Category: Nintendo News

Earlier this year in July, Nintendo filed a lawsuit against two ROM and emulator websites at the federal court in the US state of Arizona for trademark and copyright infringement. The latest development is the owners and operators of these now-defunct websites – a married couple – have agreed to a settlement exceeding $12 million in favour of Nintendo.

In August, it was revealed both parties wanted to avoid prolonged court proceedings – with consent judgment and permanent injunction now resolving all of the outstanding disputes. The owners of the sites admit their involvement was both direct and indirect copyright and trademark infringement, resulting in irreparable injury for the Japanese video game company. Below is the unsigned verdict:

Plaintiff is hereby awarded judgment against all Defendants, jointly and severally, in the amount of $12,230,000.

As noted by TorrentFreak, this high sum is likely intended to act as a deterrent for any other ROM and emulator website operators. It is unlikely the couple has this amount of money and presumably a jury would not have reached this same figure. If this is the case, it would not be the first time a judgment in court has been more than what two parties agreed to privately.

The permanent injunction in the settlement prevents the couple from infringing Nintendo’s copyrights in the future and requires them to hand over both website domains as well as all of the games and emulators in their possession.

Video game peripheral manufacturer Hyperkin has revealed that it will be releasing a “pro-style” wireless controller for use with your beloved Nintendo 64.

Named the ‘Admiral’, this controller uses a Bluetooth dongle to wirelessly connect to your console. As you can immediately tell, the design sacrifices the famous trident shape of the official N64 controller, instead replacing it with a “more traditional” design which features a setup much more in line with modern pads.

Hyperkin tells us that the controller’s design is the preferred choice for high-performance competition, with fan-favourite games like Super Smash Bros., GoldenEye 007, and Mario Kart 64 being referenced as potential titles which could benefit from its layout. We’ve included the product’s feature list below, as well as images of the controller itself and the Bluetooth dongle which plugs into your console.

Features:
• Wireless up to 30 ft. via included Bluetooth dongle
• Memory card inside dongle allows you to back up and transfer memory pack save data
• Built-in lithium-ion battery lasts for 6 hours and recharges via included Micro USB cable
• Compatible with all N64 models, as well as PC, Mac, IOS, and Android via Bluetooth
• Classic grey color

The Admiral is expected to launch in Q1 2019, although no specific release information has been shared just yet.

Would you like the option to play your favourite N64 games wirelessly? Or are you far too in love with the original controller’s three-point design to play any other way? Tell us below.

The latest Nintendo Download update for Europe has arrived promptly (sorry!), 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 a comment down below with your potential picks for the week. Enjoy!

Switch Retail – New Releases

Minecraft: Story Mode – Season Two (Telltale Games, €44.99 / £39.99) – Now that Jesse and the gang have vanquished the Wither Storm, saved the world, and become totally super famous heroes, life has gotten a bit more…complicated. With more responsibilities and less time for adventure, old friendships have started to fade…

Carnival Games® (2K, €39.99 / £34.99) – Carnival Games brings the party back for the entire family – now for the first time on Nintendo Switch!

GRIP (Wired Productions, €35.99 / £31.49) – GRIP is a high octane, hardcore combat racer, packing ferocious speed and armed to the teeth with heavy weapons. Harnessing gravity-defying physics alongside a bristling arsenal of outlandish weapons, GRIP delivers the fastest, most competitive racing experience ever. – Read our GRIP review

Syberia 1 & 2 (Microids, €34.99 / £29.99) – In Syberia, join Kate Walker on an extraordinary journey that takes her all the way from Western Europe to the far reaches of Eastern Russia. You will come across a host of endearing characters and incredible locations as you search for traces of Hans Voralberg, the genius inventor of the automatons.

Switch eShop – New Releases

Moonlighter (11 bit studios, €24.99 / £22.49) – Moonlighter is an Action RPG with rogue-lite elements following the everyday routines of Will, an adventurous shopkeeper that dreams of becoming a hero. – Read our Moonlighter review

Valiant Hearts: The Great War® (Ubisoft, €19.99 / £16.00) – This is the story of crossed destinies and a broken love in a world torn apart. All of the characters will try to survive the horror of the trenches following their faithful canine companion.

WORLD OF FINAL FANTASY MAXIMA (Square Enix, €39.99 / £34.99) – Originally released in October 2016, World of Final Fantasy is now available on Nintendo Switch as the powered-up Final Fantasy Maxima!

SkyTime (Sometimes You, €2.99 / £2.69) – SkyTime is a 3D platformer in which you slow time, dodge bullets, destroy turrets, and overcome obstacles!

BRAWLHALLA (Ubisoft, Free) – Brawlhalla is an epic free-to-play platform fighting game. Join casual free-for-alls, queue for ranked matches, or make a custom room with your friends.

Chalk Dash Carnival (SAT-BOX, €5.56 / £4.86) – Guide the stick figures running about the blackboard to the finish line! You can scrawl chalk lines directly onto the screen by using the touch controls! Don’t go falling into holes or getting skewered by spikes!

Full Metal Furies (Cellar Door Games, €14.99 / £11.24) – FULL METAL FURIES puts an emphasis on team play with a unique combat system where everyone is important. Work together to defeat special enemies, string organics combos to deal massive damage, and save a war-torn world that is battling itself to extinction.

Road Redemption (Tripwire Interactive, €19.99 / £17.99) – In the fiery remnants of a once-vibrant world, gangs battle for dominance across war-torn highways. When a motorcycle assassin takes out the boss of the richest weapons cartel, the cartel offers a bounty of wealth beyond imagination for the assassin’s head. – Read our Road Redemption review

Rogue Legacy (Cellar Door Games, €14.99 / £10.99) – Rogue Legacy is a genealogical rogue-“LITE” where anyone can be a hero. Each time you die, your child will succeed you. Every child is unique. One child might be colourblind, another might have vertigo– they could even be a dwarf. – Read our Rogue Legacy review

Shadow of Loot Box (Ratalaika Games, €6.39 / £6.39) – Each level of this shooter is a reference to a popular trend in the modern game development industry. Will you be able to overcome the thorny path full of microtransactions, loot boxes and bugs, resisting the temptation to use the in-game store?

Solitaire (Bigben Interactive, €9.99 / £8.79) – Rediscover the classic card game, finally in a digital version that everyone can play! Arrange the cards from Ace to King in the 3 most popular game modes and spend an enjoyable moment indulging in your favourite pastime.

The Shapeshifting Detective (Wales Interactive, €10.39 / £7.99) – The Shapeshifting Detective is a supernatural-noir murder mystery FMV game. Play as a detective and investigate the murder by shapeshifting into any character. Even the next victim.

CricktoGame: Nintendo Switch Edition (Polygon-e, €4.99 / £4.49) – CricktoGame is the game of skill in solving puzzles that will take you to a new level of fun. It’s easy to play and fun for all ages. A good game with a unique mechanics in the world and that will train your mind and will take you to new entertainment fees.

Deru – The Art of Cooperation (Ink Kit, €14.99 / £13.49) – Deru is a cooperative puzzle game that mixes eye-catching abstract art with mind-bending puzzles to a unique gaming experience. In this couch co-op experience, two players team up to overcome the boundaries of shadow and light and succeed through teamwork, timing and tactics.

Roarr! Jurassic Edition (Klabater, €7.99 / £7.19) – A terrible rumble from upstairs woke Rex up from his slumber. For millennia he was hibernating in his cosy cave but the incessant crescendo of the alien invasion was too much to sleep through. It was time for Rex to go upstairs and give his new neighbours a piece of his mind!

Operation Pig (Vikalb, €9.99 / £8.99) – You are Special Agent Wood and you have worked in the most dangerous missions. But now you must be ready for what will be the most dangerous mission that you have faced. The president needs you for a last job that has been called: OPERATION PIG.

Personality and Psychology Premium (Crazysoft, €8.99 / £7.99) – Personality and Psychology Premium app helps in getting you the analysis of your personality. It has a series of tests which you have to go through to achieve your personal score. Once you finish the test you will get the score card of your analysis.

ACA NEOGEO THRASH RALLY (HAMSTER, €6.99 / £6.29) – “THRASH RALLY” is an original racing game released by SNK in 1991. Two game modes “World Rally Championship Mode” and “Rally Mode” have been featured. Travel through cities and the countryside as you make your way through the various courses.

Astebreed (ACTIVE GAMING MEDIA, €11.59 / £10.39) – Blaze through the battlefield in style in your “Crossbreed” – a mech suit built jointly of human and alien technology.

Battlezone Gold Edition (RebellionInteract, €34.99 / £29.99) – Blast through a thrilling rogue-lite campaign for 1-4 players where different environments, enemies and mission types are blended together. No two playthroughs will be the same! – Read our Battlezone Gold Edition review

Crashlands (Butterscotch, €14.99 / £13.49) – Crashlanded on Woanope, you must fight, tame, craft, quest, boss fight, and adventure your way to domination of all the things so that you and JuiceBox, your trusty sidekick/supervisor/robotic cargo palette, can send a message to the Bureau of Shipping and get those packages delivered!

Johnny Turbo’s Arcade: Break Thru (FTE Games, €6.10 / £5.40) – Use your machine-gun-equipped armoured car to break-thru enemy lines.

MechaNika (Mango Protocol, €5.99 / £4.99) – Meet Nika, a brilliant girl that doesn’t fit the world she lives in. Perhaps it’s the fact that at 7 years old her favourite things are the transfer of energy, magnetic fields and electrical engineering.

Mercenaries Wings: The False Phoenix (CIRCLE Ent, €12.99 / £11.89) – Mercenaries Wings: The False Phoenix challenges your tactical nous across a lengthy and challenging campaign. The Kingdom of Dryden has an incredible history thanks to the story of a Phoenix facing down enemies generations ago; now, buoyed by that legacy, King Harold continually seeks conflict.

Picture Painting Puzzle 1000! (SUCCESS, €5.09 / £4.59) – 1000 questions in each 5×5 to 20×20 and 4 levels of difficulty for both beginners and advanced users.

Rage in Peace (Toge Productions, €11.99 / £10.79) – Rage in Peace is a side-scrolling adventure game that tells the story of Timmy Malinu, an emotionally numb 27-years old actuary who only has one dream that sets him apart from most people: to die asleep in his pyjamas, in the warmth of home, in peace, and with no drama.

Sky Force Anniversary (Infinite Dreams, €9.99 / £8.99) – The legendary shoot-’em-up is here to celebrate its 10-year anniversary in super-destructive style. Harnessing the intensity of classic arcade games combined with modern visuals, Sky Force Anniversary offers a stunning scrolling shooter experience with an incredible new social gameplay element.

The Bug Butcher (2Awesome Studio, €7.99 / £7.99) – The Bug Butcher is an action-packed 2D side-scrolling shoot’em up game where peril comes from above. So in a nutshell, pest control with machine guns in space. The core mechanics hold old ties from the classic arcade shooter “Super Pang” where you shoot vertically, but with modern-day twists.

The Walking Vegetables: Radical Edition (Merge Games, €10.39 / £7.99) – The world is under attack from vegetables, turned evil by dastardly aliens! You must answer the call and take up arms to defend the planet. Buy weapons, develop your skills and roam from city to city to take out waves of evil veggie monsters.

Timber Tennis: Versus (Crunching Koalas, €1.99 / £1.79) – Meet Timber Tennis: Versus, an entirely new addition to the Timberman family.

Varion (Light Maze, €12.99 / £10.29) – Varion is a 3D arcade-action top-down “brawler”, featuring couch multiplayer battles for 1 to 4 players. Set in a futuristic universe, it allows the players to control robots fighting in an infinite amount of booby-trapped, procedurally generated arenas during restless, fast-paced battles.

Arcade Archives URBAN CHAMPION (HAMSTER, €6.99 / £6.29) – “URBAN CHAMPION” is a beat ’em up fighting game, first released by Nintendo in 1984. True to its namesake, fighting men duke it out, fist to fist, for the title of “Urban Champion”! Go into battle with light and heavy punches, as well as dodging and other defensive manoeuvres.

Collidalot (Grunka Munka, €10.99 / £9.99) – Jet-powered hover cars meet full-speed destruction derby chaos! Strap into the torn leather seat of an apocalyptic jet car and grind for your life!

Deployment (Whale Rock Games, €9.99 / £8.99) – Deployment is an intense competitive top-down shooter game. Infosoldiers, made of pure information, fight in an endless war between governments and mega-corporations to rule over the digital systems that control the world.

Forgotton Anne (Square Enix Europe LTD, €17.99 / £15.99) – Imagine a place where all that is lost and forgotten goes; old toys, letters, socks. The Forgotten Lands is a magical world inhabited by Forgotlings; living mislaid objects longing to be remembered. – Read our Forgotton Anne review

Noir Chronicles: City of Crime (Artifex Mundi, €14.99 / £13.49) – Step into the shoes of Alfred Fox, a private eye with a knack for getting into trouble, and confront the danger looming over your old flame, Barbara Le Purr. Using your own intuition and wide investigation techniques you will follow the intrigue and face many, sometimes deadly, consequences.

Saboteur! (SimFabric, €7.00 / £6.29) – Saboteur! is a classic retro game hit made by Clive Townsend in 1985 for ZX Spectrum 8-bit computer.

Townsmen (HandyGames, €19.99 / £17.99) – Develop your tiny village to a grand medieval empire with a thriving economy and happy villagers! Find spots for mining ore, harvest the crops of your farms and collect coins as taxes from your folk.

Trine Enchanted Edition (Frozenbyte, €14.99 / £13.49) – Trine Enchanted Edition is the origin story for the three unlikely heroes of Trine – Amadeus the Wizard, Pontius the Knight, and Zoya the Thief. The heroes must join forces to overcome obstacles and puzzles in a fully interactive physics-based world, battle the undead and their minions, and restore balance to the kingdom!

Switch eShop – Demos

Word Sudoku by POWGI Demo (Lightwood Games, Free) – Place letters in the grid according to normal Sudoku rules and one row or column will spell the word. Of course, you can switch back to number mode if you prefer. Word Sudoku by POWGI includes 240 unique and beautifully symmetrical Word Sudoku puzzles, graded for difficulty from beginner to expert.

Switch eShop – Pre-Orders

Desktop Soccer (SAT-BOX, €5.52 / £4.87, pre-order from 07/11/2018) – The desk is your field! Lace up your shoes for a simple yet challenging soccer game with up to 4 people for a soccer free-for-all! Make your own original team by adjusting formations and positions! Aim to win the tournament!

M.A.C.E. Space Shooter (EntwicklerX, €4.99 / £4.49, pre-order from 08/11/2018) – M.A.C.E. is a classic 2D space shooter game. The player navigates a spaceship across three different worlds with 6 vertical scrolling levels and various enemies, trying to destroy or avoid them.

Word Sudoku by POWGI (Lightwood Games, €7.99 / £6.99, pre-order from 08/11/2018) – Place letters in the grid according to normal Sudoku rules and one row or column will spell the word. Of course, you can switch back to number mode if you prefer. Word Sudoku by POWGI includes 240 unique and beautifully symmetrical Word Sudoku puzzles, graded for difficulty from beginner to expert.

Escape Doodland (QubicGames, €7.99 / £7.19, pre-order from 09/11/2018) – Doodland is a grotesque world created on a piece of paper. It is invaded by Omnomus, a cruel monster that loves the taste of inhabitants of this land. Each part of the world has a unique atmosphere. You will have to run, jump, swim and fly to overcome many demanding obstacles.

Toast Time: Smash Up! (Force of Habit, €8.09 / £7.19, pre-order from 09/11/2018) – Fresh from the oven, Toast Time: Smash Up brings the unique toast-based recoil/reload action from cult smash hit Toast Time to the multiplayer brawler/esports genre.

Switch eShop – Special Offers

Game Title	Price	Saving	Until	Original Price
Gaokao.Love.100Days (Navila Software Japan)	€8.49 / £7.64	-15%	Sun 11th Nov	€9.99 / £8.99
The Flame In The Flood: Complete Edition (Curve Digital)	€7.49 / £7.49	-50%	Mon 19th Nov	€14.99 / £14.99
Serial Cleaner (Curve Digital)	€5.99 / £5.99	-60%	Mon 19th Nov	€14.99 / £14.99
Tennis in the Face (10tons)	€2.49 / £2.24	-50%	Tue 13th Nov	€4.99 / £4.49
Time Recoil (10tons)	€8.39 / £7.19	-40%	Tue 13th Nov	€13.99 / £11.99
Mahjong Deluxe 3 (Joindots)	€15.99 / £14.39	-20%	Thu 22nd Nov	€19.99 / £17.99
Black Hole (Dufgames)	€3.95 / £3.56	-34%	Sun 18th Nov	€5.99 / £5.40
BUTCHER (Crunching Koalas)	€4.99 / £4.49	-50%	Sat 17th Nov	€9.99 / £8.99
Lichtspeer: Double Speer Edition (Crunching Koalas)	€4.99 / £4.49	-50%	Sat 17th Nov	€9.99 / £8.99
Gnomes Garden 3: The thief of castles (8Floor Games)	€2.99 / £2.69	-40%	Thu 15th Nov	€4.99 / £4.49
Hexologic (MythicOwl)	€1.97 / £1.64	-34%	Mon 19th Nov	€2.99 / £2.49
Pool Panic (Cartoon Interactive)	€8.16 / £7.36	-33%	Thu 15th Nov	€12.19 / £10.99
Typoman (Wales Interactive)	€9.09 / £6.99	-30%	Wed 21st Nov	€12.99 / £9.99
Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy (Activision)	€29.99 / £24.49	-25%	Mon 19th Nov	€39.99 / £34.99
Life Goes On (GAMEPOCH)	€5.49 / £4.99	-50%	Sun 25th Nov	€10.99 / £9.99
All-Star Fruit Racing (PQube)	€24.99 / £19.99	-38%		€39.99 / £34.99

3DS eShop – Special Offers

Wii U eShop – Special Offers

Game Title	Price	Saving	Until	Original Price
99Seconds (EnjoyUp Games)	€1.24 / £1.14	-50%	Thu 6th Dec	€2.49 / £2.29
Darts Up (EnjoyUp Games)	€1.24 / £1.14	-50%	Thu 6th Dec	€2.49 / £2.29
RTO 2 (nuGAME)	€7.99 / £7.19	-20%	Thu 6th Dec	€9.99 / £8.99

DLC / Add-On Content

Nintendo Switch

• Hand of Fate 2 – Outlands and Outsiders (DefiantDevelopment) – €5.99 / £5.44
• Hand of Fate 2 – The Servant and the Beast (DefiantDevelopment) – €5.99 / £5.44
• Valkyria Chronicles 4 – The Two Valkyria (SEGA) – €4.99 / £3.99
• Fortnite – Summit Striker Pack (Epic Games) – €4.99 / £3.99
• Project Highrise: Architect’s Edition – Modern Design (KalypsoMediaGroup) – €1.99 / £1.79
• Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum’n’Fun! – Pops Pack (Bandai Namco Entertainment) – €3.99 / £3.99
• WorldNeverland – Elnea Kingdom:Set of Nalulu Kingdom outfits (althi) – €3.33 / £2.99

So that’s your lot for this week’s Nintendo Download. Go on, be a sport and drop a vote in the poll above, and a comment below with your hot picks!

Golden Sun, and especially its lead protagonist Isaac, has seen an awful lot of love and attention over the last few months thanks to countless Super Smash Bros. Ultimate rumours; many believed that Isaac would become a playable character in the game thanks to various speculation efforts shared online, but the most recent Direct proved that this wasn’t the case. Still, that hasn’t stopped fans of his original game taking to the likes of social media to celebrate all things Golden Sun – and asking for a new entry in the series, no less.

Yesterday was the 17th anniversary of the original Golden Sun game in North America, causing fans to rebrand the day as ‘#GoldenSunday’ and share their memories and wishes online for all to see. This Game Boy Advance RPG was heavily praised when it first arrived on the scene and remains a much-loved game to this day – no doubt being one of the reasons why fans were so desperate to see Isaac in Smash in the first place.

You can see just a small selection of the messages shared online below.

As you can see, it even sparked a second #BringGoldenSunBack trend, too.

Are you a fan of Golden Sun? Would you like to see the franchise make a comeback? Feel free to share your thoughts and memories on the franchise in the comments below.

In this era of reboots, remasters and re-releases, it’s surprising that a number of EA’s classic 16-bit games have never been given the modern treatment: Desert Strike, Road Rash, FIFA… all remain trapped in the ‘90s, never to be resurrected (Okay, maybe not FIFA).

Nine years ago, developer Ian Fisch decided it was time for another Road Rash game. When it became clear that EA wasn’t interested, Fisch set up a Kickstarter to get a spiritual successor made instead. After an up-and-down development hit by numerous setbacks and delays, Road Redemption finally launched on PC a year ago, and now it’s on Switch too.

Fans of Road Rash will know the basics: Road Redemption has you riding your motorbike through lengthy courses, with the main gimmick being that you can beat up your opponents and knock them off their bikes. Although this was pretty much the sole major mechanic in Road Rash, though, here it’s only the tip of the iceberg: Road Redemption adds a bunch of roguelite features and other fun ideas to keep you hooked long after the wanton violence loses its appeal.

There’s a plot in there, but it’s fairly throwaway. Set in a dystopian, post-apocalyptic future, a masked biker assassin has killed the leader of a notable weapons cartel. There’s a huge bounty of $15 million on this assassin’s head so, as part of the Jackal biker gang, you have to race across the country and reach said assassin before any rival gangs do. This involves driving through the turfs of three deadly gangs – the Reapers, SIGMA and the Phantoms – each of whom has their own hefty boss biker to contend with, too.

The setting is basically Road Rash meets Mad Max, right down to the dodgy Australian accents, but all of this is just window dressing for the main game itself: a series of procedurally-generated stages where the courses, enemies, available weapons, race type and post-level rewards are all randomised every time you play. It’s nothing too drastic – routes are still made up of pre-designed sections so it never really gets too wild – but it keeps things from getting boring, nonetheless.

Stage types come in five flavours: your standard races where you have to finish in a certain position, Time Trials (where you have to reach the end within a set time), Takedowns (where you have to kill a set number of enemies before reaching the end of the course), Survival (in which you simply have to reach the end without dying) and boss battles. Failing some of these doesn’t necessarily mean Game Over, but your health will be cut and you’ll miss out on a hefty chunk of prize money which can be spent on upgrades to your health, attack power, nitro meter and the like.

If you’re a Road Rash fan and this is all starting to sound a bit overly complicated, fret not: there’s also a Quick Play mode consisting of standard races. By getting gold cups for coming in first, you’ll eventually unlock a total of 16 courses in this mode, encompassing all the environments you’d have encountered in the main campaign. There’s also technically online multiplayer in there too, but we could never find an opponent – though, charmingly, it still lets you race and win against nobody, and gives you experience points anyway – so you can pretty much write online off.

This generous helping of game modes is all well and good, but where Road Redemption (thankfully) shines is in how it plays. Its spiritual ancestor Road Rash may have mainly been about punching opponents with the ability to get a weapon if you were good enough, but Redemption is an altogether more violent game and it hands you a blunt object right from the beginning. You can then collect more weapons as you play through each stage, each falling under four categories: melee weapons, swords, guns and explosives.

Every weapon type is useful in the right situations. Melee attacks are handy for wearing down an opponent’s energy, while swords are guaranteed one-hit decapitations if their helmet is off. Guns do great damage but are difficult to aim (you need to use the right stick while still racing with the left), and explosives – particularly the C4 bombs which can be attached to vehicles and bikes – do enormous damage but are limited in supply, and need you to get out of the way quickly.

This all actually makes combat hugely entertaining, especially when you end up in a swarm of four or five other bikes all swinging away at each other. There’s a rudimentary blocking system, similar to the Batman Arkham games, which lets you parry enemy attacks and leave them open for your own – some of the stronger foes require you to do this before you can damage them – and there’s a critical meter you can build up to deliver super-powered attacks. It isn’t exactly Street Fighter levels of depth, but it’s much more absorbing than just hammering an attack button.

It’s also just as well that it isn’t more complex, because it does require a bit of an adjustment period as it is. It can be a lot to remember when you’re flipping between weapons with the D-Pad, aiming your gun with the right stick, parrying attacks with the B button and checking to see if someone’s helmet’s on so you can switch to your sword, all while still having to take sharp turns and avoid oncoming traffic at the same time. It’s very much the video game equivalent of patting your head and rubbing your belly, and it can be a little overwhelming at first. You do get the hang of it eventually, though, and when you do it’s enormous fun.

Replay value is provided with a permanent upgrade system, where the XP you earn during a run can then be spent on increasing your health, upgrading your different weapons from the start, unlocking new bikes and the like. The skill tree is enormous and it’ll probably take around 100 hours (a rough estimate) before you’ve earned enough XP to completely max it out. It can feel a bit too granular at times, though: increasing your attack damage by 2.5% makes little to no impact on your game, but you have to buy upgrades like that to access more important ones, like new bikes and weapon boosts.

Meeting certain objectives will also earn you new characters. There are 15 to unlock, ranging from straightforward biker types with slightly tweaked stats, to more unique riders with quirky gimmicks that affect how the game’s played. The Helloween rider (who has a flaming pumpkin for a head) loses health every time he uses his turbo boost, but you can gain it back by decapitating opponents with your sword. Santa Claus, meanwhile, is armed with a candy cane which can’t hurt anyone (except bosses), making you focus more on racing and evasion than combat. Then there’s the questionable Freddy One Arm, who can only attack to the right. And, of course, it wouldn’t be an indie game these days without Shovel Knight being in there, too.

There are times where things can get a little too much for the Switch. Performance is generally smooth, but some stages (like the otherwise fantastic rooftop level) and particularly action-packed moments can see hefty drops in frame rate. At one point we blew up a truck while surrounded by six or seven bikers and the explosion pretty much turned things into a slideshow. These moments are still rare enough to not be a major issue when considering whether to buy it, but they’re worth mentioning because they do take the gloss off somewhat. Loading times can be long, too. We’ve got our fingers crossed that the developer will find some way of remedying these issue with an update.

Inconvenient as these are, such issues aren’t enough to ruin what is very often a fantastically entertaining game. A word of warning, though: given its darker setting there’s a fair amount of bad language during campaign mode, with plenty of f-bombs and even the odd c-nuke dropped in there. Although the options let you mute the voice acting, character dialogue still appears in text boxes, so if you’ve got a young one nearby who can read you might want to stick to the Quick Play mode while they’re around, since that’s banter-free (assuming they’re okay with heads being lopped off, of course).

Nippon Ichi Software – the Japanese developer and publisher best known for Disgaea on the Switch in recent times – has had plenty of success thanks to its release of Disgaea 5 Complete. In last month’s issue of Edge magazine, company President Sohei Niikawa discussed how Disgaea 5 was “practically” a launch title for the Switch and once again spoke about the strong sales on the system in both Japan and the west:

It’s true: Disgaea 5 was practically a launch title for the Switch. That had a huge positive effect for us. Releasing the company’s flagship title, even if it was a port, for Nintendo’s flagship hardware close to launch was a boon for us; it sold incredibly well both in Japan and abroad.

Niikawa went on to explain how Nintendo had been exceptionally supportive, to the point it helped teach Nippon Ichi’s team about the new hardware:

It’s important to note that Nintendo was extremely supportive. They came to Gifu several times to teach us in person about the hardware and its ins and outs. I am incredibly grateful to Nintendo, this giant of the industry, for coming out to the middle of nowhere to support us.

The president also said how the Switch was the perfect system to appeal to both Japanese and western markets because it closes the gap between handheld and console systems:

The Switch is the ideal piece of hardware. Right now, in Western territories, non-handheld software is what sells. On the other hand, in Japan portable software is highly popular. This has created an issue in the past for developers, a gap between Japanese playing habits and those found in the rest of the world. The Switch closes this gap, by meeting the needs of both audiences. So we worked hard to be there right at the beginning. And it’s working out for us.

Did you pick up Disgaea 5 at launch? What about the first game when it arrived in October? Do you agree with the president’s comments about the design of the Switch? Would you like to see more NIS games on Nintendo’s device? Tell us below.

US jewellery retailer Helzberg Diamonds is hoping to get a few extra sales this holiday season thanks to a very unique promotion. From now until 24th December, customers who spend more than $1,199 will receive a bonus Nintendo Switch with any purchase they make.

As Destructoid notes, Helzberg Diamonds makes it out as a free throw-in, but technically you’re still forking out more than one grand in cash, so it’s not really that free. If you’re only doing this promotion for the Switch – you’re far better off buying a couple of these systems from elsewhere.

This promotion is the second time Helzberg Diamonds has run a promotion like this. Previously, it’s offered an Xbox One X system to customers who were willing to spend more than $1,000 on jewellery in one of its stores. The notable difference here is that you’re paying more to get a device that currently costs less and has also been on the market much longer than the Xbox One X.

Have you got a special someone you would be willing to spend this amount on to score a new Switch? Have you seen any other odd promotions like these ones in the past? Tell us below.

Up until recently, Nintendo’s mainstream marketing efforts have been predominantly focused on Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee! as the big release draws closer. Taking some of the limelight off the new entries in the Pokémon series, Nintendo has now uploaded a one-minute animated clip for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

While there’s no music, there are plenty of iconic video game sounds in the trailer, creating a mesmerizing viewing experience. The entire clip seems to be so well made it’s raised questions about why it wasn’t included in the final Smash Ultimate Direct prior to the game’s release on 7th December. At the very least, it looks like these battle scenes would be lovely as phone or desktop wallpapers.

Nintendo Japan has also released a special reverse version of the video:

Take a look at both trailers above and tell us if you can no longer contain your excitement for Smash Bros. Ultimate in the comment section below.

The Switch is the ideal system for puzzle games with its portable and tabletop modes, so it’s no surprise to hear the rhythm-based puzzler Lumines Remastered has been incredibly well received on Nintendo’s hybrid platform.

Released in June earlier this year after its initial reveal in March, the original creator Tetsuya Mizuguchi from Enhance Games has revealed the best-selling version was the Switch release, during a rapid-fire interview with Game Informer. When asked if the Switch iteration had significantly outsold other versions of the game, Enhance colleague Mark MacDonald confirmed this was the indeed the case. Disappointingly, no exact sales figures were provided.

If you haven’t played Lumines and happen to love puzzle games mixed with elements of the rhythm genre, this is the game for you. It was originally released on the PSP way back in 2004, so it’s fitting to hear it is performing so well on Nintendo’s hybrid device.

Were you one of the many people who downloaded Lumines Remastered on the Switch when it first arrived? Is it at least on your wishlist? Tell us below.