Latest Features
Book Review Perfect Organism - A Must-Read For Fans Of Alien: Isolation
Fit for an Alien Queen
Toward the beginning of Perfect Organism: An Alien: Isolation Companion, author Andy Kelly asks a question that, to an outsider, might seem particularly pertinent: why write an entire book about one game? However, to those who have ever held a deep passion for a piece of pop culture, whether it be a film, a book, or a game,...
Feature Here’s How Trading Card Companies Could Stop CT Scanning In The Future
"They really want to fix it"
Collecting trading cards, especially vintage cards, has gotten considerably dicier — seemingly overnight. Over the past month, multiple people have come forward to demonstrate how various X-ray technologies can reliably see inside unopened trading card products. The concept of X-raying packs has been rumored for as...
Feature The Company You Can Pay To X-Ray Unopened Pokémon Card Packs Speaks Out
"The technology is not going away, and people know what it can do"
The entirety of the trading card community — that is, people who collect, buy, and sell the Pokémon Trading Card game, sports cards, Magic: The Gathering, Disney, or literally any trading card game you can think of — has gradually become aware of what might be an existential...
Feature Catch-Up Crew: F-Zero X - "In First Place I Just Yeeted Myself Off The Course"
Join our mission to seek out 'Games of Shame' and make first contact
We've all got them. Brilliant, much-celebrated video games — sometimes ones boasting a huge lineage of excellent sequels — which, for some reason, we never got around to playing. It might have been unfortunate timing, with another game arriving to swallow up our time and...
Poll Box Art Brawl: Zelda: A Link To The Past And Four Swords (GBA)
Portable magic
Welcome back to another edition Box Art Brawl! Last time, we were back with the Mega Man franchise to look at Mega Man Zero 3, the, uh, third entry in the Zero sub-series for GBA. As expected, the beautiful Japanese design won by a landslide, scoring 73% of the vote. The US variant bagged 17%, while the ghastly European design...
Guide Every Game In The Switch eShop 'Play Together' Sale (North America)
Update: Sale ends this weekend
This is your friendly reminder that the North American 'Recollection Collection' eShop sale ends this Sunday (11th August) at 11:59pm PT, so this is your last chance to save on all the wonderful games listed below. Nintendo of America has unveiled yet another tantalising sale, slashing up to 50% off select...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (10th August)
We're DOOM'd
Well folks, another week has come and gone, which means it's time to reveal what we're all going to be playing this weekend. Before we do, however, let's see what's been going on this week. First up, Monolith Soft is recruiting for what it simply describes as a "new RPG"; chances are it'll probably be a new Xenoblade title for...
Preview In Ys X: Nordics, Adol And Boats Prove To Be A Match Made In Heaven
Sail the high Ys
If you've played an Ys game before, you know that our red-haired hero Adol Christin is pretty partial to a boat. He's also partial to a shipwreck or three. Adol's very first adventure in Ys I starts off with his boat being destroyed by a storm; Ark of Napishtim opens with Adol washed up on the beach; and in Lacrimosa of Dana, his...
Feature The Next Splatfest May Decide Splatoon 4's Future, So We Make A Case For Every Team
Are you a Deep Cut, Off The Hook, or Squid Sisters fan?
Debates over the best Splatoon idol group are dime-a-dozen but never have the stakes been higher than in Splatoon 3's upcoming second anniversary celebration: Grand Festival. Starting on September 13th and ending on 16th of the same month (or 12th to 15th, depending on your region), this...
Feature Nintendo Life eShop Selects & Readers' Choice (July 2024)
Our picks for the best eShop games in July
Pinch yourselves, it's August, summer's end is approaching, and we're here to talk about video games gone by. Yep, it's time to look back at last month and talk about July's eShop Selects. Nintendo has had another fairly quiet month on the Switch — Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition was the big...
Poll Box Art Brawl: Mega Man Zero 3
Third time's a charm
Welcome back to another edition Box Art Brawl! Last week's bout saw us chucking Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow for the Nintendo DS into the ring. The designs for this one were pretty similar, all told, but Europe ultimately lost out with its lack of supporting characters and, uh, copious stickers. North America and Japan bagged an...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (3rd August)
It's the weekend, thank goodness!
Good grief, is that August already? The passage of time may have left us spooked, but the promise of a more densely-packed Switch release schedule in the months to come is exciting! Anyway, back to this week. We saw a rather dry Nintendo financial report with declining year-on-year software and hardware sales after...
"I fear I may have dad jokes syndrome"
Can you believe it, Ace Attorney fans? We're almost at the end of the incredible journey that has been the AA Switch remakes, and honestly, we never thought we'd see the day – let alone so soon. The Ace Attorney Investigations Collection, comprising the first and second games in the Edgeworth-focused...
Poll Which Is Your Favourite Nintendo Game Cartridge Design?
Works of cart
We love video games in whatever form they're delivered. Give us a disc or a stick or a digital download - if the game's a good'un, we'll be happy whatever the format. However, around these parts, we're undeniably partial to the heft and clunk of a good old cartridge. Perhaps it's because we're gamers of, ahem, a certain vintage who...
Talking Point Will The Switch Ever Get A 'Nintendo Selects' Range?
Discounted delights
Before the June Direct came along, we were starting to think that 2024 would be the year of remakes and remasters on Switch. We had Another Code: Recollection, Mario vs. Donkey Kong, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and Luigi's Mansion 2 HD already banked and that
Feature "I Want You To Be Mad" - Crazy Viking Studios On The Brutality Of Volgarr The Viking II
"We didn't have any intention of ever making a sequel"
The original Volgarr The Viking might have flown under a lot of folks' radar when it launched back in 2013, but it's one of those games where if you know, you know. It garnered a solid 8/10 from us when it landed on Switch and it's cultivated a hardcore, dedicated fanbase whose members are...
Soapbox Why I Love A Good Map, And That Time I Mapped Yoshi's Melons For Nintendo Power
Worth a thousand words
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, Nathan goes mapping the pixels... What is your greatest video game pet peeve? That one thing that, when present, ruins your experience, no matter how good the game is...
Poll Box Art Brawl: Duel - Castlevania: Dawn Of Sorrow
BAT!
Welcome back to another edition Box Art Brawl! Last week, we matched up two covers from Capcom's Gargoyle's Quest II: The Demon Darkness and oof, it was a close one! Japan's action-packed cartoony take just about walked away with the win, taking 53% of the vote and leaving Europe and North America's shared design with the remaining 47%. We're...
Feature The Famicom Failure That Almost Bankrupted HAL, But Shaped Nintendo's Future
HAL be there
Unless you’re a dedicated Famicom collector, it’s unlikely that you’ve heard of Metal Slader Glory. Released right at the tail end of the Famicom’s life in 1991, the year after the release of the Super Famicom, Metal Slader Glory never made it out of Japan, and it proved to be a massive flop for HAL Laboratory. But the very...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (27th July)
What a horrible night to have a curse
It's been a pretty quiet few days in the world of Nintendo, but as we're all gearing up for a another weekend of gaming, let's take a peek at some of the highlights of the week. First up, there's a new Nintendo Lego set incoming! Hooray! This one looks spectacular and is essentially a replica of the Mario &...
Soapbox 20 Years After His Last Mainline Appearance, Tingle Deserves A Comeback
Yes, TWENTY years
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 manifesting a comeback for Zelda's most iconic NPC... If you have made it past the headline, chances are you fall into one of the following camps. One: You believe that...
Poll Do You Prefer Fire Emblem: Three Houses Or Engage?
Fight fire with fire
Believe it or not, today marks five years since Fire Emblem: Three Houses launched on Switch. We'd imagine that most of you SRPG fans out there have polished it off by this point — we'd go even further to wager that you have likely done the same for its successor, Fire Emblem Engage, which is now a little over a year old...
Poll Are You Ready To Move On From The Switch?
It's not you, it's me
Earlier this year, Nintendo finally caved under the overwhelming weight of customer and shareholder expectations and announced that the successor to the Switch would be revealed "within this fiscal year", aka before the end of March 2025. For many, it marked the beginning of an exciting new chapter in gaming. Although fans...
Hands On Zelda, But With Mind-Bending Perspective Puzzles - We Take 'Cassette Boy' For A Spin
Giant cube-shaped cat fights and "The Schrödinger System"
BitSummit, held in Kyoto every sweltering hot summer, plays host to an incredible amount of indie developers from across the globe. As you might expect, it can be rather hard to stand out – so much so that it was even difficult for us to curate a list of impressive Switch games down to...
Feature 10 Switch Games We've Played At BitSummit 2024 - Here's What We Thought
The indie darlings of the future, today!
BitSummit 2024 has been and gone, and we've got the details on all of the best games we saw at the sure. If you’re unfamiliar with BitSummit, it’s a gaming convention dedicated to indie developers from around the globe. Taking place in the heart of Kyoto every July, there’s no better place to get a...
Poll What Review Score Would You Give Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition?
Championship score?
Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition has been out on Switch for a few days now, bringing with it plenty of fast-paced retro delights and highlights. Inspired by the Nintendo World Championships and acting as a sort of spiritual follow-up to the NES Remix games, it was a bit of a surprise announcement back in May. Yep,...
Soapbox New Roots - How Pikmin 4 Made My Move Abroad Bloom
Pik up your life
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, on Pikmin 4's first anniversary, Alana thinks the half-plant, half-animal creatures known as Pikmin helped her move across the globe... I define many of the biggest moments in my...
Poll Box Art Brawl: Duel - Gargoyle's Quest II: The Demon Darkness
Demonic
Hello folks, and welcome to another edition of Box Art Brawl! Last time, we looked at Kirby's Pinball Land for the Game Boy (jeez, how many Kirby games are there..? Don't answer that), pitting Europe and North America against Japan in a good ol' fashioned duel. It was closer than we were anticipating, though as expected, Japan won the...
"Having a ceiling on any sort of media will always be seen as a negative"
It's been over four years since this writer last spoke to George Perkins of Super Rare Games, the boutique publisher of limited-run physical Switch releases which set up shop back in 2018. Since then the firm has branched out into both physical PS5 releases and digital...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (20th July)
What are Yooka playing?
It's time to check out everyone's gaming plans as we dive into another edition What Are You Playing! This week in the world of Nintendo, we got the announcement of a suspicious new Joy-Con charging stand, we finally found out who Emio is (he's the start of the new
Talking Point Could Ganondorf Ever Be The Star Of A Zelda Game?
Gerudo or Gerudon't?
After decades of patiently explaining to elderly relatives, "No, Zelda is the princess", 2024 is going to be the year that Grandma is finally right. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is boldly going where no mainline series entry has gone before by putting the titular princess in the driver's seat. How shocking! How bold!...
Poll Box Art Brawl: Duel - Kirby's Pinball Land
Pinbrawl
Welcome, one and all, to this week's edition of Box Art Brawl! Wait, are we... poets?? Last time, we pitted two covers for the NES' Urban Champion against each other and after a weekend of voting, it was North America that came up with the win. The classic pixel art cover took 59% of the vote, while Europe and Japan's colourful alternative...
Guide Every Game In The Switch eShop 'Recollection Collection' Sale (North America)
Sale wraps up this weekend
This is your friendly reminder that the North American 'Recollection Collection' eShop sale ends this Sunday (14th July) at 11:59pm PT, so this is your last chance to save on all the wonderful games listed below. Nintendo of America has unveiled its latest batch of discounts, with the 'Recollection Collection' sale...
Soapbox Metroid’s Mother Brain And The Rewind Dilemma
Mother pain
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, Nile deliberates whether or not the time has come to push the (rewind) button... Last month, Nintendo announced it was adding Metroid: Zero Mission to the Nintendo Switch Online...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (13th July)
Unbullievabull!
Can you believe we're basically in the middle of July already? Madness... Well anyway, days of the year be damned, it's time to play some games. It's been a relatively quiet one this week, arguably boosted by the strange and ominous 'Emio' trailer posted by Nintendo, indicating that the company may be dipping its toes back into the...
Feature Legendary Starfy 101 - A Brief History Of TOSE's Adorable Platforming Star
Now playable on Nintendo Switch
With all three GBA Starfy games — which were originally released only in Japan — now available to play on Switch with a Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack subscription, we're updating and republishing this brief introduction to the little star which originally went live a whopping 15 years ago. Enjoy! Since...
Talking Point The Switch eShop Could Be Great With These Few Tweaks
Get with the times
If you head onto the Switch eShop now, chances are you probably won’t have a good time. Unless you go into it knowing what you want to buy ahead of time, the significant slowdown and copious shovelware making up the majority of the ‘Recent Releases’ section will likely be enough to scare you off long before you discover...
Feature Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown Lands On Switch Today In A Port Two Years In The Making
Smoke me a kipper
Originally launching nearly five years after Ace Combat: Infinity and four years after the 3DS release Assault Horizon Legacy+, 2019's Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown was the first game in the mainline series for over a decade and brought the series back to Strangereal, the franchise's fictionalised Earth stand-in. Now, five years...
Feature Nintendo Switch Sports Basketball - A Slam Dunk Or A Missed Shot?
Sixth man
It's been almost two years since Nintendo Switch Sports' last major update with the addition of Golf. The patch left us feeling decidedly "whelmed" — it was a nice add-on, but nothing special after having played Wii Sports and its Resort follow-up. With Basketball, the latest sport to join the roster, we expected more of the same. And,...
Soapbox Has Nintendo Set A Precedent That 'Switch 2' Can't Hope To Match?
The highest of bars
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, Gavin ponders what 'success' looks like for systems with impossibly popular predecessors... Looking back at Nintendo's home console hardware sales over the past four decades,...
Feature TMNT: Splintered Fate Dev Talks Crafting A Radical Roguelike And How Hades "Opened Our Eyes"
Divine inspiration
TMNT fans were eating well back in 2023. Shredder's Revenge landed a totally tubular DLC, Mutant Mayhem was one of the franchise's best films in decades, and completely out of the blue Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate popped out of its shell on Apple Arcade. This roguelike from developer Super Evil Megacorp took the...
Feature Nintendo Life eShop Selects & Readers' Choice (June 2024)
Our picks for the best eShop games in May
We're now well into July, which means it's time to look back and survey the last month's worth of Switch eShop releases and pick our favourite. It was a relatively quiet month on the Switch front, with Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance and Luigi's Mansion 2 HD being the big new physical releases, although the...
Poll Box Art Brawl: Duel - Urban Champion
Urban brawl..?
Hello there! Welcome back to another edition of Box Art Brawl! Before we dive into this week's content, let's see how things panned out last time. We looked at DK: King of Swing for the Game Boy Advance in what turned out to be a pretty solid contest. In the end, Europe took home the trophy with 50% of the vote. North America settled...
Soapbox How Does Your Personality Affect Your Gaming?
Personality, passion, profession, play
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, Nathan considers how his analytical mind and love of data influence his recreation time... I’m the oldest of four brothers. Over the past four years...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (6th July)
To hell with it
The working week is over and it's time to settle in for the weekend. Welcome back to another edition of What Are You Playing! What's been going on in the world of Nintendo recently, then? Well, we got a boatload of NSO drops as Nintendo served up a whopping seven additions to the NES library including Donkey Kong Jr. Math, Urban...
Feature Where Does 'Echoes Of Wisdom' Fit In The Zelda Timeline? Here Are 3 Theories
Let's do the timeline again
Much to our shame, it took approximately 30 seconds of The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom reveal trailer for us to start thinking about the dreaded timeline. In the weeks since, we'd wager that a similar thought has appeared in the minds of most Zelda fans out there. Whether that was a happy thought or an "Oh god,...
Feature "It Is Both Exciting And A Bit Terrifying" - Nightdive Studios On Reviving 'The Thing'
"We were working on getting the rights to this game for several years"
2002's The Thing is widely regarded as one of the best horror games based on an existing media franchise. Many licensed horror games are sadly relegated to genres that require a specific setup, such as asymmetrical multiplayer or short VR experiences, but The Thing — a...
Talking Point What Games Are You Nervous To Replay In Case They Don't Hold Up?
Past masters
We often use the word 'evergreen' to describe a game which never gets old. Despite the passage of time, there's a stratum of untouchables that still feel as vital in the hands as the day they were released. Personal preferences and nostalgia will always, always come into play, but games like Super Mario Bros. 3 or Super Mario World?...
Feature What Review Score Would You Give Luigi's Mansion 2 HD?
Cleanin' up?
Luigi's Mansion 2 HD is out now, offering fans of the original a new way to experience the game with cleaner visuals, better controls, and strong use of the Switch's motion controls and HD rumble. The wonderful PJ O'Reilly took the game for a spin for our official review and came away feeling pretty impressed, awarding it a score of...
Feature "A New Surprise On Every Page" - How Kids Helped Shape 'The Plucky Squire'
"My son calls it ‘The Plucky Square’”
“It's a new adventure,” is what James Turner, co-director of the absolutely delightful The Plucky Squire, told us when we asked him what it was like to leave Game Freak and The Pokémon Company. Before forming his own game studio, All Possible Futures, with Jonathan Biddle, Turner was most well-known...
