Honourable mentions
It’s been a surprisingly busy January in terms of news and releases — Animal Crossing, Final Fantasy VII, two whole Directs on the Super Mario Galaxy Movie and Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream — but the eShop exclusives have been a little on the quieter side on the review front.
We do have a review-in-progress for I Hate This Place, but there have been plenty of other games we just haven’t managed to get around to: They are Billions, Suika Game Planet, Citadelum, Escape from Ever After… these are just a few, too!
Still, we have four games that made the cut this time around, all scoring 7/10 and above. That leaves one honourable mention, and then the top three:
Publisher: Feral Interactive / Developer: Codemasters
Release Date: 29th Jan 2026 (USA) / 29th Jan 2026 (UK/EU)
The Switch 2’s more-powerful hardware has really opened the door for all types of sports and racing games to make the jump onto Nintendo’s console, and GRID Legends: Deluxe Edition has pulled up at the starting line to help get the driving going.
January has been a pretty impressive month for technical ports, and GRID Legends is among the very best. 60fps is the way to go here, but there are multiple different graphics settings you can play around with in both handheld and docked. That’s still a rarity on Switch 2 right now, and we hope GRID sets the standard for other developers.
Put all of that together, along with top-notch racing mechanics, and you’ve got an excellent 8/10 racer on your hands. Just maybe pull out the GameCube controller for this one.
Publisher: Focus Entertainment / Developer: Douze Dixièmes
Release Date: 20th Jan 2026 (USA) / 20th Jan 2026 (UK/EU)
Speaking of great-looking games on Switch 2, MIO: Memories in Orbit is already one of the most-stunning on the console, with a beautiful spaceship-like vessel adorned in pastels and scribbles and an eerie, ethereal atmosphere that helps carry you along the adventure.
The platforming in this Metroidvania can be tough-as-nails, but when you master the movement in this game, it’s sublime. The combat doesn’t always work for us, but everything else elevates MIO from being ‘just another action platformer’ into a beautiful one that will stick with us.
MIO is our second 8/10 in this top three, just beating out GRID in the votes game by one. Turns out a robot in space is faster than a car.
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Publisher: AdHoc Studio / Developer: AdHoc Studio
Release Date: 28th Jan 2026 (USA) / 28th Jan 2026 (UK/EU)
If you’ve been paying attention to gaming news and releases, then you probably saw this one coming — AdHoc’s Dispatch was the runaway winner this month, and with good reason: it’s fantastic, and a true return-to-form for the Telltale-style of gameplay.
Which makes sense, as former Telltale devs worked on this superhero comedy caper, that goes everywhere from rude jokes to explicit moments, but even has plenty of touching scenes and a little bit of romance. The censorship drama might be sucking the air out of things at the moment, but take it from us — regardless of where you play Dispatch, you’ll have a great time.
As both the victor and the highest-scoring game of the bunch with a 9/10, Dispatch takes the top spot on the podium. Congrats, Robert Robertson and everyone at the Superhero Dispatch Network!
< Nintendo eShop Selects – December 2025
Do you agree with our ranking? Tell us about your favourite eShop releases of last month by voting in our poll and sharing your thoughts in the comments.
What’s your favourite January 2026 eShop game from our picks? (196 votes)
Cassette Boy (Switch eShop)7%Dispatch Nintendo Switch 2 Edition (Switch 2)39%GRID Legends: Deluxe Edition (Switch 2)26%MIO: Memories in Orbit (Switch 2)28%
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 three points, second choice gets two points, and third choice gets one point. These votes are then tallied to create a top-three list, with the overall winner taking that month’s top prize.
Up Next: December 2025
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Alana has been with Nintendo Life since 2022, and while RPGs are her first love, Nintendo is a close second. She enjoys nothing more than overthinking battle strategies, characters, and stories. She also wishes she was a Sega air pirate.