It’s the 27th February 2018, so that can mean only one thing – it’s Pokémon Day! Yes, it’s the 22nd anniversary of the Japanese release of Pokémon Red and Green, so to celebrate, the Pokémon Company is adding new content to everyone’s favourite AR hit, Pokémon GO. How many times can we say Pokémon in one sentence?
Between now and tomorrow, all Pikachus caught out in the wild will be wearing a fetching party hat to show their love for the brand, and that’s not all. New avatar items have also been added to the shop, which are themed around FireRed and LeafGreen. Because retro. You can also head on over to the official Pokémon website to share in the celebrations – although it seems, as of writing, the UK site has been updated but the NA is still waiting on someone to push a button…
Be sure to share how your’e celebrating Pokémon Day in the comments section below. Have you bagged a party Pikachu yet?
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater is one of the most iconic brands in gaming history. From its humble origins during the mid-’90s the franchise became a genuine must-have title, even making fans out of people who have zero interest in skateboarding. It also elevated Tony Hawk – then one of the most famous skaters on the planet – to a whole new level of fame.
It’s been a while since we had a decent entry in the Tony Hawk series; Ride, Shred and Pro Skater 5 all received negative reviews at launch and Activision has barely touched the series since 2015. Pro Skater 5’s online servers were reportedly switched off last year.
As you might imagine, Hawk gets plenty of requests from fans regarding the series – as well as questions regarding Pro Skater 5’s online status – and has taken to Twitter to address the situation. Despite it bearing his name, he doesn’t actually own the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater brand:
Interestingly, Descenders studio RageSquid – the members of which have publicly stated that their game is directly inspired by THPS – seem to be serious about working with Hawk on a spiritual successor:
We don’t know about you, but we’d love to see Hawk get involved with another skating video game, and RageSquid seem to be the ideal team to make it happen.
Let us know your memories of THPS and what you think about the skating legend hopping onto his board for another potential video game by performing a ollie in the comments section below.
We knew Outlast was coming to Nintendo Switch – in fact, we’ve been expecting Red Barrels’ first-person horror hit to drop sometime in Q1 2018 – but it’s just made a surprise jump scare on the eShop. Outlast: Bundle Of Terror collects together the first game and The Whistleblower DLC into one package, slaps on a £19.99 price tag and stands ready to shorten your life with some heart-pumping horror.
No word yet on a release date for Outlast II, but considering how the original just dropped onto the eShop without warning, we could be getting it anytime. As of writing, Outlast: Bundle Of Terror is only available on the EU eShop, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see it drop onto the North American one shortly as well.
Will you be adding this scare-fest to your digital collection? You can look out for our official review soon on the site.
The remastered version of Korean cult curio The Coma is already available on the eShops – in fact, we recently reviewed it and gave it a 6/10 – and now publisher/PR firm Digerati is teaming up with fellow publisher Merge Games to bring a physical edition of The Coma: Recut to retail.
Yes, a boxed version for all your collector’s who want to own every game on Switch in sweet, sweet physical form. The retail incarnation will hit bricks and mortar stores and online retailers from May 2018, although you can buy it digitally now for £17.99/$19.99.
Let us know below if you’ll be investing in a boxed copy – or a digital copy – of The Coma: Recut…
Hey, remember Zoids? Well they’re back, in Nintendo Switch form! That’s right, the popular ’80s toy line is getting a brand-new interactive outing on Nintendo’s console, thanks to Takara Tomy. It will be based on the new anime series Zoids Wild, which airs this year in Japan.
While Zoids hit their zenith in the ’80s here in the west, in Japan the series remains popular and has inspired a long line of video games, such as Zoids: Full Metal Crash on GameCube and Zoids Saga on Nintendo DS.
Given that Zoids isn’t really a strong property outside of Japan these days, it’s perhaps unwise to expect this new game to be localised for the west, but you never know.
In the meantime, we’re going to head up to the loft and see if we can find our dusty old Zoidzilla.
The original PAYDAY crew–Dallas, Hoxton, Wolf, and Chains—have come to Washington DC for an epic spree. Up to four friends co-operate on elaborate heists either online or locally. Along with earning more money and becoming an infamous criminal, customization options let players build and alter their guns and gear.
Features:
Rob Banks, Get Paid – Players must choose their crew carefully with the right mix of skills on their side.
CRIME.NET – The dynamic contract database CRIME.NET lets players pick and choose from available jobs by connecting with local Contractors – each with their own agenda and best interests in mind.
Online or Local Multiplayer – Play the game online or set up a local game with friends that share the same local network and own the Nintendo Switch™ version of the game.
New character – Releasing on Nintendo Switch™ as a timed exclusive, Joy is a computer whiz with her own mask, weapons, and hacker perks.
Dynamic Scenarios – No heist ever plays out the same way twice, as heists come with random geometry and events.
Choose Your Skills – As players progress, they can invest in any of five special Skill Trees: Mastermind, Enforcer, Ghost, Technician and Fugitive. Each one features a deep customization tree of associated skills and equipment to master.
More Masks than Ever – PAYDAY 2 features a completely new mask system, giving players the ability to craft their own unique mask together with a pattern and a color.
Weapons and Modifications – A huge arsenal for the serious heister, covering everything from sniper to assault rifles. You can modify your weapon with optics, suppressors, fore grips, reticles, barrels, frames, stocks and lots more.
Play It Your Way – Each job allows for multiple approaches, such as slow and stealthy ambushes, to running in guns blazing.
HD Rumble and Touch Screen Support – Navigate menus with the touch screen, while HD Rumble lets you feel everything from explosions to weapon recoil.
When it first released on PC in 2015, Brace Yourself Game’s Crypt Of The NecroDancer was an unexpected delight: a personable dungeon crawler on a rhythm game base, it combined the procedurally-generated levels and relentless challenge of the roguelike genre with the beating heart of a dance game. Now that it’s out on Nintendo Switch – complete with all previous DLC and an exclusive new character – it’s ready to bring that same rhythmic pulse to Nintendo’s newest console, and it’s a very welcome addition; it’s addictive, inventive, and irresistibly fun.
Of its two main components – dancing and dungeon crawling – COTN’s main gameplay focus lies in the latter. Like most roguelikes, you’ll start at the ground level and head downward through discrete, randomly-generated floors on a quest to beat the boss at the bottom of each area. There are enemies to fight and avoid, mini-bosses to defeat to unlock the next set of stairs, shops to sell you life-saving upgrades and equipment, and plenty of traps and secrets to discover as you go.
In all these elements, COTN summons up the spirit of any old-school dungeon-crawler, and if you’ve played any recent incarnation of the Mystery Dungeon games – Pokémon Mystery Dungeon or Etrian Mystery Dungeon, for instance – you’ll have a good idea of the basics at play here. Except, of course, for COTN’s titular twist on the formula: the infectious rhythm of the dance beat that runs through it’s heart and soul.
This rhythm-game spirit manifests itself especially in COTN’s turn-based system. As is common in the genre, every action – including movement, attacking, and using items – all takes place within a universal turn cycle. The difference is that here, rather than waiting patiently for you to make a move, the turn changes automatically with every full beat of the music, in time with the pulsing 4/4 tempo. Your actions only count if they hit on the beat, so every step, every attack, and every essential recovery item needs to be dialled in with rhythmic precision. If you manage to keep moving in time without skipping a beat, you’ll be able to raise and hang on to a significant multiplier – complete with disco-light effects on the dungeon floor! – which grants you more rewards from enemies and a better chance at survival.
The musical component of NecroDancer gives it a feel like nothing else, and it’s as fun as it is challenging. The timing itself is extremely generous, and recalibrates automatically if you slip ahead or behind a beat, so the barrier to entry for the actual beat matching is quite low — you won’t need the syncopation skills or heightened hand-eye coordination demanded by straight rhythm games here. Instead, the considerable challenge comes from the fact that the constant march of the metre requires you to think and act at speed, making the dozens of little decisions that go into dungeon crawling without the luxury of stopping to consider your choices. The beat, in other words, must go on.
Because of that pace – which increases steadily as you descend into the faster BPMs of lower levels – COTN is hectic and thrilling where other roguelikes are measured and methodical. Enemies boogie, twist, and slide their way around the dungeon floor in predictable rhythmic patterns, and when they gang up on you – as they frequently do – death can come from a single misstep. Bosses are even better, with complex, multilayered dance moves and chorus lines of minions at the ready. It’s incredible tough, and progress is slow, but it’s never frustrating thanks to a fun, wide-reaching system of permanent upgrades.
As you comb COTN’s dancefloor depths, you’ll often come across diamonds, and these pickups can be used to purchase upgrades from the Lobby – the waiting room you’ll respawn to when you die in-dungeon. These permanent power-ups will then stick with you the next time you venture down – and every time after that – and include everything from more heart containers and coin bonuses to new items, weapons, and equipment that can show up in chests. The Lobby starts out relatively sparse, but as you find and free various NPCs in the dungeon, they’ll repay you by working tirelessly in your aid, unlocking new upgrades and items to purchase there between runs. It’s a wonderfully rewarding cycle that means you’ll always get something out of a run, and every time you dive back into the catacombs will leave you just a bit more prepared for the next expedition.
That satisfying cycle is enhanced by just how much there is to do in COTN, and especially on Switch. In addition to the base game’s four original areas, this version includes a Daily Challenge mode along with all previously released DLC, crowned by a fifth area (unlocked here from the start) and scores of new characters. Rather than just cosmetic changes, these new characters actually represent significant tweaks to the gameplay: one lets you move independently of the beat, for instance, fundamentally altering the goal of the game, while another requires you to keep a little lamb safe as you dive through the dungeons. There’s even a Switch-exclusive character – the Reaper – who uses the souls of slain enemies as both a weapon and shield. Experimenting with these different characters provides a massive amount of replay value, and several of them feel different enough to make you think you’re playing a new game entirely.
All this content is wrapped up in a pleasingly pixel-filled presentation, too, with excellent spritework, impressive story cutscenes, and oddly adorable enemy animations. It’s retro-chic, complete with the black-on-white text trappings of the genre’s heyday, and it looks lovely on the big screen or in handheld mode. Importantly, the soundtrack is also absolutely top-notch, with original tunes by Danny Baranovsky that stay danceable even after many, many repeat listens. Each level has a different, catchy theme, and you’ll undoubtedly find yourself singing along with the shopkeeper before too long. If you want a change, the Switch edition also has several alternative soundtracks bundled in, from EDM and synthwave remixes to shredding metal and chiptune wizardry courtesy of Shovel Knight’s Jake ‘virt’ Kaufman. Even the Danganronpa crossover DLC tracks are included – a welcome miracle of modern licensing.
Finally, it has to be said that as a quick-fire game with near-infinite replay value, COTN is right at home on Nintendo Switch. We love being able to pick it up and cut up a rug or two while around town, and its combination of procedurally-generated levels and permanent upgrades is a perfect fit for portable play. There’s even a two-player local co-op option – with single Joy-Con support – that’s a blast with the right dancing partner.
Conclusion
CA roguelike at heart with a rhythm-game soul, Crypt Of The NecroDancer is a sublime experience that’s a must-play for fans of the genre(s). Its upbeat, uptempo take on dungeon crawling is infectious, and there’s enough content here to last even the savviest of spelunkers for many, many dance-fuelled dives into the depths — if you’ve never tangoed with the COTN, this fully-featured Switch edition is the perfect way to jump in.
It is no secret that the development process for games as large and beautiful as Super Mario Odyssey takes time, and with the last 3D Mario game Super Mario 3D World being released back in 2013, the development for Odyssey will have been well underway during the Wii U’s active lifetime. As such, it would make sense to assume that a Wii U version of the game may well have been on the cards at one point, or at least running to some degree, but this doesn’t appear to be the case.
In the latest issue of Game Informer, the game’s producer, and all-round cool guy, Yoshiaki Koizumi said the following about Odyssey’s development process:
“It was always planned for Nintendo Switch. We really were considering a lot of the hardware capabilities specifically for this game, and wanted to make the most use of them.”
With the various control options available to players within the game, and the emphasis given to using the Joy-Con as a priority, it does make sense that the Switch was always going to be the final destination for Odyssey. Nintendo’s Shinya Takahashi added the following:
“I think the idea of what the Nintendo Switch is became very important around here, because it can both function as a console or portable device. We really thought about what sort of software features would make the best use of those capabilities. Super Mario Odyssey really answers to a lot of that capability in the way we had hoped. We wanted to time it for year-end release to make the most of that as well.”
The double release for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (which saw versions on Wii U and Switch last March) may have left some players wondering why the same treatment wasn’t offered to Super Mario Odyssey, but it would appear that their development processes had completely different aims and approaches.
Would you have liked to see a version on Wii U, or do you think it is right that Nintendo fully shifted its focus to the Switch? Feel free to sound off your thoughts in the comments.
It’s probably quite safe to say that everyone here loves video games, and a healthy majority likely enjoy scoffing endless amounts of chocolate, so these Splatoon 2-themed chocolate eggs are sure to catch your eye.
With 16 available figures hidden inside the eggs, with one of them being a ‘secret’, this Splatoon range of confectionery will be challenging the likes of Kinder Surprise for the ultimate chocolate/small toy crown. The Japanese Splatoon Twitter account has shared some images of what you can expect from inside the eggs, and we can’t help but want every last one of them.
The sad news, as if often the case with cool little oddities, is that they are only currently available in Japan. Some stores seem to offer worldwide shipping but you may struggle to avoid some hefty delivery charges.
The figures might not stand up to the amiibo level of quality but, as a cute little gift inside an egg, we can see these going down a treat among fans of the game. Would you be snapping these up if you had the chance? Let us know your thoughts down below.
The latest Chart-Track data for UK retail is in, and it shows a really quiet week for games sales in Blighty. The combined charts show FIFA 18 continuing to hold onto the top spot, but the biggest news in the Nintendo sphere is the fate of the Bayonetta 2. The brilliant action-adventure port confidently landed at number five last week, but its second week has dropped off with a 71% sales plunge.
On the flipside, the Luigi’s Baloon World update for Super Mario Odyssey sees the game-changing platformer return to the top 10 jumping in at number nine (it was 12 last week). Mario Kart 8 Deluxe continues to relax in the upper echelon, moving up from number nine to number eight.
1(1) FIFA 18 2(3) Grand Theft Auto V 3(6) Call of Duty: WWII 4(4) Monster Hunter World 5(6) EA Sports UFC 3 6(NEW) Metal Gear Survive 7(7) Shadow of the Colossus 8(9) Mario Kart 8 Deluxe 9(12) Super Mario Odyssey 10(10) Assassin’s Creed Origins
What do you guys make of the official top 10? Any surprises? Or is it business as usual for Nintendo Switch? Sound off below…
