Tag: Hands On
Preview Tomb Raider: Legacy Of Atlantis Sees An "Unfettered" Lara Put The Survivor Era Behind Her
"It’s a blue sky horizon ahead of her"
The Tomb Raider series is one of the longest-lasting in the video game industry, going all the way back to 1996. It has graced many different platforms, including Nintendo ones. And with the increased power of the Switch 2, lots of others are coming over too, including the recently released Rise of the Tomb...
Preview Yep, Rhythm Paradise Groove Is Another Rhythm Heaven Game (Good)
Paradissonant
To some, the concept of Rhythm Paradise (or Rhythm Heaven as it likes to be called) is a bit of a hard sell. It’s a rhythm game with the most simplistic controls imaginable, often just a single button, coupled with some simple animations to go along with it. I don’t blame anyone for being a bit sceptical, to be honest, and in...
Hands On 'Xenoblade Chronicles' On Switch 2 Is A Nice Improvement Over 'X'
"Coming through!"
When I first booted up the Switch 2 Edition of Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition, something almost immediately felt very wrong. The visuals, while certainly crisp, were upscaled in a way that meant almost all textures had this sort of blurry, smeary effect, especially environmental details, but also within character faces...
We've played Playtonic's new kart racer, and here's why you should be excited
The Mario Kart series has evolved in some truly remarkable ways over the past few decades, but I feel little shame in stating that the 1992 original remains one of my personal favourites (I'm odd like that; I'd pick the original F-Zero and Star Fox over later iterations,...
Hands On Rayman Legends Retold - Somehow, Legends Returned, But...Why?
"We wanted to be the foundation for the future"
I have played through Rayman Legends four times in my life. I got it on PS Vita at launch back in 2013 and loved it. I played the Definitive Edition on Switch when that launched in 2017 and loved it. I went back to the original on Wii U when I finally got my hands on the system in 2022 and loved it. I...
Preview Star Fox (2026) - Just A Remake, But What A Remake
Nothing's wrong with the G-Diffuser
I grew up on Star Fox and Star Fox 64 (or Starwing and Lylat Wars as they liked to be called in Europe), but it’s safe to say that my initial response to the reveal of Star Fox (2026) was…mixed. I’m still not convinced it’s going to set the gaming world on fire, but having now played the game after being...
Hands On Pokémon-Inspired Switch Hopeful 'Petal Runner' Stole The Show At BitSummit
Gotta cleanse 'em all!
It’s hard to stand out at BitSummit, Kyoto’s yearly indie games festival, especially on the third floor where the Nintendo Indie World and Sony booths dominate much of the real estate. But despite taking up a tiny slice of space and running on a single monitor with little adornment, Petal Runner stood out more than most...
Hands On The Classic Zelda Formula Is In Safe Hands With 'The Adventures Of Elliot'
Missing Link
The "classic" Zelda format has been on hiatus for a little while now. Echoes of Wisdom certainly tapped into a nostalgic vibe, but for a new top-down Zelda, you've got to go all the way back to 2013's A Link Between Worlds to get your typical set-up of unlockable dungeons, Sage collecting, and puzzles with clearly-designed solutions...
Preview Indy's Still In Whip-Cracking Shape As MachineGames Squeezes Mileage From Switch 2
Indy world
Despite being a huge fan of the Indiana Jones film trilogy (what a relief that they stopped after three and never made another Indy film again), I missed The Great Circle when it first launched on Xbox in 2024 and then on PS5 in 2025. So yes, I was more than a little excited when Bethesda and MachineGames popped up at last year's Gamescom...
Hands On Is Final Fantasy VII Rebirth's Switch 2 Port The Most Ambitious Yet?
Grin and Barret
I'm in a slightly strange camp when it comes to Final Fantasy VII, though I'd wager it's one that at least some of you will be part of too. You see, Remake's Switch 2 port was my first time playing this story — remade or otherwise. I know everything there is to know about the original FFVII (yes, even that bit), but at no point...
When the Switch 2's screen isn't enough
A few years back, we took a look at Viture's XR glasses – a pair of specs that, to the untrained eye, looked like sunglasses but were, in fact, akin to wearing a large-format display on your face. We came away pleasantly surprised, despite the absurdity of it all, so when Viture got in touch to inform us...
Preview 'Yoshi And The Mysterious Book' Is More Than Just A Pretty Face
Goodbye, Mr. E
I thought I knew what to expect from Yoshi and the Mysterious Book when Nintendo invited me to a recent hands-on preview ahead of the game's launch next month. I had played a good chunk of Crafted World and Woolly World (still waiting on that Switch port, Nintendo) in years gone by, and the trailers for the latest adventure had clued...
"people forget we’re a relatively small indie team"
Yooka-Replaylee is a great reimagining of the enjoyable yet flawed 2017 original, yet for many the lack of a 60fps performance mode on Switch 2 was disappointing. Well, the good news is that it's finally here! After m
Preview SNES RPG Meets Celtic Tradition - Can 'Forge Of The Fae' Stand Out In The Pixel-Art Crowd?
What's the craic?
I’ve become a little wary of the plethora of gorgeous retro pixel-art RPGs that keep popping up in recent years. I’m talking about the games that are inspired by classics such as Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy, and EarthBound, or sell themselves as spiritual successors. These often look the part, sucking me in with stunning...
"Game systems help you understand the real world"
“What's the mindspace of someone that is trying to rebuild from scratch, away from all her friends? What is that mindspace like? Is she really healthy or happy? What leads her to do that?” Those are the questions Isadora Sophia, lead coder and writer on Neverway, an unsettling horror RPG with...
Hands On Pokémon Champions Promises Top-Tier Battling, But At What Cost?
Put your money where your Meowth is
From the moment that it was revealed, I knew Pokémon Champions was going to be a tough sell for fans like me. You see, the battling has always been my least favourite part of the series — I'm more of a "catch 'em all" than "be the very best, like no one ever was" kinda guy — so seeing a game that promised to...
First Impressions The Diary Of A First-Time 'Tomodachi Life' Player - Am I Living The Dream?
Diary of an Omniscient kid
Dear Diary, I'm not sure if I'm Living the Dream just yet. You see, I don’t think Helga likes me. Not “me” me, but Mii. When I dragged my Nintendo-ified facsimile next to this nice-seeming old lady in the new Tomodachi Life, they greeted each other pleasantly. Helga isn’t anyone I know in real life — I’ve...
Hands On Nintendo's My Mario Toy Series Is Cute, But Offers Mixed Value For Your Little Ones
Wood you pay over £100?
I don’t think anyone was that surprised when Nintendo recently brought its My Mario line of children’s toys to Western markets. Mario’s huge in most corners of the world, and if the big N wants to instil brand awareness and loyalty at a young age, this is the way to do it. Nintendo UK kindly sent over a selection of...
Hands On Xenoblade Chronicles X & Mira Are Even More Magnificent On Switch 2
Update: Now with additional handheld impressions
Sometimes, I don't realise how much I'm missing out on something until it's right in front of me. That's not to say I never wanted or expected a 60fps upgrade for Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition — it was apparently right there in the code, after all — but I've already put the time in...
Feature Nintendo's New App Reminds Me Of A Universal Truth: It Feels Good To Squash Mario's Face
The nose to the right, the eyes to the left
Hello, Mario! launches today on Switch eShop and phones in the West alongside other My Mario products, a new line from Nintendo specifically focused on infants and young children. This free app came out in Japan in August last year, so we're republishing Jim's impressions of the cute little face-tugger...
Hands On Does Hollow Knight's Free Upgrade Make A Difference On Switch 2?
Absolutely Radiant
"Oh no, not again..." I say as I boot up Hollow Knight - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, "Am I about to play through this game for a third time?" I didn't really need much to entice me back into the world of Hallownest, but after downloading the free upgrade within hours of it releasing, I somehow lost three hours of my life going...
Hands On Espresso Pro 15 - A Portable 4K Monitor For Switch 2, But With A Catch
In the dock
While the Switch and Switch 2 are portable systems that come with their own built-in screens, I've often been drawn to pairing Nintendo's hybrid consoles with portable monitors when I'm on the road and away from my TV. One of my favourite choices for the original Switch is the Espresso V2, a premium 1080p screen which doesn't even need...
Preview Metroid Prime 4: Beyond Is Great, But I Want To Kill One Of Its Characters
Feisty one, you are
I recently got to go hands-on with the Switch 2 Edition of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, and not just to play that opening section that everyone and their mum has played at this point. No, I got to play over an hour of one of the game’s earlier parts proper, once Samus has appropriately lost all her abilities because the plot...
Feature Zelda, Layton, Mega Man - 10 Games We Played At TGS 2025 Coming To Switch 1 & 2
Evil Residents, Stories of Monster Hunters, Quests for Dragons, and more!
With the release of Switch 2, fans of their handheld hybrids will be relieved to hear that, compared to last year, there were many more Nintendo games to play at the Tokyo Game Show. This time around, the massive displays put up by the likes of Capcom and Square Enix had a...
Hands On Resident Evil Requiem Switch 2 Footage - A Surprisingly Tense Port
Spooky fun in the palms of your hands
[video: warned: It's Resident Evil, so there are some grisly, head-bitey bits in this video After so many years of performance issues on the original Switch, I haven’t quite gotten used to the fact that most games on Switch 2 hit a stable 60fps and that modern third-party blockbusters run on it well. As such,...
Preview Pokémon Legends: Z-A's Combat Shines Brightly, But Its Visuals Are Still Dull
Too zazzy?
It’s no secret that I’ve not been the biggest hype-monster when it comes to Pokémon Legends: Z-A. I’m not big on the idea of an open game being restricted to just a city, and the combat, whilst intriguing, left me apprehensive for how it would be executed. Well, I got the chance to go and play the game on Switch 2 in the Eiffel...
Preview Sakurai's Kirby Air Riders Is A Kaleidoscopic Adrenaline Rush
Watch out, Mario Kart World
Kirby has the ability to put everyone in a good mood, right? I mean, I've been in a lovely mood thanks to the pink puffball (and Nintendo), as I was lucky enough to go hands-on with the upcoming racer Kirby Air Riders for the Nintendo Switch 2 at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany. As a surprising sequel to Kirby Air Ride on...
I got loyalty (& mech pilot skills) inside my DNA
When Nintendo Life reviewed the original Daemon X Machina back in 2019, Chris Scullion called it "a solid mech action game that controls well and gives the player a generous helping of customisation options." However, he noted that mission structure, performance, and overall story were lacking, which...
First Impressions Pokémon Legends: Z-A Is An Attempt To Catch The Hardcore Again
Smooth sailing on Switch 2
Pokémon Legends: Arceus isn’t a perfect game by any means, but that didn't stop it from syphoning all of my free time when it launched back in 2022. This was the first time in a while where I truly felt the desire to “catch 'em all”. While Arceus still borrowed a lot from the mainline games, it did enough to make...
Hands On Forget The Name, Square Enix's New Action RPG Is A Lovely HD-2D Take On SNES-Era Zelda
A Link to the Millennium
Two of my favourite games growing up were The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and Secret of Mana. Lush green worlds, curious — and sometimes cute — enemies, and fluid action combat for the time; as someone who had largely only played turn-based RPGs for the first eight years of their life, the SNES era of action RPGs...
Preview Donkey Kong Bananza - DK's Getting His Own Odyssey, And It's A Helluva Trip
Gotta respect the Rambition
Nintendo has a real knack for testing my attention span. I felt it in the subtask-filled Hyrule of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, but, far more importantly for this preview, it's Super Mario Odyssey that most effectively bombarded me with distractions. Even a simple 'Walk to that giant building in New Donk...
Video "It's Actually...Really Good" - Our Hot 'Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour' Preview Take
"You've just gotta, like, tippy-tap it in"
On a recent trip to Nintendo's London HQ, our lovely video producer Alex-from-Nintendo-Life Olney was chained up in Nintendo UK's dungeon seated in a comfortable room and given a few hours to tinker with a Switch 2 and the platform holder's launch-day offerings, Mario Kart World and Nintendo Switch 2...
Preview Mario Kart World's True Genius Is Its Movement, Not Its World
Moo-ve it on out, girl
It’s not much of a claim to fame to say you’ve played Mario Kart World at this point. After countless public preview events, the number of people lucky enough to have had a pop must at least be in the tens of thousands. But I’m special. I’m special because I got to play it for about four or five hours solid. I had a...
First Impressions We've Played Three SEGA Games On Switch 2
Yakuza 0! RAIDOU Remastered! Puyo Puyo Tetris 2S!
Sega has positioned itself as a staunch early supporter of the Switch 2, offering up three key titles on day one and three more to follow later on. While we've yet to experience the full lineup, Sega invited us to check out a trio of launch-period titles in what marked our first extended experience...
Feature 7 Switch Games We Played At PAX East 2025 - Here's What We Thought
Plenty of new Switch (2) offerings
PAX East 2025 just finished up this past weekend, and Nintendo Life was there sampling lots of juicy upcoming Switch releases. Yes, there's plenty to look forward to with the old Switch, even as the new Switch looms in the distance. So we're sharing our hands-on impressions of some of the games we had a chance to...
Hands On Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound - A Slick, Bloody Return To The Series' 2D Roots
Slice 'n' dice
It’s been a long time since we were last graced with a proper 2D Ninja Gaiden game, so you can imagine our shock when Dotemu revealed Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, a brand-new side-scrolling action title from Blasphemous developer The Game Kitchen, currently scheduled to launch in Summer 2025. We recently went hands-on with the game in...
Hands On Capcom Fighting Collection 2 - Come For The Power Stone, Stay For The Project Justice
How ye doing, Ken?
Capcom's first fighting game collection, cleverly entitled Capcom Fighting Collection, saw a splendid assemblage of arcade classics put together by the Japanese giant, covering some of its very best coin-op releases of the 1990s and early noughties. In our 8/10 review, we called it the "best Darkstalkers collection around,"...
First Impressions Nintendo Switch 2 'Wows' Most When You Go Back To Your Old Switch
2 takes
After years of speculation, Switch 2 finally exists. It’s got a launch date, a price, a bunch of accessories, and — most importantly — a lineup of games large and small, all showcased in an hour-long Direct which answered a lot of questions. But what does the system actually feel like in the hands? How does that screen compare to the...
Hands On 'Drag x Drive' Is Fantastic, But Is It Destined To Be Switch 2's ARMS?
Tokyo Drag
Here's a tip for you: don't just dive into Drag x Drive mid-match. After being thrust into a game in progress late in the day during our Nintendo Switch 2 experience, this Mouse Mode-controlled game felt like learning a completely new language. Instead of deftly throwing the ball and shooting hoops in what is essentially Rocket League...
Hands On Finally, Super Mario Party Jamboree Lets Me Scream At Bowser
Say it loud
We were completely amused at the reveal of the Switch 2 Camera. It felt like a very Nintendo thing to couple with the new GameChat button on the Switch 2 Joy-Con, but also something that’s 20 years too late. The EyeToy and Kinect have been and gone over the past two decades with mixed results. So what will make Nintendo’s camera...
Hands On Should 'Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour' Be A Pack-In Game?
Tech tours
Nintendo is no stranger to the concept of a launch day pack-in game. The Wii famously included Wii Sports, the DS came with an impressive demo of Metroid Prime Hunters, and even the Game Boy was bundled with Tetris in North America, forever changing the market. Which is why we’re all puzzled as to why Nintendo is charging for their new...
Hands On I Didn't Think I Could Love BOTW Or TOTK More, Then I Played Them On Switch 2
HD-hyah!
Folks, I am not a graphics or frame rate snob. I grew up playing 50hz games and my main system of choice is an eight-year-old tablet. I love style and art over visuals, and sometimes I even tolerate rough framerates. I might be a little more unforgiving in 2025 than I was a few years ago, but look, I want good games, good experiences, not...
Hands On Cyberpunk 2077 Might Pull A 'Witcher 3' On Switch 2
Breathtaking?
It's funny, even though CD Projekt Red has given the Switch some love in the past, it's safe to say almost none of us had Cyberpunk 2077 on our Switch 2 bingo cards, let alone the 'Ultimate Edition'. That's not to say we don't want it, quite the opposite! We just never honestly envisioned a world where this graphically taxing shooter...
Hands On Rock Surfing And Boulder Bashing - 'Donkey Kong Bananza' Is Brilliantly Bonkers
Bananza split
Donkey Kong's new design is perfect. Nope, we're not changing our stance here, and Donkey Kong Bananza solidified it even more. A new 3D Mario isn't here to usher in a new generation of platformers for the new console, but we have plenty of fuzzy monkeys and apes to keep us company over the summer months as we bask in the Switch 2...
Hands On Metroid Prime 4: Beyond On Switch 2 Is Staggering
Beyond expectations
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond being cross-gen was inevitable. After a near two-decade wait for a sequel and a handful of delays, including a return from series developer Retro Studios, the game needed to land with a bang. And boy did it when it re-emerged during the June 2024 Nintendo Direct. We've seen it twice since, and each time...
Hands On Mario Kart World Brings The Utter Chaos In Knockout Mode
The World Wide Road
I beat Nintendo of America at Mario Kart World's new Knockout Tour. Okay, that's a tiny bit of a humblebrag, but Knockout Tour is the mode that has finally convinced me that the "99" formula is fun. I know, I'm sorry, you were all right. Next to Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, Mario Kart World was the game everyone wanted to play. Of...
Hands On Absolum - Dead Cells Meets Streets Of Rage 4 In An Effortlessly Stylish 'Rogue 'Em Up'
Just one more run
What would you get if you crossed Dead Cells with Streets of Rage 4? Well, to save you the hassle, we’ll tell you. You get Absolum, a ‘Rogue ‘em Up’ from developers Dotemu, Guard Crush Games, and Supamonks which we recently got the chance to play via a streamed preview build. It takes the slick, stylish, and accessible...
Hands On Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition - A Decade On, Mira's Still Got It
A Skell of a good time
It's been absolutely ages since we last set foot on Mira, the planet on which humanity seeks refuge from an alien threat in Xenoblade Chronicles X. It was perhaps only a year or two after the game first released on Wii U, in fact, that we last played it, and our overriding memory (besides the fact that it's incredible) is of...
Preview Mario & Luigi: Brothership - A Couple Of Concerns, But Otherwise Looking Shipshape
Ahoy-hoy!
We've already had a fairly extensive hands-on with the latest in the long-running Mario & Luigi RPG series and, coming off the back of that two-level taster, we've been chomping at the bit to get our hands on the full thing. Luckily, having now taken in everything the first 10 hours or thereabouts has to offer, we're still full to the...
Hands On Mario & Luigi: Brothership Shows The Bros. Are Back In Classic RPG Form
Dial L for Luigi
You would be forgiven for assuming the Mario & Luigi series was no more. It has been nine years since Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam was released as the last new entry. Since then, Superstar Saga and Bowser's Inside Story received 3DS remakes, but then developer AlphaDream shut up shop in 2019 after
