.99 from $14.99 until 3/27)
Lonely Mountains: Downhill ($6.99 from $19.99 until 3/27)
Crowns & Pawns: Kingdom of Deceit ($12.99 from $19.99 until 3/27)
Giga Wrecker Alt ($1.99 from $24.99 until 3/27)
RICO ($1.99 from $19.99 until 3/27)
Hello Kitty Kruisers ($1.99 from $29.95 until 3/27)
SteamWorld Heist: Ultimate ($1.99 from $19.99 until 3/27)
SteamWorld Dig 2 ($3.99 from $19.99 until 3/27)

Sales Ending Tomorrow, March 8th

Barbearian ($2.39 from $11.99 until 3/8)
Bot Gaiden ($5.99 from $14.99 until 3/8)
Chaos Galaxy ($11.99 from $19.99 until 3/8)
Escape String ($2.09 from $6.99 until 3/8)
Ghost Sweeper ($1.99 from $4.99 until 3/8)
Harmony’s Odyssey ($4.49 from $14.99 until 3/8)
Japan Train Models: JR East ($9.37 from $13.99 until 3/8)
Japan Train Models: JR West ($11.19 from $13.99 until 3/8)
Mugen Souls Z ($29.99 from $39.99 until 3/8)
Nuclear Blaze ($7.49 from $14.99 until 3/8)

Portal Companion Collection ($6.79 from $19.99 until 3/8)
Ravva & The Phantom Library ($6.99 from $9.99 until 3/8)
Skautfold: Usurper ($7.49 from $14.99 until 3/8)
Super Woden GP ($5.99 from $11.99 until 3/8)
Supfly Delivery Simulator ($3.29 from $9.99 until 3/8)
Sword & Fairy Inn 2 ($13.99 from $19.99 until 3/8)
Takotan ($2.44 from $6.99 until 3/8)
Teppo & The Secret Ancient City ($6.39 from $7.99 until 3/8)
Treasures of the Roman Empire ($2.09 from $6.99 until 3/8)
World War: D-Day Part One ($11.99 from $14.99 until 3/8)
World War: D-Day Part Two ($11.99 from $14.99 until 3/8)

That’s all for today, friends. We’ll be back tomorrow to finish up the week. Outside of Unicorn Overlord it looks to be a rather bin-rich bunch, but we’ll see what we can sift out of it. We’ll also have whatever news and sales roll in over the course of the day. I’m feeling a little better today than I did yesterday, but I’m still a bit out of sorts. That’s how it goes sometimes, I guess. I hope you all have a thrilling Thursday, and as always, thanks for reading!