If you’re trying to improve your fitness in the new year, perhaps Fitness Boxing for the Switch might be worth checking out. It may not offer quite the same level of variety as the Wii Fit series, but it can at least provide you with an intense physical workout.
If you have been on the fence about this Imagineer-developed title, Nintendo has now uploaded a brand new overview of the game. Running for a total of 2 minutes and 30 seconds, the clip provides a brief rundown of all the options and workout features within the game. If you do decide to get fit, you’ll learn how to master the jab, uppercut, hook and plenty of other moves as you time them to the beat of more than 20 different songs, including the likes of Lady Gaga, LMFAO, and Avril Lavigne (full tracklisting here). In addition to this, you can customise your trainers and workout or compete against a friend.
If you want to work towards a fitness goal in 2019, Fitness Boxing is out in Europe and is now also available in North America. If you’re still not sure if this is the right game for you, you can always consider downloading the free demo from the Nintendo eShop.
Have you played this game yet? Did the overview trailer grab your attention? Tell us in the comments.
In the second half of December, there was a reported “leak” for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, originating on the Japanese textboard 5channel. It was regarding one of the extra fighters expected to appear in the game. The rumour gained traction because the apparent leaker posted information that was then officially confirmed. At the time, the individual also revealed more information about Joker’s DLC fighter pack.
The other DLC fighter referenced in this leak was Erdrick from Square Enix’s long-running Dragon Quest series – a character depicted as a recurring legendary hero who wields a sword and is skilled with multiple weapons. Now, in the latest update, a “reliable dataminer” by the name of jam1garner has allegedly revealed the code names for the upcoming DLC Season Pass fighters.
Based on the information provided in a ResetEra post by user MondoMega, the first is “Jack” – suspected to be a reference to Joker from Persona 5, and the second is “Brave” – a supposed reference to a Dragon Quest hero. In Japan, this class is called Yuusha, which directly translates to ‘brave’ in English. “Packu” – a code name for Piranha Plant was also spotted below this. There are also theories “Jack” might actually be a reference to Jack Frost – a demon from the Persona series.
Are you convinced yet? Would you like to see a character from Dragon Quest appear in Smash Bros. Ultimate? Tell us below.
Starlink: Battle For Atlas arrived in October last year. Since then, many players have no doubt completed the game. In the end credits, an interesting discovery has been made in the Nintendo Switch version. As this iteration features exclusive Star Fox content, it’s widely known there was ongoing communication between Ubisoft and Nintendo during the development of the title, resulting in some significant names appearing at the end of the game.
According to Nintendo Soup, if you let the credits roll long enough, you’ll eventually see the names of the current and former Global President of Nintendo pop up. The former president being Tatsumi Kimishima – who became the fifth president of the company in September 2015, and the current one Shuntaro Furukawa – the sixth president of the company, as of June 2018. Basically, it’s a rare sight to see two Nintendo Presidents listed as executive producers of a game.
Have you seen the credits roll in Starlink: Battle For Atlas yet? Tell us below.
Jump start your New Year’s fitness goals with Fitness Boxing for Nintendo Switch
With the holiday season coming to an end, it’s time to grab your Joy-Con controllers and hop off the couch! The Fitness Boxinggame on the Nintendo Switch system is now available, so you can treat yourself to a fun workout wherever you want! The game’s rhythm-based boxing exercises will help you accomplish those New Year’s fitness resolutions in no time.
Thanks to Nintendo Switch, Fitness Boxing is a new way to work out that fits anyone’s busy lifestyle. Since Nintendo Switch can be played at home on the TV or taken on the go, you can play Fitness Boxing anywhere you like, whether working out in the room while the baby is napping, in a hotel room on a business trip, in the kitchen while dinner cooks or in your room before bed. It’s easier and more convenient than hitting the gym and is the perfect way to jump into the boxing fitness trend.
The game offers personalized rhythmic workouts by letting you select different fitness goals, choose from a diverse group of trainers and make a personalized daily workout ranging from 10 minutes (short), to 30 minutes (mid), to 45 minutes (long). The software will track your progress with estimated approximate BMI and calories-burned information to help encourage healthy habits and keep you progressing to your goals.
“Fitness Boxing gives users a new way to burn some calories while having fun,” said Doug Bowser, Nintendo of America’s Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “And thanks to the portable nature of Nintendo Switch, your workout goes wherever you do.”
Now you’ll be able to master your boxing basics while getting down to instrumental versions of 20 hit songs from popular artists. As you progress, you can earn more songs and more challenging training circuits.
With two Joy-Con controllers or two sets of Joy-Con (sold separately), you can share the experience with a friend or family member in two-player local play. You can choose to work out together, try to string together chains of moves or face off in a virtual boxing ring for some competitive fun. And with the power of Nintendo Switch, you can play anytime, anywhere.
Fitness Boxing is now available at a suggested retail price of $49.99. If you want to try before you buy (or box before you unbox), check out the free demo for the game. The demo features three days’ worth of workouts, giving you a taste of the exercise routines you can easily implement into your daily life.
Remember that Nintendo Switch features parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about other features, visit https://www.nintendo.com/switch/.
If you’re aware of Super Smash Bros. tier lists, and especially if you’re of the opinion that they’re essentially rather useless, then this article is absolutely for you.
For anyone in the dark here, Smash tier lists are designed by players – usually those who play at a competitive level – to inform others about which characters could potentially be worth ‘maining’, or using to play with themselves. The tiers usually have a ranking system from ‘S’ to ‘F’ or similar, with the entire roster being given a letter based on their overall usefulness. We actually shared a couple of these tier lists created by pro players just last month.
Fans of the game have started to create their own joke lists, however, posting them online to give everyone else a good giggle. While trying out a character that has been praised by a pro player would be a good place to start, you could argue that simply having fun with whoever you want to play as is most important; as such, these players have twisted the entire concept, sharing which characters are best for menial tasks.
We’ll kick things off with one of our favourites – a chart listing characters by their Rubik’s Cube efficiency.
A chart based on various songs featuring the words “wake me up”, with a nod to Yoshi’s tax fraud antics.
Who has the best taunt in the game? Poor Pichu.
We’ve had to block out a naughty word here (you can view the original here), but we suspect someone is a Marth fan…
This one says it all, and we love it.
Perhaps a not-so-subtle reference to fans who believe Fire Emblem is over-represented.
“O Lucina, Lucina, wherefore art thou Lucina?”
We could go on listing these forever, but we’ll end things here with this list of characters most likely to pay for the meal at the end of date. We absolutely agree with Jigglypuff’s position here.
Now then, lovely Nintendo Life community, we hand things over to you. Do you agree with the lists shown above? Have any of your favourite characters been placed in a tier that you wholeheartedly disagree with? Let your thoughts be known in the comments below.
Image & Form Games, the studio behind indie favourites like SteamWorld Dig, SteamWorld Heist, and more, has shared an incredibly teasing message to fans which hints at things to come in 2019.
The last we saw from Image & Form was the Nintendo Switch port of SteamWorld Dig, with SteamWorld Dig 2 launching not long before that across multiple platforms. As the studio’s founder, Brjann Sigurgeirsson, mentions in the video below, things have been rather quiet since then, but it looks like that might be about to change.
Naturally, it’s impossible to know when this teased news will come our way, but the “sooner than you think” line has us pretty excited. Will we see something in the coming weeks? Perhaps whenever the next Nintendo Direct decides to grace us with its presence? Time will tell.
For now, though, why not let us know what you’d like to see next from Image & Form. SteamWorld Dig 3? SteamWorld Heist 2? Something entirely new? The comment section is yours…
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 eShop – New Releases
Overdriven Reloaded: Special Edition(Maïlys Brouste, €7.99 / £7.19) – Let’s destroy huge bosses and dodge thousands of bullets… It’s time to save the universe one more time!
Samsara: Deluxe Edition(Marker, €7.99 / £7.99) – While playing in the park, Zee follows a squirrel through a portal to a world of echoes, inhabited by a shadow child. Surrounded by the unknown and trapped in a series of realms both confusing and dangerous, the youngsters must avoid slipping into the pool between dimensions, embarking on a voyage of discovery and awakening they share with the player, up and down staircases, through light and dark, across the upside-down and the right-side-up to their eventual freedom.
Xenon Valkyrie+(COWCAT, €9.99 / £8.99) – Xenon Valkyrie+ is a rogue-like platformer game in which you must fight to the deepest part of a moon and halt the plans of a wicked witch. Obtain many weapons as you fight through a unique, randomly-generated world every time you play. Encounter many characters, stores and enemies that tell a legendary story.
Don’t Sink(HitcentsDe, €8.99 / £7.99) – Explore a massive world with unique islands and landscapes. Discuss rumours and discover the origins of each island by talking to the people that live there Expect the unexpected when at sea. Events you may be unprepared for may occur such as a foodborne illness among your crew. You’ll need to have access to the right supplies and have the experience to keep your ship afloat
ACA NEOGEO RAGNAGARD(HAMSTER, €6.99 / £6.19) – “RAGNAGARD” is a fighting game released by SNK in 1996. Take control of unique characters based on gods and beasts of legend, and take down your enemies to gain power over Heaven. This game’s Element System allows for a variety of playing styles. Charge your Element Gauge to utilize destructive Disaster Arts and Miracle Arts!
Guns of Mercy – Rangers Edition(Storybird, €11.99 / £10.79) – Aliens invaded the world’s underground! All Rangers are required to help to restore the peace. Take your favourite hero, weapon and meka and start blowing them up! Guns of Mercy is an arcade shooting and pixelated game where you must go through hundreds of levels.
Gnomes Garden 2(8Floor Games, €4.99 / £4.49) – The wicked queen of the trolls has returned from banishment! Using her evil magic, she has kidnapped the princess of the gnomes and taken her to a distant kingdom. In those lands, none know of the power of the magical gardens! The gnomish people who live there have suffered long at the hands of the queen of the trolls and her subjects. The princess decides to help her brothers and sisters and return the power of the magic trees.
Johnny Turbo’s Arcade: Fighter’s History(FTE Games, €7.99 / £7.10) – Practice your fighting skills and the special moves of each character, as you complete the rounds to win the brawling tournament!
Marble Power Blast(EntwicklerX, €2.99 / £2.69) – Play Marble Power Blast, a Match-3 Bubble shooter game! Get beautiful HD backgrounds in 50 levels and 7 different locations/themes. Unlock the shuffle gaming mode and generate your own levels with random calculated difficulty, marble waves, length and number of colours.
Number Place 10000(SUCCESS, €5.09 / £4.59) – Mind Training logic puzzle “Number Place” The objective is to fill a 9×9 grid with numbers without repeatedly in all row, column and 3×3 squares. 10000 questions in 4 levels of difficulty from Easy to Expert. Let’s choose a question that suit yourself, or challenge harder with others!
Pang Adventures(DotEmu, €9.99 / £8.99) – The Pang series is a beloved collection of arcade games from the ’90s. Guide two brothers around the world to save humankind from an alien invasion! Use your skills to overcome the attack balls pouring from the skies & rescue the world from impending annihilation!
Pic-a-Pix Pieces(Lightwood Games, €7.99 / £6.99) – Pic-a-Pix is a picture logic game, sometimes known as Picross, Nonogram or Hanjie, where whimsical pixel-art pictures are created by solving puzzles. In Pic-a-Pix Pieces, large pictures have been split into a number of smaller pieces. Each piece is a puzzle grid, and by solving them all you’ll form a mosaic that reveals a spectacular final image. Play alone or solve puzzles with friends! Co-op play supports up to 4 players using any combination of controllers. Touchscreen controls can be used in handheld mode.
Unicornicopia(Pocketmoneygames, €4.19 / £3.79) – Alone in the forest, a Unicorn wakes, Searching for its herd as a new dawn breaks. Where are my friends? Not to the west, to find them I must set out on a quest!
99Seconds(EnjoyUp Games, €2.99 / £2.69) – 99Seconds, a fun, retro-style video game, where you can modify time to avoid all kinds of dangers. After finishing off Black Eye, V-99 entered a mysterious zone called Bit 8, without knowing why V-99 could modify time!. But everything became complicated with the appearance of the BLACK VECTORS: mysterious beings that aim to destroy any intruder who reaches Bit 8.
Switch eShop – Demos
Guns of Mercy Demo(Storybird, Free) – Aliens invaded the world’s underground! All Rangers are required to help to restore the peace. Take your favourite hero, weapon and meka and start blowing them up! Guns of Mercy is an arcade shooting and pixelated game where you must go through hundreds of levels.
3DS eShop – New Releases
RTO 3(nuGame, €9.99 / £8.99) – The lunar base, where you are stationed as part of the security forces, is under siege. Having just escaped from enemy captivity you are now on your own and must fight against overwhelming odds to survive. Featuring large and complex levels with nonstop action RTO 3 is a first-person shooter which will keep you entertained for hours.
Switch eShop – Pre-Orders
Everything(David Oreilly, €10.39 / £9.35, pre-order from 31/12/2018) – Everything is an interactive simulation game where every single object in the Universe is a playable character, from atoms to animals to planets to galaxies. The player can manipulate the world in infinite ways and construct their own, while exploring the interconnected relationships between everything. Narrated by the late British philosopher Alan Watts.
Feudal Alloy(Attu Games, €14.99 / £13.49, pre-order from 31/12/2018) – Explore an unusual medieval world with a fish-controlled robot, Attu. Improve your combat techniques and skills by smashing many kinds of mechanical creatures in a beautiful hand-drawn world. Attu is an ordinary farmer robot who lives in a small cottage in sunflower fields. He had been living a simple but pleasant life until a bunch of outlaws attacked the village, stole their oil supplies and burnt his house.
Neko Navy – Daydream Edition(Fruitbat Factory, €9.89 / £8.90, pre-order from 31/12/2018) – Flying cats versus 10,000 soothing characters! What awaits them beyond all those furious midair fights…? Witness the world’s most shocking ending for yourself! Shoot, evade, and detonate Bombers! “Neko Navy” is an exhilarating horizontal scrolling shooter where you can shoot them up with easy controls.
Planet RIX-13(Sometimes You, €4.24 / £3.81, pre-order from 02/01/2019) – You are the pilot of a spacecraft that is looking for and exploring worlds that are potentially suitable for life. While scanning the next target, you lost control of your ship and had to make an emergency landing. It quickly becomes clear that you are not the first person on this planet…
At Sundown(Versus Evil, €15.99 / £14.39, pre-order from 03/01/2019) – At Sundown is stealth driven, top-down, multiplayer shooter in which up to 4 players compete in both online and local deathmatch. With a variety of cool weapons to take each other out with and multiple maps across 6 different zones, only the BEST will dominate each round and survive the ultimate challenge to rise to the top at sundown!
Caveblazers(Yogscast, €10.39 / £9.59, pre-order from 03/01/2019) – Caveblazers is an action-focused platformer roguelike set in a fantasy world. Each game is unique with procedurally generated levels to explore and a massive amount of items, weapons and equipment to discover. As you delve deeper in to the cave, you’ll discover new areas to explore, new weapons and new monsters to try them out on.
HoPiKo(Merge Games, €6.99 / £6.29, pre-order from 03/01/2019) – The evil Nanobyte virus is out, gaming is over… It’s time to hook up your power gloves and save your HoPiKo brothers! HoPiKo is an intense speed run platformer where you get to save gaming. Jump from platform to platform avoiding death, exploiting shortcuts and ripping through 100s of hand-crafted levels, each one dropped into a 5-stage mini-run designed to break your mind!
Left-Right: The Mansion(Triple Boris, €4.00 / £3.59, pre-order from 03/01/2019) – The Mansion is a little game about a boy, Billy, whose dog named Gigi ran away inside a big mansion. He must journey through this mysterious place, where he will have to find and remember the right path in order to find her. Every room will challenge him with a simple choice to make: left or right. Two doors, yet only one will make him go forward; the other one will bring him back to the beginning.
Stellar Interface(ImaginationOverflow, €11.69 / £11.69, pre-order from 03/01/2019) – Fight In Ever Changing Space Battles! Run through the universe, discover the numerous perks/consumables and their synergistic effects. Explore the randomly-generated galaxy to find merchants, unlock spacecrafts, collect StellarNetES Cartridges, checkmark your kills of the various galactic overlords.
DYING: Reborn – Nintendo Switch Edition(Coconut Island games, €6.71 / £6.07, pre-order from 03/01/2019) – 《DYING: Reborn – Nintendo Switch Edition》is a highly unique first-person problem-solving puzzle game. In this special edition, we will be introducing you to a whole new story; every shred of paper, every nook and cranny, are scattered with fragments of the past. Don’t miss out on a single detail and piece together a complete storyboard. Explore every corner of a storied hotel of blood and violence, solve layers of puzzles, and inch your way towards the chilling truth.
Double Cross(Headup Games, €14.99 / £13.49, pre-order from 03/01/2019) – A recent attack on R.I.F.T. headquarters thrusts players into a thrilling new case where they must use their R.I.F.T. developed gear to sling, swing, fight and investigate across distinct dimensions. During their travels, players will gather clues to bring themselves one step closer to finding the identity of R.I.F.T.’s attacker and save every variation of the universe.
DreamWorks Dragons Dawn of New Riders(Outright Games, €39.99 / £34.99, pre-order from 04/01/2019) – A new heroic dragon and rider are taking to the skies and only you can help them defeat the evil villains who destroyed a dragon sanctuary created by Hiccup, Toothless, and his dragon riders. When the island of Havenholme is found in ruins, mysterious survivors emerge as unlikely future heroes. Scribbler is a scholar who cannot remember his past while Patch is a unique breed of dragon, a “chimeragon,” with new, unexpected powers they discover along the way. Together they must explore new islands, battle fierce enemies and recover the memories that reveal Patch’s true origin in this fun and fiery new action adventure.
Happy New Year Sale
Nintendo has launched a huge Happy New Year Sale including discounts on some big-name Switch games. It’s too big to squeeze into this article, so we’ve had to share it here.
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
Fitness Boxing(Nintendo, Fri 4th January, $49.99) Get off the couch and get moving with fun, boxing-based rhythmic exercises set to the instrumental beats of songs by popular artists. You can personalize your workouts by selecting from different fitness goals. Train your way, whether you’re on your own, with a friend, at home, or on the go! Read our Fitness Boxing review
Switch eShop
Catastronauts(Inertiasoft, Today, $16.99) Gather your friends and join the illustrious Space Fleet in this fast-paced party game! Can you deal with unrelenting disaster and hold your ship together long enough to destroy the enemy invaders? Repair systems, extinguish fires, arm the torpedoes, avoid deadly solar flares, destroy your friends and clone them back again; it’s all in the life of a Catastronaut!
99Seconds(EnjoyUp Games, Fri 4th January, $2.99) 99Seconds, a fun, retro-style video game, where you can modify time to avoid all kinds of dangers. After finishing off Black Eye, V-99 entered a mysterious zone called Bit 8, without knowing why V-99 could modify time!
ACA NEOGEO THE KING OF FIGHTERS 2002(HAMSTER, Thu 27th December, $7.99) “THE KING OF FIGHTERS 2002” is a fighting game released by SNK in 2002. The 9th entry in the KOF series. In this tame, the “Striker System” is replaced by creating teams for the comeback of the “3-on-3 Battle Mode”.
Animated Jigsaws: Wild Animals(Rainy Frog, Today, $9.99) Complete video jigsaw puzzles alone or team up with friends and finish them together! Animated Jigsaws: Wild Animals contains short videos as jigsaw puzzles that are pieced together to reveal stunning shots of wild animals close up!
Don’t Sink(Hitcents, Today, $9.99) Explore a massive world with unique islands and landscapes. Discuss rumors and discover the origins of each island by talking to the people that live there Expect the unexpected when at sea. Events you may be unprepared for may occur such as a foodborne illness among your crew.
Dreamwalker(Code Mystics Inc., Today, $4.99) Dreamwalker is an action puzzler where you control the maze, shepherding Walker safely to his goal while counting sheep and avoiding sleep-disturbing hazards. Collect Reward Stars for clever solutions that complete the puzzle in minimal time or actions.
JCB Pioneer: Mars(Atomicom, Today, $24.99) Experience incredible survival sandbox gameplay and explore Mars using a selection of futuristic, ultra-rugged JCB vehicles designed specifically for the challenge. Mine precious materials, construct large-scale buildings and research new technologies to ensure humanity’s future lies beyond planet Earth.
Job the Leprechaun(Herrero Games, Today, $2.99) Help Job the Leprechaun to rescue his friend Eri in this classic platformer game. Collect all clovers in the stage and find the door to go to the next level. A horde of goblins, zombies, caterpillars and many more monsters will try to stop you. Use your Magic Hat to fight them.
Johnny Turbo’s Arcade: Fighter’s History(FTE Games, Today, $7.99) Practice your fighting skills and the special moves of each character, as you complete the rounds to win the brawling tournament!
Mad Age & This Guy(SimFabric, Fri 4th January, $4.99) This is the age of steam. This is the time of unprecedented technology development never seen before. This is the era of science, research, and inventions. However, this world has also another side, the side not everyone aware of.
Mentori Puzzle(ITL, Today, $8.00) Puzzle game featuring the popular Mentori characters. Use the “Hiyoko Ball” anytime to easily make combos. Easy to pick up for newcomers to the genre. Progress the “Story” to collect Photos and have fun with Mentori 4-Box Manga.
Octahedron: Transfixed Edition(Square Enix Europe LTD, Thu 17th January, $12.99) Surf through a pulsating underworld on platforms YOU pull from thin air, where and when you want, in this psychedelic action platformer. Unlock devastating abilities across 50+ handcrafted levels as you defy gravity to a pumping beat.
Pic-a-Pix Pieces(Lightwood Games, Today, $7.99) Pic-a-Pix is a picture logic game, sometimes known as Picross, Nonogram or Hanjie, where whimsical pixel-art pictures are created by solving puzzles. In Pic-a-Pix Pieces, large pictures have been split into a number of smaller pieces. Each piece is a puzzle grid, and by solving them all you’ll form a mosaic that reveals a spectacular final image.
The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human(Digerati, Today, $12.99) Explore the ruins of humanity in this mesmerising underwater action-adventure. Discover thriving wildlife, encounter monstrous beasts, and let curiosity guide you through an inevitable voyage of extinction. The water rose by an unpredictable amount due to climate change.
Unicornicopia(Pocket Money Games, Today, $4.99) Alone in the forest, a Unicorn wakes, Searching for its herd as a new dawn breaks. Where are my friends? Not to the west, to find them I must set out on a quest! Aimed at a younger audience this endless runner, virtual pet hybrid is simple to play but hard to put down. With a sprinkle of magical minigames, this enchanted title will be sure to keep you smiling!
3DS eShop
RTO 3(nuGAME, Today, $9.99) The lunar base, where you are stationed as part of the security forces, is under siege. Having just escaped from enemy captivity you are now on your own and must fight against overwhelming odds to survive. Featuring large and complex levels with nonstop action RTO 3 is a first-person shooter which will keep you entertained for hours.
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!
A new listing on the ‘Coming Soon’ section of the Nintendo Switch eShop in Europe has revealed that Clock Simulator will be ticking on over to the console next week.
The game’s developer Kool2Play describes Clock Simulator as “one of the most original game concepts on the Switch”, rather literally tasking players with taking on the role of a clock. Taking on a clock’s main purpose in life, players must advance precisely second by second, focusing their inner rhythm to successfully click once a second.
The concept is, at the very least, intriguing, and user reviews on Steam are currently “very positive”. Having said that, with the current discount available on Steam, the Switch version costs more than four times as much – and that’s before you consider the free version available on smartphones. If having the game on your Switch is worth the extra cash, though, then this feature list below should give you a good idea of what to expect:
Features: – A unique concept – a clock-based rhythm game: you are the clock – Controls so simple you could play with your eyes closed – A variety of play modes and themes ranging from meditative to arcade, all JoyCon friendly – Option to unlock modes and themes you enjoy – play them at your leisure – Two competitive multiplayer modes – exclusively on Nintendo Switch – Controls utilise the steering possibilities provided by Nintendo Switch
According to the eShop listing, the game is planned to release on 10th January for £3.59, taking up just 104MB of space and featuring support across all play modes. You can also backup your save data via the cloud.
If you have the time, take a second or two to let us know your thoughts on this one in the comments.