Category: Nintendo News

The Pokémon series has come a long way since the original Game Boy titles were released in Japan in 1996. Each entry has taken gradual steps to improve the overall experience, with plenty of technical advancements along the way. Of course, with Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee! now out on the Nintendo Switch, the folks over at Digital Foundry have decided to take a look to see how Game Freak’s new engine holds up.

The first half of the video covers how the game has essentially been streamlined and once this ends it elaborates on the finer technical details. It starts by noting how sprites have obviously been swapped for three-dimensional models and environments – with rending technology that closely resembles console Pokemon games such as Pokken Tournament. There are now also fully animated 3D renders – much like GO on mobile – with lighting and shading effects thrown in as well.

Unfortunately, closer observation of the game world reveals it’s lacking in detail and the shadows fall short of expectations – which is apparently a shame, given the proficiency of the Switch with other games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

In terms of resolution, the 3DS versions run at 400 x 240 while the Switch bumps it up to 1920 x 1080 docked, and in handheld mode presents it at 1280 x 720. The resolution is also nine times more on the Switch, according to Digital Foundry. On the frame rate front, there are notable performance dips in the handheld mode – with fps in between 30 to 25 in areas such as Viridian Forest. The game is also capped at 30 frames per second in docked mode. In contrast, the 3DS versions X and Y ran between 20 to 30 frames per second.

All up, Digital Foundry thinks Let’s Go is a breeze to play and one that newcomers can easily embrace thanks to the new streamlined mechanics. As for Game Freak’s efforts with the Switch hardware, there’s room for improvement – so expect an even better technical experience in future entries.

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• by Gonçalo Lopes
• 23 hours ago

Yooka-Laylee originally began life as a Kickstarter project and went on to become the fastest video game project to reach the one million dollar mark on the crowd-funding platform. This followed with its eventual release on the Nintendo Switch and multiple other systems in 2017

According to a tweet by the official Playtonic Games Twitter account, Yooka-Laylee has now been played by more than one million people. As no other details were provided, we can only assume this latest milestone translates to the combined digital and physical sales across all platforms.

Here’s the tweet below:

In the short period this spiritual successor to Rare’s Banjo-Kazooie has been available, the chameleon and bat have come a long way – making a cameo in Brawlout and even receiving their very own comic.

Are you one of many people who have played this game? Did you buy it when it was released on the Switch? Let us know below.

We’ve got some unexpected excellent news as Arc System Works has revealed that Kill la Kill: The Game -IF-, its latest venture into the world of anime fighting games, is making the jump to the Nintendo Switch.

While there is still no confirmation that this will be released in the West, this news hopefully means we will not have to endure a nine month wait between Switch and other platforms, as was the case with their previous anime brawling effort Dragon Ball FighterZ.

The company also confirmed that baddies Nui Harime and Ragyō Kiryūin will join the playable roster of previously fan-favourite character reveals Ryūko, Satsuki, Sanageyama and Gamagoori. While there are no screenshots or gameplay videos of the Switch version as of yet, please take a peek at the latest PlayStation 4 build gameplay presented at the latest Evo.

Are you a fan of this 2013 cult anime? Are you looking forward to add yet another anime brawler to the Switch growing library of the genre? Don’t make us Kill la Kill you in the comments below.

If there’s one thing Cristiano Ronaldo will forever be remembered for, it’s absolutely that time he wore a Super Mario hat in a random changing room photograph in November 2018.

Yes, the football sensation (or soccer for our chums in the US) may well have won five Ballon d’Or awards, scored more goals than we’ve had hot dinners, and be generally regarded as one of the best – if not the best – footballer of all time, but we’ll always remember him for sporting our good friend Cappy as a fantastic outfit accessory.

Whether Ronaldo actually likes Super Mario, or has just been given the hat as some kind of Italian symbol since joining Juventus, is currently unknown, but here he is wearing it nonetheless.

If nothing else, this could well get thousands of admiring youngsters searching online for the very same hat to be like their hero, potentially generating a new batch of fans for Mario and the gang. To be fair, he does seem pretty excited to be wearing it, as shown by Twitter user @Kakarla07.

Maybe someone should sign him up to any future instalments of Super Mario Strikers?

Another Saturday has crept into view, with yet another chance for us to discuss our weekend gaming plans. Just like last week, you can expect plenty of Pokémon entries from Team Nintendo Life this time around, although we also have a healthy dose of competitive online play and even world domination to attend to. So make sure to give our thoughts a read before leaving your own in the comments below. Oh, and join in the fun in our poll, too. Enjoy!

Ryan Craddock, staff writer

I find myself quite torn this week. If I had to place a bet on which game I’ll end up playing over the next couple of days, it would probably have to be Pokémon: Let’s Go, but I’m not exactly sure how far to go with it. Playing through the main story and beating the Elite Four was a wonderful nostalgic adventure, but I’m actually finding the idea of beating every single Master Trainer too daunting. Similarly, I’m not sure if I can really be bothered enough to put all the effort into completing the Pokédex, but that probably says more about me and the general lack of free time we have than the game itself.

I’ve really started to understand the desire for quick and easy games that don’t take up too much of your time in recent years; as a child, I’d love nothing more than sinking countless hours into huge games, but nowadays there are far too many games and nowhere near enough time. Slightly shorter, but top-tier quality adventures, are certainly more my thing now, so perhaps I should allow myself to resist beating every single aspect the game has to offer?

Gonçalo Lopes, contributing writer

It’s wombo-combo weekend for Splatoon 2 and ARMS events in Europe, and I’ll be doing my finest to represent my choices on both playing fields. Starlink: Battle for Atlas is out (sequel, please!), Warframe is in. Did not take much to figure a game featuring space ninjas would be up my alley. Valkyria Chronicles 4 is firmly on the road for a climatic ending but I am unsure I will be able to clear the final chapters this weekend alone… but it won’t be for the lack of trying. Now I only need to figure out where I will be able to sneak in a few Road Redemption fatalities and GRIP races in here.

My game of the week goes to SNK 40th Anniversary Collection. Bit of a cheat since its a compilation of several classic games from the ’80s but there has never been any better way to revisit the formative years of SNK prior to Neo Geo hardware than this delightful Switch exclusive.

Gavin Lane, contributing writer

Assuming I can tear myself away from Civilization VI, I plan to check out the snazzy gold edition of Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle this weekend. After picking up Dark Souls, Inside and Night in the Woods, I thought I was set until Christmas… but the Cyber Sale (and that Grant Kirkhope score) proved too tempting. My Banjo-Kazooie Totaku figure also arrived this week, so I’ll spend a significant amount of time holding that while wearing a big grin.

Ditching Civ is easier said than done, though. Teddy Roosevelt, that culture vulture, stole victory from me last night – I wasn’t best pleased and he needs to be taught a lesson.

Glen Fox, guides editor

I haven’t contributed in a while because I got hideously addicted to various PS4 titles – blasphemy aside though, I’ve actually dusted off my Switch this week to invest a bit of time into Pokémon: Let’s Go. As Nintendo Life readers will be well aware by now, I’m not the biggest fan of Pokémon. So I can’t tell you in intricate detail how it’s not as good as Diamond and Pearl or whatever but as someone who’s dipped their toe in the water with Pokémon GO, Sun and Moon, and X and Y, I do have an idea of what it does well and not so well.

The stuff I like mostly involves the streamlining. I like that you basically just leave your house and you’re off on an adventure – no faff. I like that you can check a Pokémon’s stats with ease and later pick up the ‘Judge’ ability to get a solid idea of how good your Pokémon is. I like that you can catch Pokémon in a chain to get a much higher chance of nabbing a ‘mon with the best IVs. It all just seems to make sense and be accessible in a way Pokémon wasn’t before and as a relative newcomer, I really appreciate that.

The stuff I don’t like is pretty much related to the controls. Playing with a single Joy-Con is a fun little novelty at first and the motion controls (when they work, at least) do offer a nice new way to catch monsters. It’s a bit annoying that you can’t use your Pro Controller at all though – what’s that about? Surely it could function in a similar manner to playing in handheld mode? I don’t see myself investing a lot more time into it if I’m perfectly honest, as it feels a bit like a shell of a game. Battles seem pretty easy for the most part so I don’t feel the need to go out and hunt stronger Pokémon and I don’t really feel the need to dig into it after already playing Sun and Moon or X and Y. Just feels a lot like a retread.

Liam Doolan, news reporter

I’ll likely be playing Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! over the next few days. A week on and I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m a huge fan of the latest entries. If anything, they’ve reinvigorated my interest in the long-running series. One aspect about these new games that I truly appreciate is how Pokémon are now visible in the wild. This cuts potentially hours out of the journey and the grind, and throws the random encounter system out the window – to some extent. It’s great when you’re searching for a particular pocket monster or you want to avoid the lot of them.

There are a lot of other ‘quality of life’ changes that I would like to see carry across to future entries as well. The fact the entire Pokémon Storage Box is no longer fixed to a computer terminal makes the adventure so much smoother. It has also encouraged me to switch my party up throughout the game, instead of sticking with a select six. Once again, I could carry on all day about everything I love in these new games, but you get the point – this weekend I’ll be exploring Kanto. Expect another update next week.

Dom Reseigh-Lincoln, reviewer

This weekend you can bet I’ll be spending more time in Warframe. Check out my review if you haven’t already – it’s not perfect but it’s the closest we’re ever likely to get to having Destiny on Switch. I’ll also be embracing some retro vibes in my next review, Rock Boshers: Director’s Cut DX. Chiptunes for the win!

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…

As niche as the shoot ’em up genre might be, on the Switch it’s growing in size by the day. If Ghost Blade HD sounds familiar, that’s because the developer Hucast Games previously released this bullet hell shooter on the Wii U eShop in 2017.

The German-based developer has now announced the game will be revived in 2019 for the Nintendo Switch. No exact date has been locked in. The game will support TATE mode for vertical play and will also include leaderboards, achievements and a two player mode. Publishing will be handled by Eastasiasoft Limited.

Below are the official tweets confirming the game’s arrival on Switch:

As noted in the tweet above, the game will receive both a digital and physical release. In our Wii U eShop review, we gave Ghost Blade HD seven out of ten stars and said it’s one for hardcore arcade shmup players.

Are you interested in another shmup on Switch? Did you play this title previously on the Wii U? Tell us below.

@Regpuppy Agreed. In ESAM’s case, his Nintendo-sponsored video was far more wooden than his others, but the rest of his are far more entertaining. I guess that’s what happens when you have to follow a list of bullet points instead of doing things more naturally. He hasn’t made a Nintendo sponsored video in a very long time (if ever) though, so it’s hard for anyone to realistically call people a sellout. The dude is top 50 in the world in Smash Bros for Wii U…it only makes sense that Nintendo would partner with him for something.

@Joeynator3000 I do, and the quality of some videos have improved since then when people have incentives to learn how to improve their videos. Yea, it also encourages people who just try to put out low effort clickbait videos, but I just avoid the garbage content in light of the positives, with quality content I enjoy.

Also, I find it ironic how people are choosing to blame Nintendo game-centric youtubers (I can’t speak for all of these guys as I only know a few of them) for being sellouts, given all we’ve heard over the years about Nintendo’s over-strict policies that prevent anyone from making decent money.

The Saints Row series has come under fire on a number of occasions in the past for its edgy gameplay containing violence, drugs and sexual references. While Rockstar’s open world series Grand Theft Auto might be the more well-known of the two, make no mistake – this THQ published title is just as rebellious, with some entries in this series even being refused classification in certain parts of the world until they were altered and resubmit.

Earlier this year, during a surprise reveal at Gamescom 2018, Deep Silver confirmed Saints Row: The Third would be arriving on the Switch in 2019. While no exact date was dropped, we’ve got a minor update to share. Channelling its naughty history, the Switch version of the game will be known as Saints Row: The Third – The Full Package. Considering this is a game that loves to make lewd references, this is most definitely a play on words. Judging by the name, it will also include all of the game’s download content, which was also labelled ‘The Full Package’ back in the day. The full title for the game was spotted on the Brazillian Advisory Rating website:

For the uninformed, Saints Row: The Third was originally released on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC in 2011. This will be the first time the popular open-world series has appeared on a Nintendo system. In the game, you must lead the Third Street Saints gang in a turf war battle. The open world city design encourages chaos, much like the GTA series – with plenty of weapons and vehicles at your disposal.

Are you looking forward to the release of Saints Row: The Third when it arrives on the Switch sometime next year or were you hoping for one of the more recent entries in the series? Tell us below.

With less than two weeks away from launch, it was recently claimed that Super Smash Bros. Ultimate had made broken street date in the form of the physical game.

We now have total confirmation that Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has made its way into the wild, as the game data has been dumped online.

Among the content dumped is the entire collection of music present in the game, which are already making their way online in the form of YouTube videos. We recommend being cautious in the coming weeks to avoid major spoilers.