Latest Features - Page 11
Soapbox 30 Years Later, Super Metroid's Foreboding Atmosphere Is Still Unmatched
Zeb-easily the best
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, to celebrate Super Metroid's 30th anniversary, Ollie sings the praises of the game's enduring foreboding atmosphere... The Metroid series is perhaps best known for its...
Talking Point What's Your Personal Favourite Super Mario Game?
Not the best
MAR10 Day might be over, but hear us out-- Nintendo said that every day is MAR10 day with Nintendo Switch. So we're going to take that statement to heart and talk about our favourite Mario games. Yep, not the best, not the worst, but our personal favourites. And no, they don't have to be on Switch. Everyone has a different favourite...
Gallery You Lovely People Have Been Photoshopping Our Video Producer Into Games
Here are some of our favourites
Did you know that we have a Nintendo Life Discord server? Well, you do now! It's a wonderful place full of video game chatter, Nintendo chatter, Photoshopping our video producer into iconic games chatter — wait, what? Yes, the Nintendo Life Discord recently came together with one goal, to edit a particularly...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (16th March)
Seeing an X
Today we ask the age-old question... Will it corndog? Wait, no... What are you playing this weekend?! Before we take a look at the staff picks this week, let's take a look at what's been going on the last few days or so. First up, we got word that The Pokémon Company has set up a new subsidiary called 'Pokémon Works', but no one knows...
Hands On 'Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes' Is 'Suikoden' In All But Name
It's destiny
If you’ve ever played a Suikoden game, it’s hard not to tear up at the opening sequence of Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes. It’s particularly hard watching this following the passing of series creator and the director of this spiritual successor Yoshitaka Murayama at the age of 55. Character montages, a swelling orchestra,...
Soapbox As Splatoon's Online Wraps Up Nearly 9 Years On, How Does It Compare To Splatoon 3?
Dye hard
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, as its online days draw to a close, Nile bids farewell to Splatoon on Wii U, a shining proof of concept... On 8th April 2024, Nintendo will be
Feature "The Odds Seemed Just Astronomical" - Reviving Lost Media With Shantae Advance
"Decisions made by younger me created a ton of headaches for modern me"
It's not often that a developer gets to revisit a chapter of their past and pick up where they left off on a project two decades prior, but the revival of Shantae Advance in the form of Risky Revolution has given WayForward creative director Matt Bozon just that opportunity...
Talking Point What Do You Want To See From The Next Super Mario Bros. Movie?
A certain 'je ne sais qWAHH'?
In perhaps the least shocking news of MAR10 Day 2024, Nintendo revealed that another Super Mario Bros. Movie is on the way and it's coming in 2026. A sequel should come as no surprise, let's not forget that the first film pulled in 168 million views at the global box office and went on to become one of th
"I almost put a reference in there..."
We were lucky enough to play a lot of great games at Summer Games Fest 2023, but perhaps the biggest surprise was Little Kitty, Big City, an exploration-focused adventure from Double Dagger Studio where you play as a cat on its journey home. From our hands-on preview, the game really dug its claws in and we'd...
Poll Do You Want To See 'Super Mario Bros. Wonder 2'?
Addressing the other elephant in the room
Today is MAR10 Day (MARch 10th, get it??), so it's no surprise that we are once again thinking about Super Mario Bros. Wonder, the first new 2D Mario game in 11 years. Wonder flipped the script on 2D Mario. The 'New' series had lasted for a whopping 17 years and the visuals and level design were very much...
Feature Is Any Mario Game Genuinely 'Underrated'? - 10 Super Mario Games To Reconsider
Appropri-rated
When the word 'underrated' is used in reference to entries in series as venerated as, say, Super Mario or the Zelda, it never quite feels right. Sure, perhaps there are some early oddball entries that people missed — games that were crafted when the template and direction of the series was still in flux — but it's hard to argue...
Soapbox It's Time For Mario's Weird Minigames To Make A Comeback
The Mansion always wins
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, Jim's after some more bitesize Mario weirdness, which he got his fix of on the DS... Super Mario Bros. Wonder was great. It had elephants, it had sweet little blobs of...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (March 9th)
We're not over Overlord
The week is almost over and that means it's time for another edition of What Are You Playing! This week was a little quiet in Nintendo Land after last week's Pokémon shenanigans, but there was still plenty to keep us entertained. We got a free demo for Princess Peach: Showtime! which might have even given us a sneak
Soapbox Help! I Can't Stop Playing Card Games On Switch
Deal me in
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, Jim is laying all his cards on the table... It's early March and I am already filled with embarrassment at the thought of my 2024 Nintendo Year in Review. Last year's results were to be...
Talking Point What DS & 3DS Games Would You Still Like To See On Switch?
Dual-screen dreams
We are still receiving top-notch releases by the bucketload on Switch, but as the console enters the latter phase of its lifespan, we are well and truly in remake & remaster territory. The Wii U barrel has quickly run dry (though some remain that we'd like to see make the jump to the hybrid) and recent years have seen Nintendo...
Reaction Nintendo's Switch Emulator Fallout Is Shocking Only Because It Took This Long
Emulator action
Well, that was quick... But also slow. That Nintendo would take action against programs that circumvent security and open up obvious avenues to playing Switch games without having purchased them is entirely unsurprising given the platform holder's historic 'emulation is piracy' stance. But the speed with which Tropic Haze, the...
Feature Nintendo Life eShop Selects & Readers' Choice (February 2024)
The best eShop games of February, chosen by you and us!
Spring is about to...spring. But do you know what else is waiting for us? Nintendo Life eShop Selects and the new Readers Choice winner for February 2024. As always, staff and contributors at Nintendo Life decide on the top three by an internal vote, all from eShop games we've reviewed on the...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (March 2nd)
Wish upon a card
We made it out of February and it is finally the weekend! Keen to keep the good vibes going, this week on Nintendo Life we celebrated the first Pokémon Presents of 2024. And what would you know, it wasn't all that bad! The big takeaway was the grand reveal of Pokémon Legends: Z-A coming to Switch in 2025, but we also got to see a...
Talking Point What Would Make You Happy To Give Up Physical Games And Go 100% Digital?
Concessions stand
While the demise of physical media has seemed like an inevitability for many years now, boutique publishers are helping to keep a passionate base of physical-only fans with a stocked game library. The scenario right now isn't ideal, with eShop releases often only getting a physical version months later (once a publisher has gauged...
Community What's The Best Switch eShop Game We Missed? (February 2024)
Your favourite game for eShop Selects
Update: In response to many comments and a surge of votes, we will be reviewing Balatro for the Switch! Thanks to all of those who shared their thoughts with us on the game! It's back! We're almost at the end of February already — yes, even with the extra day in this fine Leap Year. Our monthly Nintendo...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (February 24th)
Jockey up
The weekeeeeeeeeeeeend *cough cough, splutter*. Sorry. Yes, it's the weekend, which means it's time to kick back and relax with some games. First, let's recap what's been going on this week. So the big news is, of course, that we had a Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase, where the likes of Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance, Epic Mickey:...
Talking Point Which Xbox Games Would You Like To See Come To Switch?
Halo, is it me you're looking for?
After what felt like months of rumours, Microsoft and Nintendo finally put us out of our misery during the Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase by confirming that, yes, select Microsoft-published Xbox games will be making their way to the Nintendo Switch to join the likes of Banjo-Kazooie on NSO, and the Ori duo...
Talking Point Pokémon Presents Predictions - What Are You Expecting?
'mon Dieu
Following hot on the heels of the February 2024 Nintendo Direct, the inevitable announcement of a Pokémon Presents broadcast to coincide with Pokémon Day on 27th February came along. It's traditional to have a broadcast on this date — the anniversary of the first Pokémon games' Japanese debut way back in 1996 — and it's been a busy...
Feature Shiren The Wanderer Devs On Preserving Series' "Difficulty" And "Uniqueness"
"I made sure to preserve what I believed to be valuable"
Shiren the Wanderer is one of the longest-running roguelike series in the world. Debuting back in 1995 as the second entry in the Mystery Dungeon series, Mystery Dungeon 2: Shiren the Wanderer introduced the world to the young boy who would explore many procedurally-generated dungeons over the...
Talking Point Nintendo Direct Predictions - What Do You Hope To See?
Howdy, Partner
There she is! After waiting patiently for the first Nintendo Direct of 2024 — looking back to determine the most probable date Nintendo would unleash its next bumper crop of Switch game reveals and news — we finally have the time, date, and flavour confirmed: 21st February, and it's a Partner Showcase. <related...
Hands On We've Played Princess Peach: Showtime! - Is It Any Good?
Show must go on
Princess Peach: Showtime! is a game that isn’t going to immediately appeal to many of the fans of big shooty bang-bang games like DOOM Eternal, but there’s a place for it still with an audience as sizeable as that of the Switch. Nintendo invited us to come along and give the game a go for ourselves ahead of its release on 22nd...
Talking Point If 'Switch 2' Isn't Coming Until 2025, What's Nintendo Got Up Its Sleeve This Year?
Is there enough in the tank to coast through 2024?
Reports that Nintendo's unannounced Switch successor may be subject to a behind-the-scenes delay suggest that the current console might have yet another Holiday season all to itself. In March, Nintendo Switch will enter its eighth year, and scuttlebutt from industry sources had previously pegged...
Poll What Review Score Would You Give Mario vs. Donkey Kong?
Mario vs. DK vs. you
Last week, Mario and Donkey Kong's decade-old dispute bubbled back to the surface in the appropriately titled Mario vs. Donkey Kong, a Switch remake of the identically titled GBA original from 2004. NL's stalwart PJ O'Reilly enjoyed his time with it, awarding it a 'Good' 7/10 in his review and highlighting the new co-op mode as...
Feature "It Just Felt Right" - How Story Of Seasons & Piczle Cross Is The Perfect Union
"I am an unapologetic fan of the Story of Seasons series"
What's more relaxing than a farming sim? Many of us love to wind down with a few hours of tending crops, looking after cows, and taking in the seasons in a good ol' Story of Seasons game. And for almost 30 years, this hugely popular series has been sowing the seeds and setting the standard...
Back Page The Best Cows On The Nintendo Switch
We would never steer you wrong
In the magazine business, the Back Page is where you'd find all the weird goofs that we couldn't fit in anywhere else. Some may call it "filler"; we prefer "a whole page to make terrible jokes that are tangentially related to the content of the mag". We don't have pages on the internet, but we still love terrible...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (February 17th)
Multi-platform plans
It has been another Direct-less week, but that isn't stopping us from taking our Switches for a spin this weekend. Welcome back to another edition of What Are You Playing! Yes, this week didn't bring the Direct announcement that many of us had foreseen, but there was still plenty of juicy news in the world of Nintendo...
Hands On Strategy Fan? You Need To Keep An Eye On Vanillaware's Stunning 'Unicorn Overlord'
Stable unicorns
Company president George Kamitani wasn’t kidding when he teased that the studio’s next project was “one of Vanillaware's biggest productions” last year. The game he was talking about was Unicorn Overlord, a tactical RPG that, on the surface, looks like a homage to the SRPG greats of the ‘90s. Compared to the hugely...
Hands On Quarter Arcades Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade Machine
Let's kick shell
If you're a gamer over the age of 30 with a decent amount of disposable income, then you've almost certainly heard of the Quarter Arcades range. As the name suggests, these are 1/4-scale reproductions of famous coin-ops, and the company has collaborated with some of the biggest names in the business to expand its lineup over the...
Hands On Splatoon 3's Spicy 'Side Order' DLC Isn't For The Faint Of Heart
Order from chaos
Online multiplayer, platforming, deckbuilding, horde rushes, bizarre missions that barely make sense even in context — it seems the wizards at Nintendo could put the Inklings and Octolings through just about anything and make it a blast. Now it’s time for the cephalopodic denizens of post-apocalyptic Earth to tackle the...
Soapbox With Switch Online, It's The Perfect Time To Bring Back These Wii U Gems
An absolute NES-cessity
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, Ethan looks back on a pair of Wii U games — and a 3DS sibling — which could help curious gamers navigate the Switch Online retro library if they were given a second...
Back Page 15 Superb Owls On Nintendo Switch
What a hoot
In the magazine business, the Back Page is where you'd find all the weird goofs that we couldn't fit in anywhere else. Some may call it "filler"; we prefer "a whole page to make terrible jokes that are tangentially related to the content of the mag". We don't have pages on the internet, but we still love terrible jokes — so welcome to...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (February 10th)
Go on and tell us
Well folks, with Nintendo releasing its financial results this week, many of us thought that a Direct announcement wouldn't be too far behind, but alas. Maybe next week. Anyway, we got news that the Nintendo Switch has now sold over 139 million units, which is just astonishing, while Mario Kart 8 Deluxe passes the 60 million mark...
First Impressions Turn-Based Scrawler 'Inkulinati' Flows Well After A Wordy Intro (Exclusive)
Not at all afraid to be killed in nasty ways
Yaza Games' Medieval scribe-inspired turn-based battler, Inkulinati, is coming to Switch on 22nd February. It's picked up several awards since its Early Access release on Steam, including Gamescom 2022's Best Indie Game and Most Original Game, so it's great to see the full version finally penned in on...
Soapbox I Hated Metroid: Zero Mission At First, Until I Loved It
We all make mistakes
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, to celebrate Metroid: Zero Mission's 20th anniversary on 9th February 2024, Ollie looks back on his initial experience with the game, and why first impressions can't always be...
Feature Avoiding Co-op "Frictions And Frustrations" In Roguelite Restaurateur 'PlateUp!'
"Everyone can always benefit from another pair of hands"
From the moment it launched in March 2017, Switch quickly carved itself a niche as the console for couch-co-op gaming. Crack off the Joy-Con and in mere moments you have a a multiplayer setup suitable for wherever you happen to be. Soon, a crowd of zany, co-op party games — many inspired by...
Talking Point Switch Is Nintendo's "Main Business" Right Now, But All Eyes Are On The Horizon
Mainswitch
Following today's release of Nintendo's quarterly financial results covering the nine months from April to December 2023, Shuntaro Furukawa's comment that the current Switch will remain Nintendo's "main business" as the company heads into 2024 is a practised little piece of evasion from the company president. It's something that shouldn't...
Talking Point What's The Best Nintendo Remake Ever?
Remake it so
Later this week, Metroid: Zero Mission turns 20. This GBA reimagining transforms the original, iconic 8-bit Metroid — a game that can be hard to return to these days — into a stunning retelling of Samus' first adventure with a graphical overhaul, various Super Metroid-inspired tweaks, and a fun Zero Suit epilogue to boot. It's so...
Feature Nintendo Life eShop Selects & Readers' Choice (January 2024)
The best eShop games of January, chosen by you and us!
Welcome to February 2024, and to the first (proper) eShop Selects of 2024. We've changed things up a bit for 2024 — alongside our picks for the best eShop game, we asked you lovely readers to choose your favourite eShop-only game of the month, but with a twist. Staff and contributors at...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (February 3rd)
In the Cho-zone
School's out, baby! Sorry, what..? What do you mean we're adults? Pfft, fine. Yes, it's the weekend, which means it's time to find out which games we're all planning to boot up. Before we do so, however, let's just recap some of the biggest stories from the week, shall we? First up, we found out that The Pokémon Company filed a...
Soapbox An Ode To Marble Garden, Sonic The Hedgehog 3's Best Zone
Yasuhara's David
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Ollie sings the praises of the game's third zone, Marble Garden... I used to own a Sega Mega Drive when I was younger...
Feature "We’ve Tried To Do Something Very Different" - Rivalry & Drama In Arcade Racer 'New Star GP'
Fasten your seatbelts
Being a fan of sports games can be a tricky business. AAA publishers roll out the same full-price titles year-on-year with fewer improvements and added pay-to-win incentives, all bundled up in a package that is regularly less-than-optimal on Switch. Fortunately, in the darkest of days, the indie scene is there to illuminate us...
Talking Point Is Knowing A Game's Ending Really That Bad?
Reverse card
Today, 31st January, is National Backwards Day in North America (no, we didn't know it was a thing either). It's a day for doing things with a 180° twist, a quick Google told us, whether that's wearing a shirt the wrong way round like the kids do — maybe? — or moonwalking over to the kettle instead of looking where you are going...
Community What's The Best Switch eShop Game We Missed? (January 2024)
The winner will feature in our monthly eShop Selects round-up
Video games, huh? There's just so many of them. Every single month hidden gems slip through our fingers, while other times, we're drowning in so many special titles that we don't have time to dig through everything. Regular readers will know that every six months or so, we'll reach out...
Feature NieR’s Orchestra Concert Delivered An Unforgettable Night, And A Yoko Taro Tease
The Curse of YoRHa
If you have plans to attend NieR:Orchestra Concert 12024 [ the end of data ], be aware that Zion discusses some of the fun and surprises of the event. For those who aren't able to go, though, we thought you'd like to know how it turned out after he was lucky enough to be in LA on Saturday for opening night... I’ve attended...
Feature 21 Game Boy Advance Games We'd Love To See Added To Nintendo Switch Online
GBA gems we'd dig on Switch
With Golden Sun and The Lost Age making their arrival on Nintendo Switch Online, we've given this list a bit of a spruce up and added a few more dream titles to the service. Plus, we've got a cheeky little poll at the end of the article too — so make sure you vote and let us know what you want to see on NSO. The Game...
