Category: Nintendo News

It’s Saturday (unless you’re reading in this in the future, of course) which means that it’s time for yet another weekend Talking Point. As always, we’ve rounded up various members of the Nintendo Life team and forc- *ahem*… kindly asked them to share their weekend plans, so make sure to give them a read before getting involved with our poll and comment sections below. Enjoy!

Austin Voigt, contributing writer

This weekend, I’m actually headed out to London for a gaming meetup with friends, so I’ll be once again admiring my Switch’s portable capabilities in airports, planes and trains. I’ve got a friend with me, so it’ll likely be some good old fashioned Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Smash Ultimate and Splatoon 2. Maybe even a little two-player Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu!. I’m sure we’ll either annoy the heck out of the other passengers on our flight across the pond or start some cool aeroplane-wide Mario Kart tournament with everyone else – who knows!

Jon Cousins, Japan correspondent

Intentionally avoiding the horrors of a certain classic remake (because I’m a massive wuss and can’t be playing that kind of malarkey at the moment), I’m delving into a wonderfully wacky world I’ve had my eye on for quite some time: Pikuniku. Trying to stay away from footage and reviews as much as possible (apart from our handsome talisman Alex’s video) it’s as if George Orwell made a Mr Men game and I absolutely adore it.

It actually inspired me to revisit a Switch launch game – Snipperclips. Of course, the co-op and competitive multiplayer are hilariously brilliant, but I again appreciate the single player with its charm, moments of methodical thinking and fun puzzle solving.

Dom Reseigh-Lincoln, reviewer

This weekend I’ll be returning to a platforming gem almost no one seems to remember from the sixth gen, Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy. It’s been given an HD makeover and it’s headed to Switch so of course I’m going to see if it’s got what it takes to live again in a new era of consoles. I’ll also likely doing be doing my usual thing of flitting between Warframe and Paladins because, presumably, I’m only truly happy when I’m shooting things to death in a game!

Ryan Craddock, staff writer

This weekend looks like it might be a pretty busy, time-consuming one for me, so my gaming time might be sadly limited. Having said that, I’m sure my recent rediscovered love for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe will make an appearance at some point – I’ve never really played Mario Kart online before, as I don’t tend to like playing anything online really, but I’ve been enjoying the added tension that actual, real-life humans can provide. I need to get out more, I know.

Elsewhere, I still haven’t found the time to play GRIS, despite the fact that it’s been sitting on my console for over a month now. Hopefully I can get a little bit of time to start that soon as I’ve only heard wonderful things.

Liam Doolan, news reporter

Earlier this week I bought Mutant Mudds Collection, Xeodrifter and Soccer Slammers in the Atooi sale on the Switch eShop. So this weekend my plan is to play them all. Mutant Mudds is a game I’ve been meaning to revisit for a long time to try out the additional modes Super Challenge and Mudd Blocks. When I’m not playing either of these, I’ll be spending time in the Metroid-inspired game Xeodrifter, while trying to come to terms with the fact the development of Metroid Prime 4 has been reset.

Gonçalo Lopes, contributing writer

Moe weekend! It will be all about Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes for me; I welcome all this Suda51 insanity with a passion and despite knowing full well no one will remember the game by the year’s end, I am certain this is one of the 2019 Switch GOTY candidates. Elsewhere a bit of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and as much as I can possibly fit into Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition. Hmm, I got a bit of the sniffles… hopefully not the G Virus.

My game of the week goes to Pikuniku! What a delightful, minimalist journey where a flying kick solves most issues. If only real life were this simple…

Gavin Lane, contributing writer

This weekend I shall be mostly playing Downwell, OlliOlli: Switch Stance and When Ski Lifts Go Wrong, all for your reading pleasure over the coming week(s). It would be nice to make a dent in the backlog, too – Dark Souls Remastered isn’t going to play itself! – but I’ll also be knee-deep in IKEA furniture, so most of my time will be spent spinning teeny Allen keys and shooing cats out of empty packaging.

Don’t feel too sorry for me, though. Without wanting to spoil anything, that Downwell is still per-ritty good.

As always, thanks for reading! Make sure to leave a vote in the poll above and a comment below with your gaming choices over the next few days…

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• by Liam Doolan
• 10 hours ago

Another World: 20th Anniversary Edition is receiving another release, this time in physical form on the Nintendo Switch.

Limited Run Games made the announcement the modernised version of this Super Nintendo action-platformer classic would be released next month on 1st February, over on its Twitter account. The game was originally released on the Switch eShop in June last year, following existing releases on the Wii U and 3DS.

As noted in the above tweet, the standard edition will be an open two-week pre-order with more details about the limited collector’s edition to be shared soon.

If you haven’t played the 20th Anniversary edition before, it was developed by The Digital Lounge, published by DotEmu and guided by the original creator, Éric Chahi. The game itself is about a young physicist who tears the fabric of reality and is transported to an alien world with many dangers.

Will you be adding this retro hit to your Switch library? Tell us below.

Believe it or not, but Capcom’s survival horror series Resident Evil once had incredibly strong ties with Nintendo hardware. During the GameCube era it was difficult not to mention the stunning line-up of games on the system without making a reference to one of the temporary platform exclusives such as Resident Evil 4 or Resident Evil Zero.

Since then, Nintendo’s devices have missed out on certain entries in the series, with Capcom instead releasing games such as Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D on the 3DS and re-releasing older games on the Wii with motion support. In more recent times, the attention has been on the Resident Evil 2 remake for modern hardware. It’s got fans and Switch owners alike wondering if the multi-platform release will ever make its way across to Nintendo’s hybrid device. It may or may not happen, depending on how you read into the following response Capcom’s Brand Manager Mike Lunn provided GameRant with at E3 2018:

“No, not at this time. We just wanted to focus on PS4, Xbox One, and PC at the moment.”

On a more positive note, Switch owners can at least look forward to experiencing Resident Evil, Resident Evil Zero, and the much-adored Resident Evil 4 (again), following Capcom’s announcement last October that all three games would be headed to the system in 2019.

Would you like to see the Resident Evil 2 remake make its way to the Nintendo Switch in the near future? Tell us below.

No, it’s not some horrible nightmare, Nintendo has in fact announced the development of Metroid Prime 4 will be restarted, with the original developer Retro Studios now collaborating with producer Kensuke Tanabe.

Prior to this shock announcement from Nintendo, there were rumours circulating late last year about the re-release of the Metroid Prime Trilogy for the Nintendo Switch as an appetiser. So, what’s the current status of this rumoured project? According to a series of tweets by Game Informer’s Senior Editor Imran Khan, “it’s been long done” and the initial announcement for the trilogy collection on Switch was supposed to happen last month, but not necessarily at The Game Awards. Why exactly this game wasn’t revealed by Nintendo around this time is unknown.

Over on ResetEra, Khan said Metroid Prime 4’s development reset is likely to alter Nintendo’s schedule and mentioned how there was more “Metroid stuff” in the pipeline to anticipate.

Now that Nintendo has revealed the news about Metroid Prime 4, do you think it should focus on releasing the Metroid Prime Trilogy as soon as possible, assuming it is more than a rumour? Tell us below.

The upcoming Switch version of Dragon Quest XI – Dragon Quest XI: Echoes Of An Elusive Age S, to give it its full title – will contain scenarios which weren’t present in the PS4 and PC versions, Square Enix has confirmed.

The news comes from a livestream hosted by the developer today, in which a small tease of gameplay footage was shared, giving us another quick look at the game running on Switch. No additional details have been shared surrounding exactly what these scenarios may contain, but it’s a nice little bit of news to hear nonetheless.

The footage we just mentioned has been captured in this YouTube video below; rather than focusing almost exclusively on dramatic cutscenes like the official trailer, these clips show more of the dialogue-heavy scenes (even if it is all still in Japanese). Feel free to check it out below.

Elsewhere in the stream, more members of the Japanese voice cast were revealed:

• Protagonist (voiced by Mitsuki Saiga)
• King Carnelian (voiced by Sugou Takayuki)
• Hendrik (voiced by Rikiya Koyama)
• Jasper (voiced by Takahiro Sakurai)
• Amber (voiced by Mami Koyama)
• Chalky (voiced by Kenichi Ogata)
• Prince Faris (voiced by Nobunaga Shimazaki)
• Kainui (voiced by Yuichi Nakamura)
• Michelle (voiced by Ai Kayano)
• Atsuko (voiced by Emiri Katou)
• Atsuo (voiced by Emiri Katou)
• Miko (voiced by Toa Yukinari)
• Queen Frysabel (voiced by Yui Horie)
• Krystalinda (voiced by Miyuki Sawashiro)
• Adding to those we already knew:
• Erik (voiced by Kouki Uchiyama)
• Veronica (voiced by Maaya Uchida)
• Serena (voiced by Sora Amamiya)
• Sylvando (voiced by Masaya Onosaka)
• Rab (voiced by Mugihito)
• Jade (voiced by Ami Koshimizu)
• Gemma (voiced by Ayako Kawasumi)
• Vince (voiced by Tomokazu Sugita)
• Mia (voiced by Inori Minase)

Dragon Quest XI: Echoes Of An Elusive Age S launches this year in Japan; we still haven’t had any news of a western release just yet. We’ll leave you with a full recap of the livestream should you want to give it a watch.

Are you looking forward to this one? Do you hope it will get a full western release somewhere down the line? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.

Another game-breaking glitch has recently been discovered in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, this time involving Duck Hunt Duo and a very specific setup for Mii Swordfighter.

Discovered by Reddit users FlamingOranges and VocalEcho, this glitch falls much more in the “oh, well that’s not good” category – like the Isabelle and Villager game breaker – rather than the “that’s actually quite amusing” category – like the infinite Waluigi and super-sized Pikmin glitches seen previously. You can see it take place in the video below

FlamingOranges says that any stage is fine, as long as you have those two fighters, but the Mii Swordfighter must have the specific moveset listed below. Despite this, all you have to do is use the Mii Swordfighter’s side special attack after Duck Hunt Duo’s Gunman has fired a shot. The uploader states that “it’s incredibly easy to pull off, and this was found through normal play”.

– Neutral Special: Shuriken
– Side Special: Gale stab
– Up Special: Stone Scabbard
– Down Special: Reversal slash

Usually, we’d suggest trying to recreate the glitch yourself at home for a laugh, although this one is probably more of a nuisance than a comical quirk. Perhaps it’s best to avoid playing with just these two characters unless a fix is patched in?

Are you still enjoying your time with Smash Ultimate? Remember to claim your free Piranha Plant DLC and save any replays stored on your system this week.

Indie publisher Digerati has revealed that it’s bringing a relaxing puzzler to Switch in the form of Glass Masquerade, and it’ll be available as soon as next month.

The game features artistic, stained-glass puzzles inspired by Art Deco artisans of the 20th century, allowing players to unwind and complete each offering in their own time. You’ll be combining hidden glass pieces to unveil various pieces of art with absolutely no pressure – as you can see in the trailer, there are no time limits or restraints to speak of.

It’s an interesting concept, and one which certianly offers something a little different on Switch. Here’s a list of its key features:

Key features:
– 25 beautiful and intricately designed stained-glass jigsaw puzzles to complete
– Journey around the world – Each puzzle is inspired by a different country
– Art Deco mosaics and presentation give the game a distinct visual style
– Relaxing gameplay provides a calming experience – no time limits, no stress
– Soothing, atmospheric soundtrack by Russian composer Nikita Sevalnev
– Finish the game and replay the puzzles to improve your completion times
– Interface support for the following languages: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, – Japanese, Korean, Portuguese-Brazil, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese

The game launches on Nintendo Switch on 8th February and will be available to purchase directly from the Nintendo eShop.

Do you like the look of this one? Do you like your games to be more on the relaxing side of things? Let us know in the comments.

GameMill Entertainment has announced a partnership with NBC and Universal’s Games team to bring American Ninja Warrior Challenge to Nintendo Switch – a game based on NBC’s hit television show.

As our North American friends will no doubt already be aware, the show has contestants competing on various obstacle courses, aiming to make it all the way to the end and enthusiastically throw themselves on to a giant button. As you do. This game is said to feature fan-favourite obstacle courses from the show, while hosts Matt Iseman and Akbar Gbajabiamila provide commentary.

Players can test their skills with friends and family in the game’s couch multi-player mode, or you can choose to take on a challenging career mode to train and compete all the way to Mt. Midoriyama. Tim Flaherty, Partner at GameMill Entertainment, has said the following in a press release:

“American Ninja Warrior has continuously grown in popularity over the past 10 seasons and we are thrilled to partner with NBCUniversal to bring fans an authentic and action-packed American Ninja Warrior experience on gaming consoles for the first time. We are excited to unveil the many challenging and fun features in the coming months, which are designed to allow players to step into the shoes of their very own American Ninja Warrior competitor.”

American Ninja Warrior Challenge launches on 19th March on Switch and other leading platforms; pricing has still yet to be revealed.

Are you an ANW fan? Does the trailer above accurately represent the drama experienced during the show? Share your thoughts with us below.

Metroid Prime 4 ranks as one of the most anticipated Switch games so far, and given that it was revealed almost two years ago, the more optimistic fans out there may have been hoping for a Christmas 2019 – or at least Christmas 2020 – release. Today’s dramatic news that development of the game has effectively been restarted from scratch and original Metroid Prime trilogy studio Retro has been brought on board means we’re unlikely to see this epic release for at least another two years, if not significantly longer.

This unexpected announcement – delivered by a contrite Shinya Takahashi – leaves a Samus-shaped hole in the Switch’s release schedule that may be tricky to fill, but it shows a side of Nintendo that is arguably unique in the world of gaming. What other company would issue such an earnest and honest development update in video form, especially after making assurances in the past that all was well? The company’s Japanese culture obviously plays into this – in Japan, failure has to be owned and accepted if you want to move on and learn from it, and transparency is highly valued – but even so, we imagine you watched that update with a slackened jaw, such was the power of its disarming honesty.

The internet predictably lit up at the news, but on the whole, it would seem that Nintendo’s approach has worked:

So, Metroid Prime 4 has now been rebooted, and the years of work that have been invested so far are effectively null and void. While we can’t fault Nintendo for being so open about this – it would have been so easy to brush this under the carpet – you have to ponder exactly what went wrong with the game for such a remarkable turn of events to occur?

From day one, it was made clear that Retro Studios was not involved with the fourth Metroid Prime, and rumours circulated that Bandai Namco was helping with production – something it has done on other key Nintendo games. What was definitely known was that an internal team was heading development, with Kensuke Tanabe leading production. We can only guess at what has happened – it may well come out in the wash as the months roll by – but it would seem that Metroid Prime 4 was not hitting the kind of quality level that Nintendo expected; an almost unthinkable admission for the Japanese giant to make, especially when you consider how much pride it has in the talent of its own internal teams.

Retro Studios – a Nintendo-owned second-party company – is now officially in the frame, and we assume whatever other projects it was working on will either be delayed, scrapped or perhaps even proceed as normal; again, we imagine this is something that will become clear as reports and insider information inevitably trickles out of the company throughout 2019. But it begs the question: why on earth wasn’t Retro involved from day one? Was the studio simply too busy to take up the challenge, or did it initially decline the offer? Perhaps Nintendo began development of Metroid Prime 4 without consulting Retro – as is its prerogative, as it is the sole owner of the IP. Retro hasn’t been all that active of late, so you have to wonder precisely what projects the esteemed firm has on its plate right now.

Looking at this from a totally unemotional perspective, Metroid Prime 4 with Retro involved is sure to be a mouth-watering prospect, even if the bulk of the staff involved with the first three games have since moved onto other companies. As Shigeru Miyamoto himself said, “A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad.” We’re sure most of you reading this will be of the opinion that a poor-quality Metroid Prime 4 in 2020 wouldn’t have been anywhere near as satisfactory as an amazing one released a few years later, but it’s only human to be disappointed at the news that something you’ve been looking forward to is now so much further away.

Still, we’d like to know what you think. Vote in the poll below and be sure to leave a comment to share your feelings; how does it feel to know that Metroid Prime 4 is delayed, but will hopefully arrive in better shape as a result? And does this mean we’ll now see that elusive Metroid Prime Trilogy Switch port we’ve all been asking for?