With a brand new year comes brand new Switch games, and while January is traditionally a quiet month for new releases, there were still some absolute crackers to enjoy this time around.
These awards aim to celebrate the best of Nintendo’s digital store, giving some love and attention to the games that could so easily be missed in the Switch’s ever-growing library.
So, let’s get started. Here are the best Switch eShop games of January 2021!
Honourable Mentions:
While these titles didn’t quite make our top three this month, they’re still certainly worth checking out.
Publisher: IO Interactive / Developer: IO Interactive
Taking third place this month is Hitman 3 – Cloud Version, an imperfect but more than functional version of IO Interactive’s latest release. Streaming will never really be the optimal solution when it comes to gaming – you’ll need a particularly solid internet connection to enjoy it – but for Switch owners who don’t have access to another system, this release does at least provide a welcome option.
As for the game itself, we described it as “a fitting send-off for one of gaming’s great protagonists,” awarding the Switch version an 8/10. If you have the internet connection required, this is certainly worth a go.
Publisher: Ubisoft / Developer: Ubisoft
In second spot is Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game – Complete Edition – and no, we didn’t let Zion vote for this one 300 times like he asked us to, we promise.
Another fantastic beat ‘em up to enjoy on your Switch, this latest Scott Pilgrim release features the bombastic presentation and crunchy combat gameplay we were all hoping for. There are a few difficulty spikes that put a slight dampener on proceedings, but it’s still an easy one for us to recommend and one that has taken the NL team by storm over the past couple of weeks.
Publisher: Yacht Club Games / Developer: Mechanical Head Studios
Speaking of taking the team by storm, in first we have Cyber Shadow – a game which topped our voting rankings by a mile this month.
From Mechanical Head and Yacht Club Games, Cyber Shadow is an absolute must for fans of retro action platformers. Featuring well-built levels, authentic presentation, tight controls and a high but pleasing difficulty, the game is a supreme and focused experience that we can easily say is well worth your time.
If you have the budget to pick up one more game from last month, definitely consider this one.
< Nintendo Life eShop Selects - December 2020
How we decide our eShop Selects top three: As we reach the end of every month, the Nintendo Life staff vote on their favourite titles from a list of games selected by the editorial team. To qualify for this list, these games must have been released as a digital-only Nintendo Switch eShop title in that particular month, and must have been reviewed on Nintendo Life; we select the qualifying games based on their review scores.
Staff are then asked to vote for three games that they think deserve to sit right 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 tallied to create a top three list, with the overall winner taking that month’s top prize.
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