The Kirby Air Riders amiibo line will be expanding, with Nintendo officially revealing two more figures today.
This includes Sword Kirby & Dragoon and Noir Dedede & Hydra. A release date hasn’t been shared for these amiibo yet. When we find out more, we’ll let you know. For now, here’s a look:
A release date for Dedede & Tank Star has also been locked in. It will be arriving on 2nd July 2026. Ahead of this, Meta Knight & Devil Star is out this week, and there’s a special in-game event starting today “Strike Back with Devil Star”, which will run until 10th March 2026.
Image: Nintendo
In some other Kirby Air Riders news this week, Nintendo released the game’s Switch 2 soundtrack on its Nintendo Music mobile application. It also shared a new interview featuring the game’s composers.
This brings the Kirby Air Riders amiibo count to seven figures in total. Have you got any of these Kirby themed amiibo yet? Let us know in the comments.
In a franchise update, Head of Content Jean Guesdon provided news on projects Hexe and Invictus, the former being a proper narrative driven mainline entry in the series, and the latter a PvP title from the For Honor team at Ubisoft Montreal. It sounds like Hexe is still quite a way off, with the team looking to “be quiet for a while longer”.
It’s also been confirmed that support for Assassin’s Creed Shadow will begin to wind down, with the team promising smaller and less frequent updates. Not a huge surprise at this stage, and it’s nice to see Ubisoft continually improving upon what is already an excellent game.
Most importantly, however, Guesdon provided an official tease for Black Flag Resynced, posting some official concept art for the title along with the following message:
Speculation around Assassin’s Creed is not new, but it’s worth repeating: “Nothing is true. Everything is permitted.” Well, except in this case, some whispers have a little more wind in their sails. Keep your spyglass on the horizon.
Image: Ubisoft
Of course, it’s not a given that Resynced will even come to the Switch 2, but given that Ubisoft managed to get Shadows running so well on Nintendo’s platform, we’ve got our fingers crossed for a cheeky little release.
Well, there you go! Are you excited to see more from this project? Share your thoughts with a comment.
Nintendo, as is customary after a major games showcase, has released a handy infographic containing every Switch 1 & 2 game featured in the latest Indie World.
Granted, it’s not quite as packed as some of the full-fat Directs we’ve seen in the past, but at 15 minutes in length (or 25 minutes if you’re in Japan), we weren’t expecting an avalanche of games anyway. What was shown, however, is incredibly intriguing and we’re really keen to see more in the coming weeks and months.
Take Denshattack!, for example. We’ve had our fingers crossed that this would be confirmed for the Switch 2, and it’s finally happened. It looks like the kind of game you’d stumble across on a PS2 demo disc, which is quite fortuitous since there’s a free demo available right now on the eShop. Give it a go!
We’ve also got Blue Prince, of course, which launched shortly after the presentation, along with two more shadow-drops in the form of Rotwood and MiniShoot’ Adventures. We’re also especially keen to see more on Blighted from Drinkbox Studios – that team just doesn’t miss, y’know?
Ever since Pokémon Legends: Z-A came out last year, a thought has been brewing that I haven’t been able to shake. It was amplified as I watched the EUIC battles in February, and then cropped up again as I sat, mouth agape, at the Winds and Waves trailer. After 30 years, is it time to reset the Pokédex?
Now, put those pitchforks away. I’m not trying to present either side of the argument as ‘correct’ here — I remember the fallout after the announcement that you wouldn’t be able to catch Pikachu in Black and White — but catching ’em all has never been as magical as it was in early generations, and one way to rectify that might be by sending ol’ Charizard off to the farm.
But let’s go back to where this thought all began. Naturally, I wasn’t expecting to catch any new Pokémon in Legends: Z-A with its lineup of returning faces, but as I gradually unlocked more of Lumiose’s Wild Zones and encountered more creatures, I noticed a pattern emerging: I was assembling almost the exact same team that I’ve been using for the past 10 years.
It’s an age-old formula that I’m sure will be familiar to everyone who’s a Pokémon fan but still isn’t brave enough to use passive moves. We have the fully evolved starter, likely levels above everyone else on the team; the early-game bird, equally over-levelled (let’s admit it, it’s usually Pidgeot); and whatever Legendary can be picked up in the late game.
The remaining three spots are pulled from a pool of probably ~10 Pokémon, depending on which type I’m lacking after the starter and Legendary picks — Jolteon, Gyarados, Dragonite, Gardevoir, Lucario, Gengar…you get the picture.
Image: Nintendo Life / The Pokémon Company
This is the same team structure that I’ve used since around Gen VI, and it works. But it does mean that I have started to play Pokémon games differently. In Legends: Z-A, wild encounters became a tick sheet, drafting a team based on what I knew would work rather than any of the adventure and experimentation I felt back in the day.
It was a similar process with Scarlet and Violet, where my team draft would pass over the 107 newbies for the 393 returning ‘mon instead. And after all of those familiar faces we saw in the Winds and Waves reveal trailer, I fear it’s going to happen again in Gen X.
I noticed a pattern emerging: I was assembling almost the exact same team that I’ve been using for the past 10 years.
The competitive scene is a different kettle of Magikarp, obviously, one completely defined by the current meta and what the rest of the competition is falling back on, but team picks have grown stale over there, too. I’ve seen so many Incineroars, Flutter Manes, Urshifus, Raging Bolts, and Rillabooms by this point that it’d feel useless trying to compete with anything but the old favourites.
It’s too late for WinWav (as I’m sure nobody will be calling it), of course, but is it time we got a Pokémon game that wiped the slate clean, and gave us only new creatures to catch?
The pros feel immediately obvious to me. With no pre-existing knowledge of a generation’s highlights, every encounter would feel like something new, hopefully recapturing some of that sweet sense of adventure we all experienced with our first Pokémon games. It would also encourage experimentation, giving all critters a chance to shine as we worked out their strengths and weaknesses. Heck, throw a new type or two in there for good measure; that’ll really shake things up.
So long, partners — Image: Nintendo Life / The Pokémon Company
It’s not a plan without its pitfalls, mind you. Familiarity is one of Pokémon’s defining traits, and that extends to the Pokédex, too. People want to know what’s around the corner, they want to be able to catch a Pikachu, and there’s something nice about seeing a familiar face and going, “I know you! You’re really powerful!” Dropping the pre-existing 1,025-strong National Dex means that wouldn’t be possible. And without its mascots, is Pokémon really Pokémon?
Perhaps Black & White’s approach is the ultimate middle ground, then. The idea of giving us only the Unova Pokédex for the main game and saving the National expansion for a post-game treat felt wild 15 years ago (15 years ago today in Europe, in fact — happy birthday, Gen V!), but is this exactly the kind of encouragement we need to take the games’ new ‘mon seriously? There’s no way I would have given my now-beloved Axew evolution line the time of day if I had been able to pick up a Dratini before it.
But what do you think? Is it time the Pokémon moved on from its National Pokédex and gave us something brand new, or do you think the old favourites should stay? You can let us know in the following poll.
Is it time to reset the National Pokédex? (1,811 votes)
Yep! Scrap ’em all and let’s start fresh20%
Hmm, let’s just save the returning ‘mon until the end, à la Gen V50%
No way! The classics have GOT to stay20%
We don’t need any new Pokémon, 1,025 is more than enough!10%
Which option got your vote? Is it time for Pikachu to retire? Let us know in the comments.
Though it seems Capcom only recently remembered that they can make a new Mega Man game, there was once a time where the Blue Bomber was so prevalent that many fans were suffering from some series burnout. In the span of about five years, we were getting hosed with new entries in the Classic, X, ZX, and Battle Network series, and the Mega Man Star Force series came into the picture in the middle of this period.
Now that all but that last one have received successful Legacy Collections on modern platforms, it was only a matter of time before Capcom would give Geo Stelar another shot at the spotlight after what many saw as a truncated and early finish to his adventures.
Mega Man Star Force: Legacy Collection gives these beloved DS games exactly the polish that they need, falling right in line with the other previous Mega Man collections in offering you a ‘vanilla+’ experience in which you can play through some timeless games with a few modern enhancements and adjustments if you’d like to use them.
I was a huge fan of the Mega Man Battle Network games back in the day, but admittedly never got into Star Force other than a brief dabble with the third game on my DSi, and it’s been rather interesting giving the games a deeper look now for this revisit.
After six games, Capcom capitalised on the opportunity to shake up the Battle Network formula a bit with a new cast and slightly modified gameplay, but I’m not yet sure if I’d say that Star Force is the Mega Man X to Battle Network’s Mega Man.
There are some awesome ideas on display, but in some ways it feels like the development team was still struggling to figure out how to make the gameplay feel both innovative and approachable after six Battle Network games paved a strong trail.
Even so, there’s something about the mixture of heartfelt shonen story themes, snappy card-based battling, and exploration of this futuristic world that feels cosy, charming, and engaging in a distinct way that few other RPGs have captured before or since. I think comparing Star Force to its predecessor will always lead to some clear discrepancies, but viewed on its own, there’s a lot to love about this series and it deserves to be celebrated for its many successes.
While I’ll have a full assessment of the included games’ quality coming your way in due course, I think it’s worth mentioning some of the nice quality-of-life features included in the remaster. Capcom has gone beyond offering just a simple ‘easy mode’ modifier and gives you granular control with sliders that can alter things like encounter rates, damage output, zenny acquisition, and even run speed.
The first two games were a little janky in some regards, so being able to do things like dialing down the infamously high encounter rate in Star Force 2 goes a long way in smoothing over some of those rougher edges.
Throw in a brand-new online battle suite and a whole host of gallery and museum content, and you’ve got a package that has the potential to be the definitive way to play through the Star Force saga. The devs seem to have gone above and beyond a quick and dirty ROM dump job with this collection and I’m excited to see the renewed debates this remaster will inevitably ignite about the place the Star Force series deserves in the greater Mega Man canon. It’s good to have the Blue Bomber back!
Mega Man Star Force: Legacy Collection launches on Switch on 27th March. Look out for our review nearer the time, and let us know below if you’re excited for this one.
Planet of Lana released in 2023 to strong reviews, but flew under the radar. Wishfully Game’s short and sweet indie platform puzzler was a real treat, with its painterly style and cute central partnership at its centre.
While the original is still well worth seeking out, the story is quickly recapped in the opening moments of Planet of Lana 2. In short, Lana and her cat-like companion Mui had their peaceful existence shattered by a rain of hostile robots falling from the sky and running amok across their home planet of Novo.
It is now two years later, and their world has changed. Society has harnessed the very technology that once tried to capture and kill them. Tribal factions have splintered across the land and technology even encroaches on Lana’s quaint fishing village. There is some semblance of balance in this new normal.
Captured on Nintendo Switch 2 (Handheld/Undocked)
As you can imagine, the fragile status quo does not last and after a brief tutorial, Lana and her sister are attacked, leaving the younger girl poisoned. Big sister must venture out in search of ingredients to make a cure. With Mui in tow, her journey leads back into the wild, where she encounters an even more evolved technological threat. She also starts to uncover secrets surrounding the robot’s presence on Novo.
There is a compelling mystery unravelling across Planet of Lana 2. The worldbuilding is strong and the story is all the more intriguing thanks to the use of a constructed language, which shifts most of the narrative burden onto the visuals. Interactions between Lana and other NPCs are subtitled, but the majority of the game is made up of a genuinely sweet, wordless companionship.
The beautiful hand-painted style of the environments creates an atmospheric and often terrifying world. There is a strong contrast between biomes, and the fusion of wild nature and cold metal is striking. All of this builds a rich, cohesive sense of place. This mood is elevated further by an intoxicating, brass-driven score that recalls the melancholy suites of Disco Elysium.
Captured on Nintendo Switch 2 (Handheld/Undocked)
Travelling across Novo is treacherous, with both Lana and Mui defenceless and unable to face any threat head-on. Inspired by the mix of puzzling and stealth seen in modern cinematic platformers like Limbo, Inside, and the Little Nightmares series, Wishfully also draws clear influence from genre classics such as Éric Chahi’s Another World.
Mechanically, Planet of Lana 2 plays much like these inspirations. Timing-based platforming and stealth with an extra sprinkle of traversal sequences based around Lana’s new sliding and wall jump abilities. Where it differs from its peers is the unique management of Mui and the abilities of creatures around you. Lana can command her alien feline pal, telling them where to go and recalling them at will. The cute little critter also emits an energy pulse which can both disable technology and control other wildlife. Lana herself can hack some of the neutral worker bots, adding an extra dimension to puzzles.
Captured on Nintendo Switch 2 (Handheld/Undocked)
Each area you travel to in the hunt for medicinal ingredients will have a unique animal that Mui can control, adding a specific flavour of progression. This breaks up the usual routine of sneaking past enemies and performing timed platforming. For those who played through the first game, you won’t be seeing more of the same. There’s a dark edge to the wildlife manipulation as well, Mui and Lana send countless creatures to a grisly demise in service of getting to their goal.
The platforming follows the genre trend of requiring precise action with the slightest (purposeful) input delay. This isn’t a fast-twitch title like Hollow Knight; Lana’s animation is methodical. Solving puzzles, specifically timing-based ones, requires you to plan ahead of time and then execute a strategy, rather than zoom ahead on a wing and a prayer. Instant death awaits the slightest lapse in timing.
That’s not to say Planet Of Lana 2 is difficult in any way; most of its challenges are intuitive and you won’t often be stuck for a solution. It’s perhaps a bit too brief and can be finished in a few hours if the puzzles click with you straight away.
Captured on Nintendo Switch 2 (Docked)
The game arrives on Switch as well, with a free Switch 2 upgrade available on release. Both versions run well on their respective systems, with the Switch 2 Edition boasting better performance (60fps at 1080p both handheld and docked) and faster loading. The fuzzy edges and pixelation of Lana’s first adventure are gone, Wishfully having refined their visual style in between games. Outlines are sharp in both versions and undocked mode looks particularly crisp and vibrant.
Conclusion
A visually intoxicating journey across an alien world, as full of cute critters as it is murderous robots. Planet of Lana 2 builds on the original game with a wider scope and worthwhile mechanical changes. The mix of stealth, platforming and Mui-based puzzles keeps Lana’s journey feeling fresh throughout.
Capcom has announced that Resident Evil Requiem has already sold over 5 million copies since its release on 27th February 2026 (thanks, Eurogamer). Yeah, that’s 5 million in less than a week, folks.
We’re not sure what the platform split is for this running total, but with the combined release of the standalone game and the Generation Pack bundle, we imagine the Switch 2 has seen its fair share of sales. Regardless, this is a stellar start for the game, and a true indication that audience appetite for highly curated, single-player experiences is still extremely high.
The best-selling entry in the series so far is Resident Evil 2 remake, which initially launched in 2019 and is currently sitting at 16.8 million units. It’s much too early to say whether Requiem will come close to or even surpass this number, but Resident Evil games tend to sell well over long periods of time, particularly when discounts are applied later down the line.
As for the series as a whole, Capcom has confirmed that it’s now sitting at a running total of 183 million units sold, making it the company’s most successful franchise by a sizeable margin. Monster Hunter is, however, quickly closing the gap, with both Monster Hunter World and Monster Hunter Rise surpassing Resident Evil 2’s sales at 22 million and 18.2 million respectively. The series is currently sitting at 125 million units sold in total.
In our review of Resident Evil Requiem, we called it “an experience paced to perfection”, praising the dual protagonist setup, nostalgic story, and blend of action and survival horror. The lack of a Mercenaries mode proved somewhat disappointing, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see this added as DLC.
What do you make of Requiem’s sales performance so far? Do you think it might eventually surpass Resident Evil 2? Let us know with a comment.
This week, one seemingly popped up, when the support studio Iron Galaxy (who previously teamed up with Bethesda and Microsoft on games such as Killer Instinct, Skyrim, and Fallout 76) posted a photo on social media tied in with its latest meeting focused on “what the company’s been up to and what’s coming up next”.
Fallout fans were quick to identify one slide as a loading screen from Fallout: New Vegas (a game which is already rumoured to be making a return), but apparently, there’s “nothing to see here”. The official response mentions how the team just loves Fallout, and the slide supposedly has “nothing to do” with anything related to “Fallout being worked on” at the studio.
Iron Galaxy Studios: “Sorry to disturb the volcanoes, but that was just a BTS look at our company meeting. We use that slide every month and has nothing to do with anything Fallout being worked on. As you can imagine, we love Fallout, too. Now pardon us as we retreat back into our vault.”
Iron Galaxy has also helped out with Retro Studios’ Metroid Prime Remastered game for the Switch. This response from the studio follows Bethesda’s news last week that it will be adding DLSS support and stability improvements to the Switch 2 version of Fallout 4: Anniversary Edition in a future update.
It has also rolled out an update for the Switch 2 version of Skyrim recently, adding graphics and performance options.
What do you make of this? What other Fallout games would you like to see make a return now that we’ve got Fallout 4 on the Switch 2? Tell us in the comments.
The new Pokémon game Pokémon Pokopia is almost here, and ahead of its Switch 2 release, the title has received a new update.
If you’ve already preloaded the game, and this update isn’t already preinstalled, you’ll be prompted to update your copy. According to the official update from the development team, this day-one update fixes some bugs and is also required to unlock the online content.
Version 1.0.1: “Fixed some bugs. *The latest updated data is required to play online elements. *If you play with local communication, you need to match the version of the update data with the person you are playing with.”
Pokémon Pokopia will also be released in stores as a Game-Key Card, so users who purchase this version will be required to download the title, including this latest update.
If you’re still unsure about this relaxing life simulation, reviews are now live. Here on Nintendo Life, we gave it eight out of ten stars and called it the “freshest Pokémon experience in a long time”. We also mentioned how there were a few gameplay and progression issues that need ironing out.
If you haven’t already seen it, we’ve also got a review up for the Switch eShop versions of Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen.
Will you be getting this game on Switch 2? Have you downloaded this update yet? Let us know in the comments.
If you love role-playing games, you might want to tune into Bandai Namco’s “new RPG reveal”, taking place this week.
This special event will air on 5th March or 6th March, depending on your location. The brief teaser trailer shows what appears to be a fantasy world, and towards the end of the video you can see a character equipped with a sword and shield.
The official Bandai Namco social posts also include the following line:
Bandai Namco: “A serenity soon to be disturbed.”
Image: Bandai Namco
You can click on the video above to double-check your local time. On the RPG front, Bandai Namco is known for series such as Sword Art Online, Tales Of, and has also published games such as FromSoftware’s Elden Ring.
Capcom has also announced a spotlight showcase for this week. Both of these events will follow Nintendo’s recent Indie World presentation.
When this title is officially revealed, we’ll let you know. What are you hoping to see from this new RPG reveal? Give us your best guess in the comments below.
