Like a speeding bullet caught in the backside of a bat out of hell, the Nintendo Switch eShop continues to speed ahead of expectations. So, once again we're left with the increasingly difficult task of picking the very best that the last month had to offer on the console and then chat about it into a microphone.
So, without any further ado, let's get on with the Nintendo Life eShop Select awards for the month of August.
Honourable Mentions:
- Retro City Rampage DX - 9/10 in our review
- SEVERED - 9/10 in our review
- Rocket Fist - 8/10 in our review
- Slime-san - 9/10 in our review

The Nintendo Life eShop Selects WINNERS - August 2017
Have you downloaded any of these through August, or are some still on your wishlist? Let us know in the comments below.
Comments 46
Sonic Mania is one of the best games on the Switch period, let alone this year.
No love for Chicken Wiggle. :_(
@PurinPuff I dunno, Mario + Rabbids is pretty amazing.
Soooo... One 8/10 game beats three 9/10 games... How does this scoring system work?
Slime-san=Masterpiece.
It's good to see so many smaller games get not-a-Nintendo-game/10 from NL last month. I'll have to check out some of the games I didn't get.
@Fake-E-Lee just imagine if they had the Switch virtual console off and running lol 😃
Sonic Mania is the clear winner, near perfect game.
I thought Retro City was bad though. Was really excited for it, but while playing it, it felt like the game never let me "just play" the game - interrupting me every 5 minutes with some basic a$$ nostalgia reference. In the day of its original release that probably had more charm though. Bought Phantom Trigger too and was also disappointed.
form.8 is pretty cool, Slimesan is reallllly great - got League of Evil (on Aug 31st!) and love it just as much.
I think I'll buy Severed based off of all the love it's getting. Didn't want a touch screen only game, but people are really really glowing about it. The Steampunk and drab colors of Ironcast are a turn off to me, but I might check out a let's play since NL seems to love it.
@AtooiJools Wrong device. But I'd love to have Chicken Wiggle on the Switch since my 3DS doesn't connect to my internet for some reason.
@Krillin_ Well, the bugs in Sonic Mania should auto-lose it a point. One time, the "delay on exiting the game" bug was so bad I had to do a soft reboot on my Switch, and even then it almost didn't let me force power it down.
@Fake-E-Lee It has? I almost didn't go out last night because it sucked me in so hard. Was constantly, "just one more level - let's JUST LOOK AT the next level and not beat it - ok maybe one more level".
@Dang69 Severed is a fantastic game, but if you have a Wii U I recommend that version instead. It was nice being able to look up and use the TV during the non-combat portions of the game.
@Fake-E-Lee I agree. When people were giving early reviews of the game, I thought they were being snobby, all "oooh another 12 bit style indie game"...I ignored them and the reviews and boguht it and was like, "oh I think they were right". It plays well, it looks nice, the music is good, the way you level up your skills is cool, but it just isn't fun.
Sonic Mania deserves to be the winner, forma.8 has been out on previous platforms including the Wii U.
@PanurgeJr My ex had a WiiU - we brought up in March and I got a Switch, lol. So I gotta get it here.
@Dang69 Sounds like you got the better deal.
I tryed demo voez and gotta say i loved it
Think am gonna pick that up!
Will say though forma.8 is really good definitely give it a try.
@PanurgeJr Her WiiU got me into modern stuff again. When I met her I was just putting my money into retro buying and playing tons of SNES and NES games. 3D World, Rayman Legends and Isaac got me back into the fold.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE Alex mentioned that forma.8 is on the Wii U in his video.
@Krillin_ It's a typo in this article, since they actually gave it a 9/10. If the video says it's a 8/10, too, though, Alex done goofed twice!
Slime-san
Sonic Mania
Retro City Rampage DX
This is my top 3 for August.
Top 5 would include:
Azure Striker Pack
Phantom Trigger
I can't agree with Sonic Mania being the winner but that's because I was never much of a sonic fan.
So many games I want.
So little money I have.
I'm just a tightwad. Lol
I want Severed and Forma.8 eventually. Steering clear of Sonic.
@Dang69 I've had the game lock up after the boss fight in Chemical Zone 2 a couple times now. As well as getting stuck off screen in different areas. I've played it through a couple times now, but I'm probably not going to make an attempt at going for 100% until a patch comes out.
Unrelated.... For some reason, I've had it in my head that Forma.8 is was a racing game. No idea why. I might pick this up.
I guess Sonic Mania, but even then it isn't as great as what many say about it. An 8/10 game for me.
Another game I enjoyed from the Switch eShop would be Puzzle Adventure Blockle, another 8/10 game for me.
I am Setsuna was severely discounted last month, cost me just $27. Seems worth the price so far. Can I count that???
@Desrever
Make sure you don't hold right on the control pad as you enter the tube for the Chemical Plant 2 boss fight. If you do, once you beat the boss you will be stuck in that place.
Either way you look at it....The Eshop is still overpriced.
The eshop has pretty much made the Switch for me. Got so much value out of it.
Did anyone else find the Studiopolis Act 1 boss in Sonic Mania to be annoying? The other bosses were fun but this one managed to piss me off every single playthrough >.>
My personal favourite eShop releases of this August were Gunbarich, Strikers 1945 and Aero Fighters 2.
I have to say that i'm generally somewhat irritated by NL pretty much ignoring Neo Geo in these eShop selects features. In May, Garou only got a honorable mention while Blazing Star didn't get even get on the list.
@AtooiJools They don't have love for Switch it seems...
@Inaroomalone Aha! Thanks for the heads up. I'll definitely keep this in mind
I got forma.8. It's a wonderful brilliant game. Sadly it's not that long of game as it takes only a day or two to beat it. Did have some interest in Severed, although didn't know what kind of game it is. Now I know, so I might consider getting it. Especially it's the only game so far that's interesting and uses the touch screen, which seems quite rare for the games now.
I'm not sure how they differ from their iOS versions, but I loved Severed on iOS. Whereas I thought forma.8 on iOS was just ok. But both are worth playing.
@TheMadPolarBear There were a lot of poor boss battles and design decisions that made me a touch disappointed in Sonic Mania. It's definitely good, and the first 2 Zones are downright blissful, but from there it goes downhill in a lot of ways for me. So many bosses were cheap and/or confusing and did a horrible job of conveying when/what actually damaged them, Oil Ocean's Act 2 boss was pure madness, and I died so many times from getting stuck between/under moving platforms it was ridiculous. I probably had to replay Oil Ocean at least 5 times in its entirety due to the Act 2 boss, and by then what started out as a 9/10 faded into an 8 or maybe even a 7 at times. I'm replaying as Tails, and it's much easier (maybe even TOO easy?), but I just saw and experienced too many flaws in it to love it as much as everyone else seems to. For everything that made me gleam with nostalgic bliss, something else that should have been easy to avoid yet drove me nuts (e.g. make platforms that would otherwise insta-death me just send my rings flying instead; still cheap, but not outright infuriating) happened. My head says it's a 7/10, my heart says it's an 8/10, and I wish I could see it as a 9/10.
@PurinPuff that's not saying much... the switch hasn't been out for a year yet!
Well thats it then, im gonna have to buy Sonic Mania.
Im flying to Australia shortly so ive got mario + rabbids and sonic for entertainment.
@AtooiJools Bring it out on the Switch and we'll talk 😉
@SetupDisk I was never a big Sonic fan before playing Mania but I'm absolutely loving it. It just puts a smile on my face every time I boot up my Switch.
@Fake-E-Lee
Pete Holmes, right?
@AlexOlney I'll get back to you on that.
Forma.8 is lovely. It's really ambient!
Is Forma.8 developed by the people who made Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet? Sure looks similar.
I haven't played any of these, unfortunately. Been focusing on big retail releases. Which is probably why I'll focus on the eshop exclusively for a while after I'm finished with SMO.
@AtooiJools
Just watched a video review of Chicken Wiggle... I guess the name made me think it was a mobile game like Flappy Birds or something... I see now it's made by Mutand Mudds dev (guessing that's you? Only Jools I've heard of).
I'd buy it on Switch. I think a lot of people are kind of moving on from 3DS and would pay more attention to a Switch version, especially if it was made clear who developed it.
@Desrever forma.8 you have to be in a mood though - one of those games. If you're in the right mood it's like chocolate and peanut butter gameplay.
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