Category: Nintendo News

Next week – 21st April to be precise – is the 30th anniversary of arguably the most iconic piece of hardware in the history of video gaming. Speak to someone who knows absolutely nothing about game consoles and they’ll still be able to name the Nintendo Game Boy and most probably whistle the tune to Tetris too. Its ubiquity in the early ’90s meant it became shorthand for gaming in general, part of the cultural fabric in a way that few other pieces of hardware can claim.

Next week we’ll be publishing several new articles in celebration of the humble handheld, plus digging through the archive to find the very best of our previously published features. We’ll also be posting a ‘Top 50 Game Boy Games’ article along the lines of our previous 50 Best Switch Games So Far and 50 Best 3DS Games features.

As with those selections, the ranking will be entirely based on User Ratings from the Nintendo Life Games database, so readers can rate any game they like and after a minimum threshold has been reached, that game then becomes eligible for the list according to its overall rating. This has worked well for the previous lists, and we’ve seen some interesting changes as the fluid ranking fluctuates over time. Of course, 3DS and Switch have plenty of user ratings already, but going back 30 years it’s inevitable that Game Boy games only have a fraction of votes compared to more modern systems.

That’s where you come in! We’ve updated our database to include all Game Boy titles that saw a release in the west, so in preparation for the 30th anniversary we’d love for you to rate your favourites using the specially designed tool below.

Assuming you’re logged in, simply scroll through the alphabetical list and click the star to bring up a rating of 1-10. Click on the score you think it deserves and you’re all done! If scrolling through six pages of the Game Boy’s substantial library feels too much like work, simply use the search bar at the top of the list to find your favourites and rate them from the list of results. Lovely!

If you need a reminder on a particular game, feel free to click the game title and check out our reviews and screenshots. However, bear in the mind that many of them won’t have been rereleased on Virtual Console and therefore may not have a Nintendo Life review to their name – the Game Boy’s over double the age of the site, remember! A Wikipedia link on the game page should hopefully job your memory, though.

So, what are you waiting for? Get stuck in!

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It’s difficult to believe that 30 years have passed since Game Boy changed the portable gaming landscape forever. Thanks for voting – we’ll be sharing the results, our memories and more next week, but in the meantime feel free to reminisce below…

Indie publisher Digerati has revealed that upcoming shoot ’em up Black Paradox, developed by Fantastico Studio, will be blasting onto Nintendo Switch on 3rd May.

We first heard about this one last summer, when the game was preparing to enter Steam Early Access and carried a promise of a future release on consoles. That release is now just around the corner, meaning we don’t have long to wait before we can test out the game’s fast-paced roguelite action and the variety of weapons, power-ups, drones, and other upgrades available to ensure survival.

Here’s a list of key features:

Key features
– 20 weapons, 37 powerups, 13 deadly drones, 8 amazing power-up combos, and the ultimate space-bending move: the “Black Paradox”
– 62 different enemies, each with its own attack patterns
– 14 deadly bosses with unique attacks + 1 secret boss
– Upgrade your stats and unlock new powers
– 2 player local co-op
– Amazing pixel art, awesome synth-wave soundtrack
– Extra hardcore boss rush mode to unlock

Will you be firing this one up when it arrives on 3rd May? Tell us below.

I’ve got quite an odd relationship with Dragon’s Dogma. When it was originally released on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 way, way back in 2012, I was fresh off the back of Dark Souls and was hungry for a similar swords-and-sorcery experience. With its grim fantasy setting and frenetic third-person combat, Capcom’s brand-new IP seemed like the perfect successor to sate my thirst – but it proved to be a very different game in terms of mechanics and challenge, and while I didn’t fall as head-over-heels in love with it as I did with FromSoftware’s often punishing epic, it certainly left a mark.

So much so that when Capcom released Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen (the 2013 expansion to the original game) on the PlayStation 4 in 2017, I decided it was worth making a second trip to the wilds of Gransys to fight goblins, zombies and griffins. To give you some background, I rarely replay a game as convoluted as this; Dragon’s Dogma requires tens (if not hundreds) of hours of commitment from the player, and I simply don’t have many hours to spare these days. Yet here I am, already tens of hours into Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen on Switch, and I’m still not entirely sure how the game has sunk its hooks so deeply in me.

I’m playing it for the third time, and, as before, I literally can’t think of anything else when I’m not playing it

I’ll save my deeper impressions for the full review, but Dragon’s Dogma is exactly how you’d expect a video game from 2012 to look and feel. It has moments of true visual splendour which are counterbalanced by basic character models and obvious pop-in, while the repetitive nature of many of its quests can become bothersome, especially when you’re a good few hours in.

Despite its obvious shortcomings as a game, Dragon’s Dogma somehow manages to entertain in a way that few other action RPGs can – as is evidenced by the fact that I’m playing it for the third time, and, as before, I literally can’t think of anything else when I’m not playing it. Family mealtimes are now ruined by me absent-mindedly thinking about which of the nine vocations to switch to next so I can expand my character’s move-set, and in the evenings I gently encourage my wife to ‘have an early night’ so I can get back to my important work around the bustling city of Gran Soren.

Of course, this addiction is made all the more worse with the Switch version because now I can play it anywhere. With the previous versions, the massive land of Gransys was tethered to my television, but now I can explore its lush forests, rocky mountains, sandy beaches and dank dungeons wherever and whenever I like; of course, there are other Switch ports which have liberated home console games in this manner (it still amazes me that Skyrim can be played on a portable system) but Dragon’s Dogma has special significance to me; this is a vast, sprawling world that I’ve already spent well over 100 hours exploring on other consoles, yet the fact that I can now take it with me anywhere I like means I’m finding stuff I’d missed the first (and second) times around.

Given its age, it should come as no great shock to learn that Dragon’s Dogma runs like a dream on Switch

Given its age, it should come as no great shock to learn that Dragon’s Dogma runs like a dream on Switch. In handheld mode the resolution drop doesn’t really impact things massively, and while there are moments of slowdown, they’re no worse than they were on the PlayStation 4 ‘update’. There’s been a slight change to the way in which Pawns – your AI helpers – work, no doubt necessitated by the fact that you don’t need a Nintendo Switch Online subscription to exchange them between players. You can use your Nintendo ID Account to swap them instead, but it’s no longer possible to send them away with a gift and comment when you part company with them; a minor change, but one that feels significant to me, at least. I used to like the ‘human connection’ of sending a player’s helpful Pawn back to them with a thank-you note in tow.

But as I said, I’d best save some detail for the full review, which I imagine I’ll take great pleasure in writing. Dragon’s Dogma isn’t the perfect action RPG – far from it. It’s flawed in many ways and, when you break down its mechanics, is arguably out-done by many other examples of the genre. However, it has that special something – hence this being my third enthusiastic visit to Gransys – and being able to play it while sitting on the toilet is an early contender in my personal list of 2019 highlights (sorry for sharing).

Witch Thief, an “intense but humorous story-driven 3D shooter”, is blasting its way onto Switch next week, it has been confirmed.

Featuring plenty of 3D bullet hell action, the game sees players heading on a quest to steal an enchanted grimoire, playing as a snarky sorceress exploring five perilous zones. You’ll come up against arena-based ambushes featuring possessed dolls and arcane bosses, and you’ll be able to unlock three more playable and equally feisty witch heroines with different powers and their own personal stories.

A press release for the game mentions a relaxed ‘Chill Mode’, with flexible difficulty settings being available so that players of all skill levels can enjoy the game at their own pace. You can see a full list of features below.

Game features:
– Flexible difficulty – from standard limited-life modes with ramped challenges to an innovative “Chill Mode”, where losing a life merely resets to weapon defaults.

– Unique bullet-hell perspective – play in classic 2D Shmup perspective or over the shoulder 3D. Adjust the player camera’s vertical angle on the fly to best deal with the patterns of attack, and use focus control to concentrate both projectile spread and visual perspective.

– Unravel a world of mystery – learn different perspectives on the same story as four different playable witches, each with their own unique abilities.

– Explore five distinctive zones – from spooky forest glades to magnificent cathedral vaults, each with multiple boss battles and ambush arenas.

– Battle a cast of memorable and relentless bosses in epic showdowns – from the castle’s guardian angel to the chuckling bishop!

– Endless Dungeon Mode – explore and overcome the endless dungeon where the walls move and every play-through is different.

Witch Thief launches on Nintendo Switch on 19th April with pricing still to be confirmed.

Do you like the look of this 3D shmup gameplay? Will you be giving it a go next week? Tell us below.

Bandai Namco has revealed that God Eater 3 will be released on Nintendo Switch. A launch date of 12th July has been confirmed.

Originally launching on PC and PS4 this February, the game is unsurprisingly the third entry in the God Eater series. It’s an action-RPG with hack-and-slash gameplay present throughout; players use ‘God Arc’ weapons – which can be transformed into guns – to hunt and kill huge monsters known as Aragami.

As you can see in the tweet above, the game will let you tackle these terrifying beasts with a friend in co-op multiplayer battles, or with up to eight players when you take the fight online. The end of the trailer also highlights some exclusive costumes which will be given away as a pre-order bonus.

Not a bad announcement, huh? Let us know if you’re excited to play this one on Switch with a comment below.

The Japanese Super Mario Odyssey Twitter account continues to drip feed information about the upcoming Labo VR update due out on 25th April.

It turns out this update will add a special theatre mode, where you have the option to view the game’s cutscenes with the Toy-Con VR Goggles. Here’s the option on display in the Japanese menu:

As previously established, this new update will also add three new mini-missions to the game, where you collect coins and musical notes while revisiting the Cap, Seaside and Luncheon Kingdoms. The latest screenshots also suggest you’ll be tasked with gathering up musical instruments and delivering them to characters in the game.

Are you looking forward to playing the Super Mario Odyssey VR update? Will you be picking up the Labo VR Kit later this week? Tell us below.

Play Nintendo is an official subsite where you can go to download fun art activities and participate in silly polls. Not long ago, it was offering instructions and a printable design to create a Peachette paper craft super crown.

Now, to promote Yoshi’s Crafted World, Nintendo has uploaded a free printable diorama. If you want to assemble these scenes from the game, you’ll need paper, tape or glue, cardboard, scissors and a printer with colour ink. Click here to visit the Play Nintendo website where you can download the required cutouts and instructions for this diorama.

Have you played Yoshi’s Crafted World on the Switch? Will you be creating your own diorama? Tell us below.

In March, Nintendo, Game Freak and Creatures Inc. filed a trademark in Japan for an armoured version of Mewtwo – covering the video games, merchandise and events.

A Japanese variety show has now aired a new trailer for Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back Evolution and sure enough, it gives us our very first look at Armoured Mewtwo. We also get a look at a number of other Pokémon and characters in this short clip. Take a look at the video above and some of our screen grabs below:

This new film follows on from Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You! (which loosely followed the story of the anime’s opening season) and 2018’s Pokémon the Movie: The Power of Us. The adventure acts as a callback to the original Pokémon animated film, Pokémon: The First Movie – Mewtwo Strikes Back, which first released in Japan back in 1998.

The new movie arrives in Japan this July and is expected to be released in North America and Europe shortly after this.

Will you be rushing to the cinema to see this one? Tell us down below.

Flyhigh Works has confirmed that Slime Tactics will be sliding and slithering onto Nintendo Switch tomorrow, 11th April.

The game is a successor to Ambition of the Slimes, an interesting little release which arrived on Switch early last year. It’s a real-time strategy game in which you control and lead the ‘weakest’ units in gaming – the infamous Slimes. Your task is to take these slimes for yourself and turn them into a powerful army.

Flyhigh Works says that Slime Tactics offers real-time strategy battles “with a difference”; the game features various slime types to master, all with their own unique skills and characteristics, and as long as you think strategically you’ll be able to conquer the most deadly of enemies. You’ll find a number of stages to play through and even some boss encounters to discover.

You’ll be able to get your hands on this one tomorrow for $9.99 / €9,99, directly from the Nintendo Switch eShop.

As always, make sure to let us know if you’ll be giving this one a go by dropping a comment below.