GoNNER

This fast-paced action title can keep you on the edge of your seat for a while, but its lack of depth won't hold your interest. Games like GoNNER -- both in terms of genre and general simplicity -- depend entirely on whether you like what's at its core. It's true that what you see at the end of the first minute will be the same thing you effectively see hours and hours into the game: jumping and shooting, offset by getting new weapons and items, then promptly back to more jumping and shooting. Many games can be described like this, but GoNNER is literally only that. It's a fast-twitch game, where you try to beat your own records, and it doesn't promise to be anything more than that. In fact, when comparing the newer Switch version to its PC and Mac predecessor, the only additions are some new enemy types. But, in all honesty, the things you shoot don't really matter, because all you have to do is shoot them. Although there's some variety in the game the further you press on (bats and slugs give way to porcupines and robots), the end result is insignificant to the obstacles you run across -- especially since it doesn't take long to learn each enemy's pattern of movement. Everything tends to move too fast to really take in anyway, and they're only on screen for a few seconds before you blast them off, so it's understandable why the game can wind up feeling a bit disposable.

But, in terms of a honed focus, the core game has some legs. Video games in particular excel at targeting one skill and challenging you to master it, and GoNNER wants only to have you kill enemies in quick succession (which activates a score multiplier). The difficulty level is quite high and it'll take some time to acclimate yourself since there's no tutorial. At least the daily challenges (which provide only one game session a day), which let you see how you stack up on a global leaderboard, can offer a little bit more longevity. On the whole, though, what's here is reasonably enjoyable but just doesn't take you to any new or surprising places.