VOTE! Think fast, it’s time for another edition of Box Art Brawl.
Last time, to celebrate the arrival of Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, we took a look at where the solo series all began as we compared three covers for the NES’ Yoshi. The European Mario & Yoshi design walked away with the win in that one, receiving 48% of the vote and leaving North America and Japan with the remaining 41% and 11%, respectively.
Nintendo’s latest not-WarioWare project, Pictonico!, has got us in the mood for some microgames, so this week we’re throwing it back to the GameCube and the inexplicably hard to type WarioWare, Inc: Mega Party Game$! The first series entry to make the jump to home console, Mega Party Game$ might be missing some of the handheld charm of its predecessors, but it’s nonetheless packed with signature silliness and big laughs.
Once again, we have three covers to pick between this week, so go on, PICK!
With Wario up top and all of his ‘Ware companions split off below, the North American design really is a beauty. We’re big fans of the blue backdrop here, and how the central logo holds everything together, with the dividing lines extending out of it. Good work, all round.
The European design takes the same Wario art as its NA companion, but subs out the bonus characters and blue backing for something more… yellow. It’s much simpler as a consequence, it’s true, but we always appreciated how the yellow extends up the design to the GameCube banner itself.
As ever, the Japanese design swings for something different. The Wario PNG is gone, replaced by his key facial features against a pink polka dot background. It’s a more abstract approach, but it’s certainly eye-catching.
Which region got the best WarioWare, Inc: Mega Party Game$! box art? (923 votes)
North America76%
Europe12%
Japan12%
Thank you for voting! We’ll see you next week for another edition of Box Art Brawl!
At Minecraft Live at Twitchcon Rotterdam this weekend, new updates were shared about the upcoming sequel to the Minecraft Movie.
The cast and production are now back on set, and it’s been confirmed the sequel is now officially titled A Minecraft Movie Squared. Here’s a look at the official logo reveal:
Image: Mojang / Warner Bros.
Next up are some new cast member introductions. After teasing Alex in the first movie, it’s now been revealed she will be played by the American actress Kirsten Dunst.
One other person officially revealed was English actor Matt Berry, who appeared as a villager in the first movie.
Mojang has announced an in-game “build challenge”, with the winning build appearing in the movie, or the end credits of the movie.
All you need to do is build something on the movie build challenge map. Mojang will then select the finalists, and the community will make the final decision. You can find out more details on Minecraft’s website.
A Minecraft Movie Squared will arrive in cinemas next year on 23rd July 2027. What do you think of the title and cast update? Let us know in the comments.
Bubsy 4D released on the Switch 2 and Switch last week, and it seems the developer is now releasing a new update across all platforms.
Version 1.1.1 is out now on PC and will arrive on consoles in the “coming days”. It addresses all sorts of issues including player and level updates & more. Keep in mind, not all of these patches may apply to the Switch versions of the game.
Here’s the official rundown from Fabraz and Atari.
Ensuring Bubsy’s bowel movements are consistent and no longer occasionally cause softlocks when using the Scenic Pooper ability.
Educating Bubsy that even bobcats need to obey the laws of physics to ensure you no longer float to the heavens if you use the Item Sniffer ability under certain conditions.
Bubsy no longer points at the Golden Fleece when using the Item Sniffer ability, because quite frankly that’s just useless ain’t it?
Tank mode is no longer OP (yes, really) by allowing you to infinitely glitch up walls.
Telling Bubsy to keep it cool after pouncing enemies and not immediatelly clamber up subsequent walls like a madcat.
You’re no longer kicked out of hairball after sometime in the air when using the held Hairball input variant. Bet that sentence was never said before!
The Twirl Jump visual effects no longer stick around like a unwanted fart when triggered under certain conditions
We thought it’d be cool if you can see where you’re aiming at in glass canons when the grounding visualizer is turned on. We’re nice like that.
Told our cameraman, Lackey Two, to stop pointing at the sky when doing large jumps in Hairball form. Guess he’s a astrology hobbyist or something I dunno.
PERFORMANCE
Angling the camera all the way down on terrain no longer makes it stutter. I swear our cameraman, Lackey Two, can be a handful sometimes.
LEVELS
The Ampelman no longer ticks you off, literally, if you reset it *just* when it ran out of time.
Resetting the tape measure challenge no longer resets you above a pit of death sometimes. I thought it was kinda funny tbh but the team said it’s “bad game design”.
I can’t believe I have to say this but we made sure the glass blocks always act like glass and not solid concrete sometimes when shooting through them.
You won’t reset right above water anymore when falling off the cat trees in Planet 1, Level 4. But also, did you try to just… Not fall?
Tweaking water height in Planet 3 Level 2 to stop Bubsy occasionally from respawning and dying continuosly in an endless cycle until the heat death of the universe.
BOSSES
Getting killed by a skating Woolie (skill issue) during Baarbee’s chasing phase no longer softlocks the entire fight.
Slow-mo can’t get stuck anymore if you do a very specific set of actions during Baarbee’s fight. We’re not in the Matrix here, okay?
Baaptiste ain’t no shy sheep and he no longer appears invisible if you retry his fight after dying to him at specific points in time.
Projectiles and other attacks now get properly despawned when “Skip Cutscenes” is enabled during boss fights. Everyone press F to pay respects to all those Nine Lives modes lost…
UI
Trigger happy folk won’t be able to softlock the shop menu anymore. Everyone chill out!
Fixed moveset entries not properly displaying RTL instead of LTR. NP, GG OK?
Resetting and confirming input bindings at the same time no longer leads to a softlock. How did anyone discover this? Troll-like behavior.
Fixing Playstation inputs not displaying in the title screen. We don’t wanna be called biased to a certain controller here.
You can no longer delete a save that is currently active. Your 567th nine life attempt will now be less confusing to reset!
You can now rebind inputs like shift/control, y’know, like it’s supposed to.
LOCALIZATION
Fixed some Chinese characters appearing without the bold font. BOLD EVERY TIME, ALL THE TIME.
Fixed some instances where Arabic letters didn’t properly connect. We’re all in this together!
CAMPAIGN
Fixed a typo where Bubsy misspells “opinion”. But in MY oppinion this feels better.
Fixed a typo where Bubsy says “wih” instead of “with”. Now THAT’S some high quality patch note material.
Adjusted one translated french word which the age rating police wouldn’t have liked. Nope, nope.
Added some more people to the credits. I’ll be real, I have no idea how to write something funny about this.
SYSTEMS
Fixed uncapped framerates causing crashes for some players by removing the uncapped option. Sorry fps maxxers, 120’s gotta be the cap for meow! (Note, with vsync you can still go higher than 120fps if your monitor’s refresh rate allows for it.)
Fixed numerous Crowd Control issues. We want this mode to be chaotic but not THAT chaotic, geez.
If you haven’t already played this title, there’s a demo you can check out on the Switch and Switch 2. It allows you to explore the first three levels of the game and also test out some of Bubsy’s moves.
Have you tried out Bubsy 4D on the Switch or Switch 2 yet? How are you finding it so far? Let us know in the comments.
Since the launch of the Switch 2 last June, we’ve seen all sorts of Switch games receive compatibility updates and fixes. With this in mind, another batch of titles has now been updated.
Nintendo has also apparently identified issues with select Switch titles, with some officially “unsupported” on the new hybrid system due to progression issues:
You can get updates about Nintendo’s compatibility updates via its official backwards compatibility page. This not only documents unsupported Switch titles on the Switch 2, but also shares updates when games are eventually fixed.
Have you tried out any of these games on the Switch 2 yet? What other Switch titles would you like to see updated? Let us know in the comments.
So, when will the new Monsters entry arrive? While there’s no specific release date just yet, a rating for the game has now been spotted on the ESRB. Although classifications don’t always signal an immediate release, it’s definitely welcome news to follow the initial announcement.
As confirmed in the announcement, it’s on its way to Switch and Switch 2 – with the ESRB page revealing it’s got an E10+ (Everyone 10+) rating and contains references to alcohol, fantasy violence as well as mild language. And here’s the official rating summary, which shares a bit of insight about the story and gameplay where you’ll tame wild monsters by engaging in turn-based combat:
“DRAGON QUEST MONSTERS: The Withered World is rated E10+ for Everyone 10+ by the ESRB with Alcohol Reference, Fantasy Violence, and Mild Language. Also includes In-Game Purchases. This is a role-playing game in which players help two girls on their quest to find a magical item. Players explore a fantasy world and tame wild monsters (e.g., slime, dragons, ghosts) by battling them in turn-based combat. Players select attack and various abilities (e.g., Gust Slash, Stone’s Throw) from a menu; battles are highlighted by smacking/zapping sounds and small explosions, with monsters disappearing then leaving coffins when defeated. The word “hell” appears in the game.”
Image: Nintendo Life / Square Enix
You can check out the announcement trailer for this new Dragon Quest Monsters entry in our previous Nintendo Life post.
It’ll be Mina, Mina and more Mina for me this weekend. I’ve made it all the way to the final area after having my butt handed to me countless times, but gosh darn, I am really enjoying it. I’m going to need to find something a little less stressful to play after this one, for sure, but Yacht Club really has killed it, once again!
Gavin Lane, Editor
Having raided Egyptian tombs and trekked through the Himalayas, I’ve just landed in Shanghai and am still enjoying every second of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. Machine Games has done a superb job with this port. The lighting, the details, the subtle film grain (I’m playing in the letterboxed cinematic mode) – it’s such a beautiful game. As I walked through thigh-high mountain snow leaving trails behind me, I was marvelling at everything going on in this tiny console. It’s a stunning piece of work.
However, I do have something else to be playing: a shiny new Analogue 3D. “Well, it ain’t going to get any cheaper!” was my justification for splashing out on payday after sampling its delights at a recent staff meetup. I’ve only had time to update the firmware since it arrived and ready my Everdrive to play nicely with it, but I feel a Star Fox playthrough coming on. Have a good one. folks.
Matthew Reynolds, Acting Deputy Editor
I have two things stuck in my head this week thanks to Star Fox 64: the beautiful, melancholic theme that plays over the main menu, and for whatever reason, the word ‘Zoness’.
It’s my first time playing, and each stage is a remarkable technical showcase that, even decades later, I’m really impressed by. It’s not just that: the shooting feels sharp, I love sniffing out hidden objectives for alternate routes, and the screen-filling bosses are always a highlight. But it has aged – I can’t quite get a handle on the all-range stages, and there’s some incredible difficulty spikes whenever you take the hard path up the solar system – and so, from my fresh eyes at least, a remake does make sense. I just hope they keep the name ‘Zoness’.
Mai Ladyman, Video Producer
We’ve had an awful heatwave here so being able to play my Switch 2 has been a solace for me. This week I’ve mostly been trying my best to get better at Mina the Hollower which no doubt will take up my time during the weekend. I’ve also been jumping back onto No Man’s Sky (thanks to the latest update) and been playing with my fiancée thanks to cross-platform multiplayer! Perhaps I’ll finally finish the game now that I have a crew member?
Gonçalo Lopes, Contributor
Yep, I did it again. It began with just a few races of XGIII: Extreme-G Racing, and just like that, I am hooked on GameCube/Wii games. I will be revisiting a few essentials on both systems, namely Treasure’s often overlooked Sin and Punishment: Successor of the Skies, Sega’s MadWorld, Project Aces’ The Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces, and very likely moving on to XGRA. Considering the amount of amazing stuff on Switch 2, why am I doing this? The answer is quite simple, really: I have never played any of these titles on my giant TV.
My game of the week is Rushing Beat X: Return of the Brawl Brothers. I am well aware of Jaleco’s reputation for making subpar games, but I grew up with them on the SNES and loved every janky release. The original Rushing Beat actually had something that Capcom’s Final Fight did not: multiplayer! This series reboot plays nice and even throws other Jaleco franchise references while at it.
Those are our plans, but what about yours? Let us know what you’ll be slapping in your Switch (2) in the poll below:
2026 has already been a blockbuster year for video games, and it just keeps getting better. Following the recent success of titles such as Resident Evil Requiem and Forza Horizon 6, the new game of the year contender is surprisingly Mina The Hollower!
Yes, according to Metacritic at the time of publishing this story, Yacht Club’s new Zelda-style adventure is currently at the top of the site’s “best games” of 2026. The PC version in particular has an overall critic score of 92/100 (it was93), placing it ahead of Forza Horizon 6 (on 91/100) and Pokémon Pokopia & Resident Evil Requiem (tied on 89/100).
It’s worth noting Mina the Hollower also currently has a score of 93/100 on the other review aggregate website OpenCritic.
“What a way to wake up! We’re ecstatic to see such an enthusiastic response to Mina the Hollower!”
Image: Yacht Club Games
While positive reception from critics doesn’t always translate to more sales, it can certainly help, and Yacht Club founder Sean Velasco has previously mentioned this release is “make-or-break” for the Shovel Knight studio.
In an interview with Bloomberg late last year, Velasco suggested 500,000 copies sold would be a “golden” outcome, and even 200,000 would be “really, really great”. However, 100,00 might not be “so good”. And in another chat with Bloomberg this week, he’s now supposedly got the ambitious goal of shifting a million copies: “If we don’t sell a million copies, I’m going to be disappointed”.
Fortunately, based on early Steam data, the numbers for this platform alone suggest the game has already shifted around 55,000 copies globally. And the team is still waiting for sale data to come through for the console versions. This is also reportedly a significant leap compared to Shovel Knight, which took around a week to shift 75,000 copies across Steam, Wii U and 3DS.
And now that Mina the Hollower is available, the plan is to apparently spend some time marketing, fixing bugs and patching the new game. We’ll keep an eye on how the game sales are tracking, but so far, Mina appears to be off to a respectable start.
Have you purchased this title yet? How are you finding it so far? Let us know in the comments.
If you haven’t already tried out Resident Evil Requiem on the Switch 2, now might be the perfect time to give it a go.
Capcom is currently offering a discount on the eShop version in North America. Instead of $69.99 USD / $94.99 CAD, the cost is $55.99 USD / $75.99 CAD (that’s 20% off). This offer runs from now until 19th June 2026, so grab it while you can. The Deluxe version of the game (including costumes and more) is also 20% off.
If you aren’t quite ready to jump into the entire experience, Capcom also released a demo for Resident Evil Requiem this week – allowing players to experience the game’s early stages. Unfortunately, save data can’t be transferred across to the full version.
“Resident Evil Requiem sets a new benchmark for a series that has been pretty consistently great for the last decade or so. By combining classic survival horror with the more action-focused gameplay of RE4, the result is an experience paced to perfection. Add in a lore-heavy narrative and copious easter eggs, and you’ve got what might be the ultimate expression of Resident Evil.”
Alongside the discount on Resident Evil Requiem, Capcom is also running a sale for its other games and series. This includes Street Fighter 6 on the Switch 2, which is currently half price ($19.99 instead of $39.99).
Will you be getting Requiem while it’s on sale? Have you already played it? Let us know in the comments.
Ubisoft’s CEO Yves Guillemot mentioned earlier this year how Rayman: 30th Anniversary Edition was the “first step in the brand’s comeback”.
Now, following reports of a remake, it seems another returning entry has been revealed ahead of its announcement. This information comes from a Microsoft Xbox store page listing, revealing…spoiler alert…Rayman Origins will be making a return as an “Enhanced Edition“.
Microsoft’s now-removed listing has also revealed exactly what to expect. According to the description, this “Definitive Experience” will allow players to enjoy Rayman Origins “like never before” with 4K resolution, 60 FPS, and modern enhancements, including quality-of-life features.
Here’s the full rundown about this title (via Gematsu):
Timeless Platforming – Make your way through over 60 handcrafted levels filled with hidden paths, evolving abilities, and memorable boss encounters, from a giant pink monster with hundreds of eyes to a possessed mountainous golem or a carnivorous daisy. Hunt down secrets and collectibles to unlock new rewards and complete your journey.
The Definitive Experience – Enjoy Rayman Origins like never before with 4K resolution, 60 FPS, and modern enhancements, including new quality-of-life features. Discover 60 hidden Relics across the adventure and track your progress in the Snoring Tree.
A Vibrant 2D Masterpiece – Explore the Glade of Dreams, brought to life with a unique hand-drawn art style and a colorful cast of over 100 characters across diverse, wildly imaginative worlds.
Four-Player Cooperative Play – Work together, compete for rewards, and turn every level into a shared, unforgettable adventure, as you play in up to four-player couch cooperative play.
Ubisoft’s Rayman Origins originally made its debut on the Wii, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in November 2011. It also got a 3DS release in 2012.
Would you be interested in revisiting Rayman Origins? Did you play the original game? Let us know in the comments.
The Launch Stars in Super Mario Galaxy are pure cinema, from that spinning wind-up with the quick arpeggio to that compressed pause before a cannon-blast hurl into an arc unknown.
And that camera work! As you trace an unseen thread through space, leaving a gleaming contrail of light and delight before the zoom-out to best catch that perfect 10 landing. Keep your bullet times and your smash cuts: this is the music of movement, and it hasn’t got old.
It turns out Super Mario Galaxy is great and it took me nearly 20 years to realise because I kept thinking it was crap.
I couldn’t love it, despite multiple attempts. Even my bio here says it (but politely to stay safe on a website called Nintendo Life). I won’t go into my now-practised forensic analysis of its slightly stiff moveset, but because of it and my expectations of a 3D Mario’s gamefeel, I always felt there was something amiss at the heart of the game, something flat in the hands, off-beat, the joke always slightly too late in the interface between me and this clearly gorgeous kingdom of planets. But then — finally — it clicked.
Image: Omar Hafeez-Bore / Nintendo
What a great feeling! That click, the sudden pivot where the planets (metaphorical now) align just so and you feel the ‘Oh, I see now‘ of appreciation for a game.
You can’t be persuaded to like a thing with logic, but sometimes you might be borderline enough that a recalibration of expectation, or approach, or timing can help you enjoy more things.
But there’s also the way that it sparks off like an action potential, past some invisible threshold, and now everything once annoying or naff makes sense and youget it. And I think it actually started with Penny’s Big Breakaway.
I’m wary of writing another stealth Penny’s article, but bear with me because it’s unavoidably relevant. It was my most anticipated game of 2024 partly because of its pedigree (Sonic Mania team, and specifically that Sonic 2 Android port so good it feels Mega Drive right), but also because of the yo-yo.
Like Viewtiful Joe and the first time I saw a trailer for Shadow of the Colossus, I didn’t just like the look of it, I recognised something that had been latent all along. Of course! A yo-yo as wheels and as a grapple-line, with all the satisfactions of momentum management, of rolling and gravity and swing and fling! It also helps that I often carry an actual yo-yo in my bag as something tactile, playful and pure.
But I hated the game. I found it zany and try-hard and it had a very irritating sort of boink boink goofy clown music for the QTE bits at the end of every level. The mechanics felt stilted and slow, and so I felt disappointed and sad. So I did what one does and read some online opinions to gauge the conversation, make sure it’s not just you.
Now I can’t remember exactly which review changed everything (it might have been this or this or the very encouraging opening paragraph of this), but I think it was the descriptions of good movement and the promise of skate-game combos (I love skating games) that did it.
Approached differently, trying to maintain a long combo through a level, the difference was profound. It forced me to find new pockets of opportunity in the levels and awesome potential in the mechanics, like tug-pulling through the air and then converting a plummeting freefall into rocketing forward flight with a mid-air yo-yo axel. It shifted the focus onto flow and continuity, the game’s best side.
But also I’d got to Bubblin, the surreal bathhouse waterpark with skyscraper scale and incredible music. Between the movement and the vibes, the shift was revelatory, absolute. I quite like the QTE bits now. I always have the game downloaded.
Image: Nintendo
I’m sure this has happened before, but it was just so transformative, I mused that maybe I could consciously try this? Try switching up my approach to get back on a game I’d seen revered but bounced off and deleted multiple times, the now-legendary Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (and yes, I had got to the beloved Grassland Groove).
Reader: It worked. Once again there was an element of gameplay which meant I’d not been engaging with it on its own terms: I hadn’t realised holding ‘roll’ didn’t make you run as it did in prior Country games, which had added uncertain distrust to controls I’d misunderstood. But also, I think I slowed down very slightly, not just in gameplay but some internal metronomic pace of expectation, an unspoken demand for unbroken fluidity that wasn’t being met by the heavier, more considered platforming.
And like with Penny’s Bubblin’, it was also a level and a theme. The Fugu fish boss (about where I’d left it) was hard enough for me to pay attention, anyway. Then the level machinery, mood, and music of the Juicy Jungle world afterwards began to cast a spell. It’s capped off by a polar bear duel scored by genuinely one of the most epic boss themes and now I was fully converted. I’ve since 100%-ed the game, and the things that irked me initially now seem moot and irrelevant. I could probably write a gushing ode just to the roll-jump. Once again, the difference is wild.
(There’s still rather a lot of that panpipe flute thing going on, though).
Could I have enjoyed it this much before? Genuinely unsure, though there are other examples. A Highland Song I lost myself in enough to make my own paper map of its highlands, and I think the Eurogamer review noting that the point was as much being in the mountains as getting through them in time might have helped. Final Fantasy XII was just a great game at the wrong time for me to properly receive it first time round, but years later I had the room in my life to accommodate and adore it. Sometimes I wonder if watching Videogamedunkey shenanigans has fostered a more playful, less reverent approach to some games.
You can’t be persuaded to like a thing with logic, but sometimes you might be borderline enough that a recalibration of expectation, or approach, or timing can help you enjoy more things. Wow, two cakes!
So anyway, I pitched the idea for retrying Galaxy, but in truth was not optimistic. It was my final boss of Not For Me But Good For You Guys (also, What Is Wrong With You Guys?); just so clearly, primally, instinctively not what I like about Mario, forever primed by 64 and the over-maligned Sunshine, where the game was as much Mario’s core moveset as the conversation between Mario and the Level.
Also, I’d been stuck on that daredevil run against Bouldergeist, which was very long and boring to retry.
Image: Nintendo
But it worked. Maybe I approached it a bit more like a 2D Mario of bread-and-butter (gravity) jumping instead of nimble acrobatics. Or maybe I’d become more open to its different flavour of fun, enjoying being a part of each level’s calibrated machinery of drama and delight. Maybe I’m just older.
Either way, I’ve had a (launch star) blast. I’m no longer weirdly irritated by the post-level tallies, and the matte fabric-grain of the textures now makes gorgeous, obvious sense. I’ve stopped pressing ‘Y’ quite as much and instead do that enemy-kick mid-run to maintain the flow. I’ve punted coconuts between planets in Dusty Dune Galaxy and smiled with glee at the pure kinaesthetic poetry of it. The Toy Time galaxy was just my kind of joy time.
And nearly 20 years after first borrowing a mate’s Wii to try it, I finally finished the game and loved it and have been eyeing up Galaxy 2. I’m glad to be on this side of the click.
Image: Zion Grassl / Nintendo Life
What games took a while to click for you? And what made those games click?
