The ’80s was a decade that modern media seems to be overly enamoured with, to the point that it becomes almost tiresome to see yet another game or movie that makes its ’80s influence a big selling point. Often, these works merely pander to nostalgia, going after the low-hanging fruit in an effort to widen the demographic that much more. Katana Zero is not one of those games. This is an excellently paced, continuously exciting, and endlessly stylish experience that proudly flaunts its ’80s trappings without letting them overshadow the excellent action sequences and intriguing narrative, delivering yet another must-have experience for your Switch.
Katana Zero follows the story of a samurai assassin with a mysterious and fragmented past, employed by a shadowy organization that pays the assassin not with money, but dosages of a drug called Chronos, injected straight into the veins just prior to starting another assignment. Initially, things are normal as you follow a grim but consistent routine in which you’re administered the drug, issued a target, and kill the mark and everyone that gets in your way. Soon, however, new players enter the plot with ties to the samurai’s past, specifically to a Vietnam-esque war he took part in, and your perception of what’s real and what isn’t becomes diluted as the drug and your withdrawals from it make it increasingly difficult to separate the past from the future.
The plot is exceedingly well-paced and genuinely surprising at many turns, and this is due in no small part to the active role that you take in just about every cutscene. When a character is talking to you, a small bar quickly fills up either as they talk or just after, and you have to choose a response in that limited window of time. If you’d like, you can usually cut characters off mid-sentence, but every response will have a bearing on how that character views you and ultimately change the direction of the plot. For example, an early scene sees you stuck talking to a secretary on the way to a mark and you can either be nice to her or stonewall her and pursue the mark single-mindedly. However, a later scene during your escape involves her once more, and depending on how you treated her, the level unfolds differently.
It’s rather impressive just how powerful the emotion behind the narrative can be, too, which stands as a testament to both the excellent writing and animation. Encounters with homeless veterans, little girls, innocent bystanders, and sadistic lunatics ensure that your character is given a wide range of experiences in which he can be the bad guy or the good guy, and given your active role in how he responds, the consequences can be surprisingly hard-hitting. We especially appreciated how often the game manages to turn a seemingly predictable encounter on its head, or how it artfully selects certain scenes in which you’re not given a choice and are forced to do terrible things.
Though the gripping narrative is an enormous part of the overall experience, much of your playtime will be spent in side-scrolling action portions that end up feeling like a cross between the style of The Messenger and Hotline Miami. Every level is comprised of multiple screens, and before you can move onto the next screen, you have to kill everyone on the current one. You do this by doling out cold vengeance with the edge of your blade, but your samurai is far from invincible; he’s the very definition of a glass cannon. In just about every case, if you get hit once, you have to do the entire screen over again from the start, constantly trying new tactics and approaches until you get it perfect.
Given the number of enemies you face, and the fact that most of them are armed to the teeth, this single-minded focus on perfection would seem to be too tall an order, but it’s perfectly balanced out by the Chronos pumping through the samurai’s veins. A big plot point throughout the narrative is how Chronos grants its users the gift of precognition, so every level you’re playing is actually the samurai gazing forward through time and planning out the perfect murder route through scores of guards. Bearing this in mind, you can slow down time at any point by holding down either of the left triggers, bringing things to half speed and giving you a lot more breathing room to block bullets with your blade, dodge roll past enemies, and the order in which you dispatch a room full of goons. This ability is limited by a bar that slowly refills when not in use, resulting in each stage being an exhilarating dance of jumping between slowed time and normal speed as you carve a bloody path through each stage.
Naturally, more enemy varieties and stage hazards are introduced as you move forward in the narrative, and though your samurai’s ability set remains static throughout, it’s quite satisfying coming to grips with the controls and becoming capable of surviving incredibly difficult enemy encounters. A big part of your survival is dependent on throwable weapons and items scattered throughout each stage – such as lamps and firebomb grenades – and as you encounter new level designs and enemies, you get a much better feel for when to throw an item and who to throw it at, along with the most efficient places to slow time. Despite the relatively simple control set and straightforward combat encounters, Katana Zero proves itself time and again to be on the bleeding edge of style and tight design; every level is a heart-pounding rollercoaster of action and thrills, punctuated perfectly by well-directed cutscenes that keep the plot moving forward at a brisk pace.
It bears mentioning, too, that there are a handful of immaculately designed boss encounters at key points in the narrative that prove (unsurprisingly) to be among the most memorable segments of Katana Zero. Just like the rest of the game, these battles demand no less than absolute perfection but having to endure lengthy brawls against foes with diverse, multi-phase movesets and a comparatively deep health reserve can be a harrowing experience, not to mention the story implications that these duels often carry. While it may be that we would’ve loved to have seen a few more boss fights in Katana Zero, every boss encounter here is meaningful, challenging, and sure to motivate you to replay long after the credits have rolled.
We’d be remiss to not mention the audiovisual presentation of Katana Zero, which stands among the most stylish and memorable that we’ve seen yet in a sidescroller of this ilk. Katana Zero is heavily inspired by ’80s imagery, with neat touches like how the screen believably warps and jitters like an old VHS tape at key moments, or how ‘PLAY’ appears at the top of the screen when the game ‘replays’ every successful clear of a screen. On top of this, the sprite work is second to none, featuring neon-infused, detailed and colourful sprites that convey a surprising amount of emotion and animation considering the limited canvas being worked with. And though the environments you fight through are generally all summed up as being dimly-lit hallways, we appreciated the ways in which levels shook up the visual imagery, with standout sequences such as a contract in which you stalk your way through a lively nightclub, or a job that has you cutting your way through various sets at a movie studio. There’s even a minecart level, for all you Donkey Kong Country enthusiasts out there.
Katana Zero also features an absolutely stellar collection of synthwave tracks that all but steal the show in places, infusing the razor-sharp action on screen with electrifying and pulse-pounding beats that perfectly match the vibe. It’s not too often that you hear a soundtrack that’s both so focused and so willing to experiment with obscure genres, and we appreciated the composers’ willingness to go to new places with this soundtrack instead of falling back on the easy and cliché chiptune music that dominates the indie scene these days. And though much of the music is fitting to the action-heavy hallway fights, there are plenty of slower tracks that match the more emotional or intense story moments. Much like how the samurai pops in a new cassette and dons his headphones at the outset of every level, we’d encourage you to play this one with some earbuds in; it’s well worth it.
It bears mentioning that Katana Zero, while stellar in its action and style, does clock in at a relatively low runtime; this is about a ten-hour game on the high side. However, we’d argue that this is something that actually works to the game’s favour; every level is so expertly laid out and carefully crafted that the high quality remains consistent throughout, to the extent that there aren’t any notable dips or lacklustre sections to be seen. Katana Zero is a game that’s all killer and no filler, and given the focus that many contemporary games place on padding out the experience to be as long as possible, it’s refreshing to play through a game that gets right to the point and knows when to quit while it’s ahead.
Conclusion
If you haven’t gleaned it already from reading up to this point, Katana Zero is unmistakably a game that you need to add to your Switch collection at earliest opportunity. The tough, hair-raising action sequences, gripping narrative, and impeccable sense of style elevate Katana Zero high above many of its peers, cementing it as a modern classic that sets new standards for what a side scrolling action game can be. This is the kind of game that you’ll blindly play through once and soon find yourself wishing you could have that first-time experience again; there’s nothing else quite like it on the eShop and we can’t recommend it enough.
Hold on to your Diddy Kong Nintendo hats, folks. It’s Retro Studios speculation time!
Early this morning, we shared with you a tweet from ex-Nintendo of America President, Reggie Fils-Aimé. The tweet gave us a look at some of his retirement gifts, which included a Virtual Boy, a lovely notebook, and a giant plastic bottom (yeah, seriously) but it also featured a gorgeous piece of artwork from Retro Studios.
You can see it for yourself in the image above – it features Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong and Dixie Kong, Samus and several Metroids, and something else conveniently obscured by a Mario statue. Now, most of these characters are from Nintendo games worked on by Retro Studios – you probably know that Retro developed games like Metroid Prime and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze – but what is this ‘something else’?
A robotic-looking hand is clearly visible, although it doesn’t look quite like anything we’ve seen in previous games, and if you look really closely underneath Samus’ blaster, you can also see what appears to be some kind of robot mask. Perhaps it’s someone wearing a VR visor? In all honesty, we’ve no idea what it is, but it certainly seems like it could be something that hasn’t been announced just yet.
Excuse us while we get out our finest YouTuber red circles…
Things get even more interesting, though, when you realise the significance of the tweet below. Enrique Rivera is a concept artist at Retro Studios, and here he is, casually winking at the image being teased to the world. It’s got to be something new, hasn’t it?
Of course, we know that Retro Studios has now taken over the development of Metroid Prime 4, but we’re likely not alone in thinking that the team must have been working on something else over the years, too.
Is this it? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
Unless you happen to be some kind of big shot with more money lying around than a ten-year-old Animal Crossing save file, you’ve probably never realised that the Switch actually has a limit on how many games can be downloaded at the same time.
Apparently, if you try to download more than 64 games at any one time, the Switch will show an error screen and refuse to download more until others have completed. To be more precise, this limit applies to just the downloading of games (as far as we can tell) and doesn’t relate to purchases, meaning that it’s actually possible to stumble across this fact by redownloading all of your already-purchased games in one go.
In all honesty, we had no idea that this limit was even in place, but Reddit user, u/NMe84, has shared a story demonstrating how the bizarre situation came about.
My SD card was full so I ordered a new one. Sadly I didn’t have a card reader lying around to copy my games to the new card so I figured “what the heck, I’ll just download my games again.” Big mistake, as that meant having to open every individual game and tell it to redownload. The new 8.0 feature wasn’t much better, sadly.
Anyway, once I tried to get my 65th game to start downloading I got the error in the screenshot. There is apparently a hard limit of 64 games that you can queue for download at any given time.
According to Nintendo, the majority of error codes beginning with ‘2137’ are related to download issues, but specific details are rarely given for the exact cause. Either way, as u/NMe84 notes in further comments, any Switch owners with large game libraries will probably want to transfer games from one SD card to another with a card reader, rather than trying to redownload everything at once.
So, there you have it. Now you can impress your friends with an incredibly obscure Nintendo Switch fact. Never say we don’t do anything for you!
CIRCLE Entertainment and Something Classic Games have revealed that Shadows of Adam will be bringing its stylish take on the JRPG formula to Switch early next month. You’ll be able to get your hands on it from 3rd May.
The game features multiple playable characters, fast-paced battles, SNES-style graphics, a soundtrack made up of more than 40 tracks, and the convenience to save anywhere you like. A press release for the game says that, whether playing on the TV or in handheld mode, its “glorious pixels will immerse you in the adventure and its memorable scenes”. Ooer.
Speaking of the adventure, here’s a quick blurb:
Tucked away from the outside world by the impenetrable haze of the Misty Woods, the village of Adam has mostly lived in peace since the days of the Wraith War. The dark power that fueled that war has vanished, but darkness is descending once more and Adam’s legendary hero, Orazio, is no more.
10 years ago he left without explanation and never returned, leaving his son and adopted daughter to wrestle with the dark secret he left behind—a secret that must now be revealed if the children hope to save both Adam and their departed father, though its revelation could unhinge the world.
This Nintendo Switch release is the first time that Shadows of Adam has launched on console. It’s also a ‘complete’ edition, with previous DLC, ‘Guild of the Artificers,’ included.
You’ll be able to pre-purchase the game from the Nintendo eShop on 26th April with a 10% discount, making the price $13.49 / €13,49; it’ll then launch on 3rd May for $14.99 / €14.99.
What do you think? Are you interested in giving it a go? Share your impressions with us in the comments.
The latest Nintendo Download update for Europe has arrived, and it’s bringing new games galore to the eShop in your region.As always, be sure to drop a vote in our poll and comment down below with your potential picks for the week. Enjoy!
Switch Retail – New Releases
FINAL FANTASY X/X-2 HD Remaster(SQUARE ENIX, €49.99 / £44.99) – FINAL FANTASY X/X-2 HD Remaster brings the timeless classics forward to the current generation of fans, old and new alike. Bonus: Includes X-2 Pack, Credits & Bonus Audio Pack
My Time at Portia(Team17, €29.99 / £24.99) – Restore your Pa’s neglected workshop to its former glory by fulfilling commissions, growing crops, raising animals, and befriending the quirky inhabitants of this charming post-apocalyptic land! – Read our My Time at Portia review
Trüberbrook(Headup Games, €26.99 / £22.49) – Trüberbrook is a thrilling mystery-sci-fi adventure game. Enjoy an adventurous vacation to a 1960’s parallel universe! A sci-fi mystery adventure game with handmade scenery.
Our World Is Ended.(Pqube, €49.99 / £39.99) – A world between reality and fiction. Explore a faithful recreation of Asakusa, one of Tokyo’s most iconic districts as elements from the game worlds will slowly manifest themselves and threaten to destroy the entire district itself…
Switch eShop – New Releases
Cuphead(StudioMDHR, €19.99 / £16.99) – Cuphead is a classic run and gun action game heavily focused on boss battles. Inspired by cartoons of the 1930s, the visuals and audio are painstakingly created with the same techniques of the era: traditional hand drawn cell animation, watercolour backgrounds, and original jazz recordings. – Read our Cuphead review
Katana ZERO(Devolver Digital, €14.99 / £13.49) – Katana ZERO is a stylish neo-noir, action-platformer featuring breakneck action and instant-death combat. Slash, dash, and manipulate time to unravel your past in a beautifully brutal acrobatic display.
Path to Mnemosyne(Hidden Trap, €9.99 / £8.99) – Immerse yourself into Path to Mnemosyne, a hypnotic adventure created within an infinite zoom! Walk the path, explore your mind and recover all lost memories by solving dozens of imaginative puzzles.
Tanks Meet Zombies(TitanForgedGames, €9.99 / £8.99) – Dress up as an Assault Armored Vehicle and prepare yourself to speed date, we mean destroy, hordes and hordes of undead humans, bears, spiders and more! Join with up to 3 more friends and get ready to wreak havoc, it will be a BLAST!
Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Champions(Playfusion, Free) – We are Sigmar’s Champions! Thousands of players are heralding the new era – the Age of Sigmar, in this epic Warhammer Trading Card Game born from magic and fantasy
ACA NEOGEO SAMURAI SHODOWN V SPECIAL(HAMSTER, €6.99 / £6.29) – “SAMURAI SHODOWN V SPECIAL” is a fighting game released by SNK in 2004. Bringing together 28 of your favourite characters, including past bosses! The familiar “Rage Explosion”, “Concentration One Gauge”, and “Fatal Flash” from previous titles in the series are still here, and you can’t miss this chance to take down your opponents in one hit with flashy “Desperate Techniques”!
Arcade Classics Anniversary Collection(KONAMI, €19.99 / £15.99) – KONAMI starts its 50th anniversary celebration with this first instalment of the Anniversary Collection series of the all-time classics! This collection includes 8 arcade masterpieces of the 80s, from Nemesis to Haunted Castle, but also a bonus eBook packed with new information about the titles, including interviews with the development staff, behind-the-scenes insights, and sketches and design documents never before revealed to the public!
Cafeteria Nipponica(Kairosoft, €10.00 / £8.99) – Don your chef’s hat and hit the kitchen! You’re the chef de cuisine in this scrumptious simulation that’ll have you coming back for seconds… and more! Run your own restaurant, find ingredients, research recipes and spice up your culinary repertoire! Only you can bring your establishment sweet success!
Croc’s World 2(Sprakelsoft, €4.99 / £4.49) – “Croc´s World 2” is a really nice jump’n’run with 60 incredible levels and many challenging enemies!
DayD: Through Time(8Floor Games, €8.79 / £7.89) – Brian is a gifted and eccentric scientist who has created a time machine and travelled into the past! But it turns out you can’t expect a careless stroll through the lands of the dinosaurs. His former friend, Doctor Terrible, is already here! He created a time machine before Brian and has already managed to install game machines in the dinosaur era! Can you stop Doctor Terrible? This adventure is full of mysteries, adventure, and of course, journeys through time!
Everybody, Hearts!(CELLNAVI, €5.00 / £5.00) – ‘Everybody, Hearts!’ is a Nintendo Switch exclusive card game that is now available to download. Experience playing the AI via SINGLEPLAYER mode, have a maximum of 5 players in the online MULTIPLAYER mode, or enjoy LOCAL NETWORK PLAY, accommodating up to 4 players.
Hell is Other Demons(Kongregate, €9.99 / £8.99) – A Fast-Paced Bullet Hell Platformer with Big Pixels. This arcade shooter is driven by quick, creative gameplay that rewards fast decision making and faster reflexes.
Risky Rescue(Forever Entertainment, €4.49 / £4.04) – At each level save people standing on the hard to reach places and become a hero! Unlock helicopters with different parameters and complete over 50 demanding levels. If that’s not enough try yourself in endless mode, where your skills can compete with the timer. Use your reflexes but be gentle, there is no place for mistakes in a Risky Rescue!
Secrets of Magic – The Book of Spells(Joindots, €9.99 / £8.99) – An evil witch has kidnapped Victoria’s parents and now it’s up to her going after them. But first Victoria needs to learn the fine art of magic. Dive into a magical world of witches and wizards. Travel through magical lands, relaxing music and help Victoria collect unique items along her journey to become a witch.
SlabWell: The Quest For Kaktun’s Alpaca(Undergames, €9.99 / £8.99) – Somewhere deep in the Amazon jungle, lies the finest treasure mankind has ever crafted: The Jade Alpaca. Professional thief duo Sam and Jacky head off on an adventure to recover the mythical artifact, determined to solve the riddles and overcome the challenges that have kept it safe through centuries.
Sudoku Relax(G-mode, €3.56 / £3.21) – The familiar “Sudoku” has become a healing game. A total of 300 questions on EASY, NORMAL and HARD difficulty have been recorded. You will be healed with game effects and background music while you’re undressing.
The Padre(Feardemic, €19.99 / £17.99) – Unravel the mystery of a missing cardinal by solving the riddle of a demonic power you did not expect to come upon. Face your inner demons and fight the power of evil while it seduces your soul. Play as the wittiest, pop-culture referencing priest in video game history and face an ultimate game over, if you make the angels cry you a river. – Read our The Padre review
The Knight & the Dragon(Na.p.s. Team, €9.99 / £8.99) – During a date with Arthur the chevalier, Princess Daphne is kidnapped by Synge the Dragon. She’ll be turned into a Lady Dragon once Synge finds all the magic Crystals! Time is running out! Do you have what it takes to rescue Daphne? Temple Tower is right ahead, go and face the Dungeon Boss
Active Soccer 2019(Gianluca Troiano, €9.99 / £8.99) – Active Soccer 2019 is an exciting top-down arcade football game providing a fast-paced arcade experience, implementing amazing playability and responsive easy-to-learn/hard-to-master controls.
Dawn of Survivors(WISTONE ENTERTAINMENT, €1.79 / £1.59) – From decaying cities to dark forests, you will fight through hordes of zombies and desperate scavengers. Find food. Build shelter. Prepare yourself. For when the sun rises, so do the dead.
Construction Machines Simulator(SimFabric, €25.19 / £22.67) – If you are a fan of construction or destruction this game is for you. Become a boss of the building company. Sit behind the wheels of multiple vehicles like excavators or cranes and expand your business. Build campsites, rental homes, office parks and more.
Iron Snout(Ratalaika Games, €4.99 / £4.99) – Once upon a time, pigs would have to build a house of bricks to keep the wolves at bay, but not anymore. In Iron Snout, its hero piggie has taken up learning martial arts and now it’s the wolves that need to keep their distance because in this bonkers button-mashing beat ’em up, bacon is off the menu for good.
Moto Rush GT(Baltoro Games, €14.99 / £13.49) – Racers, beware! Fast-paced, polished and dynamic motorbike racing now on Nintendo Switch! One of a kind game entirely playable with any control method including… Toy-Con Motorbike! (Nintendo Labo Toy-Con 01: Variety Kit).
Witch Thief(Cardboard Keep, €12.99 / £11.99) – In Witch Thief, dodge duck and weave through terrifyingly intricate patterns of magical projectiles as you seek the greatest treasure of all. The Ancient and powerful Grimoire!
You Died but a Necromancer revived you(JaimeAlvarezLosada, €7.64 / £6.79) – You Died… but a Necromancer revived you! And will keep reviving you back to their crazy tower of death until you reach the top floor and get rid of them, allowing you to finally be free…
GoatPunks(MELLIFONT SANTIAGO, €8.90 / £7.99) – GoatPunks is a multiplayer action game pitting your goat against other players in a battle to become king of the mountain. Fight through an onslaught of bombs, obstacles and each other to climb to the top of 9 uniquely themed mountains each offering distinct challenges. Once up there, stay on top of the competition for 30 hectic seconds to claim victory.
Wii U eShop – New Releases
PixelMaker Studio(Nostatic Software, €9.99 / £8.99) – PixelMaker Studio is a drawing program designed specifically for making pixel art images, animations and tile-based scenes! Using easy to use tools on your Wii U GamePad, you can design images as simple or as complex as you like. Experiment, and create characters and scenes based on your favourite classic video games, or draw straight out of your own imagination!
Switch eShop – Demos
BOXBOY! + BOXGIRL! Demo(Nintendo, Free) – The fan-favourite 2D puzzle-platformer series comes to Nintendo Switch, in BOXBOY! + BOXGIRL! Think outside the box – alone or with a friend in co-op – as you help Qbby and his pals solve tricky puzzles across 270 brainteasing stages! This free demo version allows players to try out a selection of the stages on offer in the full game, across two different modes.
Croc’s World 2 Demo(Sprakelsoft, Free) – “Croc´s World 2” is a really nice jump’n’run with 60 incredible levels and many challenging enemies!
Gabbuchi Demo(h.a.n.d, Free) – “Gabbuchi” is a curious creature that loves gobbling blocks and stuff. His favourite food is the heart cookie. In order to get it, you have to think about which blocks he can and can’t gobble. He can gobble blocks the same colour as himself. You can change his colour, too, so he can gobble different coloured blocks.
Ayakashi Koi Gikyoku Demo(DIGIMERCE, Free) – Sweet and sour dramatic forbidden love story between a human and mythical spirit. Foxes are known as a mythical spirit in Japan as the tricking humans by turning into a human being.
X-Morph: Defense Demo(EXOR Studios, Free) – You are the X-Morph – an alien species that invades Earth to harvest its resources and terraform the surface. Strategize in the build mode by carefully selecting various types of alien towers or throw yourself right into the heat of the battle. Build mazes for incoming enemies in an environment that provides exceptional planning freedom. Tear down buildings and collapse bridges to support your defence or to simply indulge in a spectacle of unprecedented destruction.
Switch eShop – Pre-Orders
Mortal Kombat 11(WB Games, €69.99 / £54.99, pre-order from 16/04/2019) – Mortal Kombat 11 is the latest instalment in the critically acclaimed franchise, providing a deeper and more personalized experience than ever before. The all-new Custom Character Variations give you unprecedented control of your fighters to make them your own. Bonus Shao Kahn DLC until 22/04/2019, 23:59 local time.
Mortal Kombat 11 Premium Edition(WB Games, €99.99 / £77.99, pre-order from 16/04/2019) – Mortal Kombat 11 is the latest instalment in the critically acclaimed franchise, providing a deeper and more personalized experience than ever before. The all-new Custom Character Variations give you unprecedented control of your fighters to make them your own. The Mortal Kombat 11 Premium Edition includes: – Main Game – Kombat Pack The Kombat Pack includes: – 6 new DLC playable characters, released over time – 7 exclusive Character Skins – 7 exclusive sets of gear Bonus Shao Kahn DLC until 22/04/2019, 23:59 local time.
Crashbots(Sometimes You, €8.99 / £8.09, pre-order from 17/04/2019) – Take control of the latest line of robots and test their fighting capabilities, agility, and endurance in various arenas.
Cytus α(Flyhigh Works, €49.99 / £44.99, pre-order from 18/04/2019) – You play by focusing on the rhythm of the music. “Notes” (circular icons) and lines represent the music, with varied movements and interactions. With the right timing you TAP, DRAG and HOLD notes to earn the best possible score, using either the touch screen or a controller. The Notes are dynamic and reflect the energy of the music; it’s a visually captivating experience.
Dig Dog(Wild Rooster, €3.49 / £2.99, pre-order from 18/04/2019) – Dig Dog is an action roguelike platformer. Dig to discover treasure, adventure and bones! Jump, dash, stomp and dig your way through a strange world inhabited by stranger creatures. Simple, expressive control scheme – Run, dig, drop, jump or dash using only the control stick and one button!
SteamWorld Quest: Hand of Gilgamech(Thunderful, €24.99 / £22.49, pre-order from 18/04/2019) – SteamWorld Quest is the roleplaying card game you’ve been waiting for! Lead a party of aspiring heroes through a beautifully hand-drawn world and intense battles using only your wits and a handful of cards. Take on whatever threat comes your way by crafting your own deck choosing from over 100 unique punch-cards!
Strike Suit Zero: Director’s Cut(Born Ready Games, €19.99 / £15.99, pre-order from 18/04/2019) – In the year 2299, an interstellar war rages on. In a bid to save Earth from destruction, you must take control of the Strike Suit – a revolutionary fighter craft with the ability to transform into a lethal suit of space armour. Immerse yourself in massive fleet battles where your dog-fighting skills will directly affect the fate of the cosmos.
Venture Kid(FDG Entertainment, €7.50 / £6.74, pre-order from 18/04/2019) – Venture Kid is an action-packed platformer that will keep surprising you with inventive level design, highly entertaining action challenges, responsive controls and a great variety of bosses.
Dragon Pinball(EnjoyUp Games, €1.97 / £1.77, pre-order from 19/04/2019) – Enjoy Dragon Pinball, a perfect reproduction of a real pinball machine, with all the graphic details and sounds. Discover all the secrets, complete all the missions and become number 1 in the world or the best among your Friends, posting your high score on the online leaderboard.
Switch eShop – Special Offers
Game Title
Price
Saving
Until
Original Price
Aragami – Shadow Edition(Merge Games)
€22.49 / £18.74
-25%
Sun 28th Apr
€29.99 / £24.99
The Long Reach(Merge Games)
€3.74 / £3.24
-75%
Sun 28th Apr
€14.99 / £12.99
Cast of the Seven Godsends(Merge Games)
€2.59 / £1.99
-80%
Sun 28th Apr
€12.99 / £9.99
The Walking Vegetables: Radical Edition(Merge Games)
€2.59 / £1.99
-80%
Sun 28th Apr
€12.99 / £9.99
Feudal Alloy(Attu Games)
€11.99 / £10.79
-20%
Mon 22nd Apr
€14.99 / £13.49
Pixel Devil and the Broken Cartridge(Black Sun Game Publishing)
€1.39 / £1.25
-86%
Thu 30th May
€9.99 / £8.99
Riddled Corpses EX(COWCAT)
€7.99 / £7.19
-20%
Mon 29th Apr
€9.99 / £8.99
Demetrios – The BIG Cynical Adventure(COWCAT)
€6.69 / £6.02
-33%
Mon 29th Apr
€9.99 / £8.99
Xenon Valkyrie+(COWCAT)
€7.49 / £6.74
-25%
Mon 29th Apr
€9.99 / £8.99
Energy Cycle(Sometimes You)
€1.01 / £0.91
-66%
Mon 29th Apr
€2.99 / £2.69
Cattails(FalconDevelopment)
€11.24 / £8.99
-25%
Mon 22nd Apr
€14.99 / £11.99
Unknown Fate(MARSLIT GAMES)
€11.24 / £10.11
-25%
Mon 29th Apr
€14.99 / £13.49
Midnight Deluxe(Ratalaika Games)
€3.34 / £3.34
-33%
Sun 28th Apr
€4.99 / £4.99
InkSplosion(Ratalaika Games)
€2.49 / £2.49
-50%
Sun 28th Apr
€4.99 / £4.99
Spiral Splatter(Sometimes You)
€1.99 / £1.79
-60%
Mon 29th Apr
€4.99 / £4.49
Save the Ninja Clan(Sometimes You)
€0.99 / £0.89
-80%
Mon 29th Apr
€4.99 / £4.49
Energy Cycle Edge(Sometimes You)
€3.49 / £3.14
-30%
Mon 29th Apr
€4.99 / £4.49
Energy Invasion(Sometimes You)
€1.49 / £1.34
-50%
Mon 29th Apr
€2.99 / £2.69
Doughlings: Arcade(HERO CONCEPT)
€4.19 / £3.77
-40%
Mon 22nd Apr
€6.99 / £6.29
Pizza Parking(I.V.O Games)
€0.99 / £0.89
-75%
Tue 30th Apr
€3.99 / £3.59
Trouserheart(Kyy Games)
€5.24 / £4.71
-25%
Mon 6th May
€6.99 / £6.29
Moorhuhn Wanted(Higgs Games)
€5.59 / £5.03
-20%
Thu 16th May
€6.99 / £6.29
Soap Dodgem(Zsolt Fabian)
€0.99 / £0.89
-50%
Thu 16th May
€1.99 / £1.79
Caveman Warriors(JanduSoft)
€5.19 / £4.67
-60%
Thu 2nd May
€12.99 / £11.69
3D MiniGolf(Joindots)
€15.99 / £14.39
-20%
Thu 2nd May
€19.99 / £17.99
3D Billiards – Pool & Snooker(Joindots)
€15.99 / £14.39
-20%
Thu 2nd May
€19.99 / £17.99
Island Flight Simulator(Joindots)
€15.99 / £14.39
-20%
Thu 2nd May
€19.99 / £17.99
Cartoon Network: Battle Crashers(GameMill)
€11.99 / £7.99
-60%
Wed 8th May
€29.99 / £19.99
Rapala Fishing Pro Series(GameMill)
€13.99 / £11.99
-60%
Wed 8th May
€34.99 / £29.99
Goosebumps The Game(GameMill)
€13.99 / £11.99
-60%
Wed 8th May
€34.99 / £29.99
Big Buck Hunter Arcade(GameMill)
€13.99 / £11.99
-60%
Wed 8th May
€34.99 / £29.99
Nickelodeon Kart Racers(GameMill)
€19.99 / £14.99
-50%
Wed 8th May
€39.99 / £29.99
Syberia 3(Microids)
€24.99 / £22.49
-50%
Wed 1st May
€49.99 / £44.99
Gear.Club Unlimited(Microids)
€19.99 / £17.99
-60%
Wed 1st May
€49.99 / £44.99
Yesterday Origins(Microids)
€9.99 / £8.99
-67%
Wed 1st May
€29.99 / £26.99
Toki(Microids)
€19.99 / £17.13
-43%
Wed 1st May
€34.99 / £29.99
The Escapists 2(Team17 Digital)
€9.99 / £9.99
-50%
Mon 29th Apr
€19.99 / £19.99
Mega Man Legacy Collection(CAPCOM Europe)
€11.24 / £8.99
-25%
Thu 9th May
€14.99 / £11.99
Mega Man 11(CAPCOM)
€23.99 / £19.99
-20%
Thu 9th May
€29.99 / £24.99
Mega Man Legacy Collection 2(CAPCOM)
€11.24 / £8.99
-25%
Thu 9th May
€14.99 / £11.99
Capcom Beat ‘Em Up Bundle(CAPCOM)
€15.99 / £12.79
-20%
Thu 9th May
€19.99 / £15.99
OKAMI HD(CAPCOM)
€14.99 / £11.99
-25%
Thu 9th May
€19.99 / £15.99
The Office Quest(11Sheep)
€2.99 / £2.74
-75%
Tue 30th Apr
€11.99 / £10.99
Timber Tennis: Versus(Crunching Koalas)
€1.49 / £1.34
-25%
Sun 28th Apr
€1.99 / £1.79
Spheroids(Eclipse Games)
€1.99 / £1.99
-75%
Mon 6th May
€7.99 / £6.99
The Mahjong Huntress(Forever Entertainment)
€0.99 / £0.89
-80%
Thu 2nd May
€4.99 / £4.49
Fly O’Clock(Forever Entertainment)
€1.01 / £0.91
-49%
Thu 2nd May
€1.99 / £1.79
Grab Lab(Forever Entertainment)
€2.49 / £2.24
-50%
Thu 2nd May
€4.99 / £4.49
Bedtime Blues(Forever Entertainment)
€4.99 / £4.49
-50%
Thu 2nd May
€9.99 / £8.99
Timberman VS(Forever Entertainment)
€1.01 / £0.91
-49%
Thu 2nd May
€1.99 / £1.79
Hard West(Forever Entertainment)
€13.99 / £12.59
-30%
Thu 2nd May
€19.99 / £17.99
Kid Tripp(Four Horses)
€2.99 / £2.69
-25%
Thu 30th May
€3.99 / £3.59
Jettomero: Hero of the Universe(Ghost Time Games)
€5.49 / £4.94
-50%
Thu 25th Apr
€10.99 / £9.89
Cinderella – An Interactive Fairytale(Golden Orb)
€4.24 / £3.73
-15%
Sun 28th Apr
€4.99 / £4.39
Cake Laboratory(GRIMTALIN )
€2.39 / £2.15
-20%
Sun 12th May
€2.99 / £2.69
Clouds & Sheep 2(HandyGames)
€0.99 / £0.89
-90%
Thu 25th Apr
€9.99 / £8.99
Dynamite Fishing – World Games(HandyGames)
€0.99 / £0.89
-90%
Thu 25th Apr
€9.99 / £8.99
Sky Force Anniversary(Infinite Dreams)
€6.99 / £6.29
-30%
Thu 25th Apr
€9.99 / £8.99
V.O.I.D.(JanduSoft)
€1.99 / £1.79
-50%
Thu 2nd May
€3.99 / £3.59
Neonwall(JanduSoft)
€0.99 / £0.89
-90%
Thu 2nd May
€9.99 / £8.99
Super Hyperactive Ninja(JanduSoft)
€0.95 / £0.86
-88%
Thu 2nd May
€7.99 / £7.19
Guess the Character(JanduSoft)
€1.49 / £1.34
-50%
Thu 2nd May
€2.99 / £2.69
Game Dev Story(Kairosoft)
€8.00 / £7.19
-20%
Thu 9th May
€10.00 / £8.99
Hot Springs Story(Kairosoft)
€8.00 / £7.19
-20%
Thu 9th May
€10.00 / £8.99
Dungeon Village(Kairosoft)
€8.00 / £7.19
-20%
Thu 9th May
€10.00 / £8.99
Fernz Gate(KEMCO)
€9.09 / £8.18
-30%
Wed 1st May
€12.99 / £11.69
Drift Legends(LUXTRADE)
€6.99 / £6.29
-30%
Fri 17th May
€9.99 / £8.99
MechaNika(Mango Protocol)
€4.79 / £3.99
-20%
Mon 29th Apr
€5.99 / £4.99
Thea: The Awakening(Monster Couch)
€13.49 / £11.99
-25%
Thu 2nd May
€17.99 / £15.99
Steamburg(Monster Couch)
€2.99 / £2.69
-40%
Thu 2nd May
€4.99 / £4.49
Splitter Critters(RAC7)
€0.82 / £0.74
-85%
Wed 8th May
€5.49 / £4.99
Puzzle Wall(Rainy Frog)
€3.99 / £3.49
-50%
Thu 2nd May
€7.99 / £6.99
Transcripted(Plug In Digital)
€1.49 / £1.30
-81%
Thu 25th Apr
€7.99 / £6.99
Chalk Dash Carnival(SAT-BOX)
€2.47 / £2.16
-60%
Tue 14th May
€6.18 / £5.40
The Escapists: Complete Edition(Team17)
€7.49 / £4.99
-50%
Mon 29th Apr
€14.99 / £9.99
30-in-1 Game Collection: Volume 1(Teyon )
€7.49 / £6.74
-50%
Thu 2nd May
€14.99 / £13.49
Tallowmere(Teyon)
€3.49 / £3.14
-50%
Thu 2nd May
€6.99 / £6.29
Monkey King: Master of the Clouds(UFO Interactive)
€2.49 / £2.24
-50%
Thu 9th May
€4.99 / £4.49
Godly Corp(Ultimate Games)
€5.99 / £5.39
-25%
Sun 28th Apr
€7.99 / £7.19
Semispheres(Vivid Helix)
€4.99 / £4.49
-50%
Thu 25th Apr
€9.99 / £8.99
The Escapists 2 – The Glorious Regime(Team17 Digital)
€3.19 / £2.23
-20%
Mon 29th Apr
€3.99 / £2.79
The Escapists 2 – Wicked Ward(Team17 Digital)
€3.19 / £2.23
-20%
Mon 29th Apr
€3.99 / £2.79
The Escapists 2 – Big Top Breakout(Team17 Digital)
€3.19 / £2.23
-20%
Mon 29th Apr
€3.99 / £2.79
The Escapists 2 – Dungeons and Duct Tape(Team17 Digital)
€3.19 / £2.23
-20%
Mon 29th Apr
€3.99 / £2.79
Fallout Shelter – Case of Nuka-Cola Quantum (32)(Bethesda Softworks)
€3.99 / £3.99
-20%
Tue 23rd Apr
€4.99 / £4.99
Fallout Shelter – Cooler of Nuka-Cola Quantum (70)(Bethesda Softworks)
€6.99 / £6.99
-30%
Tue 23rd Apr
€9.99 / £9.99
Fallout Shelter – Refrigerator of Nuka-Cola Quantum (150)(Bethesda Softworks)
€11.99 / £11.99
-40%
Tue 23rd Apr
€19.99 / £19.99
Fallout Shelter – Crate of Nuka-Cola Quantum (400)(Bethesda Softworks)
€24.99 / £24.49
-50%
Tue 23rd Apr
€49.99 / £48.99
Fallout Shelter – Truck of Nuka-Cola Quantum (1000)(Bethesda Softworks)
€49.99 / £49.99
-50%
Tue 23rd Apr
€99.99 / £99.99
Fallout Shelter – Bundle of 5 Lunchboxes(Bethesda Softworks)
€2.99 / £2.99
-25%
Tue 23rd Apr
€3.99 / £3.99
Fallout Shelter – Bundle of 15 Lunchboxes(Bethesda Softworks)
€6.99 / £6.99
-30%
Tue 23rd Apr
€9.99 / £9.99
Fallout Shelter – Bundle of 40 Lunchboxes(Bethesda Softworks)
€9.99 / £9.99
-50%
Tue 23rd Apr
€19.99 / £19.99
Fallout Shelter – Bundle of 5 Pet Carriers(Bethesda Softworks)
€2.99 / £2.99
-25%
Tue 23rd Apr
€3.99 / £3.99
Fallout Shelter – Bundle of 15 Pet Carriers(Bethesda Softworks)
€6.99 / £6.99
-30%
Tue 23rd Apr
€9.99 / £9.99
Fallout Shelter – Bundle of 40 Pet Carriers(Bethesda Softworks)
€9.99 / £9.99
-50%
Tue 23rd Apr
€19.99 / £19.99
Fallout Shelter – Bundle of 5 Mr. Handys(Bethesda Softworks)
€2.99 / £2.99
-25%
Tue 23rd Apr
€3.99 / £3.99
Devil Engine(DANGEN Entertainment)
€15.99 / £14.39
-20%
Thu 25th Apr
€19.99 / £17.99
Super Sportmatchen(DANGEN Entertainment)
€11.99 / £10.79
-20%
Thu 25th Apr
€14.99 / £13.49
Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight(DANGEN Entertainment)
€11.19 / £10.07
-20%
Thu 25th Apr
€13.99 / £12.59
Tardy(Drageus Games)
€4.99 / £4.49
-50%
Sun 19th May
€9.99 / £8.99
Dead Fun Pack: Penguins and Aliens Strikes Again(Enjoy Up Games)
€1.04 / £0.94
-85%
Fri 17th May
€6.99 / £6.29
Roarr! Jurassic Edition(Klabater)
€2.99 / £2.69
-40%
Fri 26th Apr
€4.99 / £4.49
SKYHILL(Klabater)
€8.99 / £8.09
-40%
Fri 26th Apr
€14.99 / £13.49
Croc’s World Run(Sprakelsoft)
€3.99 / £3.59
-20%
Sun 19th May
€4.99 / £4.49
X-Morph: Defense(EXOR Studios)
€14.99 / £13.49
-25%
Thu 9th May
€19.99 / £17.99
X-Morph: Defense Complete Edition(EXOR Studios)
€22.49 / £20.24
-25%
Thu 9th May
€29.99 / £26.99
X-Morph: Defense European Assault(EXOR Studios)
€3.74 / £3.36
-25%
Thu 9th May
€4.99 / £4.49
X-Morph: Defense Survival Of The Fittest(EXOR Studios)
€3.74 / £3.36
-25%
Thu 9th May
€4.99 / £4.49
X-Morph: Defense Last Bastion(EXOR Studios)
€3.74 / £3.36
-25%
Thu 9th May
€4.99 / £4.49
Bass Pro Shops: The Strike – Championship Edition(PLANET ENTMT)
€19.99 / £17.99
-60%
Mon 20th May
€49.99 / £44.99
Cabela’s: The Hunt – Championship Edition(PLANET ENTMT)
€19.99 / £17.99
-60%
Mon 20th May
€49.99 / £44.99
Them Bombs!(YELLOW DOT)
€8.81 / £8.39
-30%
Fri 26th Apr
€12.59 / £11.99
Puzzle Box Maker(Bplus)
€11.99 / £10.79
-20%
Sun 12th May
€14.99 / £13.49
In Between(Headup Games)
€5.99 / £4.99
-50%
Sun 5th May
€11.99 / £9.99
Super Treasure Arena(Headup games)
€4.99 / £3.99
-50%
Sun 5th May
€9.99 / £7.99
The Inner World(Headup Games)
€4.79 / £3.99
-60%
Sun 5th May
€11.99 / £9.99
Toby: The Secret Mine(Headup Games)
€0.99 / £0.79
-90%
Sun 5th May
€9.99 / £7.99
Tied Together(Headup Games)
€4.49 / £3.59
-70%
Sun 5th May
€14.99 / £11.99
Avenger Bird(Ultimate Games)
€1.05 / £0.94
-47%
Wed 8th May
€1.99 / £1.79
Tumblestone(QuantumAstroGuild)
€3.50 / £3.23
-73%
Tue 21st May
€12.99 / £11.99
Mutant Football League: Dynasty Edition(Digital Dreams)
€17.79 / £15.99
-33%
€26.49 / £21.99
Gal Metal(Marvelous Europe)
€19.99 / £17.99
-33%
€29.99 / £25.99
Crazy Strike Bowling EX(CORECELL)
€4.99 / £4.49 for owners of AeternoBlade
-50%
Thu 25th Apr
€9.99 / £8.99
New 3DS eShop – Special Offers
Game Title
Price
Saving
Until
Original Price
RTO(nuGAME)
€6.29 / £5.59
-30%
Thu 16th May
€8.99 / £7.99
3DS eShop – Special Offers
Game Title
Price
Saving
Until
Original Price
Resident Evil The Mercenaries 3D(CAPCOM Europe)
€4.99 / £4.49
-50%
Thu 9th May
€9.99 / £8.99
Resident Evil Revelations(CAPCOM Europe)
€5.99 / £4.99
-80%
Thu 9th May
€29.99 / £24.99
Super Street Fighter IV 3D(CAPCOM Europe)
€4.99 / £4.49
-75%
Thu 9th May
€19.99 / £17.99
Coaster Creator 3D(Big John Games)
€4.35 / £3.60
-40%
Thu 16th May
€7.25 / £6.00
Big Bass Arcade: No Limit(Big John Games)
€2.99 / £2.69
-40%
Thu 16th May
€4.99 / £4.49
Cube Creator 3D(Big John Games)
€4.50 / £3.15
-40%
Thu 16th May
€7.50 / £5.25
Atlantic Quest(Joindots)
€3.49 / £2.49
-50%
Thu 2nd May
€6.99 / £4.99
Secret Agent Files: Miami(Joindots)
€3.99 / £2.99
-50%
Thu 2nd May
€7.99 / £5.99
3D Game Collection(Joindots)
€3.49 / £2.49
-50%
Thu 2nd May
€6.99 / £4.99
Digger Dan DX(Four Horses)
€1.49 / £1.34
-25%
Wed 15th May
€1.99 / £1.79
Goosebumps: The Game(GameMill)
€2.49 / £1.87
-75%
Wed 8th May
€9.99 / £7.50
Cartoon Network: Battle Crashers(GameMill)
€4.99 / £3.74
-75%
Wed 8th May
€19.99 / £14.99
80’S OVERDRIVE(Insane Code)
€4.99 / £4.49
-50%
Thu 9th May
€9.99 / £8.99
Chronus Arc(KEMCO)
€4.99 / £4.49
-50%
Wed 1st May
€9.99 / £8.99
Alphadia(KEMCO)
€4.99 / £4.49
-50%
Wed 1st May
€9.99 / £8.99
Blast ‘Em Bunnies(Nnooo)
€2.49 / £1.49
-50%
Thu 2nd May
€4.99 / £2.99
Double Breakout(nuGAME)
€4.90 / £4.20
-30%
Thu 16th May
€7.00 / £6.00
Pinball Breakout(nuGAME)
€4.90 / £4.20
-30%
Thu 16th May
€7.00 / £6.00
Johnny’s Payday Panic(Office Create)
€2.29 / £1.99
-49%
Thu 25th Apr
€4.49 / £3.99
Crazy Chicken: Director’s Cut 3D(Teyon)
€0.49 / £0.44
-51%
Thu 2nd May
€0.99 / £0.89
Bird Mania 3D(Teyon)
€0.49 / £0.44
-51%
Thu 2nd May
€0.99 / £0.89
Banana Bliss: Jungle Puzzles(Teyon)
€1.99 / £1.79
-50%
Thu 2nd May
€3.99 / £3.59
Cube Tactics(Teyon)
€2.49 / £2.24
-50%
Thu 2nd May
€4.99 / £4.49
Skater Cat(Teyon)
€2.49 / £2.24
-50%
Thu 2nd May
€4.99 / £4.49
Groove Heaven(Teyon)
€1.99 / £1.79
-50%
Thu 2nd May
€3.99 / £3.59
Excave(Teyon)
€2.49 / £2.24
-50%
Thu 2nd May
€4.99 / £4.49
Doll Fashion Atelier(Teyon)
€2.49 / £2.24
-50%
Thu 2nd May
€4.99 / £4.49
Steel Empire(Teyon)
€7.99 / £7.19
-50%
Thu 2nd May
€15.99 / £14.39
Ocean Runner(Teyon)
€1.49 / £1.34
-50%
Thu 2nd May
€2.99 / £2.69
Heavy Fire: Black Arms 3D(Teyon)
€2.49 / £2.24
-50%
Thu 2nd May
€4.99 / £4.49
Governor of Poker(Teyon)
€2.49 / £2.24
-50%
Thu 2nd May
€4.99 / £4.49
Robot Rescue 3D(Teyon)
€1.49 / £1.34
-50%
Thu 2nd May
€2.99 / £2.69
Heavy Fire: Special Operations 3D(Teyon)
€2.49 / £2.24
-50%
Thu 2nd May
€4.99 / £4.49
Crazy Chicken Pirates 3D(Teyon)
€0.99 / £0.89
-50%
Thu 2nd May
€1.99 / £1.79
Mini Golf Resort(Teyon)
€2.49 / £2.24
-50%
Thu 2nd May
€4.99 / £4.49
Johnny Hotshot(UFO Interactive)
€2.99 / £2.69
-50%
Thu 9th May
€5.99 / £5.39
Samurai G(UFO Interactive)
€0.99 / £0.89
-50%
Thu 9th May
€1.99 / £1.79
Balloon Pop® Remix(UFO Interactive)
€3.99 / £3.59
-50%
Thu 9th May
€7.99 / £7.19
Johnny Kung Fu(UFO Interactive)
€2.99 / £2.69
-50%
Thu 9th May
€5.99 / £5.39
Zombie Slayer Diox(UFO Interactive)
€2.99 / £2.69
-50%
Thu 9th May
€5.99 / £5.39
Samurai Sword Destiny(UFO Interactive)
€2.99 / £2.69
-50%
Thu 9th May
€5.99 / £5.39
Aqua Moto Racing 3D(ZORDIX)
€5.99 / £5.39
-25%
Thu 25th Apr
€7.99 / £7.19
PUZZLEBOX setup(Bplus)
€2.39 / £2.15
-20%
Sun 12th May
€2.99 / £2.69
Bit Boy!! ARCADE(Bplus)
€6.39 / £5.75
-20%
Sun 12th May
€7.99 / £7.19
Wii U eShop – Special Offers
Game Title
Price
Saving
Until
Original Price
Resident Evil Revelations(CAPCOM Europe)
€5.99 / £4.79
-88%
Thu 9th May
€49.99 / £39.99
DuckTales: Remastered(CAPCOM Europe)
€4.94 / £3.95
-67%
Thu 9th May
€14.99 / £11.99
Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara(CAPCOM Europe)
Developer 34BigThings has announced that Redout, a game first announced for Nintendo Switch before the console was even on sale, will finally launch on the platform on 14th May.
Back in January 2017, Nicalis revealed that it would be bringing the futuristic racer to Switch that spring, around the time of the console’s launch. Obviously, that period went by without any release, and all sorts of order cancellations threw the launch into doubt. Eventually, the game’s developer confirmed that it was nearing completion last November.
A press release for this new date announcement speaks of the troubles faced in the game’s development.
“We are very, very happy to release Redout on Switch.” – says Valerio Di Donato, 34BigThings’ CEO – “Porting the game to Nintendo’s console has been a bumpy road filled with technical challenges, and we are proud to have come out on top of them to deliver fans what they have been asking. In the last six months, fans have been asking us daily with great concern whether the port to Switch had been cancelled. We are thrilled to show them that it never was. Not only that, this version is the most complete version of Redout we ever made and it will be a major milestone for the entire genre”.
The Switch version will feature 60 tracks over 12 environments, 28 different vehicles, 11 different event types, and more than 100 different events in its single-player Career mode. There are also hundreds of customisation options and all previously-released DLC packs are included. Giuseppe Enrico Franchi, 34BigThings’ lead game designer, has shared the following:
“It is truly a lot of content. It is the result of two years of further development, where we designed and created more track elements to build even more challenging and fun courses for players to race on. It is our proudest achievement, and we are excited that fans will be able to enjoy Redout on a new platform.”
Have you been waiting for this game ever since it was announced back in 2017? Do you still plan on picking it up? Let us know if you’re excited to finally get your hands on it with a comment below.
The latest Nintendo Download update for North America has arrived, and it’s bringing new games galore to the eShop in your region. As always, be sure to drop a vote in our poll and comment down below with your potential picks for the week. Enjoy!
Nintendo Switch Retail
Mortal Kombat 11(Warner Bros, Mon 22nd April, $59.99) Mortal Kombat 11 is the latest instalment in the critically acclaimed franchise, providing a deeper and more personalized experience than ever before. The all-new Custom Character Variations give you unprecedented control of your fighters to make them your own. Featuring a roster of new and returning Klassic Fighters, Mortal Kombat’s best-in-class cinematic story mode continues the epic saga over 25 years in the making.
Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen(Capcom, Tue 23rd April, $29.99) The critically acclaimed action-RPG Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen combines exhilarating and deep combat with the freedom to explore a huge open world. Enter the high-fantasy setting of Gransys, a land where dragons, chimeras, and other fabled monsters roam.
Our World is Ended(PQube, Today, $59.99) A world between reality and fiction Explore a faithful recreation of Asakusa, one of Tokyo’s most iconic districts as elements from the game worlds will slowly manifest themselves and threaten to destroy the entire district itself.
Switch eShop
Cuphead(StudioMDHR, Today, $19.99) Cuphead is a classic run and gun action game heavily focused on boss battles. Inspired by cartoons of the 1930s, the visuals and audio are painstakingly created with the same techniques of the era: traditional hand-drawn cel animation, watercolor backgrounds, and original jazz recordings. Play as Cuphead or Mugman (in single player or local co-op) as you traverse strange worlds, acquire new weapons, learn powerful super moves, and discover hidden secrets while you try to pay your debt back to the devil! Read our Cuphead review.
Katana ZERO( Devolver Digital, Today, $14.99) Katana ZERO is a stylish neo-noir, action-platformer featuring breakneck action and instant-death combat. Slash, dash, and manipulate time to unravel your past in a beautifully brutal acrobatic display. Key Features: Exceptional Combat: Overcome your opposition however the situation requires. Deflect gunfire back at foes, dodge oncoming attacks, and manipulate enemies and environments with traps and explosives.
Active Soccer 2019(Gianluca Troiano, Fri 19th April, $11.99) Active Soccer 2019 is an exciting top-down arcade football game providing a fast-paced arcade experience, implementing amazing playability and responsive easy-to-learn/hard-to-master controls. Active Soccer 2019 provides a complete career mode, implementing many international leagues, cups and championships.
ALPHA(KANAME, Fri 19th April, $5.00) ALPHA, the latest work by KANAME, is a simple game. There are no additional in-game purchases: once it’s yours, you can begin tackling it until you reach the end. Maybe it’s time to take a break from playing games for other people.
Arcade Archives TIME PILOT(HAMSTER, Thu 11th April, $7.99) TIME PILOT is a shooting game released by KONAMI in 1982. Transport five generations into the future and shoot down enemy ships with a full 360º of motion. Rescue parachuters and take out entire enemy formations to earn a high score! Fly into a battle beyond time and space!
Beyond Enemy Lines: Covert Operations(Polygon Art, Tue 23rd April, $13.99) Think your way in, observe the enemies, sneak into their base and complete your objective. You have the total freedom to choose your path – guns blazing or silent assassin – it’s your choice! Beyond Enemy Lines: Covert Operations is an unforgiving, intense experience where skill and tactical decisions matter!
Cafeteria Nipponica(Kairosoft, Today, $12.00) Don your chef’s hat and hit the kitchen! You’re the chef de cuisine in this scrumptious simulation that’ll have you coming back for seconds. . . and more! Run your own restaurant, find ingredients, research recipes and spice up your culinary repertoire! Only you can bring your establishment sweet success!
Construction Machines Simulator(SimFabric, Fri 19th April, $29.49) If you are a fan of construction or destruction this game is for you. Become a boss of the building company. Sit behind the wheels of multiple vehicles like excavators or cranes and expand your business. Build campsites, rental homes, office parks and more.
Dawn of Survivors(WISTONE , Today, $1.99) From decaying cities to dark forests, you will fight through hordes of zombies and desperate scavengers. Find food. Build shelter. Prepare yourself. For when the sun rises, so do the dead. Scavenge the wastelands for resources. You’ll search for supplies and materials in this cruel, undead world.
DayD: Through Time(8Floor Games, Today, $9.99) Brian is a gifted and eccentric scientist who has created a time machine and travelled into the past! But it turns out you can’t expect a careless stroll through the lands of the dinosaurs. His former friend, Doctor Terrible, is already here! He created a time machine before Brian and has already managed to install game machines in the dinosaur era!
Deponia(Daedalic GmbH, Wed 24th April, $39.99) “Daedalic Entertainment, once called “Lucasarts from Germany“ by the GameStar magazine, invites the players into a fantastic comedy adventure that revolves around a crazy love story of Rufus and Goal. In Deponia, the world has degenerated into a vast garbage dump, in which the crotchety Rufus ekes out his sorry existence.
Hell is Other Demons(Kongregate , 18th April, $9.99) Hell is Other Demons is a juicy arcade shooter with boldcolor schemes and a heavy synthwave soundtrack.
Iron Snout(Ratalaika Games, Fri 19th April, $4.99) Once upon a time, pigs would have to build a house of bricks to keep the wolves at bay, but not anymore. In Iron Snout, its hero piggie has taken up learning martial arts and now it’s the wolves that need to keep their distance because in this bonkers button-mashing beat ’em up, bacon is off the menu for good.
Moto Rush GT(Baltoro Games, Fri 19th April, $14.99) Racers, beware! Fast-paced, polished and dynamic motorbike racing now on Nintendo Switch! One of a kind game entirely playable with… Toy-Con Motorbike!
Risky Rescue(Forever Entertainment, Today, $4.99) At each level save people standing on the hard to reach places and become a hero! Unlock helicopters with different parameters and complete over 50 demanding levels. If that’s not enough try yourself in endless mode, where your skills can compete with the timer. Use your reflexes but be gentle, there is no place for mistakes in a Risky Rescue!
SlabWell(Today, $9.99) Somewhere deep in the Amazon jungle, lies the finest treasure mankind has ever crafted: The Jade Alpaca. Professional thief duo Sam and Jacky head off on an adventure to recover the mythical artifact, determined to solve the riddles and overcome the challenges that have kept it safe through centuries.
Slime Tactics(Flyhigh Works, Thu 11th April, $9.99) Slimes are often the weakest monsters, but now it is time to make them the strongest army! Slime Tactics is a game of real-time strategy battles with a difference, as you lead these weakest of units to glory! There are various types to master, all with their own unique skills and characteristics. With smart strategy, you can conquer the most deadly of enemies! Take on numerous colourful and imaginative stages as the leader of these Slime forces. It’s time for Slime Tactics!
Sudoku Relax(G-mode, Today, $5.00) The familiar “Sudoku” has become a healing game. A total of 300 questions on EASY, NORMAL and HARD difficulty have been recorded. You will be healed with game effects and background music while you’re undressing.
the Knight & the Dragon(Today, $7.99) During a date with Arthur the chevalier, Princess Daphne is kidnapped by Synge the Dragon She’ll be turned into a Lady Dragon once Synge finds all the magic Crystals! Time is running out! Do you have what it takes to rescue Daphne? Temple Tower is right ahead, go and face the Dungeon Boss.
The Padre(Feardemic, Today, $19.99) Unravel the mystery of a missing cardinal by solving the riddle of a demonic power you did not expect to come upon. Face your inner demons and fight the power of evil while it seduces your soul. Play as the wittiest, pop-culture referencing priest in video game history and face an ultimate game over, if you make the angels cry you a river. Read our The Padre review.
You Died but a Necromancer revived you(JaimeAlvarezLosada, Fri 19th April, $8.99) You Died… but a Necromancer revived you! And will keep reviving you back to their crazy tower of death until you reach the top floor and get rid of them, allowing you to finally be free…
Updates
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – Version 3.0 – The new playable fighter Joker from the Persona 5 game, the Mementos stage and several Persona series music tracks are available now in the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate game for the Nintendo Switch system for players who own the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Fighters Pass or purchase Challenger Pack 1. The free Version 3.0 update for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is also available now, introducing a newly added Stage Builder feature, new video editing features and the Smash World service for the Nintendo Switch Online smartphone app.
So that’s your lot for this week’s North American Nintendo Download. Go on, be a sport and drop a vote in the poll above, and comment below with your hot picks!
It’s a well-known fact that teamwork makes a dream work. Console wars are all well and good, but when great games are made available on multiple systems, the ultimate winner is the player. The recent love-in we’ve been seeing between Nintendo and Microsoft started a while back when Minecraft was released on Nintendo systems, and grew stronger when the two paired up to passive-aggressively taunt Sony’s refusal to embrace cross-platform multiplayer.
Now, though, we’re being treated to the most impressive sign of their partnership yet: a Switch port of Cuphead, one of the most critically acclaimed games on the Xbox One and a title that was an Xbox console exclusive (until now, obviously). Not only that, but in a future update the game is going to receive Xbox Live integration, including the ability to unlock Xbox achievements. Yes, it’s fair to say that Nintendo and Microsoft are best buds just now, and Switch owners are starting to get the benefits of that.
Cuphead is already much loved by the Xbox community, so for those already familiar with it here’s all you need to know: the Switch version is a near-perfect port. For everyone else new to the game, read on.
When Cuphead and his brother Mugman enter the Devil’s Casino, the Devil himself offers them a bet: double their money or forfeit their souls. Naturally, the big man wins, but he gives the pair a chance to redeem themselves: if they can chase down other debtors who are on the run from the Devil and collect their souls instead, he’ll let the drinks-based duo go free. Cue a series of extremely difficult action stages in which you have to take out a bunch of boss characters on your way to freedom.
Cuphead mainly consists of two types of level: run-and-gun stages and boss battles. The former are much fewer in number (there are only six in total) and are straightforward enough affairs – get to the end of the stage with at least some health intact – but it’s the 19 boss encounters which are the real meat of this game, and the ones that will test your abilities to their limits.
In case you’ve missed out on its notoriety on other systems, Cuphead is known for being an exceptionally difficult game. The reality is that, yes, it can be tricky at times, but it’s not like it hits you with an endless onslaught of abuse: it’s more about pattern recognition. The boss fights may be a little longer than those in other action platformers, but the same general principle applies: learn each boss’s attack patterns, figure out how to avoid each type of attack, discover its weak spots and let it have it until it eventually keels over.
Most players’ frustration will likely lie with the bosses’ random nature; although they tend to have three unique phases, each with their own sets of attacks, these attacks are generally chosen at random throughout each phase. This means you can’t stand there thinking,“Right, he’s going to do this attack, then he follows up with that attack, then I can get him”, as if you were learning a sequence of fight choreography: instead, you have to wait to see which of their attacks they’ll use next and react quickly (and often you won’t have a lot of time to do this).
At the risk of sounding like an insufferable “git gud” macho man, practice really does make perfect with this one: this is a game where you’re expected to take on these boss fights over and over again and slowly learn every attack permutation as you edge ever closer to completely defeating them. While there is a ‘Simple’ mode, which greatly reduces each boss’s health and generally makes things more manageable for beginners, it’s not an ideal solution: it removes a lot of boss attack types – even entire phases at times – and doesn’t give you a soul contract when you beat them, meaning you can’t reach the final stages and beat the game. By all means, consider it a way to ease into Cuphead’s parry and weapon-changing mechanics, but you’re going to want to switch to Regular difficulty as soon as possible to make sure you don’t miss out on a lot of the game’s charm.
It’s this charm where Cuphead’s real strength lies. Designed in the style of 1930s Fleischer and Disney animations (think Betty Boop and Steamboat Willie) and nailing that style with laser precision, it’s easily one of the most visually jaw-dropping 2D platformers you’ll ever play. Everything is of an immaculate standard, from its hand-drawn animated characters to its deliberately blurry and scratched film look, to its fantastic original jazz and big band soundtrack: it’s not an exaggeration to say this game is a piece of art.
Thankfully, this Switch port handles everything masterfully, too. Image quality is more or less on a par with the Xbox One and PC versions – bear in mind this is a game that’s designed to look blurry and low-res anyway – loading times are nice and quick, and everything runs at a smooth 60 frames per second the vast majority of the time. There are occasional hiccups, most notably during the more intense run-and-gun moments, but these are the exception rather than the norm.
The Switch version also adds a few new features, which are also being added to the other versions in a free update. Mugman – who usually plays the Luigi role and appears during co-op play – can now be selected from the start in single-player mode, just in case you like your heroes wearing blue instead of red. There are also a bunch of new character animations included; while these are generally minor things like new pre-battle taunts, they’re still a welcome addition.
In all, Cuphead’s short bursts of action make it a perfect game for the Switch. Playing it in handheld mode is an absolute delight (though you may need to change the default controls for comfort’s sake) and it runs almost as well as it does on more powerful systems. If this is the sort of thing we can expect more of as a result of Nintendo and Microsoft being best pals, this could very well be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
Conclusion
Cuphead was an absolute masterpiece when it launched on Xbox 18 months ago and nothing has been sacrificed in its move to the Switch. It’s the same visually jaw-dropping, aurally delightful, knuckle-whiteningly difficult game it was on Microsoft’s console and the Switch’s library is all the better for its presence. Its focus on intense boss battles won’t be to everyone’s tastes, but as long as you know what you’re getting yourself into we can’t recommend it enough.
I get it that it’s nice to have a collection about the eariler games in the series, this being an anniversary collection, it makes sense to go where the series actually started. And there are some nice games in there.
But really, no SOTN? No GBA/DS games?
I was hoping more for a “here are the best games the franchise offered” instead of “here are the first games from the franchise”. I think they shoul’ve labelled it the “Castlevania Origins Collection”. It would’ve been a more accurate name for this compilation.
But let’s just say I’m kind of disapointed. I was really thinking I’d be able to play SOTN on the go (like I did on PSP some time ago through the Dracula X chronicles), along with some GBA ones I missed (only played Cicrle of the Moon back in the days). Bummer.
Nintendo’s ‘Quality of Life’ initiative has been dragging on for years now. Last June, there were suggestions the project was dead, after a dramatic fall in the company’s share price. Nintendo’s hardware partner Panasonic also reportedly bailed on the project and the last official announcement about ‘QoL’ before then was in Nintendo’s Annual Report for 2017, claiming it was still alive and well.
The latest information comes from a report by the Japanese business journal Nikkei. According to a translation, Nintendo’s ‘QoL’ department has now been completely axed. A prototype of a sleep monitoring device is also believed to have been canceled.
Former Nintendo President Satoru Iwata originally announced the ‘QoL’ initiative way back in 2014, during an investor briefing. Nintendo’s original intention was to develop a new business platform within the health sphere, which encouraged people to live healthier lives. Since then, there’s been a constant uncertainty about the future of the project.
Do you think Nintendo should move on? Or would you like to see something more from this initiative? Tell us down in the comments.
