With a brand new year coming, brand new Switch games are coming, and while January is traditionally a quiet month for new releases, this time around there were still some absolute crackers to enjoy.
These awards are meant to celebrate the best of Nintendo’s digital store and show some love and attention to the games that could be so easily missed in the Switch’s ever-expanding library.
So let’s get started. Here are the best Switch eShop games of January 2021!
Honorable Mentions:
While these titles didn’t quite make it to our top three this month, they are definitely worth checking out.
Publisher: IO Interactive / Developer: IO Interactive
This month, Hitman 3 – Cloud Version is in third place, an imperfect but more than functional version of the latest release from IO Interactive. Streaming will never really be the optimal solution when it comes to gaming – you need a particularly solid internet connection to enjoy it – but for Switch owners who don’t have access to another system, this release offers a welcome option anyway.
As for the game itself, we called it “a fitting starting point for one of the game’s great protagonists,” awarding the Switch version an 8/10. If you have the required internet connection, this is well worth it.
Publisher: Ubisoft / Developer: Ubisoft
In second place is Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game – Complete Edition – and no, we didn’t get Zion to vote on this one 300 times as he asked us to, we promise.
Another fantastic beat ’em up to enjoy on your Switch, this latest release from Scott Pilgrim features the bombastic presentation and crunchy combat gameplay we all hoped for. There are a few peaks in the difficulty that dampen the procedure somewhat, but it’s still an easy one for us to recommend and one that has taken the NL team by storm in recent weeks.
Publisher: Yacht Club Games / Developer: Mechanical Head Studios
Speaking of storming the team, first we have Cyber Shadow – a game that surpassed our voting rankings by a mile this month.
From Mechanical Head and Yacht Club Games, Cyber Shadow is an absolute must for retro action platform fans. With well-built levels, authentic presentation, tight controls and a high yet enjoyable difficulty, the game is an ultimate and focused experience that we can easily say is well worth your time.
If you have the budget to pick up another game from last month, be sure to consider this one.
How We Decide Our eShop Selects the Top Three: At the end of each month, Nintendo Life employees vote for their favorite titles from a list of games selected by the editors. To be eligible for this list, these games must have been released as a Nintendo Switch eShop digital title that month and must have been rated on Nintendo Life; we select the qualifying games based on their rating scores. Staff are then asked to vote for three games that they think deserve to be at the very top of that list; first choice gets 3 points, second choice gets 2 points and third choice gets 1 point. These votes are then added together to make a top three list, with the overall winner taking the top prize for that month.