Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for December 13th, 2023. Yes, it’s another Wednesday, and that means there isn’t a whole ton going on. I’ve got a couple of reviews for you to dig into, with looks at Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion and Make Way. There are two new releases to check out, and both have something to offer. After that, we close things out with the lists of new and expiring sales for the day. Let’s jump over the hump!
Reviews & Mini-Views
Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion Remastered ($29.99)
Can an excellent remaster make an average game shine? And how should such a thing even be reviewed? Questions that need answers here and now, friends. I genuinely can’t find much negative to say about Nightdive’s work in remastering this Nintendo 64 game from the year 2000. It has kept up to its usual standards, and I can safely say that if you’re going to play Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion at all, you’ll want to do it via this remaster on your platform of choice. The Switch port has been handled well, so if this is the console you like to game on, you’re fine to do so here. The game looks and plays better than it ever has before, and you have all kinds of options to tailor your experience to your preferences. The multiplayer has been cut in this remaster, so do keep that in mind.
I suppose to the extent that there is any issue here, it’s that Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion itself isn’t a particularly exceptional game. You’ll notice there’s nothing about dinosaur hunting in the title, and that’s because you don’t do much of it in this game. Instead it feels a lot like Half-Life with a bow and arrow, thematically speaking. Add in the fact that it’s twenty-three years old, and this might not be something you want to jump to pick up at full price. It sits in that awkward zone between the speedy action-first games in the genre and the more cinematic style of game that focused on set pieces and open-ended encounters. The levels often feel like they’re too big for what’s in them, giving the game the feeling of being all dressed up with no place to go.
Part of the reason behind that, I suspect, is the unique idea of allowing the player to choose between two characters. One of them is more agile and has a grappling hook for getting around, while the other is more about hunkering down and crawling through dark spaces. It’s not a completely different game when you play as the other character, but I imagine the levels had to be carefully built to handle both of them. You get different cut-scenes with each of them, so it’s worth playing through with both. They also get different weapon upgrades, and that’s fun to mess around with. The weapons here aren’t quite as creative as those in Turok 2, but they’re still pretty good.
I don’t know. I think for its time and place, Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion is fine. It’s probably the least exciting entry in the trilogy, but if you can get yourself in the Nintendo 64 mindset, I feel it’s a good time to play through. It’s a shame it gave up just about every unique point of its identity, but there are certainly worse shooters from the era you could be playing. Compared to more modern games in the genre, even Nightdive’s extensive sprucing-up can’t quite get it up to speed.
In the end, I’ve decided to give this game a slightly stronger recommendation than I otherwise would have simply because of how good the remaster quality is. As a first-person shooter, Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion has never been anything more than decent, and it lacks much of the character of the first two entries. But I respect that Nightdive gave it the royal treatment to finish out this rather unexpected yet welcome set of remasters, and I think if you found a lot to love in its previous efforts with Turok you’ll find enough to carry you through this one as well.
SwitchArcade Score: 4/5
Make Way ($14.99)
I have some affection in my heart for top-down racers. You know, the kind that went from Super Sprint to RC Pro-Am to Micro Machines to Rock ‘n Roll Racing and so on. Make Way certainly has the vibe of Micro Machines about it, and like that game it is at its best when you’re playing with others. You have lots of options for that, with support for up to four players locally or online. The game is actually quite thin in general, so if you’re going to play solo I’m not sure you’ll get a lot out of it. The CPU opponents can only go so far.
The main gimmick here is that you are building the tracks as you go. Each racer picks a piece from the random selection, then must quickly slap those pieces together to form the track. You’ll race on that short track, then go back to pick some more pieces and build the track out further. Repeat the process, and then head back out again. At each step you’ll earn points based on how well you placed at checkpoints, whether or not you won the race, and so on. At the end the racer with the most points takes home the crown. That’s it. Do it again until you’re ready to call it a night. You’ll unlock new things as you go, like new track pieces and additional features. This is kind of troublesome because you have to play a while to unlock some of the fun stuff that makes the multiplayer as fun as it can be. You might find yourself having to grind a bit solo.
Still, when you get the conditions just right, Make Way is a lot of fun. It’s not something you want to spend hours on at a time, and you’ll want to have some local players to play with because online is a bit of a ghost town at the moment. You’ll also want to play the game a bit on your own before you pull it out at a party so that you’ll at least have weapons, power-ups, and some of the more fun track pieces unlocked. But if you’re okay with all of that, Make Way makes for a pleasant choice to keep in the regular party night rotation.
SwitchArcade Score: 3.5/5
New Releases
Potion Craft: Alchemist Simulator ($19.99)
This potion-making simulator came out last year on computers, and the general consensus seems to be that it’s one of those titles that grabs you hard in the beginning and is all-consuming for a while, but gets a bit repetitive before the end of the game is in sight. I haven’t played it yet, but it does look to be a rather clever crafting game, one that actually has you put some thought into what you’re doing and how you’re doing it. You will of course have to procure ingredients, whether it be by growing them or buying them, and you’ll also be looking to sell your potions to make a profit in the end. At least conceptually, it looks like a lot of fun to me.
Hell Well ($4.99)
I’m squinting at the footage here and it really looks like a Vampire Survivors-style game to me. There are some light tower defense components in the mix, too. You collect fallen spirits and resurrect them as demonic defenses, which is at least something to separate it from the pack. The usual upgrades and such are here, and you can also unlock new color palettes. I like when games do that.
Sales
(North American eShop, US Prices)
That’s a small list. Howl is a nice pick-up on sale, and Kao the Kangaroo has never been cheaper. The outbox looks equally tiny, but you might want to grab the slightly wacky Yeah You Want Those Games Right? if you in fact do want those games. Something tells me a big holiday sale is going to pop soon, so you might want to hold on to some of your money.
Select New Sales
Chippy&Noppo ($14.99 from $19.99 until 12/26)
GigaBash ($21.24 from $24.99 until 1/1)
Yum Yum Cookstar ($11.99 from $29.99 until 1/1)
Crash Drive 3 ($1.99 from $19.99 until 1/2)
Howl ($11.99 from $14.99 until 1/2)
Wingspan ($9.99 from $19.99 until 1/2)
Kao the Kangaroo ($11.99 from $29.99 until 1/2)
Kao the Kangaroo Oh Well DLC ($2.74 from $4.99 until 1/2)
Kao the Kangaroo Bend the Roo’les DLC ($5.19 from $7.99 until 1/2)
Kao the Kangaroo A Well Good Bundle ($13.19 from $32.99 until 1/2)
Kao the Kangaroo Anniversary ($20.34 from $36.99 until 1/2)
Headbangers: Rhythm Royale Deluxe ($22.49 from $29.99 until 1/2)
Creepy Tale 2 ($1.99 from $14.99 until 1/3)
Ib ($10.49 from $14.99 until 1/3)
Fury Unleashed ($2.99 from $19.99 until 1/3)
Sales Ending Tomorrow, December 14th
Georifters ($1.99 from $29.99 until 12/14)
Kid Tripp ($1.99 from $3.99 until 12/14)
Pixel Puzzle Makeout League ($5.99 from $14.99 until 12/14)
Samurai Maiden ($38.99 from $59.99 until 12/14)
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments ($7.49 from $29.99 until 12/14)
Witch’s Garden ($27.99 from $39.99 until 12/14)
WW2: Bunker Simulator ($10.49 from $14.99 until 12/14)
Yeah You Want Those Games Right? ($7.99 from $9.99 until 12/14)
That’s all for today, friends. We’ll be back tomorrow with the big list of Thursday releases. I’m sure there will be plenty to enjoy there. Beyond that, we’ll cover any major sales or new items that roll in over the course of the next day. No more reviews for this week, though. I’m spent. I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday, and as always, thanks for reading!
