Tag: Best of 2023 - Page 2
Feature Zelda, "Linguistic Chaos", And The Challenges Of Bringing 'Outer Wilds' To Switch
"We love Outer Wilds and we’re thrilled it’s on the Nintendo Switch"
It's finally here — Outer Wilds has finally landed on Nintendo Switch, two years after it was originally meant to crash onto the system. And we've been champing at the bit to try out this indie darling. Incredibly immersive and visually arresting, Outer Wilds was critically...
Soapbox 20 Years Later, Why Do We Still Not Have A New Sonic Battle?
Bare Knuckles
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 the 20th anniversary of Sonic's last fighting game, Paul looks back and wonders why Sonic hasn't in two decades... In the early- to mid-2000s, Nintendo handhelds were home to many...
Feature Why I Still Love My Wii U
Sticking up for Nintendo's much-maligned console
This feature is taken from The Console Chronicles, an upcoming book that we're working on in conjunction with Lost in Cult. If you like what you see, you can pre-order a copy using the link below. <products id="24929"> I began eighth grade in September 2014. After my first day of classes, I...
Soapbox Ganondorf's Villainous Intro In Ocarina Of Time Is One Of Gaming's Best
Less is more
November 21st, 2023 marked the 25th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time's Japanese launch. To celebrate this historic Hyrulean occasion, we're running articles throughout the week dedicated to the game, our memories, and its legacy. Today, Ollie recalls how Ganondorf's mysterious introduction is one of the very best in...
Soapbox Losing Control - Why Zelda’s ReDead Strike Fear Into Our Souls
ReDead and (not) loving it
November 21st, 2023 marked the 25th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time's Japanese launch. To mark this historic Hyrulean occasion, we're running articles throughout the week dedicated to the game, our memories, and its legacy. Today, Alana wants to talk about the ReDead, the Zelda series' scariest...
Soapbox Ocarina Of Time's Water Temple Was Tough, But It Doesn't Deserve Its Reputation
Blue weighed shoes
November 21st, 2023 marked the 25th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time's Japanese launch. To mark this historic Hyrulean occasion, we're running articles throughout the week dedicated to the game, our memories, and its legacy. Today, Jim looks back on one of the series' most notorious temples... The Legend of...
Talking Point Does Zelda: Ocarina Of Time Need A Full Remake?
Names mean almost everything
November 21st, 2023 marks the 25th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time's Japanese launch. To mark this historic Hyrulean occasion, we'll be running articles throughout the week dedicated to the game, our memories, and its legacy. Today, Gavin ponders the pros and cons of remaking The Citizen Kane of...
A Link to the Cast
Well, there it is. Nintendo has announced that not only is a Legend of Zelda movie a possibility, but it's happening. Shigeru Miyamoto himself took to Twitter to share this news, stating that producer Avi Arad and director Wes Ball are already attached and it will be co-financed by Sony (a fact that we are still wrapping our heads...
Feature Hearthstone, Magic & Mario - The Many And Varied Influences Behind 'Wild Country'
"We looked to take a page out of Nintendo’s book"
Revealed at Gamescom back in August and coming to Switch (and Steam) in 2024, Wild Country is described as "a cozy-competitive card game with city-building elements" by its developer, Lost Native. The game involves constructing buildings for the critters of Big Sky County while collecting cards...
Exclusive Gorgeous New 'Snufkin: Melody Of Moominvalley' Trailer Confirms Switch Release
Coming next year, we speak to developer Hyper Games
First revealed in March last year, at the time we hoped that the nebulous phrase "PC and consoles" included our favourite Nintendo system, and today we can exclusively confirm that, yes, musical adventure Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley is coming to Switch in Q1 2024 (alongside all those other...
Round Table Let's Talk Mario Wonder - Surprises, Badges, Difficulty, New Characters
We ponder Wonder
We've all been playing Super Mario Bros. Wonder for a few days now and it's fair to say that we have some thoughts — as do you, we're sure! Of course, if you want to check out our comprehensive and definitive verdict on the game, then be sure to read through our full review by the lovely PJ O'Reilly. For now, though, Team...
Feature Super Nintendo Bros. - The Best (And Worst) Nintendo Siblings
It's all relative
It's New Proper Platforming Mario Game Week, everyone! While the launch of a game with Mario in the title is a fairly regular occurrence, the release of the plumber's first all-new 2D platformer in over a decade is cause for special celebration. Super Mario Bros. Wonder brings back Mario and his Mushroom Kingdom brethren in a...
Soapbox Pokémon X & Y - The Series' Greatest Paradoxes
You can’t be groundbreaking without leaving a few cracks
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, Andy looks back at a pivotal juncture in the Pocket Monster series which hinted at the path it would take over the following decade...
Anniversary Happy Birthday To Nintendo's Ugliest, Most Indestructible Console
Slated
It's that time of year when video game anniversary enthusiasts can enjoy the birthday of a significant game or console nearly every day of the week. It's the turn of Pokémon X & Y which turns 10 today (look out for a feature on that coming up a little later), but it's also a decade since one of Nintendo's lowest-key console launches...
Soapbox What Do You Do When Nintendo Ticks Off Your ENTIRE Most-Wanted List?
Good problems
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, Kate runs down her Switch wishlist and wonders if Nintendo has her phone bugged (or maybe just reads her articles)... Oh, I have been spoiled this year. Suspiciously spoiled, in...
Soapbox Nintendo, "THE Prime Asset" In Xbox's Content Quest? It's Only Natural
But it ain't happening
The FTC case examining Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard, depending on your perspective, is either the gift that keeps on giving or an eye-scrapingly dull, never-ending saga. Still, you can't deny that it's turned up some tasty behind-the-scenes morsels to chew on, giving gamers a fascinating glimpse of the...
Feature 'Break The Game' Tells Speedrunner Narcissa Wright’s Story Through The Language Of Zelda
The new documentary charts a legend's return
It’s January 13, 2017 – the day of the Nintendo Switch Presentation. Unbeknownst to anyone until today, Nintendo’s latest console is going to be released in under two months, and with it the latest installment in The Legend of Zelda series, Breath of the Wild. A hush goes over the crowd as the final...
Soapbox Rayman Legends Blew My Mind Then Broke My Heart
Prince of Persia fans beware - he may suffer Rayman’s fate yet!
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, Francisco shares his love of Rayman Legends as it celebrates its 10th anniversary — but also laments that it may have been a...
Feature Harvest Moon 64’s Relationship With Alcohol, The "Magic Liquid" Of Flowerbud Village
Surviving the censors
Alcohol takes on an almost spiritual quality in Harvest Moon 64 Update: Of course, three months after this article went live, Nintendo expanded its roster of N64 games on Nintendo Switch Online to include this one. Cheers! Nintendo games are usually all-ages affairs, but every once in a while a game breaks the...
Talking Point Zelda: TOTK Isn't A Shoo-In For GOTY 2023, And That's A Good Thing
Whoever wins, we all win
2023, eh? What a year for games. We’ve still got several months to go before we say hello to 2024 but during internal discussions between the Nintendo Life team, we’ve all acknowledged that 2023 may go down as one of the best years in gaming history, proudly standing alongside the likes of 1998 and 2007. For Switch...
Talking Point The Games We Got Rid Of - What Were We Thinking?
Give it away, give it away now
We've all done it. Whether through necessity to fund a new purchase or streamlining our collection during a spring clean, we've all sold, traded, donated, or just given away a game or console at some point and then wished we hadn’t. Sometimes cold hard cash was required, other times we were just in a different...
Feature "Madden Has Continued To Suffer" - Legend Bowl Dev On Their "Fresh" Football Game
"Legend Bowl was built to fill that void for football fans"
Over the past few years, the number of arcade-style American football titles on Switch has increased at a pretty steady rate. We recently saw Retro Bowl bring us back to the game's 8-bit roots, and Saber is looking to bring even more big-head Playgrounds-esque charm to the game with Wild...
Talking Point How Do You Store Your Games Collection?
Shoebox showcase
Call us sentimental, call us paranoid, call us what you will, but around these parts we still love the physical article when it comes to our media, especially video games. While many of us have gone at least part-digital for the sake of saving space and sheer convenience, especially with the portable Switch, even the eShop-only...
Soapbox Catching Legendary Pokémon The Old-Fashioned Way Was So Much Better
Mewsings
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, Kevin remembers a time when getting your hands on a legendary involved going on a real-life journey... The '90s were a fun time, weren’t they? AOL was brand new, The Simpsons was still...
Feature 21 Vintage Nintendo Games You Can Now Only Buy For Original Hardware
'80s and '90s Nintendo games on the 'endangered' list
You may have read a recent study by the Video Games History Foundation that suggests an eye-watering 87% of video games are "critically endangered". The organisation, which is devoted to video game preservation and archiving, found that just 13% of games released prior to 2010 were still 'in...
Feature That Time Mario & Luigi: Dream Team Made Mario Bros. Go Full Inception
Pi’illo fight
The worlds of Mario and Christopher Nolan rarely overlap, and for good reason. Cillian Murphy may make an excellent Oppenheimer, but he’d be a painfully miscast Professor E. Gadd. Yet somehow, ten years ago, that didn’t stand in the way of AlphaDream adding a strong vibe reminiscent of Leonardo DiCaprio’s dream heist in...
Soapbox Getting The Master Sword In Tears Of The Kingdom Is Zelda At Its Best
Once more, with Fi-ling
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 gushes over the moment you retrieve the legendary sword in the newest Zelda game... There were several moments in my playthrough of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the...
Feature A Brief History Of Romance Of The Three Kingdoms, The Series That Spawned Dynasty Warriors
Sangokushi, from NES to Switch
It is the third century AD and war rages across the region that would one day become China. To the north, the Cao Wei state has been founded, led by Cao Pi after the death of his father. In the west, Shu Han’s founder, Liu Bei, considers himself the rightful ruler of all of China in the wake of the Han Dynasty’s...
Talking Point How Does Switch's Year 7 Compare To Previous Nintendo Consoles?
The magnificent seven?
Prior to the June 2023 Nintendo Direct, 2023 was looking decidedly quiet for Switch. In March, the system entered its seventh year on store shelves and with sales numbers slowing, it seems that the long-rumoured appearance of new Nintendo hardware may finally be on the horizon in the next 12 months or so. It is, after all, a...
The Big Score?
Editor's Note. Given the sheer number of releases these days, it is impossible for us to reassess individual games in the weeks, months, sometimes years after our initial review. When post-launch updates reportedly improve the experience, we insert a note at the top of our reviews stating such, but the body of the review text and the...
Soapbox It's The Port I've Dreamed Of, But Can Switch Deliver The Batman We Need?
Rocksteady? We'll see
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, basic Batfan Gavin considers if Switch can handle this much Arkham... Fair warning, DC fans. I'm the quintessential '80s kid for whom Keaton, the Burton Batmobile, and Elfman...
Feature The 15 Best Zelda Bosses, Ranked
Update: Now featuring some of TOTK's best
Note: there is specific mention of two Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom bosses in the following list. Only read on if you have finished the main game or are not concerned about avoiding spoilers! We must admit: Zelda rankings tend to look a little samey, perhaps with a few spicy changes based on the person. But...
"To some extent, all of the characters in the game reflect the theme"
Nintendo's 2023 started off with a bang. Fire Emblem Engage launched in January and brought the series back to its combat-focused roots, forgoing the relationship-sim elements that had worked so well in its predecessor, Three Houses, for a game where the action came thick and...
Feature A Kou Shibusawa Production - Changing History With Koei Tecmo's OG Strategy Studio
“The more we learn…the more it fuels our creativity”
History fans love to ask a good 'what if?' question. A completely hypothetical situation to explore how small changes could impact the course of world events. Video games that explore these kinds of questions usually fall into the grand strategy genre, putting players at the head of a...
Soapbox For This First-Timer, Summer Game Fest Felt Like A Perfect E3 Antidote
Many meetings
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, Ollie recaps his first trip to LA and Summer Game Fest... “Hey look, Katsuhiro Harada’s over there.” “Oh my God, Phil Spencer’s walking right towards us!” “Dude, was...
Soapbox The Shame Of Revisiting My Abandoned Pokémon Ranch
See you, PokéCowboy
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 the 15th anniversary of the game's release, Ethan heads back to the ranch... It’s a guilty feeling that Animal Crossing fans know all too well — the shame that comes...
Soapbox Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom's Busier Hyrule Is Making Me Miss BOTW
The call of (Breath of) the Wild
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, Ollie wants to explain why Breath of the Wild will remain his go-to open-world Zelda, despite Tears of the Kingdom's improvements... I’ve been playing The Legend...
Talking Point Is Tears Of The Kingdom The Scariest Zelda Game Ever?
The horrors of Hyrule
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is pretty darn scary. I don't mean in the same sense that Majora's Mask is unsettling for its whole run-time, and there certainly isn't a moment like that cutscene in Twilight Princess. But even now with my ridiculously overpowered, full hearts Link, Tears of the Kingdom has me on the...
Talking Point From The Sublime To The Ridiculous - Is Anybody Excited For Everybody 1-2-Switch!?
Everybody 1-2-Switch? Nah, you're alright
It's a strange thing to see Nintendo swing so wildly from one extreme to another, at least in such a short timeframe. Coming hot on the heels of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, the company has gone and quietly — very quietly — announced Everybody 1-2-Switch!, the follow-up to 2017's launch...
Soapbox Pokémon Desperately Needs A Rival, But Who's Big Enough To Take It On?
Time to steal some of Pikachu's pie
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, Lowell considers how Pokémon could do with a rival to keep it hungry, and who might be able to step up... When Pokémon Sword and Shield brought Pikachu and...
Talking Point Could Nintendo Squeeze Another Zelda Game Out Of TOTK's Open World?
Lorule love? Termina time?
Prior to release — and especially before a couple of presentations gave us a better idea of what to expect in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom — there were doubts as to exactly how different it would be from its immediate predecessor. & Kingdom. This made us chuckle. Reusing Breath of the Wild's open-world Hyrule...
Soapbox Zelda: TOTK's Shrines Are Brilliant At Making An Idiot Feel Like A Genius
I did it, mum!
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, Ollie wants to share his love for Tears of the Kingdom's shrines and the newfound freedom they afford players... I'm really not a very clever man. Okay no, that's not entirely true;...
Soapbox Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom's Incredible Opening Is One Of Nintendo's Best
Sheik it up
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 dives into that opening... Despite having been counting down the days until The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom's release over the past four years or more, nothing could have...
Soapbox Obstinate And Addictive - Playing Final Fantasy For The First Time In 2023
OG fantasy
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, Henry experiences his very first Fantasy... I admit it – I’ve never played Final Fantasy. It wasn’t on my radar as a kid, and by the time I was paying attention, it had jumped to...
Feature "What If The Celebrated Detective Was Actually A Bit Of A Bumbling Fool?"
How lockdown led to comedy-mystery 'Loco Motive'
Creating an engaging and humorous point-and-click adventure can be a hefty challenge at the best of times, but for developer Robust Games, the endeavour provided a much-needed release from the isolation that the nationwide lockdowns spawned during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Since its initial...
Talking Point What Is A 'Traditional' Zelda Game, Anyway?
And does Breath of the Wild fit the mould?
Despite the overwhelmingly positive reception to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild when it launched back in 2017, there are undoubtedly those who yearn for a return to what they deem to be a more “traditional” Zelda experience. With its open world, shrines, weapon degradation, and ‘rune’...
Anniversary Five Years Ago, Nintendo Unboxed Its Most Joyful, Harebrained Experiment
A Labo of Love
Five years ago today, Nintendo told the world to get creative and create pianos, fishing rods, and — eventually — a giant cardboard VR headset. That's right, Nintendo Labo is half a decade old, and as we look back, we're feeling a little bit fond. Debuting in April 2018, this quasi-toys-to-life creation may have essentially been...
Feature Pokémon TCG Community Engulfed In Potential Fraud Scandal
Conflicting details have been shared online
The Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG) community is knee-deep in the biggest scandal it has ever known. Over the weekend, a picture was posted on the subreddit r/PokemonTCG by user GuavaWave, along with the caption, “Saw this on a (Facebook) group.” The image depicts what appears to be an unruly amount...
Talking Point Just How Old Is Mario In The Super Mario Bros. Movie?
It's not a birthday, it's a 1-Up
Back when Mario was nothing more than an 8-bit sprite on our NES consoles, we were not all that concerned about age. After all, he's the jumpy mushroom guy, who cares how many birthdays he's seen? This is the kind of mentality that's been carried through into most of the subsequent games. Even as the character's...
Feature The Best References And Easter Eggs In The Super Mario Bros. Movie
It's-a tough one
Lots of us have already seen the long-awaited The Super Mario Bros. Movie and if there is one thing to take away from our initial viewing, it's that this thing is absolutely jam-packed with Yoshi Easter eggs and references. We sort of knew that this was going to be the case. Each trailer gave us a taste of what was to come, but...
