Category: Nintendo News

Italian indie developer Fantastico Studio has revealed that its synthwave-styled, sci-fi shoot ’em up Black Paradox will be making its way to Switch later this year.

In the game, you play as Black Paradox, a fierce bounty hunter who must defeat the biggest criminal organization in space, The Hellraisers. The game blends old-school shoot ‘em up elements and roguelike mechanics across seven levels of random generated enemy waves and hazards, presumably taking away the technique of learning each stage’s layout as you play.

Each level will feature its own boss, each with different and unique attack patterns. The more you advance in the game, the more the bosses will start to attack using ‘bullet hell’ patterns. There are also many different weapons and powerups that are available to collect, aiming to make each run through the game that little bit different. Here’s a full, and lengthy, feature list:

– 18 deadly weapons!
– 17 handy powerups!
– 11 deadly drones, little helpers that pack a lot of punch!
– A space bending ultimate move, the “Black Paradox”, so powerful that the main character got his name from it.
– 50+ different enemies all with its own attack patterns!
– 7 deadly bosses with unique attacks.
– A growth system to give the player more powers while upgrading his stats.
– Integrated control support for all kinds of controllers!
– 2 player local co-op.
– Amazing pixel art.
– Original Synth-Wave soundtrack by the trio Inward, Hanzo & Randie

The game is just about to launch through Steam Early Access (on 27th July) and will be making its way to consoles after that. A Switch release is currently expected to land in September and a free demo for PC is available right now.

So, what do you think? Share your thoughts on this one down below.

During the Nintendo Treehouse Live events at E3 this year, Nintendo revealed that Sky Skipper – an almost-forgotten arcade game from the ’80s – would be coming to Switch. The time has finally come for us to try the game out for ourselves, with a 20th July release date now confirmed for Japan.

In case you haven’t heard the story before, Sky Skipper was a game released by Nintendo in 1981 in Japanese arcades, acting as a follow up to Donkey Kong. The cabinet featured artwork by none other than Shigeru Miyamoto, but the game itself didn’t perform as well as initially hoped. Ten arcade cabinets found their way to North America for localisation purposes, but the poor reception caused Nintendo to convert them into Popeye cabinets. One sole cabinet now remains at Nintendo of America HQ and the ROM from this cabinet was used to create the upcoming Switch version.

The game sees players flying a plane through scrolling mazes in a bid to save animals caged by enemy gorillas. The player must drop bombs onto these pesky gorillas, temporarily knocking them out and unlocking the cages. The idea is to then swoop down to pick up the animals before the gorillas get up and lock the cages again. The Switch release is said to leave the game untouched, aside from the addition of online leaderboards, to allow players to experience the title as it was originally intended.

Sky Skipper is releasing as part of Hamster’s Arcade Archives collection and is confirmed to be releasing in Japan this Friday. We expect other regions to receive the game either on the same day or close to it.

Are you excited to give this game a go? Let us know if you’ll be keeping an eye out for this one when it lands on the eShop with a comment below.

Amazon Prime Day kicks off today, giving buyers a whole day (and a half) to grab some crazy deals on the latest and greatest products – usually including lots of gaming goodies. The UK version of Amazon Prime Day started earlier on today – with two Nintendo Switch bundles and lots of games and accessories on offer – so we’re hopeful for a similar showing for the US.

The event begins at 3pm ET, and is likely to produce some great deals for Switch fans from the off. These deals can be all snapped up shockingly fast, however – one of the UK’s Switch bundles disappeared after just six minutes earlier – so we encourage you to keep refreshing the page to see what pops up. Here’s the link you’ll want to keep an eye on and the start times for your area:

– Amazon Prime Day 2018 – US

– 12pm (PDT) / 1pm (MDT) / 2pm (CDT) / 3pm (EDT)

If you spot any deals, make sure to throw a link to them in the comments for others in the community to see. Hopefully we can make sure that everyone gets what they’re after by working together!

Nintendo – Prime Day Deals

Please note that some of the links on this page are affiliate links. If you click them and make a purchase we may receive a small percentage of the sale which helps support the site. Please read our FTC Disclosure for more information.

If you’re hoping to grab a bargain, good luck! Make sure to let us know what you manage to get your hands on below.

Sonic Mania Plus hits stores tomorrow and Sega has recreated one of its classic ’90s TV adverts to celebrate – and promote!

The video has been shared on Twitter from the official Sonic the Hedgehog account and features a store salesman desperately trying to get the customer to buy the “same generic games as everyone else”. The customer is having none of it, though, instead wanting to know more about the “shiny” Sonic Mania Plus. 

If you don’t remember the original – or are too young to have seen it – one Twitter user was kind enough to reply to the tweet with this video below. As you can see, the new parody is pretty spot on – a very nice throwback to the ’90s for those who remember the Sega Genesis ads. Of course, back then Sega was in direct competition with Nintendo’s SNES and now the game in question is appearing on Switch. How times have changed.

If you haven’t picked up Sonic Mania yet, and are thinking about getting yourself a copy of Sonic Mania Plus – make sure to check out our review. 

Will you be getting a copy when it arrives tomorrow?

CIRCLE Entertainment has announced that it will be bringing 4D Door Games’ WILL: A Wonderful World to Nintendo Switch, targeting a 2018 release.

WILL: A Wonderful World is a story-driven puzzle game featuring a unique mechanic that has you influencing the game’s tale through viewing and altering letters. As a ‘god’ you can influence many intriguing characters, with narrative threads often crossing over in smart and surprising ways. It’s also said to be a mature story, blending humour and charm with some challenging and hard-hitting themes.

The game launched on Steam last summer and has received a very warm welcome indeed amongst players, generating “overwhelmingly positive” reviews from those who have bought it. With the power to change the fate of humankind, players must dive deep into the story and learn about those that seek out your help, remembering that changing someone’s fate will also have an effect on others. You can check out the game’s features in this handy list below:

FEATURES:
– Receive letters from people seeking help. Investigate their situations and alter their fate.
– The stories of the characters are gradually revealed to you in the letters they wrote. From these letters you will learn about their lives and help solve their problems.
– Use your powers to change the events that happen and watch as the story takes on a new course! Be cautious, however, of the consequences.
– Be sure to consider all details before making decisions; the fates of the characters depend on this. Life is full of surprises. Sometimes, thinking outside the box could uncover beautiful hidden gems. Be bold, be brave, and create the best memories together with our heroes!
– Each decision opens up the story and may even impact the stories of others.
– Progress through the game and also learn more about the two gods, the mysterious girl and her companion.

Do you like the look of this one? Have you already played the game on PC? Let us know your thoughts with a comment below.

Last year was a fantastic one for Nintendo – the Switch launched in March, gaining universal excitement from the off, and a splattering of truly brilliant experiences like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey took the world by storm. As it turns out, despite not feeling quite as dramatic so far, 2018 isn’t playing out to be all that bad, either.

The figures below show the top 20 best-selling games of Japan so far this year. As you can see, eleven of these titles are published by Nintendo and are exclusive to the Switch and 3DS platforms, with every spot from number two to number seven secured. Nintendo has always performed well in Japan, with its games often finding themselves at the top of lists like this, but the sheer amount of titles and the sales they’re generating is still impressive to behold.

The first set of numbers show this year’s Japanese sales, with those in brackets indicating how many it has sold in its entire lifetime for the region (if the two figures are the same, this simply means that the game released this year).

---

1) Monster Hunter: World 1.949.592 [1.949.592] Capcom
2) Splatoon 2 631.298 [2.383.394] Nintendo
3) Kirby Star Allies 536.881 [536.881] Nintendo
4) Mario Kart 8 Deluxe 450.206 [1.553.950] Nintendo
5) Super Mario Odyssey 389.680 [1.713.960] Nintendo
6) The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 292.459 [980.503] Nintendo
7) Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon 240.135 [2.243.742] Nintendo / Pokémon Co.
8) Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball 2018 217.178 [217.178] Konami
9) Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle 200.131 [200.131] Nintendo
10) Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze 179.179 [179.179] Nintendo
11) Nintendo Labo: Toy-Con 01 – Variety Kit 174.792 [174.792] Nintendo
12) Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise 174.744 [174.744] SEGA
13) Dynasty Warriors 9 171.195 [171.195] Koei Tecmo
14) Mario Party: The Top 100 153.015 [199.203] Nintendo
15) Dissidia: Final Fantasy NT 150.250 [150.250] Square Enix
16) Far Cry 5 144.455 [144.455] Ubisoft
17) Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet 126.585 [126.585] Bandai Namco
18) Mario Tennis Aces 122.070 [122.070] Nintendo
19) Dark Souls: Remastered 112.974 [112.974] From Software
20) Super Robot Wars X 107.866 [107.866] Bandai Namco

---

If only Monster Hunter: World had released on Switch as well, huh? We’ll leave that argument for another day.

Are you surprised by any of these inclusions? Are you happy to see Nintendo’s games performing well in its home region? Feel free to throw us a comment below.

An eShop listing has revealed that Forever Entertainment’s NoReload Heroes is making its way to the Nintendo Switch this week.

Developed by Stupid Stupid Games, NoReload Heroes is a chaotic co-op party shooter that has you fighting your way through randomly generated rooms filled with various types of enemies. As a team (either through local co-op or online matchmaking), you’ll be picking up ‘magitech’ guns along the way, shooting stuff up to your heart’s content.

The game is designed to be simple, but intense, with players of all abilities able to join in the fun. The whole game works around the idea of only using a couple of buttons and there’s never any need to reload. In fact, no matter how many times someone dies, they can always be revived as long as at least one team member stays alive. 

Featuring randomly generated levels, 70+ unique weapons, 43 enemy types, and three bosses, NoReload Heroes aims to give you a different gameplay experience every time. The game has received mostly positive reviews on Steam so far (it only launched on the platform this April) so we’re feeling optimistic about this one.

The game is scheduled to launch on 19th July for $9.99.

Will you be considering a purchase on this one when it arrives later this week?

Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy has managed to keep a firm grip on the UK number one chart position for physical sales this week, fending off the likes of Octopath Traveler and Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker in the process.

Crash has been dominating the UK charts for the last few weeks, ever since its re-release on Switch and Xbox One, and this week it was LEGO The Incredibles which came closest to bringing it down. Just below this was Octopath Traveler – a game which has had a surprisingly successful launch, even causing its publisher Square Enix to issue an apology after stock shortages.

Fourth place sees a nice re-entry for Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, with Switch and 3DS versions both being released on the same day. The Switch version accounted for 93% of its sales, leaving the 3DS version quite far behind on just 7%. The game’s opening week sales were reportedly 40% lower than those seen from the Wii U version almost four years ago.

Here’s the full top ten:

1. (1) Crash Bandicoot: N. Sane Trilogy
2. (New) LEGO The Incredibles
3. (New) Octopath Traveler
4. (Re-Entry) Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
5. (6) God of War
6. (4) FIFA 18
7. (2) Jurassic World: Evolution
8. (5) Mario Tennis Aces
9. (8) Far Cry 5
10. (7) Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

Did you buy any of these top-selling games this week?

Wales Interactive has announced The Shapeshifting Detective for Nintendo Switch with an expected release window of “Q4 2018”.

The game is a supernatural, noir, murder mystery FMV, created by the team behind The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker. Dorota Shaw is dead, and the prime suspects are three tarot readers with the uncanny ability to predict murder – or commit it. It’s up to you to find out what else they know, but they won’t reveal their dark secrets to just anyone. Luckily, your shapeshifting ability means that you can be anyone you want to be – even the next victim.

Your shapeshifting detective skills will allow you to unlock secret conversations and take part in private encounters, and a randomly chosen murder mechanic means that you can replay the game over and over. We were left slightly unimpressed by The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker, saying that it “fails to find a consistent tone or fully engage the player in its story” in our review, so hopefully we’ll see a more refined experience this time around.

Here’s a full list of features:

– 1600+ full HD FMV videos
– A large multi-location, multi-suspect world to explore
– Shapeshift into nine other characters, or be yourself
– Branching storyline and randomly chosen murderer for high replayability
– In-game radio station featuring short dark fiction plays between visits
– Any one of three random murderers helps to minimize spoilers
– Shapeshift and your dialogue options are voiced by the original actors

Have you been enjoying the Switch’s recent collection of FMV titles? Will this one be added to your wishlist? Tell us down below with a comment.