Despite initially receiving an official worldwide release date of 23rd April, it would appear that Mortal Kombat 11 has been delayed until 10th May in Europe.
Several European retailers have simultaneously updated their product listings for the Switch version of the game, changing the expected release date from 23rd April to the new May date mentioned above. Only the Switch edition of the game has seen any change, and the North American release appears to be going ahead as planned in April.
Retailers include Amazon, which has changed the date on its UK and French stores, for example, and even the official Warner Bros. store (the company responsible for publishing the game). We haven’t received any official word from Warner Bros. on the delay, and we’ll make sure to update you if anything comes to light, but this certainly suggests that the game has definitely been pushed back.
Are you sad to see this one get a small delay? Are you thinking of picking this one up when it does launch on Switch? Let us know in the comments below.
Rhetorical question: Lacking crossplay, being free to download, and play online, would this really be high on the list?
Video games are for fun, and relaxing. Not everyone enjoys the same genres. I have to say, however, that it seems to me that people don’t want to go to the extra effort to figure out the basics of how to play a slightly more complex game, such as TLoZ:BotW. It’s kind of disappointing. I hope it doesn’t make Nintendo even slightly consider shifting focus to games of a watered down nature.
First things first: Octahedron: Transfixed Edition’s soundtrack is stellar. It’s a fusion of crunching basslines and techno breakdowns that marry perfectly with the neon aesthetic that makes every level of this 2D platformer. But it’s more than just a score to keep your head bobbing and your feet tapping. Every track has a BPM that fits the rhythm and flow of the hazards of each level. The result is a fast-paced platformer that’s part Celeste, part Rez and part Guitar Hero.
Most of these hyper-fast, consistently challenging twitch platformers have a gameplay gimmick to set it apart and Octahedron doesn’t disappoint in that regard, either. When a man happens upon a glowing shape in the woods, it imbues him with powers and sends him deep into the subterranean underworld of Veetragoul. Now you can create platforms with the touch of a button, enabling you to reach higher platforms as you ascend its 50-plus levels in hope of reaching home.
You don’t just use these platforms to climb, but to move as well. Move the left analogue stick in any direction and the platform will move with you. You’re essentially surfing it across the screen, although it will only last so long before it winks out of existence. As you progress through each world, you’ll get a different number of platforms to call on, which reset every time you land on solid ground. But, as you’ve probably already guessed, that’s not even the tip of this neon iceberg.
Developer Demimonde wants you to think fast and earn every inch you ascend. Glowing barriers will reset your platform conjuring ability, which can be used to ascend large vertical gaps in a spiral of magical movement, or as a way of covering large distances full of traps and enemies below. You see, most of the time you can’t fight back, but you can use movement, momentum and the scenery itself to overcome each challenge that’s placed before you.
Yellow spiders can be avoided if you time your jumps around their patrols. Red boxes that pump out red blobs that circumnavigate entire platforms can sometimes be moved to change the direction of their deadly fire. Enemies that leap up or down when you pass by can be held at bay with the right kind of timing. Even in its first hour, Octahedron continues to roll out new mechanics and ideas as it tests your ability to multitask to the beat. You’re constantly juggling them in different orders, and the pace only gets faster and the windows for success only get smaller the further you progress.
Considering every enemy movement is loosely tied to the beat of the track pumping away in the background, the setup of each vertical level has been purposefully built to follow a particular rhythm. With so many games opting for procedural generation, Octahedron’s handcrafted levels are finely tuned so that every element has its place in the mix. Using your conjured platform, you can attempt to complete each level by destroying light bulbs, which explode with a neon boom and then rise to form flowers on a platform above. There are even floating triangles that explode with colour and light when you find a way to reach them. These contribute to a final score that will eventually unlock further worlds to explore.
Push further and you’ll unlock more platforms that have unique properties, such as one that sends a downward blast of energy as you surf it (perfect for clearing the considerable number of enemies present in the latter worlds and their levels). You can use a series of pipes to ride through to different pipes in a level like a surge of data travelling along a cable. Octahedron is constantly throwing new ideas at you, and every one of them perfectly suits the next, even when things get considerably intense.
And things will get intense. Chaos is part of the deal, but that black background and pixelated neon visual style mean that when the action ramps up, tracking everything on-screen becomes a fine art in itself. It’s still perfectly playable in handheld/tabletop mode, but we found using the bigger screen real estate of a TV made following your leaping hero while neon fireworks explode at every turn considerably less of an issue.
The Transfixed Edition, as par the course with these Switch ‘ultimate edition’ releases, packs in the full game along with some additional medals for the time trial mode (where clearing levels as fast as possible is the name of the game) and plenty of extra challenges, should the difficulty of its latter stages leave you hungry for more. Octahedron was already a deliciously rewarding platformer when it originally launched in 2017, and now it’s just that little bit better on Nintendo Switch.
Conclusion
With the purity of its twitch platforming mechanics and the clever way developer Demimonde exploits user-generated platforms, Octahedron: Transfixed Edition certainly lives up to its new subtitle. The soundtrack alone is worth the price of admission – especially if you’re partial to some big EDM beats – and if you’ve ever enjoyed the likes of Downwell, Crypt of the NecroDancer or Celeste, this TRON-loving indie is likely to entrance you.
You may have heard about this little game called Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, correct? Well, Japanese sales data has revealed that the game has already outsold its 3DS counterpart despite only being on sale for five weeks.
At the very end of last week, new sales figures came in for the week of 31st December – 6th January, revealing that Ultimate had already managed to pass the 2.6 million sales mark in the region. This figure takes it beyond Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS‘ lifetime sales in Japan, which currently sit at just over 2.5 million.
As noted in the image above, these figures only account for physical sales as chart tracking data currently excludes digital purchases. If digital sales were included, it’s likely that the gap would be even larger thanks to an increase in customers opting for digital over physical in recent years.
Ultimate is also quickly closing in on Splatoon 2 in Japan, the game currently sitting at the top of the Switch sales pile. Splatoon 2 has sold 2,882,819 physical copies in the region as of last week, but if Smash continues to sell at its current pace, this total will soon be overtaken, too. It’s a frankly monstrous launch period when compared to other releases, and one that no doubt paves the way for continued success as time goes on.
Did you ever think Smash would perform quite this well? Can you see any future Switch games outselling it one day? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Dragon: Marked For Death may be about to launch as a Nintendo Switch exclusive at the end of this month, but recent findings have revealed that the game’s development actually dates back as far as ten years, with the title originally being destined for Sony’s PSP.
The news comes from this tweet shared by Inti Creates president Takuya Aizu, in which he reveals that he recently discovered some old drafts for the game while searching for potential promo material. The draft includes the date 18th August 2008, with specific instructions for use with the PSP system.
According to Siliconera, the game was being developed as a multiplayer title which aimed to target an audience of office workers in their 20s who don’t have as much free time to play during the day. It was described as a Mario-like 2D side-scroller, with action, mysteries, and character growth all featured; a four-player co-op mode would allow players to take control of their own characters.
Prior to its reveal for Switch, the game was also reportedly planned for Nintendo 3DS as an online experience. It might have had a long, interesting journey, but the wait to finally play the game is growing shorter by the day – it releases on Nintendo Switch on 31st January. A physical release is also scheduled to launch in February.
In case you’ve missed it, we’ll leave you with one of the game’s Switch trailers to show you what it’s all about.
Have you been looking forward to this one? Will you be grabbing a copy later this month? Tell us below.
UK chart data is now in for the week ending 12th January, revealing that Nintendo’s latest major release New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe has gone straight in at number one.
The game has managed to outperform its original release, New Super Mario Bros. U for Wii U, by a comfortable margin, selling 24.8% more physical copies in its opening week. NSMBUD is the fourth Switch game to hit number one in the UK, following Super Smash Bros. Ultimate last month, Mario Tennis Aces last summer, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe back in April 2017.
Nintendo has also managed to claim fifth and sixth spots this week, with Mario and the gang making their presence felt across the board.
Here’s a look at this week’s top ten all formats chart (physical sales only):
1. (New) New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe 2. (1) FIFA 19 3. (2) Red Dead Redemption 2 4. (3) Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 5. (4) Super Smash Bros Ultimate 6. (7) Mario Kart 8 Deluxe 7. (5) Battlefield V 8. (Re-entry) Grand Theft Auto V 9. (8) Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy 10. (6) Forza Horizon 4
Our favourite gaming grandma receiving a Switch thanks to donations from the gaming community
One of our favourite stories over the past few weeks was the incredible tale of the 87-year-old grandma who had put a whopping 3,580 hours into Animal Crossing: New Leaf. Now, she’s back, giving her new-found admirers a tour of her town and talking about her experiences with the game.
Since we reported on the story at the turn of the year, and thanks to going viral on the likes of Twitter and Reddit, the Animal Crossing champ has been gaining a near-endless amount of love and admiration from fans of the series and the wider gaming community in general. Many had asked to see or visit her in-game town, and with a little help from the man who originally shared her story, @phubans, this has now become a reality.
We now know that our favourite gaming grandma is called Audrey, potentially being the oldest fan of the game in the world. As well as giving you a tour of her town, which has developed beautifully over the last four years, she also reveals that her favourite villager is Filbert and that she currently has a bank balance containing more than 65.6 million bells. Wow.
Audrey has also shared her Dream Address, letting players of the game visit her town themselves. If you’d like to pay her a visit, here’s the code you’ll need: 4E00-0126-6834.
Are you feeling inspired by Audrey’s dedication? How many hours have you put into Animal Crossing over the years? Let us know in the comments below.
The Nintendo Switch Online service has been chugging along at a steady pace since it officially launched in September last year. When it did arrive, a digital library of NES titles was made available as part of the subscription package, with more classics added to the service each month.
Although Nintendo’s focus is currently on NES titles in terms of retro offerings, according to a dataminer who has sifted through NES Online strings – apparently added in last month’s Switch update, there’s now evidence Super Nintendo games are planned for the service in the future. Below is the full list of titles, according to dataminer Kapu, who also goes by the Twitter handle @KapuccinoHeck.
In total, there are 22 games on this list. Interestingly, the previously unreleased game Star Fox 2 features. This game was finally made available in 2017 when it was included as part of the games library on the SNES Classic Mini.
And if SNES offerings aren’t enough to satisfy your nostalgic cravings, another dataminer who goes by the Twitter handle @OatmealDome – and is known for their findings in Splatoon 2 – claims to have discovered the following information (see below), suggesting there will be two to three more emulators added to the Switch online service at a later date.
The No More Heroes spin-off Travis Strikes Again lands exclusively on the Nintendo Switch next week. In preparation for this launch, Nintendo Minute’s Kit and Krysta have taken an in-depth look at what this game has to offer. If you are still on the fence about the latest outing starring Travis, this video might be worth taking a look at. Otherwise, we advise you click away now if you don’t want to spoil the experience for yourself.
In addition to this gameplay footage was a brief message from the one and only Goichi ‘Suda51’ Suda, who recently turned 51. In a pre-recorded clip at the start of the above video, Suda explains how Travis Strikes Again is “good to go” and the team is currently hard at work on the season pass, which has two installments of DLC. He also mentions how the team is a mixture of young and old Grasshopper Manufacture staffers and around 15 people worked on the game. To find out what else he has to say about this upcoming release, view the above video.
What do you think about this game after watching this latest episode of Nintendo Minute? Will you be adding Travis Strikes Again to your collection next week? Let us know in the comments.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was – and still is – a superb open world experience. If you take a moment to reflect on Link’s adventure, two moments from the game that might standout include finding the seed-sharing Korok and fighting the ancient but lethal Guardians.
If you’ve ever wanted to see an animation recreating these special moments when you found a Korok or fought a Guardian, this is probably the one. This fan animation uploaded to YouTube lasts for nearly two minutes and does a beautiful job capturing these memorable moments within Breath of the Wild. The animators behind it include Youyang Kong and Qianya Yin with music by Sihan Yuan and sound by Doudou. Take a look below:
When we see quality animations such as the one above, it leaves us wondering if an official Legend of Zelda animation or live series will ever be released in the modern era. In 2015, the Wall Street Journal reported a live-action Zelda Netflix series was in the works and then a different rumour last October suggested a Zelda series would be produced by Adi Shankar. Instead, it turned out to be an announcement for the Devil May Cry animation.
Tell us if you enjoyed this animation in the comments below.
