Nintendo Switch: The Best Games of the Year - Highlights 2020
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Probably few surprisingly, Animal Crossing: New Horizons should not be missing from this list! The cute simulation game was supposed to appear last year, but development was delayed. Lucky in bad luck, because the game appeared at exactly the right time. New Horizons sold millions of copies in a short period of time as people around the world looked for distraction during the initial lockdown. Social media was also dominated by the Nintendo game at times; even celebrities and politicians took part.-> This way to our big test of Animal Crossing: New Horizons for the Switch!
It all resulted in the new Animal Crossing being sold close to 30 million times by the end of the year. Right? Yes! New Horizons is extremely lovingly designed, offers a lot of creative freedom and there is always something new to discover. Since the release, Nintendo has also kept the game exciting with many free updates and special events. This makes Animal Crossing: New Horizons a fantastic and relaxed pastime.
Streets of Rage 4
Streets of Rage is without a doubt one of the most popular mega-drive brands. But after the last offshoot, fans had to wait an unbelievably long 26 years for a new part of the Brawler series. The wait was over in April 2020: Streets of Rage 4 was released for the Switch (buy now € 399.00) and other platforms too! And to the delight of all fans, the waiting time was really worth it. Streets of Rage 4 convinces with a super fun and motivating combat system, beautiful optics and wonderfully smooth animations. The soundtrack is also great, the game quite extensive and the great fan service makes the hearts of the series fans beat faster. It hardly matters anymore that the stages are quite short and the bosses are rather lame. But the Brawler offers an excellent local four-player mode and the replay world is enormous.-> Here you can find our test for Streets of Rage 4!
Deadly Premonition 2
In July 2020, Deadly Premonition 2, a cult classic, returned to the Switch. The adventure game revolves around two cases that are due to the same puzzling circumstance. One takes place in Boston in 2019, the other in Louisiana in 2005. As Special Agent Francis York Morgan, you must try to bring the truth to light. Unfortunately, Deadly Premonition 2 doesn't run too well technically on the Switch and the controls are also rather mediocre. In return, the game offers exactly what fans of the predecessor wanted, namely a sequel in exactly the same style as the first part.Paper Mario: The Origami King
As the new Paper Mario was announced in spring at a Nintendo Direct, the surprise was great. Also surprising: there were only a few months between the announcement and the release and so the role-playing game was released in July. Fans were hoping that the series could find its way back to old qualities on the Switch. In the end, that happened to a large extent. First on the positive: Paper Mario: The Origami King is written incredibly funny, graphically impressive and very extensive with a lot of collecting stuff. The atmosphere is great, the boss fights are fun and lots of side quests ensure lots of fun hours of play. Nintendo Switch: The best Switch games of the year - Game highlights 2020 (2) Source: PC Games-> Click here for our detailed review of Paper Mario: The Origami King for the Switch!
But on the other hand, the combat system in particular is very tedious, there are no real rewards for battles and there are few interesting new characters. Resource management in fights is also annoying and overall the game is pretty undemanding. The bottom line, however, is The Origami King is one of the highlights of the year, because despite all the criticisms: having fun is often a very individual thing.
Spiritfarer
You play in the adventure title Spiritfarer Stella, the ferrywoman of the deceased - also known as the Spiritfarer. In the game you build a boat with which you can explore the world. You make friends with spirits that you take care of before you release them into the hereafter. In the cooperative mode for two players you join the cat named Daffodil and experience the adventure together. Spiritfarer has also appeared for other platforms, but received a lot of attention at Switch and received very good international ratings. The great crafting system and the wonderful story of the 2D title were especially convincing.Hades
Nintendo Switch: The best Switch games of the year - Game highlights 2020 (3) Source: PC Games And another great Switch game from 2020 that neither came from Nintendo nor was released exclusively for the Nintendo console: The action highlight Hades. The indie title convinces with motivating rogue-lite gameplay, great characters, lots of style, cool upgrades and a clever story. Many fun hours of play are guaranteed! You always start each of the countless runs on the lowest level of the game world and fight your way up as far as possible. In the long run, the variety is a bit too short, there are only a few boss fights and real surprises are missing. Nevertheless, Hades convinces on the switch with motivating gameplay and heated battles!-> You can find our test of Hades here!
Ori and the Will of the Wisps
"It is the expected masterpiece: Ori and the Will of the Wisps plays wonderfully, the story moves to tears, the presentation is stunning." - that's how we describe Ori and the Will of the Wisps in our test in September 2020. Already published on other platforms, the excellent title found its way onto the Switch six months later. The action adventure convinces with a coherent, varied world with umpteen secrets and collectibles. In addition, fantastic Metroidvania gameplay, superbly staged boss fights, exciting escape sequences, a brilliant soundtack and much more provide a lot of fun. So maybe only partially astonishing: One of the very best Switch games of the year did not come from Nintendo itself.-> We tested Ori and the Will of the Wisps here!
Super Mario 3D All-Stars
In 2020, what Mario fans all over the world had longed for became reality. No, not a Switch Pro, the fan community is still eagerly awaiting them. But Nintendo released Super Mario 3D All-Stars on the occasion of the 35th Mario anniversary. This is a collection for the Switch with the three Mario classics Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario Galaxy. The games have been technically improved and run on the switch as an emulation. It works technically flawlessly, but Nintendo would have liked to have done a little more remake work. The sales figures still speak for 3D all-stars and of course it's still a lot of fun. Why Nintendo does not want to sell the game from April 2021 on is still completely incomprehensible today.-> You can find our big test including video of Super Mario 3D All-Stars here!
Pikmin 3 Deluxe
Like countless games before, Pikmin 3 Deluxe was another Wii-U port for the Switch in October 2020. Fortunately, because the cute adventure game is finally available to a large audience that simply didn't exist on the flopped Wii U! The Nintendo title convinces with a unique gameplay and considerable scope. With the help of the different types of Pikmin you have to face your adventure cleverly and solve many great puzzles. The cute look is also impressive, the local co-op mode ensures just as much fun in multiplayer. There is also plenty of scope for your own tactics, as well as a wonderful orchestral soundtrack. This means that Pikmin 3 Deluxe is not only a very good Wii-U port, but quite simply a particularly successful game for the Switch. Nintendo Switch: The best Switch games of the year - Game highlights 2020 (4) Source: Computec Media GmbH-> You can read the review of Pikmin 3 Deluxe for Nintendo Switch here!
Hyrule Warriors: Time of Devastation
As the last game from Nintendo, a new Zelda game was released in November 2020. Not the successor to Breath of the Wild, which has been in development and has been announced for some time. But a whole new Hyrule Warriors. The developers at Koei Tecmo worked directly with Nintendo's Zelda team, which can be seen, for example, in the great graphic style, which is very similar to that of Breath of the Wild. The fighting system from the time of devastation is satisfied and the diverse fighter crowd convinces with varied fighting styles. The new Hyrule Warriors also has some quirks. The frame rate often collapses, there is a lack of variety in the enemy types and the story is quite irrelevant. Thanks to the solid hack & slash gameplay, the Switch game still impresses action fans in particular.-> Here you can find our big test of Hyrule Warriors: Time of Devastation!
