Category: Nintendo News

Nintendo News

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Dark Meta Knight, Daroach And Adeleine & Ribbon Are Now Available In Kirby Star Allies

Dark Meta Knight, Daroach, and Adeleine & Ribbon are all now available as Dream Friends in Kirby Star Allies on Nintendo Switch.

With numerous teases and reveals taking place over the last couple of months, players have been expecting this second set of new characters to arrive on the scene for some time. The date of 27th July was first mentioned just a few weeks ago during Adeleine & Ribbon’s reveal and, sticking to its word, Nintendo has released a new software update featuring these characters today.

The update is scheduled to go live across all regions today, so don’t worry if your game hasn’t updated just yet. In the meantime, you can simply watch this trailer over and over again and marvel at how adorable their little dance is towards the end.

Have you been enjoying Kirby Star Allies? Will you be checking out these latest Dream Friend additions? Let us know with a comment below.

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Play As Parodies Of Top Movie Stars In Pixel Action Heroes, Coming To Switch Next Month

Cypronia has announced that its first-person shooter parody Pixel Action Heroes is headed to Switch next month.

The game, which actually spent some time sitting at the very top of the eShop charts after its release on Wii U, lets you play as several action movie heroes in a fully destructible, block-building world. You can even become an FPS level designer, too, with options allowing you to create your own maps and customise skins to share with friends.

As you can see in the trailer above, some of the characters on offer include the likes of ‘Arnold Weisenberg’, ‘Silver Stand Alone’, ‘Steamin’ Senegal’, ‘Wayne Thomson’, ‘Bruise Leaf’, and ‘All Cappuccino’, all of which come complete with classic one-liners from the stars they’re based on.

Here’s what you can expect to see in the game:

Game Features:
– Online Multiplayer (2-6 players)
– Gyro support
– Ragdoll physics
– Fully destructible maps (destroy the level with tools, guns, explosives)
– Map editor (create your own maps)
– Skin editor (customize your hero)
– Fluid and smooth gameplay (30+ FPS)
– Large variety of foes and challenging bosses
– Build your own maps and share with other players
– Large selection of firearms based on real life weapons
– Internet Rankings

Pixel Action Heroes has been completed and approved by Nintendo, with an exact release date still to be confirmed. Currently, the game is set to become available towards the beginning of August – which isn’t long to wait.

Do you like the look of this one? Did you play it on Wii U? Let us know below.

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Picross S2 Arrives On Switch Next Week Bringing A Brand New Mode To The Series

Jupiter has announced Picross S2 for Nintendo Switch, bringing a second dose of the beloved puzzling action to the console next week.

Picross first debuted on Nintendo hardware over 20 years ago, working the minds of players with its number-based grid puzzles ever since. This latest iteration features all of the content you’d expect, plus a brand new mode to mix things up a little bit.

The new mode is called ‘Clip Picross’, tasking players with solving specific problems to unlock bits of artwork that form a complete picture; once you’ve cleared them all you’ll reveal a connected story. New Picross and Mega Picross puzzles have also been added, with over 300 new problems for you to work your way through, and you’ll also get to solve puzzles with your friends thanks to the game’s sharing feature, a mode which allows players to work together or compete to see who can fill the most cells.

The game will be available directly from the Switch’s eShop from 2nd August for $8.99 / £8.09 / €8.99.

Are you a Picross fan? Will you be downloading this one next week? As ever, we’d love to hear your thoughts down below.

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Get Ready For Smash Bros. Ultimate With These Customisable GameCube-Like Pro Controllers

Video game accessory maker PDP is gearing up for the release of a brand new set of Pro Controllers for the Switch, inspired by the classic GameCube controller design.

Designed with the upcoming Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in mind, these controllers aim to give you the edge in the game by making you feel right at home – throwing you headfirst into a state of GameCube-induced nostalgia. The controllers will no doubt suit those who are still entirely enamoured with Super Smash Bros. Melee the most, especially thanks to one neat little feature in particular.

Each design comes with the option for right stick customisation, allowing you to choose between the full-size stick usually found on the left-hand side of the controller, or the famous yellow ‘C’ stick from the original controller design. Both sticks are completely detachable, allowing you to switch between the two types depending on your preferred setup.

The controllers will be available to pre-order from PDP’s website in the coming months and are scheduled to release in time for the holiday season – presumably at a similar time to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s launch date of 7th December.

Do you like these designs? Will you be keeping an eye out for these when they arrive later this year? Let us know your thoughts down below.

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Ever Wondered How To Capture Video On Switch in Portable Mode?

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Review: NoReload Heroes (Switch eShop)

NoReload Heroes is like one of those microwave meals you get from a discount store. On the surface, this title appears to be a tasty treat to get stuck into, but after a couple of mouthfuls of the DIY fast food, it’s a dish that becomes a bit of a slog to chew through. This isn’t to say this game doesn’t have some redeeming features – it occasionally chucks out moments of fun and momentarily serves up small portions of couch co-op amusement – but it’s missing one vital ingredient.

After a quick, semi-animated sequence showing four chibi-like heroes accidentally creating a destructive AI that breaks the floor beneath them, we’re instantly thrown into a short tutorial that shows off the super simplistic controls. Moving with the left stick and firing one of the 70+ available blasters with the right triggers, the setup makes navigating the randomly generated rooms easy enough and works smoothly for the most part.

Playing solo makes it quickly apparent that this is a permadeath affair and it’s up to you to keep your eyes peeled for weapon upgrades, health boosts and stat buffs to stand a chance of making it to the first boss fight and beyond. Levelling up is a simple procedure of collecting XP dropped by fallen foes. Stat buffs stack up until the Game Over screen greets your TV; however, don’t expect intricate skill trees or ultra powerful finishing attacks as it’s an undistinguished feature that rarely gives any motivation to grind.

The simplistic design of the rooms is a double-edged sword; scattered with exploding crates, a slim selection of differing laser-blasting robots and mini-boss fights, things become ‘samey’ within the first 20 minutes of play. Granted, twin-stick dungeon crawling is expected to be straightforward, but NoReload Heroes doesn’t offer much else. The sense of exploration is thin on the ground and, coupled with very little in the way of strategic combat, it stops this title from giving you any incentive to want to retrace your steps when your health bar runs to zero and progress is completely lost.

Sure, there’s the expected hike in difficulty – with enemies growing stronger – when advancing through the floors and the powerups scattered throughout give you a clear advantage over the larger, more challenging enemies, but the whole thing is a bit half-baked for our liking. The situation is helped, however, by the addition of more players. Catering for up to a maximum of four, drop-in/drop-out gameplay shines through and helps to add an interesting dynamic to crawling through the various rooms.

We tried it with three players at one time and it is entertaining, albeit overly hectic and dizzying. It becomes increasingly more challenging to make out who’s who on the screen, especially when you’re doing things the tabletop way. Divvying out power-ups through a ‘voting’ system sees players pitching to one another on why everyone should side with a certain buff (only for them realise that it only benefits yours truly) and this adds a sense of devious strategy to proceedings. Getting hit just once strips you of your buff instantly, which forces you to make a mad dash to another. Die, and a teammate can revive you by holding down the ‘A’ button – but if the whole party gets wiped out, it’s back to the beginning; bare bones with the starter weapons and at room one, floor one.

The majority of couch co-op titles on Switch rely heavily on communication to progress (Pode and Chariot being prime examples) but, when the main aim is to ‘run, gun and not die’, there’s only so much effective planning a group can conjure between them. There are clearly missed opportunities in NoReload Heroes and we’re not asking for Four Swords complexity, but it would have been great to see some simple tasks that require teamwork along the lines of ‘you step on that switch, I’ll step on this one’.

With a mediocre mixture of electronic-rock soundtracks to help things move along at a faster pace and an easy-on-the-eyes presentation that doesn’t intrude on the action, this indie title doesn’t exactly stand out from the crowd. This isn’t a game that will go down as a picturesque masterpiece among the sea of striking and often beautifully-crafted pieces of software already available on Switch. Much like the gameplay, the presentation does its job without too many hiccups. Just don’t expect the same kind of graphical flare that, say, Nine Parchments delivers in bucketloads.

Conclusion

If you’re desperately on the hunt for the next Enter The Gungeon then give this one a pass, as there’s simply not enough depth or variety to maintain interest past an hour. The Switch iteration is desperately lacking the online functionality, which ultimately results in a stripped-down version of an already lacking title. Still, if you’re planning a get together for some mindless fun with three friends who are seeking quick rounds of colourful, straightforward and light co-op dungeon crawling action, NoReload Heroes is a sharing platter that can be devoured in just a few bites, but will still leave you wanting more.

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A Super Mario Orchestra Concert Has Been Announced For Japan

A Super Mario orchestra concert has been announced for Japan, scheduled to take place this September in Nintendo’s home city of Kyoto.

The show is called ‘Koopa is the Protagonist!’, referring, of course, to Bowser who is known as ‘Koopa’ in Japan, and will be taking place at the KYOTO CMEX 2018 on both the 15th and 16th of September. The performance is set to include a number of classic tunes from our favourite moustachioed plumber’s greatest hits including Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, Yoshi’s Story, Super Mario 64, Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Odyssey.

We’ve seen orchestral concert performances for other top Nintendo franchises like Pokémon: Symphonic Evolutions and The Legend of Zelda Symphony of the Goddesses arrive in Europe and North America in the past, either as standalone shows or small tours, so we’d love to see this Super Mario concert follow in their footsteps.

If you’re lucky enough to live in Japan, or happen to be in the country at that time, you can grab tickets for yourself from this link. Tickets are available starting from 8,500 yen (approx. £58 / $76).

We can already imagine the majesty of Gusty Garden Galaxy being played live. Is this what Heaven feels like?

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Dragon Ball FighterZ Dev Team Discuss The Accessible Nature Of The Title

Fighting games aren’t always the most accessible. Thankfully, the team behind the upcoming Switch release, Dragon Ball FighterZ, is making an active effort to buck this trend. 

During an interview with Eurogamer, the producer of Dragon Ball FighterZ, Tomoko Hiroki, spoke about how this particular fighter appeals to a wider audience by incorporating easy-to-understand terminology and making each fight more about mind games rather than performing complicated combos:

We thought that, rather than make the controls more and more difficult, we wanted to focus more on mind games, making each of the characters quite different. Another thing I realised only after the game was released is that when this game is being played for esports, the fact we were able to use easier to understand words for the specific mechanics we have for the game – so, for example, the Z Change, the Super Dash – this wasn’t our main objective, but the fact we were able to use rather easy to understand words was something that worked to lower the hurdles for the casual fans.

In the same interview, the director of the game at Arc System Works, Junya Motomura, explained how the goal from the beginning was to appeal to all types of players, with the development team conscious of the divided userbase: 

We started out with a clear goal that we had to satisfy both the casual players and the competitive players. We had that idea from the start. Since this was a new franchise, we were able to build from the ground up without pulling anything from a series fighting game. So we were able to build from the ground up to balance the system without having to think about how we were going to satisfy the old players. That was a good positive we were working to.

Arc System Works has recently been very conscious about this problem, of the divided userbase. We were constantly trying to find a way to satisfy both of the user types. It was a result of a very long term consideration of how to achieve this playstyle.

Knowing this now, would you be willing to give Dragon Ball FighterZ a chance if you were previously hesitant? Was this already a day one purchase for you? Do you think fighting games should aim to appeal to a wider audience? Tell us below.  

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Ready for a virtual summer vacation?

Ready for a virtual summer vacation?

Welcome to Kawawii Island, a paradise resort where friends and family can enjoy 50+ co-op and competitive activities. There are all sorts of exciting ways to explore the island, from horseback to buggies, snow mobiles to inline skates. And to add to the fun, up to 4 players* can enjoy visiting and discovering every corner of the island together!

Features

• Explore four huge paradise resorts: Marine, City, Snow, and Mountain on horseback, underwater, or a variety of other vehicles.

• New for the Nintendo Switch™ version: marine and mountain fishing with 30+ species of fish, 40+ types of animals to photograph, and find boxes filled with rewards dropped by a plane!

• Enjoy leisure activities like scuba diving and horseback riding, or try out skydiving, surfing, and skateboarding. Sports like skiing, beach volleyball, and tennis are also included.

• Play with up to 4 players on one system* or with local wireless play**.

• Share a Joy-Con™ controller with a friend for instant multiplayer fun.

• Customize your character with outfits and choose a dog companion from various breeds.

• Daily presents include new breeds of dogs or costumes.

• Daily challenges appear in sets of three across the island.

If you would like to purchase the digital version, please visit https://govacation.nintendo.com.


Mild Cartoon Violence

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Drive, dive and fly with the new Nintendo Labo Vehicle Kit

Drive, dive and fly with the new Nintendo Labo Vehicle Kit

Buckle up for a new adventure while sitting in the driver’s seat of a car, a submarine and a plane with the Nintendo Labo: Vehicle Kit, launching on Sept. 14. This new Nintendo Labo kit is designed to work with the Nintendo Switch system*, and contains materials to build a variety of customizable cardboard creations called Toy-Con, including a Car, a Submarine, a Plane, a Pedal, two Keys and more. By inserting one of the assembled Keys into any of the vehicles, players can enjoy a variety of fun games and activities. Changing between vehicles while adventuring is a cinch – simply pull the Key out of one and slot it into another to transform from an airplane pilot to a submarine captain!

“Nintendo Labo is a collaborative and creative experience designed to encourage imagination in people of all ages,” said Doug Bowser, Nintendo of America’s Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “We’re excited to offer a variety of fun gameplay experiences with Vehicle Kit, and look forward to seeing the creative Nintendo Labo community continue to grow.”

Since its introduction in April, Nintendo Labo has inspired new ways to play by combining the family-friendly fun of DIY creations with the technology of Nintendo Switch. Nintendo Labo: Vehicle Kit will unlock even more ways for people to make, play and discover together, as they speed through races, battle cars equipped with extendable arms and explore a mysterious world. Each vehicle features its own controls and special moves, and with the second Key, players can even invite a co-pilot along on their in-game journey. Interacting with the assembled Toy-Con creations instantly translates into in-game actions to create a truly immersive experience – from pulling the cord on the Car to pop a wheelie, pushing the button on the Submarine to launch a grappling hook and so much more.

As with every Nintendo Labo kit, Nintendo Labo: Vehicle Kit includes its own unique Nintendo Switch software designed to work with the included Toy-Con projects. Enjoy the fun of making each Toy-Con creation, playing immersive games with them, discovering how they work and even inventing new ways to play. All materials needed to complete each Toy-Con creations are included – no glue, tape, or scissors required!

The possibilities of Nintendo Labo: Vehicle Kit can be expanded even further with Toy-Con Garage. This intuitive and interactive programming tool is included with every Nintendo Labo kit and features a simple, visual interface and handy tutorials designed for players of all ages. Toy-Con Garage encourages players to experiment with the Toy-Con creations they’ve built or craft their own original designs using handy household items like paper cups, stickers and ribbon. With Toy-Con Garage, the possibilities of Nintendo Labo become almost limitless – players of all ages can enjoy hours of inventing, tinkering, crafting, playing and enriching fun.

Pre-order the Nintendo Labo: Vehicle Kit from select retailers for a suggested retail price of $69.99. Stay tuned to the Nintendo Labo website for more information about Nintendo Labo: Vehicle Kit.

To start making, playing and discovering right now, check out the Nintendo Labo: Variety Kit and Nintendo Labo: Robot Kit, which are currently available in stores at suggested retail prices of $69.99 and $79.99, respectively.

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/.

*Nintendo Switch system required and is sold separately.