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Guide: Super Mario Odyssey: Snow Kingdom Power Moon Locations And Walkthrough

Welcome to our ultimate guide for collecting every Power Moon from the Snow Kingdom in Super Mario Odyssey! Below, you’ll find maps detailing the exact location for all 55 of the Power Moons located in this Kingdom, as well as descriptions on how to get each and every one of them.

The numbers on the maps correspond to the relevant Power Moon listed below and, whilst most of them appear in that spot from the beginning (or after you’ve completed the story at least), it is worth nothing that sometimes you are required to perform a specific action to make it appear. Use a combination of our maps and walkthrough information to grab each of the Power Moons with ease. Enjoy!

Snow Kingdom Power Moons (1-37)

Several Power Moons in the Snow Kingdom are located in the underground ‘Shiveria Town’. As this town does not have a map in the game, any Moons from this location are indicated by [S] below. You can find the entrance to Shiveria Town at location ‘S’ on our map above.

[S] 1. The Icicle Barrier: At the bottom of Shiveria Town, enter the first tunnel on the right. Make your way to the end of this room and walk over the three ‘X’s surrounding the ice patch to make it drop to the ground below. Drop down and collect the Power Moon waiting for you.

[S] 2. The Ice Wall Barrier: Enter the second tunnel on the right at the bottom of Shiveria Town. You’ll need to collect the five Moon Shards hovering over the ground from this room to be rewarded with a Power Moon.

[S] 3. The Gusty Barrier: Enter the first tunnel on the left at the bottom of Shiveria Town. Make your way through the room until you reach the last gap before the green pipe exit. Capture the Ty-Foo to fly across and collect your Power Moon.

[S] 4. The Snowy Mountain Barrier: At the bottom of Shiveria Town, enter the second tunnel on the left and defeat Rango to collect this Power Moon.

[S] 5. The Bound Bowl Grand Prix: After you’ve cleared all four tunnels at the bottom of Shiveria Town, you’ll be able to participate in the grand prix. Head down the slope to the race and then over to the nearby room to find a Shiverian who doesn’t want to move. Capture him with Cappy and return to start the race. You’ll need to win to get the Power Moon.

[S] 6. Entrance to Shiveria: When you first drop down into the Shiveria Town entrance, turn around to find a tall stack of cardboard boxes leading up to a Power Moon. Use wall jumps between the boxes and the wall to get yourself up to the Moon.

[S] 7. Behind Snowy Mountain: In the Shiveria Town tunnel where you fought Rango (second one on the left), keep an eye out for a wooden posts sticking out of the ground. You’ll notice that behind one of these wooden posts, on the left hand side, is a slightly discoloured patch of wall. Walk through this patch to reveal a hidden tunnel leading to a Power Moon.

[S] 8. Shining in the Snow in Town: At the bottom of Shiveria Town, climb the pole located just to the right of the right hand side tunnels. Run around to the left and jump across the wooden light beams to the other side. Now smash your way through the giant snow pile to uncover a Power Moon.

[S] 9. Atop a Blustery Arch: In the first tunnel on the left at the bottom of Shiveria Town, make your way to the area where two Ty-Foos are pushing a block between them. Capture the second one of these Ty-Foos and use it to blow the staircase behind him away from you. Now continue through the room until you come across the next Ty-Foo (who won’t be trapped by fencing) and blow the stairs back to their original position. You should now be able to climb the stairs up to a wooden archway which has a small ‘X’ scratched into it. Ground pound this spot for a Power Moon.

10. Caught Hopping in the Snow!: South of the Odyssey, around location number 10 on our map, you should be able to find a rabbit hopping around. Chase the rabbit, using Cappy to stun it if necessary to catch it and claim your Power Moon.

[S] 11. The Shiverian Treasure Chest: Complete all the steps for Power Moon number 8 above, and then continue smashing your way through the snow on this side of the second floor. Enter the hallway that is revealed from behind this snow and follow it around to the left. You’ll come across a treasure chest containing a Power Moon.

[S] 12. Treasure in the Ice Wall: Enter the second tunnel on the right at the bottom of Shiveria Town to find the room with the Bitefrosts who pop up out of the ground. Make your way to the final Bitefrost (just to the right of where the green pipe exit is) and ride it up until it reaches full extension. Jump up out of the way of its bite and grip onto a thin ledge in the wall. Shimmy over to the right to find a treasure chest containing a Power Moon.

13. Snow Kingdom Timer Challenge 1: Head to location 13 on our map to find a scarecrow. Throw Cappy at the scarecrow and make your way over the circular ice platforms in front of you to get the Power Moon.

14. Snow Kingdom Timer Challenge 2: At location 14 on our map (underneath the archway on the ground below) you’ll find a scarecrow. Throw Cappy at the scarecrow and make your way across the beams that appear to reach the Power Moon. If you’re struggling for time, make sure to shake your controller(s) as you climb the poles to move quicker.

15. Moon Shards in the Snow: For this Power Moon, you’ll need to find five Moon Shards dotted around the Kingdom. All of the shards are located above the ground; none are below in Shiveria Town. Look around on the platforms in the main area, on the snow banks that surround the outer edges, and even underwater to find them all.

16. Taking Notes: Snow Path Dash: Head to location 16 on our map to find a glowing treble clef. Touch it, and then collect all of the music notes that appear in various directions, to get the Power Moon. 

17. Fishing in the Glacier!: Head to the glacier in the southeast corner of the map and capture the Lakitu who is fishing there. Use his rod to lure in the largest underwater shadow to find a Cheep Cheep who will give you a Power Moon.

[S] 18. Ice-Dodging Goomba Stack: In the first tunnel on the right at the bottom of Shiveria town, you’ll notice a Goomba-shaped button with a large number 4 on it. Capture a Goomba, and then jump on other Goombas to create a stack of four, before walking to the shadow in front of the button. Move out of the way again quickly to allow the icicle to fall from the ceiling, allowing you to jump up to the button as the four Goombas. Stand on it to reveal the Power Moon.

19. Captain Toad is Chilly!: On the north shore, quite a way up the hill around location 19 on our map, you’ll come across a small cave that has been covered in a layer of snow. Smash your way through the snow to find Captain Toad inside. Talk to him to receive a Power Moon.

[S] 20. I’m Not Cold!: Opposite the Crazy Cap store in Shiveria Town, you’ll find a Shiverian who explains that their racing uniform is their ‘undies’. You’ll need to wear the Boxer Shorts (available from the Crazy Cap store for 1,000 gold coins) and talk to him again to recieve a Power Moon.

[S] 21. Shopping in Shiveria: You can purchase this Moon from the Crazy Cap store in Shiveria Town for 100 gold coins.

22. Walking on Ice!: Head through the red hat door right next to the Corner of the Freezing Sea checkpoint flag. Inside you’ll face a triangular walking challenge. Be very careful here with how quickly you walk – the ice will make you slide behind where you would naturally stop. If you get enough points, you’ll be rewarded with a Power Moon.

[S] 23. Snowline Circuit Class S: Head back to the race track in Shiveria Town (as the Shiverian that you captured last time) to have another go at the race and collect a second Power Moon. To win, you’ll need to make effective use of bounding, pressing ‘B’ every time you make contact with the floor and using the slanted parts of the track to bounce across the screen in the direction of the track to cut corners. 

24. Dashing Over Cold Water!: Head to location 24 on our map and clear the pile of snow to reveal a red hat door. Enter this room and use the Rocket Flowers to make your way to the end to find a Power Moon.

25. Dashing Above and Beyond! (see location 24): In the same area as Power Moon 24, keep collecting Rocket Flowers and pass the area where you can see the room’s main Power Moon, jumping up onto the slope behind it. Climb this slope and dodge the barriers in the way to make it to an area with a second Power Moon.

26. Jump ‘n’ Swim in the Freezing Water: Follow the path northeast of the Odyssey and jump off the edge near location 26 on our map. Turn around to find a blue door next to a scarecrow. Throw Cappy at the scarecrow to enter, and then make your way through the room inside – using the columns of water to move around – to find a Power Moon.

27. Freezing Water Near the Ceiling (see location 26): In the same room as Power Moon 26, make your way to the end of the room where a wide column of water takes you to the exit. Instead of going down to the exit here, jump on top of it and swing across the poles to find a second Power Moon.

28. Blowing and Sliding: For this Power Moon, you’ll first need to capture one of the Ty-Foos near the entrance to Shiveria Town and take it to the south side of the column where the Odyssey is sitting above. With the Ty-Foo, blow the wooden block across to reveal a door (if your Ty-Foo isn’t at the right height to do this, go back and grab another one). Inside, use the Ty-Foo to complete to puzzle, blowing the blocks around to get them into place, to receive a Power Moon.

[S] 29. Moon Shards in the Cold Room: Make sure you’re wearing the Snow Hood and Snow Suit (available from this Kingdom’s Crazy Cap store) and then head to the pole just to the right of the right hand side tunnels at the bottom of Shiveria Town. Climb the pole and talk to the Shiverian to gain access to a locked door – collect five Moon Shards within the 2D area to receive a Power Moon.

[S] 30. Slip Behind the Ice: In the same location as Power Moon 29, make your way through the 2D section until you reach the platform above the green pipe exit. Jump up here to reveal some hidden blocks that allow you to access the area above in the ceiling. Run to the left (you don’t need to jump over the tiny gaps) and collect the Power Moon at the end.

31. Spinning Above the Clouds: Near the entrance to Shiveria Town, you should find a seed frozen in a small block of ice. Smash the ice and grab the seed – you’ll need to take it to location 31 on our map (heading back towards the Odyssey). At that location you’ll find a plant pot – throw the seed in and climb the beanstalk that appears to access a new area. Use the wind and trampolines to make it to the end of the room to grab a Power Moon.

32. High-Altitude Spinning (see location 31): In the same area as Power Moon 31 you should find that, by riding one of the wind updrafts to the very top, you can turn around and land on a trampoline that takes you back the way you came. Land on this trampoline and travel backwards to find a Power Moon floating really high in the air.

33. Secret Path to Shiveria!: Depending on your choices in the game, the warp painting needed to travel to the Snow Kingdom for this Power Moon will either be located in Bowser’s Kingdom or the Mushroom Kingdom.

In Bowser’s Kingdom, head to the Main Courtyard Entrance checkpoint flag and run around to the back of a building on the left. If the painting here depicts the Snow Kingdom, jump inside to be warped to this Power Moon.

If a different Kingdom is shown instead, head to the Mushroom Kingdom and run south from the Odyssey to find a painting in the middle of a group of trees. This should take you to the Snow Kingdom if the previous painting lead elsewhere.

[S] 34. Found with Snow Kingdom Art: As soon as you enter Shiveria Town, turn to the left to find some hint art on the wall. Use this hint art to find the same location in the Lost Kingdom. When you’ve arrived at the Lost Kingdom, warp to the Mountainside Platform checkpoint. Head north from here and then turn east, jumping over to the roots of the tree that are depicted in the hint art. Ground pound on the correct root to receive a Power Moon.

35. Snow Kingdom Regular Cup: Head to location 35 on our map in the northwest to find a Koopa who will challenge you to a race. The hardest part of this race is learning the route you need to take as the blizzard obscures your view. Take a couple of run-throughs to learn the routes that the Koopas take and where the goal is, before returning with your new-found knowledge to win and receive the Power Moon.

[S] 36. Hat-and-Seek in the Snow: Head to the area of Shiveria Town where the races take place and find the Shiverian who is wearing a hat with eyes just like Cappy (on the left side of the room if you’re facing the podium). Talk to the hat to receive a Power Moon.

[S] 37. Peach in the Snow Kingdom: Inside Shiveria Town, from the entrance, walk down the pathway and look to the left to find Shiverians sitting on steps. Princess Peach will be here too – talk to her to receive a Power Moon.

Snow Kingdom ‘Moon Rock’ Power Moons (38-55)

These Power Moons will become available to you when you have smashed the Moon Rock located in this Kingdom. As before, any Moons located in Shiveria Town are indicated by [S] below. You can find the entrance to Shiveria Town at location ‘S’ on our map.

38. Shining on High: Climb onto the top of the Odyssey and perform a long jump to reach a Power Moon floating nearby.

39. Above the Freezing Fishing Pond: Head southeast from the Odyssey and you’ll see a Power Moon floating above the fishing pond.

40. Ice Floe Swimming: Head to location 40 on our map and dive underwater. You’ll find a small underwater alcove containing some coins and a Power Moon.

[S] 41. Icy Jump Challenge: In the first tunnel on the left at the bottom of Shiveria Town, make your way to the area where two Ty-Foos are pushing a block between them. Jump on top of this block and perform a backflip at the right moment to get the Power Moon floating above you.

[S] 42. Forgotten in the Holding Room: Head to the bottom of Shiveria Town and jump into the hole at the end to reach the racecourse. Enter the room on the left hand side of this area, jump up the stairs inside, and turn left to find a room full of boxes stacked into tall piles. One of these boxes (near the top of one of the piles) will be glowing – smash the boxes to make this one fall down and smash it to reveal a Power Moon.

43. It Popped Out of the Ice: Warp to the Above the Ice Well checkpoint flag and climb the tall ice structure that has regular ledges. Jump from the top of this structure to the other one nearby in an easterly direction. You’ll find a glowing spot on this structure which contains a Power Moon – ground pound the spot to make it appear.

44. Deep in the Cold, Cold Water: Head to location 44 on our map and dive underwater. You should notice a glowing spot on the floor below the water – ground pound this spot to reveal a Power Moon.

[S] 45. Water Pooling in the Crevasse: Enter the second tunnel on the right hand side at the bottom of Shiveria Town. At the far end of this area (near where there are lots of gold coins in a square-like shape) you’ll see a glowing patch underwater. Jump into the water and ground pound this spot to reveal a Power Moon.

[S] 46. Squirming Under Ice: Enter the second tunnel on the left hand side at the bottom of Shiveria Town. Make your way right to the end of this area until you reach the place where you fought Rango. You’ll see a bump moving around in the ground – hit it with Cappy and then perform a ground pound on it to reveal a Power Moon.

47. Snow Kingdom Timer Challenge 3: Head to location 47 on our map to find a P-Switch underwater. You’ll need to hit this P-Switch and make your way over to the Power Moon that appears before the timer runs out. You can either do this as Mario by constantly jumping through the water and performing a long jump at the end to touch the Moon before it disappears, or by capturing a Cheep Cheep before you press the switch and swimming over (making sure to jump over the snow that is in the way).

[S] 48. Stacked-Up Ice Climb: Enter the first tunnel on the right hand side at the bottom of Shiveria Town. Inside, make sure to capture the first Goomba you see and keep jumping on other Goombas to build a high tower. Make your way to the end of the level, collecting all of the Goombas, until you see a new Goomba-shaped button with a number 10 written on it. If you have 10 Goombas, stand on it to reveal a Power Moon; if you don’t, just jump back down to collect more as they re-spawn.

49. I Met a Snow Cheep Cheep!: At location 49 on our map you’ll find a Bonneter who wants to see a Cheep Cheep up close. Head into the water to find a Cheep Cheep and take it over to this area, hopping all the way up as quickly as you can to get the Cheep Cheep inside the small pool of water right next to the Bonneter. If you do this, you’ll be rewarded with a Power Moon.

50. Even More Walking on Ice!: At location number 50 on our map and re-enter the door here to start a second walking challenge. The pattern is exactly the same as before, but this time you’ll need to score 90 points to get the Power Moon. As before, make sure to keep an eye on how Mario slides on the ice – you don’t want to accidentally overshoot as he slips.

51. Snow Kingdom Master Cup: Head to location 51 on our map to talk to the Koopa who will challenge you to a second race for a second Power Moon. The key to winning this race is to take the exact same route as the golden Koopa – you just need to do it quicker! Capture a Cheep Cheep as early as possible until you reach the land, pop out the wooden peg and ride the updraft, then keep long-jumping across the platform above to fly past the Ty-Foo before he manages to blow you off the edge – the Koopa will wait for the Ty-Foo to blow before running past so this is your chance.

52. Iceburn Circuit Class A: Head to where the Moon Rock originally was (near the Corner of the Freezing Sea checkpoint flag) to find a door that will take you to a second racetrack. Capture the Shiverian and win the race to claim your Power Moon. The best advice for these races is to make sure you bound each time you make contact with the floor or walls (and at the right time with the right amount of strength). This will come with practice and you’ll start to learn the layout of the circuit too – you’ll need to bounce off the walls at just the right time and place to ping yourself across the screen to make the most out of every corner.

53. Iceburn Circuit Class S (see location 52): In the same area as Power Moon 52, simply talk to the organiser of the race again after winning the A Class race to enter into a second S Class race. You’ll need to be even quicker this time to get the win and the Power Moon but the same advice applies.

54. Running the Flower Road: Head to location 54 on our map (near the Above the Ice Well checkpoint) to find a grey warp pipe. Enter the pipe and throw Cappy at each of the scarecrows to reveal flower paths – make your way to the end of the room to collect a Power Moon.

55. Looking Back on the Flower Road (see location 54): In the same area as Power Moon 54, make your way through the room until you reach the Banzai Bill section. Here, you’ll need to hop back over to the left flower road path after you pass the second Banzai Bill. If you turn around you should see a Power Moon waiting for you there.

We hope that you have found this guide on collecting all Power Moons in Super Mario Odyssey’s Snow Kingdom useful. Let us know if you’ve managed to grab them all with a comment below.

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Top Hunter Is Your Next Neo Geo ACA Release On Switch

Looks like Hamster is starting of December in a big way with SNK’s 1994 delightful (and somehow still sadly overlooked) dual plane grab’em up Top Hunter: Cathy & Roddy as they try to “grab” (arf!) our hard earned eShop funds on December 7th.

Taking control of the titular bounty hunters, it is your mission to take on the evil space pirates. Pick one of the four available biomes (the perfect excuse to have varied elemental themed levels) and off you go punching, grabbing, smashing your way to the end level bosses who just happen to be wanted criminals on your bounty list. 

There are a few weapons to pick up with limited ammo and you are even able to ride mechs and vehicles that will make you wonder if you didn’t just happen to accidentally stumble upon a long lost Metal Slug game. Skilled players might even discover the odd secret special move accessed by Street Fighterlike inputs!

Despite being released over two decades ago, it remains a visual tour de force that really showcased the hardware difference between the Neo Geo and our humble Super Nintendos, PC Engines and Mega Drives at home. Will you be grabbing these couple of grabbers next week on your Switch?

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Super Mario Cereal Has Shown Up in Target’s Online Inventory

Update: It’s real! But only for the US at present. Boo.


Original story: Yesterday saw the arrival of an odd rumour that Nintendo is producing a Super Mario themed cereal in partnership with Kellogg’s, with each box containing an NFC chip that has amiibo functionality. Though the evidence for it was a little shaky, it was an idea that would certainly make sense given Nintendo’s interest in giving its brands more exposure beyond video games. Now, more evidence has mounted pointing towards the cereal’s existence.

BrickSeek is a site which can be used to track the digital inventories of certain retailers, one of which is Target. Interestingly enough, a listing for the Super Mario Cereal has popped up in Target’s inventory, though it still can’t be viewed on the company’s site itself. If it’s legitimate, then that would mean that the cereal should be popping up on store shelves relatively soon, though do bear in mind that nothing is confirmed yet.

What do you think? Is this all for real? Do you think the cereal would be any good? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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Review: Crimsonland (Switch eShop)

It was once said that imitation is the highest form of flattery, and with the icon / box art being a homage to a certain hellish current-gen first-person shooter, 10tons’ most recent port – Crimsonland – tries to establish its similarly savage tone and style right from the off. It’s such a brazen reference that you’ll feel like you’ve been caught in the blood soaked crossfire. Although it’s a top down, twin stick shooter, the game is certainly a callback to the gratuitous violence and sly wit of early ’90s gore fests as well as basic yet addictive arcade classics.

Originally released on PC way back in 2003 and later brought to consoles and mobile in 2014 / 2015, the game finds a new home on Nintendo Switch with no new bells or whistles to speak of, aside from the obligatory local co-op taking advantage of the hardware. Performance wise, Nintendo’s hybrid console is more than up to the task and everything runs smoothly- dealing with tens, sometimes even hundreds of enemies on screen at once, as well as all sorts of lasers, explosions and liberal splatterings of the red stuff.

Crimsonland spends very little time attempting to set up a scenario – it’s a standard post-apocalyptic invasion, and it’s pretty inconsequential in any case. Upon starting the game you are presented with two gameplay options. A survival mode and a criminally misleading quest mode. In order to fully get the most out of survival mode, however, you’ll have to wade through the campaign made up of six sets of ten levels that are as limited as they are repetitive.

The goal is to kill all of the various beasties that appear in order to fill up a green meter at the top of the screen and progress. Each level is intense but normally over quickly – you’ll see the statistics-laden end of level screen within a couple of minutes. Hit accuracy, the time taken and your weapon of choice are all logged, as well as any new power ups you have collected along the way, but more on that later. You’ll get more enemies or a combination of different critters as you plough through. Lizards, spiders and the undead will bother rather than cause serious trouble, but the further into the campaign you go spawn points start to appear, which need to be dealt with quickly.

There is a decent range of weapons to try out from your trusty – if pretty rubbish – pistol, to shotguns and assault rifles, to flame throwers and rocket launchers. These are all handy in taking down the handful of different enemy types, and bigger enemies take a bit more firepower to mow down. The difference between the levels, however, is aesthetically as well as geographically negligible. There are no additional objectives, no architecture to navigate or verticality to utilise, no destructible buildings, nothing. Just the odd skull, road or helipad on a slightly different shade of muted, earthy colour to cover in the remnants of your foes over and over. Likewise, the chugging guitar soundtrack, serviceable weapon sound effects and various agonising groans as you plough through zombies or get ‘caught by the reaper’ try to enhance the overall presentation. It’s a real shame that these aspect don’t have more impact, as the action and the perk system are what makes Crimsonland a fun and frantic experience.

As the action ramps up – and it does, rapidly – enemies continually drop power ups which are instantly usable. These orbs are the backbone of what make Crimsonland as fun and as addictive as it is. In addition, the four different perks are offered each time the blue bar is filled, and are both great in number and wide in variety – mixing luck, extra speed and accuracy, to health and damage, to freezing or slowing down everything on screen to give you the upper hand. They add a thin layer of strategy as each involves a balance between attributes, and selecting the right perk at the right time can be key.

There are even bits of cheeky humour in the description that amuse during the brief breaks from the carnage. The item drops and perks keep things both fresh and fast paced, and it is constantly entertaining to see dozens of zombies get wiped out in a few short seconds. Turning evasive manoeuvres into devastating chains of attack makes for some genuinely thrilling and cathartic situations. Backing away from a seemingly impenetrable and ever increasing cluster of creepy crawlies, only to clear just enough of a path to snatch a weapon that spews out spiralling fireballs and obliterates anything on screen is incredibly gratifying.

When you head back to survival mode there are variations on time limits, using certain weapons, sacrificing mobility for increased damage and so on. The local multiplayer for up to four Joy-Con wielding troopers is fun in short bursts, and the global online leaderboards will likely keep high score junkies coming back for just one more round. 

Conclusion

Progressing the twin stick shooter genre is no easy task, and Crimsonland makes a mechanically valiant if visually lethargic attempt. There are the foundations of a great game here – the moment to moment gameplay is a basic yet guilty pleasure of relentless, gratuitous violence, and the perk system and weapons within a level are consistently and immensely rewarding to use. While the action is ludicrous, fun, dumb and obnoxiously brash, the game is let down by its bland presentation, repetitive and uninspired quest mode and non-existent level design. It hides what is, at its core, an addictive and sadistically entertaining experience. It will make you realise how awesome it would be to have something like Dead Nation or even DOOM on the system. Oh, wait…

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Nintendo Launches Some Charming Festive Switch Commercials in Japan

We’re into the final few weeks before the festive season – that’s another month of shopping before some much needed downtime to wrap up the year. Nintendo’s had a fantastic 2017 with the launch of the Switch, and is naturally hoping to finish it strongly.

Perhaps due to the different shopping habits in Japan – some of the biggest Japanese hardware sales come in December, whereas the ‘Black Friday’ phenomenon makes November the big month in various Western territories – Nintendo is just now pushing a major new ad campaign for the Switch in its homeland. The festive-themed trailers show people enjoying the Switch in various ways, wrapping up with a festive get-together.

They’re arguably a bit cheesy – we’re not sure about the song, frankly – but they do get the job done. The first focuses on young gamers and their families, while the second shifts to trendy young adults. Check them out below.

Do you like these Japanese commercials for the Nintendo Switch?

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Crawl Will Pit Friends Against Each Other on Nintendo Switch

Combat-heavy dungeon games are plentiful across various platforms, so finding a neat hook is always a priority. Crawl arguably has that hook, as it blends its awesome visual style with a clever local multiplayer concept – one player is the main protagonist, but up to three friends possess traps and monsters to try and kill them. The goal for the non-hero players is to get the kill and then take over that main role. With playthroughs up to half an hour for snappy matches it sounds perfect for the multiplayer-friendly Switch.

Well, it’s heading to the eShop on 19th December priced at 12.99 / $14.99USD / €14,99. It’s a title that’s proven popular on previous platforms – the Steam community seems to bloomin’ love it – and is certainly eye-catching. Check out the slightly bonkers trailer below.

It could be a fun bit of alternative multiplayer gaming over the festive period, that’s for sure. Do you like the look of this?

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Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Main character design – part 1

Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Main character design – part 1

Hi, everyone. My name is Masatsugu Saito. I am in charge of main character design for Xenoblade Chronicles 2. I have been given the opportunity to write about main character design, and would like to discuss the thought process that went into these characters, broken down across a few posts.

I first heard about plans for Xenoblade Chronicles 2 around February 2015. First, I structured an outline of the characters by reading director Tetsuya Takahashi’s plot. Then I participated in screenplay conferences with Tetsuya Takahashi, Yuichiro Takeda, and Kazuho Hyodo to start expanding on my character drawings. Rex and the other characters seemed very lively in the screenplay and plot. Their emotions were very clear, and every word they said was very moving.

It was at this point that I decided the characters should be modeled simply and clearly. One way of doing this was with a design that emphasized their eyes. Putting emphasis on their eyes allows a variety of emotions to be expressed during cut scenes, and makes it easier to see the character’s expressions, even when they are far away.

I also gave the characters some obvious color coding to make them easy to locate from afar in fields that are packed with detail. Rex is blue, for example, while Pyra is red, and so on.

The development team requested that the characters each have something that would blow in the wind (e.g., a cape or scarf) to express the atmosphere of the field. I wasn’t able to do this for a few of the characters (including Rex, Dromarch, and Tora). For these characters, the subtle movement of their hair or other features helps give a sense of the air around them.

One request that I made was that each character have their personality reflected in how they walk. I think their personalities come through quite well. Especially Poppi, who you can easily tell is artificial. The other characters also have some slight differences in how they walk and run, which is something I’d like you to look out for while you play.

Next time I will go into more detail about designing Rex and the other main characters.

For more information about Xenoblade Chronicles 2, visit the official site.

Game Rated:

Language
Suggestive Themes
Use of Alcohol and Tobacco
Violence

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Video: Meet the Crew in the Latest Floor Kids Gameplay Trailer

Nintendo has given a high profile to a number of fascinating download games this year through Direct and Nindie Showcase broadcasts, and one title that we’ve been looking out for is Floor Kids. Due out this Holiday season, it boasts a cool art style and a funky soundtrack.

The latest trailer for the game gives a brief insight into gameplay, shows off battle mode and also introduces us to the Floor Kids cast. Check it out below.

Are you feeling the beat with this one?

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Review: Green Game: TimeSwapper (Switch eShop)

The Nintendo Switch hardware has provided developers with a range of different inputs to utilise; we’ve seen games previously released on mobile taking advantage of traditional sticks and buttons, while the touchscreen has also been put to work.

There have been some interesting examples – the wonderfully kooky touch-only adventure SEVERED or piano-based rhythm game Deemo have excelled using touch and swipe controls, while console-like experiences that previously only had touch options have been optimised with varying degrees of care and attention, from games like Implosion to the neglected port of Maria the Witch. Some games – when possible – offer a choice of inputs, while others have missed the opportunity and arrived on Switch with only the original control scheme intact. 

The curiously titled Green Game: TimeSwapper from developer iFun4all is a sequel of sorts to 2015 PC, PlayStation Vita and mobile title – also on Switch – Red Game Without a Great Name. While Red Game is more of an arcade-style touch-based game of traversal and survival using teleportation to avoid death traps, ‘Green’ adopts more of a puzzler approach along with its insistence on using the touchscreen. The steampunk mechanical avian protagonist and pretty silhouetted art style remain, but the main crux of the experience is a slower paced and slightly more strategic affair.

The TimeSwapper subtitle is employed as early as the level select screen, despite it being a tad misleading as the experience progresses. Zooming in and out of the intricate cog mechanisms shows off the layered silhouette style beautifully, and in general ‘time swapper’ is an initially intriguing prospect. As the bird flys at a constant speed throughout you are tasked, with the manipulation of time, to guide it through a series of increasingly complex levels. Using angled jet streams of gas / water, the two aims are to collect three gear shaped tokens and safely navigate your way to the end zone – a kind of glass windowed cage. After initially switching the stream directions between on or off, later on they can be adjusted in various increments, adding to both the challenge and the process of planning your route. With the introduction of obstacles and hazards, such as spikes and boxes, both reaching the goal and collecting the tokens (which are on a much more difficult route), becomes increasingly hard.

Although there is no real narrative to speak of, the art style is incredibly striking – different shades of green generate a layered silhouette effect, which is really nice to see in motion when rotating the mechanism on the level select screen. While the general presentation is pleasing to the eyes and the ears (the incredibly cool lounge jazz soundtrack is as refreshing as it is limited), unfortunately TimeSwapper never really lives up to the premise.

There is an angled green line to indicate which ‘timeframe’ you are in and it isn’t long before you will be swiping across the screen to simultaneously change the angle and flow of the jet streams, combined with altering boxes that can be disassembled and reassembled to clear a path; this will inevitably involve some trial and error, as the bird’s path can only be changed by the jet streams. Make a mistake and you’ll have to retry. As the bird stays on its course until its doom, it can occasionally become a slow and frustrating failure waiting for its demise before you can go for another attempt.

The initially interesting main mechanic becomes less about the intricate manipulation of time, more a case of simple timing – even when different angles are introduced it doesn’t feel as intuitive or as integral as other time-based games such as SUPERHOT, indie stalwart Braid or even Time Recoil. Furthermore, as an exclusively touch-based game it relies on a degree of precision that, given the input lag and inaccuracy, is just not present.  

Conclusion

For all the intriguing set up, interesting art style and great – if limited – music, Green Game: TimeSwapper falls flat in the gameplay department. The tagline of manipulating time is as misleading as it is frustrating. There is a cute little puzzle game in here, but with unintuitive controls along with some bland and frustrating level design, the game is quickly reduced to a pretty average experience that fulfils neither its promise nor potential. You’ll never really feel like a ‘master of time’; it’s more a mix of stumbling through level after level or – if you’re a completionist – probably enduring some serious frustration before you 100% each stage. It’s a port that is another case of style over substance.

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Feature: Yooka-Laylee Jumps Onto Switch in December – We Learn All About It

Yooka-Laylee was one of the most high profile and successful Kickstarter campaigns of 2016, but its path to Nintendo systems has been a little troubled. The planned Wii U version eventually bit the dust, with confirmation coming after it was already suspected, and the game had a mixed critical reception when it launched on other platforms earlier this year. Since then there have been some major updates and adjustments to improve the game, while the internally developed Switch port has taken a little longer than expected to arrive.

Well, the wait is almost over, with confirmation that the game will launch on Switch on 14th December, with the option to pre-load / pre-purchase on the eShop from 7th December; it’s download only for now.

We’ve also had a chat with Playtonic Games’ creative lead and managing director, Gavin Price. He gives us the full lowdown on unique features on the Switch, the resolution when playing docked and undocked, and the humbling experience of working with Nintendo to get this version out of the door.

What have you made of the critical response to Yooka-Laylee so far? Has it met your expectations?

We’ve received tons of amazing messages and great critical feedback, which has helped us improve the game further. It’s difficult to please everybody all the time of course, but the comments we saw suggest that fans of golden age 3D platformers enjoyed Yooka-Laylee a lot. Of course, we take all constructive criticism on board, which is why we’ve spent the months since release adding significant updates to address as much feedback as possible and further improve things like performance and polish. The Switch version has all of this on day one and we hope fans will be pleased.

The Switch port has been subject to quite a lengthy dev period – what issues have you encountered during the transition?

It’s never easy developing for a new console, especially when you’re one of the first indie games of this scale on the platform. But thanks to support from Unity and Nintendo, plus Team 17, we think the hard work has paid off. The Playtonic team has personally handled development on Switch and spent months adding really significant optimisations and dozens of updates, so we think this version has turned out really great. 

We definitely needed assistance from Unity to get the game performing up to our standards, but you can see from the final results they gave us the support we needed to make Yooka-Laylee on Switch our most optimised release yet. We realise it’s been a long wait but we hope our fans on Nintendo Switch will be pleased.

We spent a lot of time adding tons of optimisations to ensure that Switch players will enjoy a smooth experience. On top of that, there’s single-Joy-Con support across our eight multiplayer games, the ability to play on-the-go, plus a massive list of updates since launch such as a brand new camera mode, control improvements, menu options, music… there’s a lot!

What kind of resolution can we expect from the Switch port, in both docked and portable modes?

We’re running at 900p docked and 600p undocked, while the UI always renders at 1080p, which we’re really happy with and is competitive with other games. This is the balance we’re most happy with, one that still looks great and runs as smooth as possible. Our priority for Nintendo Switch was to deliver players a smooth, optimised experience and we hope they’ll be pleased with how the game looks and runs. 

How close will the Switch port be to the Xbox One and PS4 versions, in visual terms? Have you had to make any big graphical sacrifices to get it running on the system?

We’ve actually made improvements and this is definitely the most optimised version of the game. Our priority with the Switch version was to deliver a smooth experience for players, so some compromises naturally had to be made, such as comprimises a small amount of resolution for better performance and optimisations. However, it’s nothing that we think players will notice, especially in handheld mode on that excellent screen. In fact, some elements such as shadows are actually improved since the original release! We’re really pleased with how this version is running.

Why digital only?

Our aim was to get the game into players’ hands as soon as possible and a digital launch allowed us to do that. We haven’t ruled out doing a physical release in future and would strive to make sure it would have added value which takes time to get right.

What do you make of the Switch as a machine, purely from a gamer’s perspective?

It’s answered all of my lifestyle requirements to enjoy playing games. 12 o’clock and 5 o’clock are always Karting time in our office and to be honest, it’s totally dominated my playtime this year. Nintendo have had a phenomenal line-up of games.

What kind of relationship have you had with Nintendo so far?

Brilliant and very humbling. Nintendo have helped us both technically and with support for stuff like marketing and release plans. We were really chuffed to be honest to receive so much attention from them for our tiny indie company.

Could you see yourselves developing a game exclusively for Switch which makes use of its unique features?

That would be awesome, especially if it involved working closely with Nintendo itself.

What’s next for Playtonic? 

Free-to-play, Battle Royal meets Match-3 puzzling. Wait until you see how many customisable hats we’ve made for Trowzer…


We’d like to thank Gavin Price and Andy Robinson for their time. Let us know if you’re planning to pick up Yooka-Laylee on Switch on 14th December.