With a brand new year comes brand new Switch games, and although January is traditionally a quiet month for new versions, there were still some absolute crackers to enjoy this time around.
These awards are aimed at celebrating the best of Nintendo’s digital store, giving love and attention to the games that can so easily be missed in the Switch’s ever-growing library.
So let’s start. Here are the best Switch eShop games of January 2021!
Honorable mentions:
While these titles did not make our top three this month, they are still worth checking out.
Publisher: IO Interactive / Developer: IO Interactive
Hitman 3 – Cloud Version, which takes third place this month, is an imperfect but more than functional version of IO Interactive’s latest version. Streaming will never really be the optimal solution when it comes to games – you need a particularly solid internet connection to enjoy it – but for Switch owners who do not have access to another system, this version at least offers’ a welcome option.
As for the game itself, we described it as ‘an appropriate delivery for one of the game’s biggest protagonists’, and awarded the Switch version an 8/10. If you need the internet connection, it is definitely worth going.
Publisher: Ubisoft / Developer: Ubisoft
In second place is Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game – Complete Edition – and no, we did not vote for Zion 300 times as he asked us to, we promise.
Another fantastic beat ’em up to enjoy from your Switch, this latest Scott Pilgrim version features the bombastic presentation and crisp fighting game we all hoped for. There are a few issues that dampen the proceedings a bit, but it’s still easy to recommend and the NL team has been stormed over the past few weeks.
Publisher: Yacht Club Games / Developer: Main mechanical studios
If we’re talking about taking the team by storm, we first have Cyber Shadow – a game that surpassed our 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. With well-built levels, authentic presentation, strict control and high but pleasant difficulty, the game is an extreme and focused experience that we can easily say is worth it.
If you have the budget to pick up one more game from last month, definitely consider it.
How we decide to choose our eShop top three: At the end of each month, Nintendo Life staff vote on their favorite titles from a list of games selected by the editors. To be eligible for this list, these games must be released as a digital Nintendo Switch eShop title in the relevant month, and must be reviewed on Nintendo Life; we select the qualifying games based on their rating points. Staff are then asked to vote for three matches that they believe deserve to be at the very top of the list; first choice gets 3 points, second choice gets 2 points, and third choice gets 1 point. These votes are then added together to create a top three list, with the overall winner achieving the top prize of that month.