Reviews Featuring ‘Skinny & Franko’, Plus ‘LEGO 2K Drive’ & Today’s Other New Releases – TouchArcade

Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for May 16th, 2023. In today’s article, I have just one review for you: Skinny & Franko: Fists of Violence. I’m still working on Zelda, sorry. There are a handful of new releases, including LEGO 2K Drive and a couple other odds and ends. Finally, we’ve got some new sales to check out and a tiny list of expiring sales. Let’s get to it!

Reviews & Mini-Views

Skinny & Franko: Fists of Violence ($18.99)

This game is apparently a sequel to an Amiga game, but I haven’t played it or even heard of it until now. I’m therefore not in a position to say how faithful this sequel is or how it builds on the gameplay of the previous game, or even if it does. I can at the very least say that like its predecessor it is a beat-em-up that revels in its violence and adult themes, and it certainly leans on the Polish heritage of its developers. You play as one of the titular characters (or both with a friend) and basically make your way through the streets beating the heck out of everyone.

Your character has a decent set of moves including blocks and counters, and you can make use of a wide variety of weapons and other objects that you’ll find laying about. The enemies come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and they’ve got some serious potty mouths. They also come out with some really weird stuff that I assume is being lost in translation. They’ll crowd you pretty well and double team you if you let them, so… don’t let them. The levels run rather long, and are mostly straight shots with a few short detours if you feel like fighting more people. The basic fighting is enjoyable enough, but the dull and lengthy levels see you fighting the same guys over and over again for far too long. And if you run out of lives, it’s all the way back to the start because there are no mid-stage checkpoints.

Skinny & Franko: Fists of Violence is a competent beat-em-up with some design issues that keep it from being more than that. It’s brash and doesn’t really care who it offends, but is so odd about how it goes about those things that it almost comes off as nonsense in English. I can at least say that in terms of theme there is nothing else quite like it on the Switch. It’s not fit to even pick up Streets of Rage 4‘s dry cleaning, but those looking for a brawler with a quirky style and unusual setting might have a good enough time here.

SwitchArcade Score: 3/5

New Releases

LEGO 2K Drive ($59.99)

Mikhail described this one to me as “Forza Horizon with LEGO” and that sounds pretty cool to me. Explore Bricklandia, join races and other driving challenges, build vehicles from bricks, and so on. There’s plenty to enjoy on your own here, or you can pull in a friend for local multiplayer via splitscreen or wireless play. You can also head online and enjoy races with up to six players. Looks like a blast, provided the Switch port holds up its end.

Kargast ($9.99)

A narrative exploration game with a little bit of turn-based RPG tossed into the mix. Your character wakes up alone and has no idea where everyone went. They’ll have to explore a spooky location and try to figure out what is going on. There are multiple endings to find based on what you do. Well, you probably know what kind of game this is. They tend to come down to how well the story is written, and I haven’t had enough experience with this one to say one way or the other on that front.

Bubble Bird ($0.99)

So this is pretty much Flappy Bird but instead of going between pipes, you’re passing through bars of color. Your bird can only pass through the part of the bar that matches its color, so be careful. And that’s about it, but what can you expect for a buck?

Sales

(North American eShop, US Prices)

Wow, those are some crackerjack prices on the Metro Redux games. If you like first-person shooters, those are great pick-ups at those prices. Assault Suits Valken Declassified is enjoying its first post-launch sale, and I think it’s a more agreeable price for what it offers. Arcade Paradise is also at a new low price, and that is pretty much a must-have in this guy’s books. Not much in the outbox, but do check those lists as ever.

Select New Games on Sale

Metro 2033 Redux ($3.74 from $24.99 until 5/22)
Metro: Last Light Redux ($3.74 from $24.99 until 5/22)
Football Manager 2023 Touch ($26.99 from $44.99 until 5/23)
Meganoid ($5.39 from $8.99 until 5/23)
Space Grunts ($8.39 from $13.99 until 5/23)
Heroes of Loot ($4.79 from $7.99 until 5/23)
Heroes of Loot 2 ($5.99 from $9.99 until 5/23)
Groundskeeper2 ($2.99 from $4.99 until 5/23)
Stardash ($5.99 from $9.99 until 5/23)
Gunslugs ($4.79 from $7.99 until 5/23)
Gunslugs 2 ($4.79 from $7.99 until 5/23)
The House of Da Vinci 2 ($5.99 from $9.99 until 5/23)
Snake Core ($5.39 from $8.99 until 5/23)
A Day Without Me ($1.99 from $5.99 until 5/29)
Brotherhood United ($1.99 from $8.99 until 5/29)

Quest Hunter ($7.49 from $29.99 until 5/29)
Demon’s Rise War for the Deep ($1.99 from $6.99 until 5/29)
Blipz ($1.99 from $9.99 until 5/29)
Assault Suits Valken Declassified ($14.99 from $24.99 until 5/29)
Game Type DX ($2.99 from $5.99 until 5/29)
Explosionade DX ($2.99 from $5.99 until 5/29)
Weapon of Choice DX ($2.99 from $5.99 until 5/29)
Pig Eat Ball ($7.49 from $14.99 until 5/29)
Shoot 1UP DX ($2.99 from $5.99 until 5/29)
Ni no Kuni II: RK Prince’s Edition ($19.79 from $59.99 until 5/29)
My Hero One’s Justice 2 ($14.99 from $59.99 until 5/29)
SD Gundam Battle Alliance ($35.99 from $59.99 until 5/29)
Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series ($19.99 from $39.99 until 5/29)
Taiko no Tatsujin Rhythmic Adv. 1 ($14.99 from $29.99 until 5/29)
Taiko no Tatsujin Rhythm Festival ($32.49 from $49.99 until 5/29)

Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher ($34.99 from $49.99 until 5/29)
Naruto Ult. Ninja Storm ($4.99 from $19.99 until 5/29)
Naruto Shippuden Ult. Ninja Storm 2 ($3.99 from $19.99 until 5/29)
Dragon Ball Z Kakarot Deluxe ($29.99 from $74.99 until 5/29)
Captain Tsubasa RoNC Deluxe ($19.54 from $84.99 until 5/29)
One Piece Pirate Warriors 3 ($5.99 from $39.99 until 5/29)
One Piece Pirate Warriors 4 ($8.99 from $59.99 until 5/29)
JoJo’s Bizarre Adv. All-Star Battle R ($32.49 from $49.99 until 5/29)
Arcade Paradise ($12.99 from $19.99 until 5/30)
Tiny Troopers: Global Ops ($14.99 from $19.99 until 5/30)
Tiny Troopers Joint Ops XL ($2.59 from $12.99 until 5/30)
Harmony’s Odyssey ($7.49 from $14.99 until 5/30)
The Last Worker ($14.99 from $19.99 until 5/30)
Lumote: The Mastermote Chronicles ($8.99 from $19.99 until 5/30)
The Falconeer: Warrior Edition ($10.49 from $29.99 until 5/30)

AVICII Invector ($4.99 from $19.99 until 5/30)
Infinite Golf 2 ($2.49 from $4.99 until 5/30)
Commandos 2 HD Remaster ($14.99 from $19.99 until 6/5)
Commandos 3 HD Remaster ($23.99 from $29.99 until 6/5)
TRIOS lofi beats ($2.79 from $7.99 until 6/5)
Feather ($3.49 from $9.99 until 6/5)

Sales Ending Tomorrow, Wednesday, May 17th

Alfred Hitchcock Vertigo ($23.99 from $39.99 until 5/17)
Arkanoid Eternal Battle ($17.99 from $29.99 until 5/17)
Asterix & Obelix XXXL TRfH ($23.99 from $39.99 until 5/17)
Garfield Lasagna Party ($23.99 from $39.99 until 5/17)
Overlanders ($1.99 from $24.99 until 5/17)
Retro Game Pack ($1.99 from $4.99 until 5/17)
Stranded Deep ($17.49 from $24.99 until 5/17)

That’s all for today, friends. I’ll be back tomorrow with more new releases, more sales, at least one review, and perhaps some news. It is enormously hard to tear myself away from Tears of the Kingdom, and it is hitting my productivity hard. Perhaps it is the same for you. Well, there are worse problems to have. I hope you all have a terrific Tuesday, and as always, thanks for reading!