It is rare for us to consider studios before the point of their breakout success. Perhaps it is human to put art in the context of its creation. We tend to like neat little boxes like genres that are ultimately more a guiding tool for categorization rather than saying anything about the work itself. But studios and their creators often have long histories before their notable breakout hit. In the last few decades as development has become more accessible and platforms malleable, these histories often get lost. Perhaps a studio signed a deal with a big publisher who delisted the game because of a licensed soundtrack, or a game is destined to be buried alongside a platform for which it was exclusive. I think the biggest graveyard of them all might be the enormous output on smart devices and mobile in the 2010’s. So many developers published their first games for iPod Touch, Android and iPad. Utilizing the many features of these devices that were at the time incredibly enticing to play around with. Remember a time before battle passes, microtransactions and free-to-play? A lot of these games were just that. Fun games based on simple gameplay ideas.

Yet, as platform holders have tightened their grip using arguments like security and required updates, a lot of these games have simply disappeared. Even worse, researching these games in 2025 is a hellscape with dead webpages, links to sources and publications that no longer exist or no one ever bothering to document these smaller apps. I’m bringing all this up to exemplify how rare it is to see developers return to their mobile roots and try to preserve their legacy. That is exactly what Simogo seems to have focused on with their upcoming Simogo Legacy Collection. This is a treasure trove filled with unique games that have had their interfaces and unique control schemes preserved.

I’ll leave the in-depth analysis of these games for the full review, but with the Simogo Legacy Collection you will get a lot of bang for your buck. Included are the full versions of Kosmo Spin, Bumpy Road, Beat Sneak Bandit, Year Walk, DEVICE 6, The Sailor’s Dream and SPL-T. Each game is completely different from the last. From the score-chasers such as Kosmo Spin, SPL-T and Bumpy Road to the narrative-heavy titles like DEVICE 6 and The Sailor’s Dream. If you only know Simogo from Sayonara Wild Hearts and Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, you can see so much of what shaped those games in this collection. The writing in DEVICE 6 is vivid and descriptive in a way that reminded me of how Lorelei does so much of its worldbuilding without any words. Or how the songs in The Sailor’s Dream tell a narrative, which was also done in Sayonara Wild Hearts. And then there’s the lovely surprises like Beat Sneak Bandit, which I had never heard of but is a fun rhythm game where you need to sneak around in tune to the beat. The collection brings all these titles together and makes it great for pick-up-and-play sessions. It brought me back to the early days of playing around with an iPod Touch. Back then I was just downloading so many apps to find a few gold nuggets.

Yet it is the presentation that feels like the glue that brings this collection together. The menus are designed like a phone or tablet, with each games resembling an app-icon. Opening the app looks like viewing the store page, featuring a description of the game as well as the small tweaks and additions made to the experience for this collection. It feels like such an appropriate choice to present the games this way. It configures your expectations ahead of time, so that when these games require different inputs they don’t come out of nowhere. In addition it helps to let the games speak for themselves. You aren’t seeing any out of place tutorials or notifications during gameplay. It retains the authenticity of these games in a playable form.

The most care and attention has been put in the controls. Virtually every method of interaction has been preserved to cater to any play style. For me the most natural style is using the Switch like a handheld device. You can hold the system vertically and rotate the entire screen of the game. Ideal for Beat Sneak Bandit that uses the full width of the screen. But for those who want to keep the Switch horizontally, that’s an option too. Motion controls, joystick and buttons, multi-touch and yes for the Switch 2 owners there are mouse-controls too! You can adjust every individual setting such as the cursor speeds, sensitivity of the mouse controls, and even the appearance of both the left and right cursor. Using both sticks to control two cursors takes a bit of getting used to and is required for games with multi-touch support, but in essence it retains all the features from the original releases.

I think that Simogo has cracked the code with how to preserve mobile games in the most authentic way possible. This collection isn’t just filled with a ton of quality of life features, but contextual descriptions, adjustable settings and even unreleased prototypes for some of the games. I’m still working my way through a few of the longer games, but I can already say that if you’re looking for a collection with a ton of variety, history and many truly unique games, Simogo Legacy Collection is a game to keep an eye out for.

Simogo Legacy Collection releases for Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 on December 2nd. The game will have a free upgrade to the Nintendo Switch 2 edition for owners of the Switch edition of the game. Be sure to check out our interview with Simon Flesser, co-founder of Simogo as well.