Can you believe it’s October already? It’s a great time to be a Switch owner; we’ve recently seen the release of Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle and Pokkén Tournament DX and there’s still lots more to look forward to in the coming months.
So, what’s on the horizon for Nintendo Switch fans, then? We’ve complied a list of all the good stuff coming out at retail in October and November, so you don’t miss a single thing.
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Super Mario Odyssey
27th October cannot come soon enough, with Super Mario Odyssey set to be an epic Mario adventure with the themes of exploration and travel. You’ve got this one pre-ordered already, right?
Fire Emblem Warriors
Another big game in October isFire Emblem Warriors. This hack-and-slash action game developed by Omega Force, Team Ninja and Intelligent Systems is sure to be a winner.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
One of the Switch’s earliest confirmed third part titles, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim isn’t far away now. Are your ready to give up hours of your life to this RPG classic?
L.A. Noire
This was certainly a shock announcement but we can’t wait to get our hands on this modern classic when it hits Switch this November, complete with motion controls, touch-screen commands and much more besides.
More Awesome Nintendo Switch Games
Other than Super Mario Odyssey and Skyrim there are lots more Switch retail games which might take your fancy in October and beyond.
Nyko Portable Nintendo Switch Docking Kit
While we love the official Switch dock, it’s not the most portable of devices. The Nyko Switch Docking Kit is certainly a solid alternative. At only $49.99 it is reasonably priced, too.
Awesome Accessories For Your Switch
We saw a whole slew of interesting accessories released for the Switch in the past few months, but more are on the way. Here are some tantalising accessories coming up in October and beyond which we found for your consideration.
So that’s it for October and November – did we miss anything? Let us know with a comment and also tell us if you’ve preordered any of these goodies!
Pokkén Tournament DX is one of the more recent retail big-hitters on Switch, and with it Hori has released a new version of its Pokken Tournament Pro Pad, fittingly dubbed the Pokken Tournament DX Pro Pad.
We’re fans of the original, and the same things we liked are still present. The same design that’s based on the arcade controller which is also made by Hori. The pad features a cross-shaped d-pad in a concave section on the left of the controller, which makes it easy to roll your thumb around the pad without it catching or creating unnecessary friction.
The bottom of the controller is lined with the Select/- Start/+, ZL and ZR buttons. There are four large face buttons in a cross shape mirroring the layout Nintendo has been using since the SNES era, and there are two oversized triggers on the back where one’s index finders would naturally come to rest. We would have loved to see a home button added to the controller’s layout, as there’s no way to power on the console using the pad right now.
The controller plugs into the Switch dock via USB; it uses a type A connector, meaning it unfortunately can’t be used in tabletop mode, which is a shame considering Hori also makes a Switch stand that would pair perfectly with this controller. You can remedy the issue with a USB type c to USB type a converter, which we would have loved to see in the box, but ultimately isn’t a dealbreaker. The built-in cable is also plenty long, meaning it should reach from your dock to your couch in most typical setups.
We spent many hours playing around with this controller and it was a joy to use throughout our testing. The pad feels very comfortable and the buttons have just the right amount of travel to them. The shoulder buttons aren’t overly sensitive, so even with your fingers resting on them you aren’t going to find yourself pushing them by mistake.
The build quality of the Pokken Tournament DX Pro Pad is superb. After extended sessions and exposure to domestic life in the form of children and pets, the pad still has its attractive black and grey finish intact, and the glossy backing on the face of the controller shows no signs of wear.
Most impressively, however, the new iteration of the pad works with any Switch game you throw at it, as long as they can be controlled completely with the pad’s limited amount of input as it lacks analogue sticks. We played through Sonic Mania on the pad and actually preferred it to the Switch Pro Controller for this particular application.
In summary, for $24.99 you can’t go too far wrong with Hori’s Pokkén Pad. If you’re a fan of fighting games and especially if you’re a fan of Pokkén, it’s well worth considering, especially with that modest price tag. Its build quality is every bit as good as Nintendo’s own first-party offerings, albeit its functionality is more limited and focused on a particular style of gaming. Yes, we would have loved to have seen the share and home buttons make an appearance, but we can respect the singular focus on making the fighting experience as pure as possible. For every suggestion we have, there are more things we love about this controller.
Well, it’s here – the Super NES Classic Edition / SNES Mini has arrived, bringing with it 21 games including the first official release of Star Fox 2. It’s pretty much exactly what you’d expect – a cute and utterly charming little gadget that does a great job emulating iconic SNES games.
Nintendo, pleasingly, has also stated on multiple occasions that it’s learnt from the stock problems that blighted the NES Mini. It’s claimed that launch stock allocation (in North America, at least) for the SNES Classic is greater than the entire original run of its predecessor. On top of that it’s stated that manufacturing will continue into 2018, and then the NES will make a comeback next summer. It helps that both systems use practically identical hardware, a clever logistical move by the big N.
Of course, companies (including Nintendo) make promises all the time that don’t quite come to bear in reality. Initial pre-ordering in the UK was a bit of a farce due to stock disappearing seemingly minutes after unannounced listings appeared, and even this week a major retailer had issues with its website when buyers rushed to secure a fresh batch of pre-orders. Most that were very determined in the UK seemed to be able to nab a unit based upon our conversations with friends and colleagues, though anyone looking more casually may have been baffled by the absence of available orders outside of those brief, chaotic pre-order windows through the Summer.
In North America it’s been a bit different. Online pre-orders were rare and very brief, with more of a focus on launch day purchases. Plenty jumped into queues early at stores or watched websites closely yesterday (29th September); the question is, was there stock to satisfy the most eager of buyers? The NES Mini’s release was such a mess (in terms of distribution) that many were left disappointed; hopefully it’s been better this time.
Well, we want to know how it’s been for you trying to buy a SNES Mini. Has there been enough stock to reward patience and persistence, or have units been too elusive and small in number? Have you been able to set yourself up for a weekend of 16-bit gaming bliss?
Let us know how your quest for a SNES Mini has gone in the polls and comments below.
Taiwanese developer Rayark may best be known for its music games on mobile platforms, but it was also responsible for one of the best surprises in the Switch’s launch lineup with VOEZ. Brought to the Switch by publisher Flyhigh Works, this colourful title showed how well once-free-to-play rhythm games could work on Nintendo’s handheld wonder, and now Flyhigh Works is back to bring another well-respected Rayark rhythm game to the eShop: DEEMO. Stylish and fun, with a wonderful soundtrack and compelling narrative, Deemo is every bit the hit that VOEZ was — and this Switch port is the best version yet.
Our story begins with a young girl named Alice who falls, Wonderland-like, through a trapdoor in the sky, and down into the castle home of a mysterious pianist named Deemo. With an indistinct face and long, slender limbs, Deemo seems like something out of a hazy dream, and he may well be — everything’s delightfully surreal this side of the rabbit hole, including the large tree stump on which his piano rests. As Deemo plays, the tree suddenly springs to life and begins to grow around the piano, higher and higher, and towards Alice’s entry point in the sky. So the two set to making music, in the hopes of growing her a way to get back home.
It’s a lovely, melancholy tale, and to help them on their way and watch it unfold all you have to do is pick a song and get playing. Deemo opens with only a few tracks to choose from, but as the tree shoots up — encouraged ever upward as you play —you’ll quickly unlock many, many more. Songs are organized into different ‘packs’, and you’ll earn new ones by nudging the tree to certain meter milestones or by clearing specific songs — there are even a few to be found by searching point-and-click-style in Deemo’s ethereal treehouse.
There are over 200 tracks in all, and if music is the heart of a rhythm game, Deemo has a great, big, wonderful heart. The selection is fantastic, and leans heavily on indie composers and producers from Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, and Hong Kong; this isn’t the kind of rhythm game where you’ll know the songs ahead of time, but you’ll absolutely find plenty to fall in love with along the way.
Deemo’s instrument of choice means there’s a strong focus on piano in the instrumentation, but the genres go well beyond what you might expect. There’s instrumental and vocal J-pop, rock, and dance; cabaret, lounge, and light jazz; classical, Asian folk, and dubstep; bossa nova, ragtime, and club bangers. The variety is wonderful, and aside from a tiny number of exceptions — there’s a bit of generic-sounding electronica — it’s top quality, memorable music.
It’s also a blast to play along to. Deemo’s touchscreen-only rhythm gameplay is simple and straightforward: notes fall from the top of the screen, and when they reach the horizontal line stretched along the bottom, you’ll tap where they hit. There aren’t any predefined ‘lanes’ in Deemo; rather, notes of varying widths trickle down from the top at angles, and you’ll move your fingers to meet them wherever they may fall on the line. Aside from the basic black ‘tap notes’, there are also yellow ‘slide notes’, which come in rhythmically-tight-knit groups; you can either treat these as taps or — as is pretty much essential in faster songs — slide a finger across the line to catch them all in quick succession.
For both types of notes the closer you are to perfect in your timing the better grade (and visual feedback) you’ll get for the hit, from “Charming” (orange) down to “Non-Charming” (green) and a “Miss” (blue). You’ll earn a percentage score at the end for how well you did, with higher scores sending the tree skyward faster.
Each song can be played in Easy, Normal, or Hard difficulties (with individual 1-10 challenge ratings for each song), and the charts themselves are well thought out and fun to learn. The piano basis for most songs means you won’t see many crazy kinetics or screen-hopping acrobatics à la VOEZ — Deemo charts actually mirror real-life piano fingerings quite closely, so if you’ve ever played a keyboard instrument the chord rolls, parallel thirds, and hand-over-hands you practiced will come in handy here — but it does really feel like you’re playing the song, and there are plenty of intricate passages to master.
The difficulty scales well too; easy charts generally pick out the most salient anchor points of a melody to follow, and should be accessible for rhythm newcomers while still providing a sense of accomplishment. Normal charts are tough-but-fun runs with chords and arpeggios, and Hard is a good challenge for rhythm aficionados, with plenty of parallel movement and every syncopation, trill, and grace note intact. The only issue we had was with the Hard mode charts for certain solo piano pieces; the more expressive of these can involve lots of micro-variations in tempo, all of which are reflected in the note patterns, and it seems unreasonable to ask players to essentially sightread the rubato.
No matter the tempo of the piece, however, you can also control the speed at which the notes fall independently of the difficulty, and this makes a huge difference. Speeding up the charts can make otherwise dense patterns easier to read on harder songs, and also means more tolerant timing — if you’re finding things harder than you’d expect, we recommend revving the speed up a few notches.
One of the reasons Deemo is so much fun to play on Switch is that it’s such a great fit for the system, and we mean that literally. Having spent time with the mobile and PlayStation Vita versions as well, the Switch’s touchscreen feels like the best way to play — the screen is perfectly sized to comfortably accommodate two hands side-by-side, letting you put two or three fingers from each one in charge of a different side of the chart. In comparison to the sometimes cramped finger-athletics on other devices, playing Deemo like this on Switch feels effortless and smooth, and more like playing an instrument than plunking away at a screen. Our preferred way to play is with the Switch lying flat on a table, but we also found it comfortable in tablet mode in the lap; button play is planned in a future update, but for now, this in an exclusively undocked experience.
The screen size isn’t the only improvement Deemo’s Switch port can boast over its brethren; this version also has our favourite progression system of the bunch. The mobile and Vita versions are both quite grindy, doling out new songs at a slow enough drip that you’ll find yourself replaying the same tracks several times on different difficulties to make progress on the tree. While replaying songs is certainly part of the fun of rhythm games, it’s less fun to have to flounder your way through Hard Mode charts before you’re ready just to progress, and happily the Switch version drops these free-to-play gatings in favour of a much more generous model. New songs and packs are unlocked faster than you can play through them, and we reached the end credits — though far from the end of the adventure! — without playing a single song twice. This also means you’ll be able to see the story through to the end even if you can’t hack Hard mode, which is a nice improvement over VOEZ.
Comparison with VOEZ also brings up one of Deemo’s few shortcomings to the forefront, however: the presentation in the music game itself is quite drab. That’s not to say that Deemo’s a dull game; on the contrary, the backdrops to the point-and-click adventure portion are gorgeous, and the key art that accompanies each song in the selection menu is fun and fantastically varied — we loved seeing Deemo and Alice in all different sorts of art styles and adventures. The problem is that once you get into the actual rhythm gameplay, that personality disappears, replaced by a sepia-tone score with the song title written out matter-of-factly in between the staves. There are admittedly some nice touches within that frame — like the second piano part accompanying your own floating out from the rhythm line in small shadowy notes — but when you play more than a few charts in a row, the lack of colour and visual variety becomes readily apparent.
Other than that, however, we don’t have any real complaints with Deemo. While this Switch port lacks the animated cutscenes and extra epilogue of the Vita version, for us, the hundred-odd extra tracks and much-improved progression system here easily eclipse the omissions. Audio quality is excellent, and there are ample options to calibrate input timing and adjust response sound volume — we found turning it off entirely made solo piano pieces much more pleasant. We’d love the ability to mark songs as favourites and sort by difficulty, but that’s a minor nitpick, and the current pack-based arrangement is much better for thematic browsing than a single massive tracklist.
It could be argued that the Splatoon 2 Splatfests have been a little hit and miss in terms of themes, but we’d suggest the next in line is rather from the bottom of the barrel – or the bowl, to be more precise.
Next weekend’s Splatfest is all about Toilet Roll positioning, at least in Europe (we’re waiting for Nintendo of America to confirm its theme, but it’ll likely be the same). No, really, it is.
Amazingly, some are pointing out an illustration from in the game that may have inspired it.
Is this whimsical and quirky or just a bit of a sh… bad idea? Let us know what you think in the comments.
One would not think that an RPG centered around golf would really make a whole lot of sense, but Camelot managed to nail the idea back in the ’90s when it released Mario Golf on the Game Boy Color. Though it’s a rather niche release in the plumber’s past, it clearly inspired the developers of Golf Story to expand on the concept, and honestly, there’s a whole lot to love here.
Golf Story picks up with your main character being taught how to golf by his dad, with an audience of geese to watch his performance, and this works as a nice way of introducing the main mechanics to you. The story then jumps ahead twenty years and sees your character looking to achieve his dream of becoming a professional golfer. The story then takes you on a journey through an increasingly ridiculous array of golf courses in a quest to be the best and to prove yourself to everyone.
One thing that Golf Story absolutely gets right is the charming and witty writing of the characters. Not only does everyone appreciate a good underdog story like this, but there’s a very dry tongue-in-cheek kind of humour that runs through the whole thing that calls to mind the style of EarthBound. Whether it be one of your rivals early on who refuses to actually golf in favor of the “simulator”, or a caveman that repeatedly mistakes your character for a small child, the narrative has a wry, lighthearted style that’ll keep you playing just for the characters, not to mention the great gameplay.
Though golf is central to the whole experience, gameplay is not simply a matter of hitting the green; that’s only a fraction of the experience. The overworld is riddled with things like secret buttons and holes that you can hit with your golf ball which can award you experience points or money, or unlock a secret area. Along with this, NPCs with sidequests are everywhere, and they have a vast array of requests. One might see you trying to land a certain number of balls inside a ring by bouncing the ball at least once off of a turtle, while another might ask you to run around the course under a certain time limit. You never know what’s coming next, and it’s rather impressive how creative the developers can get with quest objectives.
Experience earned from doing activities can be spent on improving various facets of your character’s swing, such as the length or how drastically you can shape the shot. In addition to this, money earned from winning games can be spent on new equipment pieces that add to your stats or bestow special abilities, like increased proficiency in bunkers. It all feeds into a rewarding gameplay loop that keeps you hooked and always wanting more. You explore and do quests so you can improve your character, which then allows you to do more exploration and questing.
Aside from all the RPG trappings, there’s a great golf game in here, too. The mechanics of the golfing itself are simple to pick up and quite arcade-like in nature. You play a little minigame every time you take a shot where you need to stop a slider on a bar in the right place. It gets more nuanced, however, when you use mechanics that allow you to specifically place the ball. You can choose how much power you want to put into the shot on the same trajectory and can also decide where the club connects with the ball, allowing you to add spin. Take into account the slope of terrain and wind, and you’ve got a golfing experience that’s got plenty of depth, but boasts easy-to-pick-up mechanics.
Presentation is nearly as stellar as the gameplay. Sprite work is exactly what you’d expect out of a 16-bit game and there are plenty of colours used in the environments, but there’s little here that will wow you in terms of visuals. Much the same could be said of the soundtrack, which goes for a low-key, jazzy vibe. It goes well with the general atmosphere of Golf Story and is unobtrusive, but there’s not much on offer in the way of catchy or memorable tunes.
Multiplayer also gets some representation here, and its utilized to great effect. Though there isn’t online, you can play with a friend locally in Quick Play — a mode which strips away the story and RPG elements and has you play on the game’s main courses, which are unlocked by progressing the story. Fortunately, split JoyCon multiplayer is supported, and the control scheme translates perfectly to the decreased real estate. Sure, it’s a much less feature-rich mode than the main story, but it’s fun for some quick rounds of golf with a friend and goes well with the broader idea of the Switch. It also illustrates perfectly the depth of the game’s golfing mechanics; even with the RPG side removed, Golf Story is a lot of fun.
Conclusion
All told, Golf Story is a surprisingly gripping game, hooking you with fantastic gameplay, loads of content, and a well-written script. This is one that’ll have you coming back for many hours in the story mode alone, and the multiplayer does a good job of expanding on this with even more replayability. We would highly recommend Golf Story to anyone looking for something a little different. There’s a whole lot to love here, and if you’re a fan of RPGs or golf games, this is a must buy.
SteamWorld Dig 2is an excellent game on the Switch eShop, meeting expectations and also delivering the IP’s most successful launch. It’s certainly among the ‘must-have’ downloads, but the ever-demanding Switch audience has had one complaint – its HOME screen icon.
To be fair, the launch logo was a bit rubbish.
You’ve no doubt spotted the past tense there; Image & Form has pushed out a little update to change the logo, as it had promised.
HOME menu logos can be a bit of a hot topic when they’re underwhelming. TT Games changed the dodgy launch logo for LEGO Worlds, and Sumo Digital has finally relented and promised to change the Snake Pass icon back to the original following the poor reception to the newer iteration.
The SNES Classic has finally hit stores, and along with it Hori has released the Wireless Fighting Commander, a pad that seeks to remind players of a bygone era of turbo buttons, slow motion functions and other features designed to give players the edge they needed in the days when home consoles were practice for days spent in arcades.
We’ll be blunt: we love this controller. At first glance it may seem like any other wireless controller, albeit with some bells and whistles, but for those of us that were gaming during the SNES era the attention to detail and care taken with this product are every bit as impressive as the SNES Classic Mini itself.
Even the box is a throwback to official Super NES products from the ‘90s, with the design evocative of the packaging to Nintendo’s own controllers. The pad bears Hori’s old logo, which its pads carried in the ‘90s, too. The nostalgia doesn’t stop there, either. The pad itself is a revival of the wired Fighting Commander that Super Famicom owners could pick up in Japan.
The only change made to the design of this pad is the fact that it’s now wireless – a welcome addition to any console in 2017. The controller is powered by two AA batteries, which are included in the package, and it’s connected to the SNES Classic via a wireless dongle that protrudes a fair bit from the console, and has a red light on it to indicate the controller is connected. The unit we received for review was already paired with the receiver out of the box, but if you need to pair your controller the process is as simple as they come:
It also carries all the accoutrements one would expect of a ‘90s fighting game controller. Each button can be set to be automatically held or rapidly pressed using an array of two-stage switches found on the front of the pad. The first stage enables the turbo function, while the second stage tricks the console into thinking the button is held down. There’s also a slow motion feature on deck with two stages of speed as well. The slow motion effect is achieved by rapidly pausing and unpausing the game, which itself is achieved by rapid simulated presses of the start button. This feature was considered useful in fighting games of the day by allowing one to input moves during the pause delay.
All these features make for a charming controller to have for nostalgic reasons, but beyond that the Wireless Fighting Commander is just a plain good controller, too. The d-pad and buttons feel every bit as good as those found on the real deal. The buttons themselves aren’t concave like the official controller’s Y and X button, and they’re larger too. The L and R buttons are both in their traditional positions atop the controller and in a third column to the right of the face buttons. Initially it would seem that having a layout like this could cause some confusion or lead to mis-pressed buttons, but we had no issues with the controller layout across any of the games on the SNES Classic.
The wireless functionality worked very well under even the most demanding of situations. In our testing area we placed the SNES Classic directly above a wireless router with several wireless devices positioned nearby. Even under these conditions the Fighting Commander didn’t skip a beat.
The Wireless Fighting Commander is a love letter to those that bought the special controllers that lined the pages of gaming magazines in the halcyon days of the 16-bit era. From its packaging to its presentation to its build quality, there is little to find fault with. Like Nintendo, Hori has resurrected a product that some will have incredibly fond memories of and built it in an uncompromising way. It’s the only Nintendo-licensed third-party option on the market right now and it’s easy to see why. If you want to go wireless with your SNES Classic, this is an absolutely essential product.
Splatoon 2 is a game that keeps on giving, mostly through new weapons and occasionally with a new stage. One of the reveals in the recent Nintendo Direct, the Tenta Brella, is our new weapon for the weekend.
You can see some pics of it below.
If you need a reminder of what it’s all about, the Nintendo Direct segment below should help.
As always the update will likely kick in 6pm Pacific / 9pm Eastern today (29th September), which means the early hours of the morning (2am UK / 3am CEST) in Europe.
Nintendo’s SNES Classic Edition / Mini is out today, and is providing plenty of retro kicks for those able to get hold of a unit. It’s a lovely little device, so we hope everyone trying to get hold of one has been in luck.
To celebrate the launch Nintendo of Europe has released a snazzy trailer to showcase what it’s all about. Sorry, North American owners, but it’s riffing on the awesome colour scheme of the Super Famicom / SNES PAL design.
