Weeks of speculation on when The Super Mario Galaxy Movie will be available on digital storefronts can be laid to rest today, as Universal has announced that the blockbuster animated sequel will be available on VOD on 19th May 2026 in the US.
Not only that, Nintendo and Illumination’s sequel — which arrived in cinemas on 1st April in most territories — will be available to purchase on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray on 16th June 2026.
These releases will come with over an hour of never-before-seen footage, behind-the-scenes interviews, and a deep dive into all of those references that had you pointing at the screen like that Leonardo DiCaprio meme.
If you want to know everything ahead of the digital and physical release, though, Universal has you covered:
EXCLUSIVES BONUS FEATURES WHEN YOU GET IT AT PARTICIPATING RETAILERS:
–NEXT LEVEL: MAKING THE SUPER MARIO GALAXY MOVIE – Go behind the scenes of this epic journey across the cosmos as the visionary creators at Nintendo, the acclaimed filmmakers and artists of Illumination, and the extraordinary cast who redefined these iconic characters reveal the artistry behind every meticulously crafted moment. –CAST OF CHARACTERS – Explore how this impeccable cast masterfully embodied the iconic MARIO BROS. characters, honoring their legacy while captivating audiences across generations worldwide. – Mario & Luigi – Peach & Rosalina –Bowser & Bowser Jr. –Toad & Yoshi – EXPLORING THE GALAXY – Guided by the filmmakers and cast, audiences embark on a journey through the film’s most iconic settings, revealing the thoughtful layers of nostalgia embedded in each one. –GALACTIC THEMATICS – The emotional core of any SUPER MARIO BROS. film lies in its relationships. This piece delves into the bonds between characters, examining the alliances that are tested, the connections that are broken, and those that endure and evolve forever. – COSMIC TUNES – Some sounds are unmistakably SUPER MARIO BROS. Composer Brian Tyler invites audiences inside his creative process, reimagining the franchise’s iconic game music as a powerful cinematic score that drives the action and elevates this epic adventure. – POWER-UPS – There is no greater tool in the galaxy than a perfectly timed power-up. Take a closer look at the many power-ups featured in the film, explore how the filmmakers selected which to include, and hear from the cast as they share their personal favorites. – SECRETS OF THE GALAXY – Brimming with cleverly hidden Easter eggs, the film invites fans to return again and again to catch them all. In this feature, the filmmakers and cast offer insider guidance on where to look, what to watch for, and the surprises waiting to be discovered.
So that’s pretty soon, then! But the revised leak was right on the money. The movie is approaching the $1 billion mark at the box office worldwide, though it’ll likely finish a fair bit below its predecessor.
Still, it’ll be one of the best-performing movies of the year regardless.
Will you be picking up The Super Mario Galaxy Movie digitally or physically? Or will you wait to stream it? Let us know in the comments.
For the longest time, I was convinced that Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 was the peak of the twin-stick arcade genre. It took what the original XBLA game did so well and perfected the formula, delivering an experience that was easy to grasp yet difficult to master.
Imagine my surprise, then, to discover that not only does Sektori effortlessly emulate the feel of GW2, but it also manages to surpass it in pretty much every way. Having launched on other platforms at the tail end of 2025, this, my friends, is the new benchmark for twin-stick arcade games, and my favourite Switch 2 release of 2026 so far.
Developed by Kimmo Lahtinen, who previously spent 13 years at the Sony-owned studio Housemarque (Resogun, Dead Nation), Sektori wears its inspiration on its sleeve. At its core, it’s quite literally Geometry Wars: you navigate a top-down arena, shoot a bunch of coloured shapes, and try to stay alive long enough to climb the online leaderboards. However, several unique mechanics help set it apart, making it one of the most relentlessly addictive games I’ve ever played.
Captured on Nintendo Switch 2 (Handheld/Undocked)
First up is the ‘strike’ move. In addition to moving with the left stick and shooting with the right, tapping ‘LB’ dashes your ship forward, creating a large explosion that decimates nearby enemies. Normally, executing this will require a cooldown of about 10 seconds before you can use it again, but timing and accuracy will allow you to chain together multiple strikes in one go.
The key is to aim at the upgrade pick-ups that appear periodically in the arena. Hit one of these with your strike and it will completely bypass the cooldown period, letting you use it again and again until you run out of pick-ups. Chaining your strikes together is a great way to boost your score, but the multiplier will quickly reset if you fail to maintain the chain.
Then we have the pick-ups themselves. You have a total of six attributes that you can improve during your runs: speed, score, strike, shield, missile, and blaster – specifically in that order. If you pick up one upgrade, you can immediately activate it and improve your speed. However, if you grab two, then you can upgrade your score – and so on. So essentially, if you want to improve your blaster, you’ll need to keep playing until you pick up six upgrades before activating it.
Captured on Nintendo Switch 2 (Handheld/Undocked)
Each attribute can be improved multiple times, lending the game a huge element of strategy as you figure out which ones you want to focus on. Building up your shields is a great way to stay alive against boss encounters, but leaving your blaster at its lowest level can make later stages more difficult.
Another pick-up you’ll need to keep an eye on will cycle through letters to form specific words. Depending on the difficulty setting, these words are ‘Mirage’, ‘Sektori’, and ‘Revolution’. Pick up all the letters and you’ll enter a temporary ‘rainbow’ state, powering up your abilities to the max while boosting your score exponentially. It’s well worth spending the time to complete each word, but you’ll want to time your pick-ups well, as it’s possible to snap up a letter you’ve already collected.
And finally, you have upgrade cards. Before each run, you’ll need to choose a total of eight decks from which to pull cards, and you can customise these as you gain more through unlocks. When you grab a rare, yellow pick-up during gameplay, you’re presented with three randomised decks to open. Some cards do very little, but rare ones can grant you decent upgrades like defensive drones or the ability to shoot backwards.
Captured on Nintendo Switch 2 (Docked)
There’s quite a lot to juggle, then, but when you’re in the heat of battle, it all comes together really well. All those extra bits and bobs are vital to achieving high scores, but fundamentally, they don’t get in the way of the core gameplay: shooting enemies, surviving, and having a damn good time doing it.
Oh, and did I mention that the arena actually morphs as you play? Yes, in addition to the hordes of enemies, the stage will completely change shape every 15 seconds or so, so make sure you don’t get caught in the red areas as it’s about to shift.
If there’s one drawback to all of this, however, it’s that the game doesn’t do the best job at explaining it all. There’s a brief tutorial at the start and some instruction pages on the main menu, but it took me a little while to realise that grabbing multiple pick-ups would cycle through your upgrades. Similarly, when the first selection of cards popped up on-screen, I didn’t have a clue what was going on. It doesn’t take long to figure it all out, but a bit more guidance from the game itself would be good.
Captured on Nintendo Switch 2 (Docked)
The main campaign mode has you work through individual stages, each of which ends with a formidable boss encounter. When you first start out, you’re forced into ‘Experience’ difficulty mode until you beat the first level, but make no mistake, this isn’t exactly easy.
The latter difficulty levels, ‘Challenge’ and ‘Revolution’, increase the number of enemies on screen and the rate at which they appear. To balance things out, however, your own rate of fire is also increased.
In another nod to Geometry Wars, there are six other modes to unlock as you play. These include ‘Gates’, which disables your weapons and has you fly through barriers to defeat enemies, and ‘Crash’, which only allows you to use the strike ability. Each mode has its own global leaderboard, so there’s plenty here to sink your teeth into.
Captured on Nintendo Switch 2 (Handheld/Undocked)
All of this is propped up by Sektori’s stellar presentation. Visually, it’s a bit darker and edgier than what you might see in a Geometry Wars game, but it’s still a trippy experience. Psychedelic patterns constantly swirl in the background, and the plethora of different coloured enemies all floating around the screen is a delight to behold. It all runs at a rock-solid 60fps with not a single noticeable dropped frame in both docked and handheld modes.
Similarly, music plays a huge role, with Tommi Lahtinen’s techno-based soundtrack bringing the action to life beautifully. In fact, the sound design as a whole is excellent, with punchy weapon sound effects, crunchy explosions when you execute a strike, and an anxiety-inducing alarm that blares out whenever the stages change shape.
Conclusion
Sektori is a triumph. Blending the core gameplay of Geometry Wars with several engaging new mechanics makes this one of the most satisfying and addictive games I’ve ever played. It boasts immaculate presentation with gorgeous visuals, a thumping soundtrack, and rock-solid 60fps gameplay.
Some of the new mechanics may take some getting used to, and Sektori could do a better job at explaining them. Once you’ve got your head around all of it, though, it’s impossible to put down. As far as twin-stick shooters go, Geometry Wars has been dethroned – there’s a new king in town.
Stardew Valley is pure pixel art paradise. You can live the life you want to, decorate your farm how you want, fall in love with whoever your heart desires (within some limits). And, for creator Eric ‘ConcernedApe’ Barone, it’s been his creative passion project for over a decade.
So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that, in an interview with Game Informer (paywalled), the developer is pretty firmly against the use of AI in any creative endeavour. (via GamesRadar).
“You’re offloading creativity to an algorithm, which I think is always gonna undermine the pure and authentic human element of what you’re doing,” Barone told the outlet, emphasising that he wouldn’t ever want to use AI for any sort of creative thing.”
No need to worry about AI in any future patches, or in the upcoming Haunted Chocolatier, then. “My goal is to express myself in a creative way. Why would I let an AI do that for me?”
While Barone acknowledges earlier in the interview that he understands AI’s appeal in “very specific zoomed-in cases, maybe,” (note that maybe), he is very much in-favour of human input.
“At the very least, let another human being express themselves if you need help… There are plenty of humans out there that would like an opportunity to express themselves.” And human expression can lead to human error and human quirks, things that an algorithm will never be able to replicate.
His last words on AI are ” I feel like [human creativity] should take priority over a soulless machine,” which for some reason, feels like a breath of fresh air in 2026.
We know plenty of developers and studios who are taking a firm stance against AI, but it’s hard to escape when studios like Square Enix and legends like Yuji Horii are pushing for genAi and chatbot inclusion in games, or when Sony talks up using AI in game development.
Luckily, there’s no shortage of games that don’t use genAI to replace human creativity, and Stardew and Haunted Chocolatier are just two of them.
In the same interview, Barone teased a little bit more of his follow-up life sim, which is still a ways off of releasing. He said it’ll be “way bigger” that Stardew, which is pretty impressive considering how much has been added to the farming sim over the years.
Do you agree with ConcernedApe on AI in games? Let us know in the comments.
In short, it’s a marvel. The game targets 30fps, which might sound disappointing at first, but DF stresses that this is a wise choice from developer MachineGames in order to achieve a more authentic visual experience in line with other consoles.
So for example, we’ve got proper strand-based hair tech, impressive screen-space reflections, and contact shadows. In addition, ray-traced global illumination (RTGI) is present and accounted for, with the tech often matching and occasionally exceeding the Xbox Series S.
Naturally of course, squeezing everything down to fit on a 64GB Switch 2 cart means that textures have taken a bit of a hit, but they’re still more or less on par with the Series S – at least if you don’t download the high-quality texture pack on the latter. Still, it’s an acceptable compromise that allows fans of physical media to play the game without having to go online.
DLSS is also utilised extensively to achieve a 1080p resolution when docked which, again, puts the Switch 2 version above the Series S in terms of image quality.
As for performance, the game mostly succeeds in hitting its 30fps target. Some drops are noticeable in larger, busier environments, while actions like combat and running can also impact performance. Similarly, to further optimise the experience, characters in the distance animate at 15fps, which is a technique seen in many other titles like Halo 5: Guardians, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided and, rather infamously, Pokémon Scarlet & Violet.
Overall though, it’s a bit of a beast that looks great and runs remarkably well on the Switch 2. It’s one of few titles to receive a proper physical launch, and for that it deserves some brownie points.
What do you make of the Indiana Jones port on Switch 2 so far? Having fun with it? Let us know with a comment.
In some surprise last-minute news, NIS America has announced that the Nintendo Switch 2 version of STARBITES has been delayed. The Switch 1 release is unaffected by this news, thankfully, and will still launch on 21st May 2026.
Publisher NIS hasn’t given us a new release date for Switch 2, nor any reason for the delay, simply stating that “more information will be shared when we are able to”.
Still, eight days before launch is a little surprising, and anyone wanting to play the game on a Nintendo system will now have to pick it up for Switch 1, which is getting a full physical release.
Interestingly, Starbites was originally scheduled to get a Game-Key Card release for Switch 2, but that scrapped back in March.
As far as we know, you’ll still be able to upgrade to the Switch 2 version — whenever it launches — for $4.99, so it’s not all bad news. As long as that remains true…
Let’s hope the game runs well enough on the older console, as it looks pretty intriguing. And hey, thank goodness for backwards compatibility, right?
Are you disappointed by this news? Were you looking forward to the Switch 2 version of the game? Let us know in the comments.
When Switch 2 was revealed, the power under the hood of Nintendo’s new hybrid device surprised many fans and developers. CD Projekt Red even displayed the system’s powerful visual capabilities early on with Cyberpunk 2077.
Despite this, you’re still likely to hear discussions about how long Nintendo’s new device will be able to keep up with future releases and the rest of the market. While this is a valid concern, BioShock creator Ken Levine believes hardware such as the Switch 2 (and even Valve’s upcoming Steam Machine) signal a shift.
Here’s what he had to say to IGN recently about this (via Frvr):
“[Realism] doesn’t age as well as more stylistic things. BioShock still looks good, I think, because it wasn’t trying to get every nut and bolt super realistically rendered…it was more stylised.
“Look at say, the Switch 2 and [even] the new Steam Machine coming out. Those are not massive technological upgrades obviously. That wasn’t their strategy. I think, people are realising that we’ve sort of hit a bit of diminishing returns with that.”
Levine says his own company, which is currently working on a spiritual successor to BioShock known as Judas, has never really focused on “ultra realism” because it’s expensive, and as noted above, “doesn’t age as well”.
He sums it up, stating developers who have the “right art director” and the “right approach” don’t need to be on the “cutting edge of technology all the time”.
What are your thoughts about Levine’s comments? Are ultra-realistic graphics your kind of thing, or would you rather see visuals that age more gracefully. Tell us in the comments.
We’ve already got some surprise news about the live-action Zelda movie today, with Nintendo confirming the release date has shifted from May to April 2027.
Adding to this are some new rumours. According to some casting websites and photos circulating on social media, there’ll be…potential spoiler alert…Goron and Kokiri in the upcoming film.
There are reportedly some names attached as well, and the Kokiri girl appears to be based on Link’s Nintendo 64 adventure Ocarina of Time, as highlighted by GoNintendo:
“First up, we’ve learned that Albert Latailakepa will be playing a Goron, but we don’t know if he’s tackling a specific Goron from throughout the franchise or just a generic member of the race. We’ve also discovered that a young girl named Evelyn Towersey will be playing Fado in the film. Fado is a Kokiri girl from Ocarina of Time, and she’s the one who teaches the player how to look around in first person.”
To top it off, there’s also supposedly a photo of a dog on the Zelda production set doing the rounds, and it looks very familiar to a canine featured in Zelda: Breath of the Wild. As many have pointed out, the dog also has an identification badge with the film’s rumoured codename “Umami” on it.
This same “Umami” title was previously spotted on a clipboard for the movie. The actors mentioned above also apparently had this name listed on their profiles under their film credentials, but this information appears to have now been removed from the casting websites.
Of course, casting leaks aren’t always the most accurate, so Zelda fans may just have to wait until the film is out, or Nintendo officially shares a trailer or more details about its new live-action movie.
What are your thoughts about the latest casting rumours? What extended cast are you expecting to pop up in this live-action movie? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Last week’s Star Foxannouncement left me feeling a little mixed. On the one hand, yay, Star Fox again! On the other, oh, Star Fox 64 again.
Truthfully, I didn’t know what to make of the big reveal that Star Fox was really another remake, a reimagining, of Star Fox 64. Maybe it was the fact that I was watching the surprise Direct in a half-shocked daze, minutes before falling asleep, and at the time, it felt like a gap-plug announcement with a vague whiff of “we’ve got this Fox guy in the big new Super Mario Galaxy Movie, what’s the easiest way we can get a game out with his face on the cover?” I was excited, but perhaps a little underwhelmed.
I’m a good bit removed from the reveal now, and I’ve got to say, I’ve changed my mind. I’m now completely on board with Star Fox on Switch 2, and will be there on day one to see what Nintendo has done with the ’97 classic.
Why the sudden change of heart? Well, I replayed Star Fox 64.
I’m sure that many of were in the same boat this past weekend. Star Fox fever is in the air, and with the 64 original right there on NSO, it would have been rude not to. It had been a good few years since I last made the trek from Corneria to Venom, but it’s got to be said, the game still rips. There’s not an ounce of fat on it, the score is phenomenal, and Sector X made me just as scared as it did when I first played it back in the early 2000s.
But some cracks started to show. I’ve long been of the opinion that Star Fox 64 is a near-perfect game, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement. Suddenly, the prospect of a modern remake started to make a lot of sense.
We’ll start with the whistle-stop nature of it all. Star Fox 64 is an arcade game at heart, an on-rails space shooter that you can blast through in an hour or two, all about replays and getting top scores. It’s one of the things that I love about the original, but in 2026, something tells me that such a loop won’t slide with everyone.
The rise of the roguelike means we’re all used to diving back into things for another run, but after seeing the game’s 15 levels (all of which I can wrap up in a few minutes) and exploring some different routes, that’s about ‘yer lot. I get the impression that high-score chasing isn’t quite as appealing these days as it was in ’97. The price tag is a welcome surprise, of course, but it’s still some pounds to pay for just a few mere hours of entertainment.
Based on that reveal trailer, it seems the Switch 2 remake has more meat on the bone. Those extra cutscenes are bound to beef up the runtime a little, but I’m more interested in that new ‘Challenge Mode’, and the level-specific replayability it’ll no doubt bring. I’m absolutely the kind of player who will return to every single locale just to put a virtual tick in a virtual box, so that’s another few hours right from the jump.
The Direct’s focus on online multiplayer has me hopeful there will be a thriving scene to get involved with there, too — the three game modes look varied enough, and there’s always room for Nintendo to add more down the line. Sure, the 3DS remake boasted many of these too, but I never made much use of the handheld’s online functionality, so it’ll be nice to see things that bit bigger this time around.
Image: Nintendo
The other thing that struck me on this replay, and feel free to get your pitchforks and torches ready now, is that 19 years on, Star Fox 64’s visuals ain’t all that. [Hey now, watch it, Jim… Ed.] I remember the dogfights and planet traversal blowing my socks off back in the day, but times have changed, and no amount of nostalgia filtering can convince me that this still looks good in the way that Ocarina of Time, Pokémon Snap, or Banjo-Kazooie do.
The jury’s still out on the new character designs for me, but seeing an Arwing leave 4K spray trail in Zoness’ waters or glow with the HDR heat of Solar’s flames left my lips pursed in a permanent ‘oof‘ expression. This isn’t the kind of “visual upgrade” we saw on 3DS, but an entire from-the-ground-up reworking. It looks wonderful.
And yeah, now that your pitchforks are sharpened, I’ll throw in a mention of the N64 control scheme, too. Try as you might, I’ll never be convinced that the N64’s multi-button somersaults and wonky aiming are part of its retro charm, but at least that option is still there for you ’90s sickos. Mouse Mode and the potential for some gyro precision are something that I can get behind. Throw in some of that HD Rumble 2 magic, and we might be talking about one of the best-feeling games on the system.
Let me reaffirm that none of this is to the detriment of Star Fox 64 in its original state — I still had a blast with it, and will likely return to it again in the future for a swift nostalgia kick. But I left feeling pleasantly optimistic that Star Fox on Switch 2 could make the great even greater.
Only time will tell whether it actually can do that, of course, but at least I’m excited to dive back in now. If all else fails, 42 quid for a bundle of GameChat AR filters and James McCloud’s new sunglasses sounds like a pretty good deal.
Will you be returning to Star Fox 64 before playing the remake on Switch 2? Let us know in the following poll, then take to the comments to tell us the change you’re most excited for.
Will you be replaying Star Fox 64 before the Switch 2 remake? (140 votes)
James Bond is known for utilising some swanky tech when chasing down his foes, but with 007 First Light, the character will don a pair of real-life smart glasses from tech firm Even Realities.
A recent announcement from the company confirms that it has entered into a strategic partnership with IO Interactive to bring its flagship Even G2 glasses to the game, marking the first instance a piece of real-life wearable tech has been implemented into a playable Bond experience.
The glasses will appear as an in-game gadget via a post-launch update, though how it will function is currently unknown. Chances are, however, is that it will boast a similar experience to its real-life counterpart, enabling instant on-screen prompts and environmental context.
Will Wang, CEO of Even Realities, had the following to say:
“We build technology that doesn’t shout for attention – but amplifies human potential. Partnering with IO Interactive to bring the Even G2 into a James Bond game makes perfect sense: both worlds value intelligence, discretion, and design that performs when it matters most. In a way, this collaboration is about doubling the intelligence: the glasses’ invisible power working alongside Bond’s legendary instincts, to achieve anything possible.”
First Light is currently scheduled to launch this Summer for the Switch 2 following a 27th May release on other platforms. IOI’s CEO recently stressed that the team has no plans to cancel the Switch 2 version, but it’s nevertheless keen to take the time to make sure the experience is up to scratch.
What do you make of this collaboration? Do you own a pair of smart glasses yourself? Let us know with a comment.
The next generation of Pokémon may be at least a year away, but The Pokémon Company appears to be ushering the new generation in steadily anyway, and what better way to do so than with a behind-the-scenes look at the recording of Pokémon Winds & Waves‘ main theme.
This beautiful recording was performed by the NHK Symphony Orchestra, which has partnered with The Pokémon Company before, notably for a special orchestra at the 2023 Worlds.
Swaying between calm and epic, just like the winds and the waves might, the video is a fantastic listen and well worth watching for Pokémon music aficionados.
We heard the main theme back in the reveal trailer, but this is just a whole new level. Can you imagine a fully-orchestrated soundtrack for Winds & Waves? We’d love that.
The NHK Symphony Orchestra will actually be going on tour in Japan later this year to celebrate its 100th anniversary and Pokémon’s 30th anniversary and the NHK’s 100th anniversary. Pre-sale is due to go live on 14th May for members.
Most of us will have to make do with this video, though. Ah well. We’re pretty excited for Winds & Waves, which is coming exclusively to Switch 2 in 2027, so this will keep us happy for the time being.
Are you excited for Pokémon Winds & Waves? What do you think of the main theme recording? Let us know in the comments.
