Pawarumi (NS)

Rock, paper, scissors, and a shmup. A shmup, and an Aztec theme. These are things we usually wouldn't think of as something that would go together so easily or smoothly. Thankfully the French studio Manufacture 43 put them together quite seamlessly, and in such a way as to create one of the genre's most unique experiences, to date, for the Nintendo Switch.

Utilizing divine creatures, and a future mythos taken lightly from Aztec mythology we find a shmup that foregoes the need for upgrades, power-ups, and the usual shoot 'em up approach. In the place of the usual staple features the developer has applied a system where shields, and supers are gained by pitting certain colored weapons of the animal variety (Red Jaguar Missiles, Blue Condor Lasers & Green Serpent Gatling) against opposing ship colors to build up respective meters, and the use of a crushing mechanic to do bonus damage in a similar fashion. The triple color scheme, and how it works is explained away in a hands-on demo style tutorial that can be intimidating at first, but more understandable as you play. A tutorial that tells you to build up a shield via a boost mechanic you have to shoot colored enemies with the same color weapon. That to build up your super via a drain mechanic you have to play a sort of rock-paper-scissors opposite game putting the weaker weapon color against the stronger enemy ship color. Needless to say earning the crushing blow is done by using a stronger weapon color to destroy ships of a weaker color. To make things easy pressing a button will show you what each shot type does in accordance to colors with a color coded meter, and crush indicator at the bottom of the screen.

Gunpowder on the Teeth: Arcade (NS)

Touted as a hardcore military platformer with simple mechanics, "Gunpowder on the Teeth: Arcade" makes it's way on the Nintendo Switch as exactly that. This grey scaled pixel perfect arcade experience has you filling the combat boots, and army fatigues of different soldiers as well as piloting various vehicles of mass destruction as you face insurmountable odds in what could best be described as a tough as nails speed run experience. Much like that of Super Meat Boy, but with run and gun elements at play. As one of several soldiers with their own unique weapon class you'll take to the fight in various parts of the known world. Running, gunning, and bombing targets as you make your way from start to finish. The finish being an awaiting chopper at the end of the challenging obstacle course. Of course between you, and that escape lies the boot camp-like missions that will have you acting as a saboteur, shooting down soldiers, and blasting the fool out of armored heat packing vehicles with grenades and a whole arsenal of life ending tools. All while collecting dog tags, earning score for various feats, and outpacing the onscreen timer.

SENRAN KAGURA Peach Ball (NS)

Brave, and bold is Senran Kagura's provocative return to formula. Doing what they were unable to do on the PlayStation 4 XSEED, Honey Parade Games, and Tamsoft Corporoation bring back, in pinball form, what fans of the series have loved from the beginning. A mature game featuring fun loving fighting females who are unabashedly driven by their own sexually fueled antics, and desires. Taking the tale from the usual Shinobi school setting, and rivalry therein the developer weaves a sort of side story that begins with a fighting game tournament at an arcade joint run by Haruka. Five of the series femme fatale take to the tournament with the goal to be the best of the best, and win the ultimate prize. Only to encounter a wacky mishap brought on by the contamination of a beastly formula confused for hand soap in the girls' restroom. One of the girls, on pee break, washes her hands with Haruka's misplaced Beastall, and becomes a sort of furry version of herself. A young woman with doggy features, if you will. Through her affectionate licking she spreads the affliction to the remaining four Shinobi girls, and in turn they each transform into a different half-animal and half-human hybrid. The resulting problem being that the longer they are under the influence of Beastall the more animal-like they become. To counter the concoction Haruka conjures up an odd plan to put the girls in a special pinball game, and cure them with a special ball. That, and through shared memories help them regain their human conscience.

Q-YO Blaster (NS)

Out of all of the shmups I've ever reviewed I'd say "Q-YO Blaster" is by far the zaniest of them all. It surpasses the wacky content of the Parodius series, and takes an odd approach to the old shoot 'em up formula. Blending what could be best described as a PIXAR studios storytelling path, and the old style cartoon antics of Cuphead, the team at TEAM ROBOT BLACK HAT conjures up a tale about Earth's last stand against an intergalactic plague of insects. Through the comic book panel conversations of the misfit casting therein we find the Earth contact Mr. Cheeks, a humanoid hamster, preparing for the impact of a worm carrying meteorite through radio conversations of an intergalactic team out to stop the threat from spreading further across the galaxy. As one of several pilots of anime, and creature/mechanoid fame you must pilot through the interiors of houses, apocalyptic urban streets, and into realms unknown. Ultimately facing off against weaponized insects of the common garden variety, souped up by futuristic enhancements.