If you’re wondering what the future holds for the new Switch Online racer F-Zero 99, Nintendo has revealed it will be updating the game in “late September” and “mid-October” with more tracks.
According to Nintendo’s Japanese website, the first update will be focused on Queen League courses, and then in October speed demons can look forward to King League tracks. In addition to this, a datamine has revealed there might be some additional modes coming to the game in the near future.
Dataminer ‘OatmealDome’ highlights how the game files contain the unreleased modes “Arcade Mode” and “Survival Mode”. The Arcade Mode apparently features “a timer and time gates placed in the circuits”. Survival Mode isn’t detailed, but the name speaks for itself.
Dataminer and Nintendo Life user ‘LuigiBlood’ has also shared some information about some unused files in F-Zero 99 – with one even referencing a track from the Satellaview entry BS F-Zero Grand Prix. The Satellaview was a peripheral released in 1995 that allowed users to download games and content on the Super Famicom in Japan.
F-Zero 99 is out now and is available exclusively to Switch Online subscribers. If you would like to learn more about this new battle royale racer, be sure to check out our review here on Nintendo Life. Here’s a little about what we thought:
“This isn’t the definitive way to play F-Zero, but it is a brilliant take that supplements what worked so well in the original with thoughtful additions that make chasing victory utterly addictive.”
What do you think about the next official updates? What else would you like to see Nintendo add to this game in the future? Give us your own thoughts below.
Later this year in November, Nintendo is releasing an updated version of Square’s classic RPG Super Mario RPG.
If you’re on the hunt for pre-order bonuses and happen to be located in North America, games retailer GameStop has now officially revealed what it will be offering in both the US and Canada.
The store will be offering an exclusive 6-piece pin set – containing Mario and the gang. Here’s a look:
This offer as noted will be valid until 17th November, so if you want to claim these pins – get in that pre-order while you still.
Limited Run Games has revealed that two more titles are being added to the Jurassic Park: Classic Games Collection — Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park: Rampage Edition.
Previously, the collection included the NES, Game Boy, and SNES versions (where applicable) of Jurassic Park, and Jurassic Park 2: The Chaos Continues. Now, the publisher and retro game preservationist has announced that the two highly popular Sega Genesis titles will also be included.
Both games will come with all previously-announced features such as in-game maps and save state, all packaged in the Carbon Engine.
Josh Fairhurst of Limited Run Games took to Twitter to admit that “This took a very long time to negotiate” given the necessary licenses that needed to be granted, but this buffs out the collection quite nicely, and we’re grateful to the folks at LRG for managing to bag these two titles.
Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park: Rampage Edition were developed by BlueSky Software for the Genesis in 1993 and 1994, and feature side-scrolling action and platforming. The games sold extremely well back in the day and were praised for their visuals, sound effects, and the intelligence of the dinosaur enemies.
Are you happy to see the two Sega Genesis titles in the collection? Let us know in the comments.
Saying that the original PlayStation was a treasure trove of RPGs is a bit of an understatement. But even with that statement, Star Ocean: The Second Story remains a standout to many RPG fans. Its blend of sci-fi and classic fantasy, action combat, and crunchy synth tunes hit a particular chord back in the late ‘90s. This was the West’s first exposure to the Star Ocean series – and for many, the series has never reached those highs from 1998.
But Star Ocean is a series that started way back on the Super Famicom. Despite its Nintendo origins, Star Ocean has often remained adrift from Nintendo platforms. 2001’s Blue Sphere – a Game Boy Color spin-off and sequel to The Second Story – and Star Ocean: First Departure R, a remaster of a PSP title, remain the only two other games in the series to release on a Nintendo console.
The original PlayStation title is probably the most popular entry in the venerable series, and that explains why Star Ocean: The Second Story R‘s initial reveal was so well received. This is a remake of a PlayStation favourite, and it launches on 2nd November 2023, just months after the game’s 25th anniversary in Japan (30th July, 1998). There’s no better time to release a remake in our mind, and that’s what the developers seem to think, too.
Image: Nintendo Life
“We received a request from Square Enix to do something memorable” Gemdrops CEO and director and producer of the remake Yuichiro Kitao told us in a recent video call. “With the release of Star Ocean 6 [The Divine Force] last year, we were able to get newcomers into the series, but we also wanted them to understand what the Star Ocean series is.”
Kitao-san was joined by Motoi Sakuraba, the series’ composer, who says that the series “means a lot” to him. It’s clear that this remake is one built from passion – to give the fans what they want, but also reintroduce a classic to the world and make it more accessible.
A Sea of Stars
With the release ofStar Ocean 6last year, we were able to get newcomers into the series, but we also wanted them to understand what the Star Ocean series is.”
The series’ history is important to understanding just why The Second Story is held in high regard among RPG fans. Star Ocean on the Super Famicom is notable for being tri-Ace’s very first video game. The studio was formed by former Wolf Team staff who worked on another franchise-starting action RPG on the Super Famicom – Tales of Phantasia – and similarly, the game broke many visual and audio boundaries. Its intensive visuals demanded the use of a special compression chip, the S-DD1, plus it used voice acting and real-time combat (or as real-time as the Super Famicom could handle).
The original Super Famicom game never came out in the West because Enix America stopped publishing games in 1995 due to poor sales. Instead, anyone who wanted to try the first Star Ocean game had to do so via emulation and a fan translation from DeJap Translations, who also created the popular fan translation for Tales of Phantasia. We’d have to wait until the PSP remake to get an official taste of the series’ origins.
Image: Nintendo Life
What makes Star Ocean so unique compared to many other RPG franchises is how it handles characters and character interactions. Private Actions are additional scenes that allow you to spend more time with supporting characters in your party, and build up an affection meter that can affect the endings. For the earlier titles in the series, depending on the choices you make and the characters you recruit to your party, you may be locked out of having certain characters in your playthrough, or you may have to recruit them much later. A completionist’s nightmare for sure, but it makes choices and actions feel consequential and encourages multiple playthroughs.
All of this was present in Star Ocean: The Second Story on PlayStation, which ended up being most people’s introduction to the series. A pretty in-depth crafting system was added – which ends up being vital to getting through the later portions of the game – and you had the option of choosing between two protagonists: Claude C. Kenny, an Ensign of the Pangalactic Federation and son of Ronyx J. Kenny from the first game, and Rena Lanford, a young girl who lives on the underdeveloped planet of Expel.
What is a JRPG?
Star Ocean: The Second Story R takes the beloved classic and turns it into something that feels both nostalgic and new. It’s not a port or rerelease of the PSP remake Star Ocean: Second Evolution in the same way that Star Ocean: First Departure R was for the first entry. It retains the essence of the original pixel-art action RPG while making modern improvements to the visuals and gameplay – but not enough to stray from its roots.
We asked Kitao about what kind of experience he brought to the table for this remake, having worked as battle programmer on Star Ocean: Till the End of Time and program manager on I Am Setsuna, two very different RPGs. “When we developed this game, we looked at a lot of different qualities that fans and players liked about JRPGs,” he told us. “When you say JRPG, they’re not all the same game. There’s a JRPG game that has real-time combat, but there’s also JRPG games that have command-based or turn-based combat too. So JRPG isn’t all just one blanket kind of game, if that makes sense.”
It’s an interesting conversation to have months after Final Fantasy XIV director and producer and Final Fantasy XVI producer Naoki Yoshida’s thoughts on the JRPG term. To Kitao, JRPG isn’t just one thing, nor is it about where the games are made – it’s a multitude of different things, which Star Ocean: The Second Story R slots into but also borrows from, in multiple different ways. Kitao’s experience working on other RPGs helped him understand how to approach reintroducing Star Ocean: The Second Story to the world. It wasn’t just about bringing back a classic – it was about respecting the genre and taking “advantage of our past experiences with the developments of numerous JRPG titles.”
JRPG isn’t all just one blanket kind of game, if that makes sense.
Having spent some time with the demo – which dropped on Switch shortly after the September 2023 Nintendo Direct – we can feel the history and experience that has gone into this remake. If you’ve played the original PlayStation version, you’ll slip right into The Second Story R, but you’ll notice those minor changes and details that make the game feel smoother. There’s still a world map, but now enemy encounters appear on the map rather than being random, and visually, the blend of pixel art and 3D backgrounds – not quite pre-rendered but they feel pre-rendered – is gorgeous, particularly on an OLED model Switch.
A Second Evolution
“We looked at a lot of different genres or sub-genres from these RPG games and implemented a lot of the good parts of the two different kinds of combat, so like the real-time combat and the turn-based combat,” Kitao told us, again using that experience from working on Resonance of Fate (lead programmer), CRYSTAR (director), and even Valkyrie Profile (battle programmer). No two RPGs that Kitao has worked on have quite been the same, and that shows here.
Image: Square Enix
The combat in The Second Story R isn’t that different from the original PlayStation release, or even from Star Ocean: First Departure R. It’s an action RPG where you control one character in real-time while the other three are controlled by AI, determined by tactics which you can assign in the menu. You can hop into a menu to use items and pause flow if needed, but otherwise, the 3D space is yours to run around in.
In the remake, there are a few new bells and whistles that help make combat feel snappier than it was on the PlayStation. We got that sense almost immediately, and simply running around and fighting enemies on the world map was a joy. Skills seem to proc much faster, and movement feels much smoother. But some of the new additions certainly help with that.
For one, there’s now a backstep which you can use to avoid enemy attacks, counter, and regain MP – similar to side steps and backsteps in later Star Ocean titles. You can also stun an enemy by breaking their shield, which will give you an opportunity to unleash tons of damage.
We were able to come up with this new system of achievements [in the remake] and also retain the better parts – the fun parts – of the achievement system in Star Ocean 3.
Battle Trophies have also been added to Second Story R, another feature that’s present in later Star Ocean games. This is an achievement system that was introduced in Til the End of Time, rewarding you with little trophy items for completing challenges. Sometimes you’d need to beat a boss within a certain time limit, while other times you’re required to kill an enemy with a specific skill.
“There are various ways to get involved, not just in battle, but with things that the player does on the field, too. We were able to come up with this new system of achievements [in the remake] and also retain the better parts – the fun parts – of the achievement system in Star Ocean 3.”
This fusion between the past of the series and the present feels like a really lovely way to acknowledge the franchise’s successes and use them to retroactively enhance and refresh an older experience. It also provides an easy segue for those who have only played later entries. It bleeds through every single asset of the remake, right down to the music, where series composer Sakuraba returns once again.
Space Operatics
Sakuraba is a veteran composer in the RPG genre, having worked on the Tales of series, Baten Kaitos, Valkyrie Profile, Dark Souls, and Golden Sun soundtracks (among many, many others). But his work on the original Star Ocean: The Second Story remains a favourite.
But rather than just remastering the music from the original PlayStation release, or even just reusing it (though the original songs are included and you can swap between them at any point), Sakuraba has rearranged the entire iconic soundtrack.
“We tried to make sure that the song’s taste was not broken”, Sakuraba told us. “The main focus was to add new elements to the compositions while retaining the core concepts that were established back then. In terms of my approach to the composition process, I ensured not to alter the vibes of the original tracks.”
Image: Nintendo Life
We were actually shocked when hearing the music in the demo, stunned at how different yet familiar these iconic tracks sounded. ‘The venerable forest’, a predominantly flute and synth track in the original game, now sends chills down our spines with beautiful violins, a choir, and plucked string instruments. It’s rather different, but it is still very much the same song. The same can be said for the game’s iconic battle track, ‘Stab the sword of justice’, an energetic synth track that always pumped us up before battle. The Second Story R’s version is all eclectic guitar, violin, viola, and heavy drums, which Sakuraba was keen to include with these now-live orchestra rearrangements.
On the topic of that live orchestra, Sakuraba says that he “wanted to make sure that the original qualities were being kept in these new arrangements,” while also considering that “for newer players, they might feel like some things may be lacking if they hear the original track as is, or if they hear something that closely resembles the original tracks too much.”
I ensured not to alter the vibes of the original tracks
It’s an update to an old sound that is unmistakable but fresh, faithful but modernised, and Sakuraba used modern-day tech and instruments to create that feeling of nostalgia. “We added live strings and drums. This was a technology that was impossible when Star Ocean 2 was released, but is now possible.” It’s more synth-y than a modern retro-style RPG like Square Enix’s Octopath Traveler, but it evokes that same cosy, old-school feeling.
Pitch (and Pixel) Perfect
The new arrangements pair nicely with the game’s new visual style. At the time of the game’s reveal, many (including us) compared it to Octopath’s HD-2D style, with the mix of pixel art characters, 3D backgrounds, and strong lighting. And it turns out, even with a remake, the new visual style is crucial to shaping the music.
“When I write music, I make sure the music is in sync with the frame rate, the overall movement of the video,” Sakuraba says. “So I also have the team share the cutscenes with me prior to composing these tracks and I go by the frame rate of these cutscenes and make sure that the tracks are aligned frame by frame with the overall structure of the footage.” It’s a fascinating approach to composing music for a video game – particularly a 25-year-old title which is being remade in a pixel art style. It feels old school, which is perhaps why it works so well and feels so good when playing the demo.
From the three-hour demo alone, Star Ocean: The Second Story R looks and feels like one of the purest remakes we’ve experienced. It respects the source material by embracing the original art style, yet modernising it just enough. It rebalances the game to make it more accessible for newcomers, but also more rewarding and challenging for returning fans.
What impresses us most about Star Ocean: The Second Story R, at least those initial three hours, is how it respects not only the franchise’s history and what followed the original PlayStation game but how it manages to deftly balance the old and the new to appeal to both sides of the galaxy. The dialogue is a little cheesy (the voices and script are the same as the PSP release), and it starts off similarly to any old-school-style RPG. But in the same way as the culture clashes of the Star Ocean games – futuristic technology meeting with underdeveloped (medieval-style) planets – it all comes together to create a fascinating remake, one that we can’t wait to see through to the end.
This interview has been edited lightly for clarity.
Thank you to Kitao-san, Sakuraba-san, Square Enix, and Gemdrops for making the time to speak to us. Star Ocean: The Second Story R launches on Switch and other platforms on 2nd November 2023.
You can download a free demo — which allows you to play the first three hours and carry over your save data to the full game — right now on Switch eShop.
In an attempt to ensure that Microsoft’s Xbox is easily differentiated from the Switch, the company once attempted to make a shift in terminology when it comes to what constitutes a “console” — because that couldn’t possibly lead to confusion, right?
In a 2019 email from Xbox’s head of marketing, Aaron Greenberg (and shared to Twitter by Kotaku‘s @ethangach), we can see that there was a time in which Microsoft was keen to present the Nintendo Switch not as a “console”, but rather as a “portable gaming device”. This all spawned from Ori and the Blind Forest leaving its Xbox exclusivity and making its way over to the Nintendo console, with Microsoft, obviously, looking for a way to spin it so that its system could still appear favourable.
It’s a marketing tactic that we have seen many times over from video game companies where even the most minute word choice is the difference between acknowledging the competition and convincing the audience that your product is the real deal. There’s no attack on the Switch here, just some comical business hair-splitting to make sure that Microsoft doesn’t send the wrong message.
And let’s not pretend that Nintendo is innocent of this kind of this either. Whether it’s a hilariously long title like the recently-announced (deep breath) Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass Wave 6 or the insistence on using full game and console names in promotional material (“I gotta get back to playing Animal Crossing: New Leaf on my Nintendo 3DS” — never forget), Nintendo is just as prone to tying itself in terminological knots as anyone else. Ah, the wonderful world of marketing…
We love our Switches and our Xboxes, they’re both lovely little consoles — or, as we will now insist on calling them, “portable/non-portable gaming devices”…
What have been your favourite marketing terminology twisters? Let us know in the comments.
Oh boy… The ‘Switch 2’ hype train is picking up some speed now, huh?
According to The Verge, Nintendo has reportedly already briefed Activision-Blizzard on its next console and had in fact done so back in December last year.
The news has been brought to light thanks to internal emails from the FTC Vs. Microsoft case, which of course relates to the latter’s intention to acquire Activision-Blizzard and integrate it into its Xbox Game Studios portfolio.
According to the source, executives at Activision-Blizzard, including CEO Bobby Kotick, met with Nintendo executives in December 2022 to discuss the successor to the Switch. The resulting emails, which refer to the platform as ‘Switch NG (Next Generation)’ contain key information relating to Nintendo’s plans.
Though heavily redacted, one interesting snippet likens the new console to the PS4 and Xbox One in terms of performance:
“Given the closer alignment to Gen8 platforms in terms of performance and our previous offerings on PS4 / Xbox One, it is reasonable to assume we could make something compelling for the NG Switch as well. It would be helpful to secure early access to development hardware prototypes and prove that out nice and early.”
It was also recently reported that Nintendo has demonstrated the capabilities of its next console behind closed doors at Gamescom 2023, with games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and The Matrix Awakens showcased.
Needless to say, the Switch 2 (or Switch U, Super Switch, whatever you want to call it), is well and truly on its way. Current estimates point to a release in 2024, but of course, we’ll need to wait until Nintendo itself gives the official word.
What do you make of these details from Activision-Blizzard? Would you be happy with performance comparable to PS4 and Xbox One for Nintendo’s next platform? Let us know.
What do you get when you take the first entry in one of Nintendo’s most overlooked franchises and cram it with battle royale mechanics after nearly 20 years of dormancy? You might expect a shambling Frankenstein’s monster of a game held together by nostalgia-baiting stagnancy. Instead, F-Zero 99 is a clever re-imagining that injects new life into a stone-cold classic while dodging many of the pitfalls found in Nintendo’s other battle royale remixes like Mario 35 or PAC-MAN 99.
F-Zero is such an important–and impressive–game thanks in no small part to its presentation. As a launch game for the SNES, its vibey, sci-fi Mode 7 graphics helped plant Nintendo’s flag in the 16-bit era as a graphical powerhouse. But F-Zero’s more than just a tech demo; it’s a high-adrenaline, white-knuckle racing game with some serious teeth. F-Zero 99 takes care to pay its respect to the original’s tough-as-nails legacy while giving it new mechanics, to help it fit even better within the ‘-99’ formula. After all, F-Zero has always been about speed and survival.
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)
First, boosting has been completely reworked. Instead of getting one big speed boost per lap, you now have to dip into your energy bar in order to zoom ahead of the pack. That change brings some extra push-and-pull between simply surviving and actually winning that rewards skillful play and knowledge of each track. For example, if you’re low on energy, you could conserve your power as you zip around the rough, slowdown-inducing corners on Mute City or boost through the rough patch and hope you don’t bump into anyone during the home stretch to the pit area.
Marrying this new system with the familiar gameplay is an example of how F-Zero 99 cleverly streamlines and modernizes the original. It’s a tactful change that makes sense in the context of the original game and adds a new layer of depth without overcomplicating what already works.
99 also introduces a Spin Attack, which lets you bump into other players with a chance to deal some extra damage. If you happen to KO another pilot (with or without the Spin Attack), your energy meter increases, meaning you have more to allocate to boosting without worrying about depleting your energy too quickly.
There are significantly more racers on the track during a normal race compared to the original. As its name suggests, there are 98 other competitors on the track, and, like in the original, there are extra NPC cars that function as obstacles for you to avoid. Beefing up the racer count all the way up to 99 is a cool change and the spin is necessary to make such a chaotic traffic jam work, considering how easy it already was to get fender bent into oblivion in the 26th century.
Bumping into other people and NPCs isn’t just a consequence of F-Zero 99’s congested raceways, either. Instead, it’s been worked into a brand-new mechanic. Hitting other vehicles generates Super Sparks, which anyone riding behind the clash can pick up. There are even special golden NPCs that drop extra Super Sparks when you ram them, creating an extra point of conflict and upping the ante on getting those sweet sparks.
Picking up Super Sparks fills a separate meter. Once filled, hitting boost with ‘A’ ascends you to the elevated Skyway. You won’t just move faster on the Skyway, boost pads will appear in specific spots for you to pick up even more speed. There are also no obstacles of any kind–excluding other players–on this elevated track, meaning it’s not just a tool to get ahead of the competition. It’s also a great Hail Mary that you can use to safely escort yourself across the finish line in case your energy’s running so low that you can’t risk running into other pilots.
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)
The Skyway adds yet another point for metagaming and balancing risk and reward. In a game where one bump, error, or boost can send you back 20 places, it’s a great trump card. Timing your ascension to the elevated track correctly can also let you skip over certain challenging parts of a track. Because the skyway also creates shortcuts over sections of non-track below, it won’t return you to the ground until you’re back over the track. That means that you can actually extend your boost time if you get the timing right, adding a welcome little skill check.
On top of competing for first place, you’ll also be competing with four other races. These Rivals are decided upon based on your individual match history and in-game rank and outplacing even one of them will net you a few points to go towards ranking up. Beating none of them will cost you, though. This system accommodates F-Zero 99’s challenging nature well and adds an opportunity to reward players who might be new to the series.
These new additions all infuse new depth and multiplayer sensibility into the previously single-player-only banger. They don’t just feel at home as a part of its gameplay, though. They also look right at home in F-Zero’s original art style. From the starting areas, which have been reworked to house 99 racers, to the Skyway, everything nails the game’s 16-Bit Plus vibe. It even adds in cool touches like speed lines and extra flourishes to explosions and the like.
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)
The only part that doesn’t fit in is F-Zero 99’s new in-game user interface. It smacks of that sterile Switch-era feel with squished, sans-serif fonts and soft edges. Considering the menus in other parts of 99 are studded with art from and inspired by F-Zero’s original instruction manual and dripping in neon purples and yellows, it makes no sense that the UI is this bland for any other reason than readability.
You can earn skins for each of the four available racing machines, and new options for your player card. The player card displays your Switch username, the vehicle of your choice, and has some customizable pins and backgrounds. As with the skins, pins and backgrounds are unlocked by competing in races and completing various challenges.
Competing in races is, unfortunately, F-Zero 99’s greatest pain point. While it’s very easy to hop into a single 99-player race, Grand Prix mode isn’t always available. It unlocks on a timer and requires tickets, which you earn from competing in other races, to enter. The time-based barrier of entry is frustrating but given how long Grand Prix races can be, keeping them available at all times could prove difficult for matchmaking after the launch period. That being said, Tetris 99 makes the same mistake in its Maximus mode and takes its sweet time in matchmaking before filling out over half of the average lobby with bots. Given its relative rarity, requiring tickets on top of the time constraints adds insult to injury.
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)
In addition to Grand Prix modes, 99 cycles through other modes like Pro, which only features difficult circuits, and a team-based race. The latter splits the assembled players into two groups and tracks various stats throughout (position, number of KOs, etc.) before totting up the totals at the end of the race and awarding the win, Splatoon-style. These are nice make-goods, but it’s frustrating that the original’s main mode is gated behind a timer.
Thankfully, if you can play F-Zero 99, you can also play the SNES original since both are locked behind a Nintendo Switch Online subscription. So if you’re itching to race in a Prix, you can revisit the original.
Conclusion
Despite its relatively unchanged look, F-Zero 99 is unexpectedly refreshing. Though it may not be the return for the franchise that fans hoped for, it’s a triumphant and welcome look back at Captain Falcon’s first game with a clever twist. F-Zero is simply suited for the -99 style structure in ways that Tetris, Mario, and Pac-Man aren’t; it was already an elimination-style battle royale, just a small one. Adding more players doesn’t just feel perfect for F-Zero, it feels natural. This isn’t the definitive way to play F-Zero, but it is a brilliant take that supplements what worked so well in the original with thoughtful additions that make chasing victory utterly addictive.
Publisher Team17 and developer Black Salt Games have today unveiled the third free update for the sinister fishing adventure Dredge. What’s more, you can reel this one in today.
The free update this time around adds some slick boat customisation so you can sail in style as well as 13 new species of creepy crustaceans — fittingly dubbed ‘craberrations’. Successfully dredging up these newbies will unlock even more customisation options for your trawler, so this seems like a good excuse to pull on your sea legs and get back out there.
To switch up the look of your vessel, simply speak to the new ‘Painter’ character who can be found in the game’s starting area. This will let you pick out a flag and a fresh lick of paint so you can truly make your boat feel like home. You can find the full patch notes from Black Salt Games here.
Today’s addition is the third free update to have floated onto Dredge, with both a photo and ‘cosy’ mode having been added earlier this year. Looking at the game’s roadmap for 2023, all that’s left now is a batch of paid DLC which is scheduled to set sail in Q4 and will focus on the mysterious Ironhaven Corporation.
We had a great time with Dredge when it sailed onto Switch back in March, so we are excited to see what the future holds for this one.
Will you be catching this latest free update? Let us know in the comments.
In 1982, Atari released its first survival-horror game, Haunted House, on the 2600. Over 40 years on, the game is getting revived on Switch as a stealth-horror roguelite, with the studio today announcing that the fresh take on Haunted House will creep onto consoles on 12th October.
This one will see you navigating the shifting walls of a spooky mansion to investigate the disappearance of a renowned treasure hunter. You’ll play as Lyn Graves (the niece of said treasure hunter) whose investigations will also see her friends swept into the creepy clutches of the house — isn’t it always the way?
If you happen to be taken down by one of the pesky poltergeists that haunt the mansion’s corridors, you will be dumped back at the entrance as the floor’s layout gets jumbled up for your next run. So far, so roguelite.
This one comes to us from developer Orbit Studio and is published by Atari. You can check out some of the game’s key features and get a look at some screenshots below.
All-Ages Thrill Ride: The whimsical, cartoonish art style only thinly veils the chills and thrills in Haunted House! Expertly riding the line between goofy and spooky, the game keeps things rated E with its primarily stealth-based gameplay and light combat sequences. Unlockable Characters: As Lyn explores the Haunted House, she’ll free her trapped friends, who become playable characters you can use to dive deeper into the mansion. Each friend possesses different stats, so depending on who you explore the mansion with, it’ll be a totally new experience! Atari Easter Eggs: The game is full of collectibles and lore based on the original Haunted House and other classic favorites from Atari’s golden age. Did We Mention Stealth?: With combat de-emphasized, players must focus on stealth movement and solving challenges unseen in the shadows, along with utilizing the arsenal of traps and items at their disposal
From what we have seen so far, the isometric angle and basic visuals are making this one look a little mobile-y for the moment — it’s certainly a leap from the 2600’s scrolling adventure game of the 80s — but it is interesting to see it get reimagined all the same.
This one will be creeping its way onto Switch next month.
Will you be giving Haunted Mansion a go? Creep down to the comments and let us know.
NetherRealm Studios has been on a real hot streak with the Mortal Kombat franchise ever since it dropped its first game, the sublime Mortal Kombat 9, all the way back in 2011. The studio has always focused on bringing a top-notch narrative experience to the table, supported by a laundry list of single-player arcade and online multiplayer modes, alongside the fantastic collectathon that is the Krypt.
Mortal Kombat 1 is a reboot of sorts for the franchise, one that continues on from Mortal Kombat 11 but also completely changes direction, giving us a new universe that threads through the series’ rich lore whilst also refreshing everything from character designs to the roster and environments where you set about decapitating and exploding your foes. It’s a clever move, one that feels as though it was required given how complicated things had gotten by the cataclysmic events of the last game, and it affords NetherRealm the opportunity to reintroduce some old favourite characters into the bloody fray to boot.
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)
Indeed, in terms of the roster, besides the disappointing fact that Shang Tsung has been made a pre-order/paid-for exclusive, this is a strong outing at launch with 22 base characters to choose from, all rocking sweet new looks and, don’t forget, you even get to play as Jean Claude Van Damme, although he is just a skin for Johnny Cage.
There’s been plenty of shakeups in terms of mechanics, too, the biggest and most obvious of which is Kameo assists, giving you access to some sweet tag-team options with a simple press of your right shoulder button. Kameos factor into the game’s combo-breaking manoeuvres, and this new entry also sees some shaking up of blocking with the ‘Up Block’ giving you the chance to shift your opponent into a disadvantageous position if you nail it correctly. Think of the Flawless Block system from Mortal Kombat 11 and you’ve got the general gist of this one.
Most of the signature moves, flashy combos, and ridiculously gory fatalities return this time around, although you’ll find as you play that some attacks, such as Johnny Cage’s fireball, have been replaced. Don’t worry Johnny fans, he’s got a sweet new Hype Meter that more than makes up for the loss of his classic fiery ranged attack, and overall the new additions make for a fighter that feels nice and fresh whilst also retaining all of the aspects we expect, know and love about this series.
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)
So, overall what we’ve got here is a fresh new take on the Mortal Kombat universe, or multiverse as it is now, one that sticks to the studio’s usual setup of delivering the best story mode in fighting games — the campaign really is a cracker — alongside all the other modes you’d expect to find; the online fisticuffs, local and single player match-ups, Towers and in-depth practice and training arenas for you to hone your fatalities, ball-busters, drill kicks, and fan-nados. But wait…where is the Krypt?
Well, unfortunately, the Krypt is no more, here replaced by a shiny new single-player Invasions mode that sees you choose a character and get busy romping around a boardgame-styled setup. Invasions has you travel along nodes, unlocking multiple paths forward as you take part in fights that throw all manner of random modifiers and special enemies into your path. This all takes part in Johnny Cage’s suitably OTT Hollywood mansion and, although we were initially skeptical that it could match the Krypt, it’s a mode that makes a good replacement, testing your skills to the max, throwing up tons of fun situations and dishing out all the goodies and cosmetic items you could ever hope for.
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)
However — and it’s a pretty big ‘however’ — all of this is sullied by the fact that this Switch port feels as though it’s really pushing the system to the max, and then some. Is it playable? Yes, it’ll do if you’re a big Mortal Kombat fan and you’ve got no other way to experience the game, but you really are going to have to come at this version with a lot of patience as it’s got some serious problems.
Now, this particular writer hasn’t sampled Mortal Kombat 11 on Switch, and therefore can’t compare directly in this regard, but revisiting our review it seems it’s a port that dials the graphics right down in order to achieve a playable frame rate. Perfectly fine and acceptable. Mortal Kombat 1 attempts to take the same route, turning all of the lovely visuals down to their very lowest settings — we’re sure you’ve seen some of the rather hilarious comparison images with other consoles online already — but it still can’t provide anything approaching a smooth experience as things stand at launch.
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)
In story mode, the various cutscenes look good for the most part, but they suffer from weird glitching and skipping issues, whilst the game’s signature seamless transitions from cutscene to actual gameplay are marred here by stutters, loading screens, and a dynamic resolution that dips way, way down at the start of battles in order to keep things from grinding to a complete halt.
Manage to ignore all of this and you’ll get scraps that can still provide some entertainment when the frame rate isn’t wobbling. We’ve had entire bouts that have been fine and played well, however, for the most part, you’re looking at kombat that’s been kompromised (couldn’t resist) by dips and stutters that can make action hard to follow and oftentimes lags behind your inputs, meaning you lose the flow of what moves you’re trying to pull off. We have also encountered broken visuals and issues in relation to Fatalities not playing out or animating properly. Now, anyone who plays fighting games knows this is not ideal, in this genre more than most. These games have got to nail input lag and any other issues that affect your ability to perform the moves you want when you want. Mortal Kombat 1 on Switch isn’t doing this right now, and that’s really the long and short of it.
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)
There is more bad news too, we’re afraid. Our attempts to get down with the online aspects of this game have been unsuccessful, to say the least. We know we’re reviewing during the exclusive ‘early access’ period for purchasers of the Premium Edition, so things may improve when those who didn’t want to stump up £100/$110 for a few days of early Scorpion spears join the online pool, but so far we haven’t been able to find a single match-up with any other players. (We’ll provide an update here with our impressions of online play in the coming days.)
Further to this, and this is a real kick in the NetherRealms, Invasions mode is a bug-fest right now. We’ve had an issue where we’ve had to restart the mode several times because a key item just will not drop in the very first battle, denying us access to Johnny’s mansion — a totally mode-breaking bug — and the character select menus are also incredibly slow and have frequently ended up selecting the wrong fighter for us as a result. Now, WB Games has also just put out a correspondence to Switch players stating that;
“To ensure the best possible experience for Switch players at launch, only the introduction for Invasions will be available. The full breadth of Invasions Season 1 content will be available on Switch in a matter of weeks.”
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)
It’s important to know this in advance if you’re thinking of picking up the game, as it’s not gonna be the full package at the time of writing, even though you’re expected to pay full price. We get it, the Switch is a tricky prospect, but we’d really rather the game was delayed or reduced in price until these things were sorted.
Away from all of this, loading times across the board between fights can see you wait a good long while. We’ve seen close to a minute in the Towers mode, menus can be excruciating to traverse due to how slowly everything moves, and you’ll find that you’re hit with infinite loading screens from time to time as the game struggles to keep up, forcing you to reboot and restart.
When all’s said and done, this is a port of Mortal Kombat that’s in a bit of a state, really. Yes, it’s playable, you can make your way through the Story and Towers mode and have some fairly good fun when it’s behaving itself. In portable mode, it looks fine for the most part, even with every bit of polish and detail stripped away, but patches are needed ASAP before we can recommend anyone throw down their money on the Switch version of the game.
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)
We’ve been playing Mortal Kombat 1 on another platform (also the Premium Edition — no, we couldn’t resist as big fans of this franchise) at the same time we’ve been reviewing on Switch and it’s a superb fighter, a highly polished, slick, addictive effort that’s the best the series has looked and felt since Mortal Kombat (9) dropped 12 years ago. However, this Switch port, unless you really have no other choice and can put up with the multiple issues we’ve outlined, just doesn’t cut it.
