Latest Features
You 'Ware it well
Welcome once again to Catch-up Crew, where Nintendo Life staffers assemble for a mission to explore an old classic, with veterans leading new recruits into the unknown. Last time we examined Rareware's Donkey Kong Country on the SNES. For today's mission, we're taking a look at WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!, or
Poll Box Art Brawl - Duel: Hatris
Hats off
Welcome one and all, to another edition of Box Art Brawl (hey, that rhymes)! Last week, we looked at a brand-new release with Sonic X Shadow Generations, Sega's latest (and greatest) 3D Sonic title for the Switch. North America and Europe went against Japan for this one, and it was the latter that came out on top with 60% of the vote. A...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (9th November)
Ship shape
Another week with a sliver of official 'Switch 2' news? Gosh, Nintendo, you really do know how to spoil us! Yes, accompanying Nintendo's quarterly financial report this week, company president Shuntaro Furukawa confirmed that the Switch successor will be backwards compatible and the Nintendo Switch Online service will carry over too. It...
Feature The Results Of Our 2024 Switch Summer Survey Are In
Switch On
A couple of months ago we reached out to Nintendo Life readers with our Switch Summer Survey, a chunky questionnaire designed (with your help) to assess the state of all things Nintendo and Switch as the console cruises through its eighth year - and as our thoughts inevitably turn to its successor. This 70-question blowout covered...
Feature "I Don’t Want To See It Fizzle Out” - Stardew Valley Creator On Why He Can't Give It Up
"I feel like I could work on it for the rest of my life"
Back at the end of August we travelled to Seattle to attend PAX West and had the incredible opportunity to spend half an hour with none other than Eric Barone, AKA ConcernedApe. If you don’t know who Eric is, he’s the creator of Stardew Valley; the smash hit farming game from 2016, which...
Reaction Rest Easy, Folks, Your Switch Backlog Ain't Going Anywhere
Backwards coming forwards
In a deft move of redirection, Nintendo has anticipated investor disappointment in its 'numbers are down' six-month financials and changed the conversation by revealing a tidbit about Switch 2: the Switch successor will be backwards compatible with current Switch software. Confirmed by company president Shuntaro Furukawa...
Talking Point Nintendo's Latest Financials Make One Thing Abundantly Clear
Echoes of Switchdom
Blimey, has it already been three months since the last lot? Yes, it's time for another round of Nintendo financial results, and we can soon expect the usual investor Q&A with Shuntaro Furukawa and co. deflecting questions about the Switch "successor" and then explaining how the Nintendo Music app is one example of the...
Feature Nintendo Life eShop Selects & Readers' Choice (October 2024)
Our picks for the best eShop games in October
eShop Selects is back once again to tuck you in for the cosy autumnal weather! We can't believe there's only a few more months left until 2025. That doesn't feel right. And with a busy November ahead, it's only right we start stockpiling some video games. As always, our staff and contributors voted for...
Poll Box Art Brawl - Duel: Sonic X Shadow Generations
Live and learn
It's time for another clash of the covers as we dive into this week's Box Art Brawl! Before we meet our contemporary contenders, let's throw things back to last week when we matched up a trio of designs for the NES classic Kid Icarus. The votes were pretty evenly spread across our three options, but it was ultimately Japan's...
Feature The History Of SaGa, Square's Weirdest, Bravest RPG Series
A saga of SaGa
Final Fantasy. Kingdom Hearts. Mana. Dragon Quest. Chrono. Star Ocean. Valkyrie. Bravely. Square Enix has no shortage of RPG franchises under its belt, from those it's developed in-house to beloved classics that it's acquired over the years. But among all the space-faring ac
Guide 49 Games You Should Pick Up In Nintendo's Halloween Switch eShop Sale (Europe)
Every game we scored 9/10 or higher
This spooky sale is almost over! Things wrap up on 3rd November, so make sure you've made the most of the following discounted delights while they're still available... Spooky season is almost upon us so Nintendo is celebrating the only way it knows how: a big old eShop sale. The creatively named 'Halloween...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (2nd November)
Wandering Kamurochō
The weekend is here folks, so it's time to wash away the stresses of the working week and relax with some gaming. Before we find out what we're up to this week, however, let's see what's been going on in the world of Nintendo. It's been a bit of a big week, and although we didn't get the 'Switch 2' reveal that many were perhaps...
Poll Is Next Week’s Investor Q&A Really Reason Enough For A 'Switch 2' Reveal?
Or will it be more 'no comments'?
Yesterday, Nintendo surprised us all when it announced that Xenoblade Chronicles X would be making its way over to Switch in a swanky new 'Definitive Edition' package. For a sweet couple of minutes, our minds were focused on the Switch's 2025 line-up and the sheer mass of Monolith Soft RPG goodness that we'll soon...
Reaction With Xenoblade Chronicles X On Switch, The Wii U's Demise Is Complete
Farewell, friend
Over the last several weeks, Nintendo fans have been absolutely itching for news on the upcoming Switch successor; news that, if today's announcement is anything to go by, likely won't be occurring until 2025. Alas, the blow has been significantly softened by the reveal that Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition will be making...
Feature What Review Score Would You Give Sonic X Shadow Generations?
The ultimate lifeform?
If you've been zooming around Green Hill, Radical Highway, and City Escape over the weekend, then chances are you've been familiarising yourself with the recently-released Sonic X Shadow Generations. Well, now's the time to let us know what you think of it. We've already provided our opinion with an enthusiastic 9/10 review,...
Feature The Man, The Mascot, The Moustache - The Many Faces Of Mario
It’s-a-him
The early days of video gaming saw the birth of so many iconic characters, console stars that endure to this day. Amongst that early litany there is, of course, Super Mario. Mario Mario to his friends. Who would’ve thought 100-odd squares would one day become one of the most recognisable characters on the face of the Earth? He’s...
Poll Box Art Brawl: Kid Icarus (NES)
Angelic
Hey everyone, welcome to another edition of Box Art Brawl! Before we get cracking with this week's battle, let's see how things panned out last time. We took a look at Balloon Fight for the NES, a bonafide Joust-inspired classic from legendary developers such as Satoru Iwata and Yoshio Sakamoto. It was a close call on this one, but...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (26th October)
Could spooky season be upon us?
Well, the working week has come to a close and it's time to kick back with a spot of gaming. Welcome to another edition of What Are You Playing! This week on Nintendo Life, we lamented Nintendo's attempts to keep its recent playtest under wraps, ran down some of the highlights in the latest North American and
Talking Point What Is Nintendo Thinking Trying To Keep The Lid On This Playtest Program?
Would you kindly not discuss the new Nintendo thing?
Good news, everyone! We've played the mysterious Nintendo Switch Online Playtest Program, an online-only experience that, according to Nintendo, is open to just 10,000 lucky participants. Oh yes. Team NL was ready and waiting earlier in October to rapidly register for this first-come-first-served...
Guide Every Game In The Switch eShop 'Screaming Deals' Sale (North America)
Horrifically tempting
Nintendo has another Switch eShop sale on the go with a bunch of scary (and not so scary) titles discounted for the Halloween season. This one runs until 1st November 2024 and features the likes of Animal Well, Balatro, Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance, Signalis, and many more. As normal, we've collated every game featured in...
Feature What Pokémon Could Learn From Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom
Ekans of Wisdom
In my first few hours playing Echoes of Wisdom, every new enemy I stumbled across gave me a familiar thrill: Ooh, I haven’t seen that one yet! I can’t wait to have its power! I’d flick through my Echoes, discerning the best one to fight the newbie. A Spark defeated a Hydrozol, a team of Ignizols set a Mothula on fire. And when...
Poll What Review Score Would You Give Super Mario Party Jamboree?
Nice or Dice?
If you've been spending your weekend rolling dice with Mario and the gang and have thoughts to share, you're in luck! It's time to let us know what you make of Super Mario Party Jamboree. This one promised the "biggest Mario Party yet" and it appears to have done just that. With seven playable boards, a couple of new characters...
Preview Mario & Luigi: Brothership - A Couple Of Concerns, But Otherwise Looking Shipshape
Ahoy-hoy!
We've already had a fairly extensive hands-on with the latest in the long-running Mario & Luigi RPG series and, coming off the back of that two-level taster, we've been chomping at the bit to get our hands on the full thing. Luckily, having now taken in everything the first 10 hours or thereabouts has to offer, we're still full to the...
Poll Box Art Brawl: Balloon Fight (NES)
Full of hot air
Hey everyone, welcome to another edition of Box Art Brawl! Last time, we took a look at Mario Party Advance for the GBA (fittingly). There were only two different covers to take in, but it was the North American/European design that walked away with the gold, taking 63% of the vote and leaving Japan's rectangular variant with the...
Feature A Trip To Machida, The Real-Life 'Pallet Town' That Inspired Pokémon
Pokén around
The first generation of Pokémon games features some of the most iconic locations in the entire franchise. The eerie Lavender Town, the winding Viridian Forest, and the quaint Pallet Town where all players start their journey. Pallet Town isn’t just a fanciful creation, but draws real-life inspiration from Pokémon creator Satoshi...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (19th October)
Let's kill some time
The weekend is here, which means it's time to kick back and enjoy some quality time with games. Before we find out what we're diving into, however, let's take a look back at some of this week's biggest stories. First up, it looks like the GameCube controller might be making some sort of comeback, which is pretty wild. We also...
Feature 'Nairi: Rising Tide' Dev On Standing Out In Switch's Cosy Crowd Six Years On
"We expect future chapters to roll out in a timelier fashion. Hopefully."
Back in 2018, Dutch indie studio HomeBear — a two-person team made up of partners Joshua van Kuilenburg and You Miichi — released NAIRI: Tower Of Shirin, a lovingly-made point-and-click adventure game which we awarded an 8/10 in our review. It's been a fair old while, but...
Talking Point Just How Damaging Is This Big Pokémon Leak?
Typhlosion of interest
As the dust settles and details emerge following the latest round of internal video game company material finding its way onto the World Wide Web, it's a stark reminder that those monolithic companies we follow are made up of regular, ordinary people. Talented, yes — and erm, imaginative, to say the least — but still just...
Talking Point Is It Time For Another Side-Scrolling Zelda Game?
2D or not 2D?
This time last year, the thought of having a new top-down Zelda in our hands felt like a pipe dream. But then Echoes of Wisdom came along and reaffirmed the idea that the future of the series might not be an exclusively open-world, 3D affair. But our minds are now drifting to the franchise's other style, one we haven't seen used in...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (12th October)
Haven't you beaten Zelda yet?
Put your Alarmo on snooze and settle into the weekend, it's time for another edition of What Are You Playing! If that opening line wasn't enough of a reminder, we got the announcement of new Nintendo hardware this week (but not that one). Yes, Nintendo revealed the Nintendo Sound Clock: Alarmo, a device that only the...
Feature 10 Years Ago, Nintendo Launched The Very Best 3DS
Practically perfect in every way
When it comes to Nintendo handhelds, it's standard for the first iteration to get the job done just sufficiently to sell the idea, but by the end of the system's lifecycle there are several upgrades available that, by comparison, make the original feel like a dev unit or pre-release prototype. We love the original...
Feature That Time I Was Invited To Square HQ To Playtest Final Fantasy VI
I was there 30 years ago…
If you’re reading this on October 11th 2024, then 30 years ago today Final Fantasy 3 (aka VI) was released in North America. A lot of memorable games (Super Metroid, DKC, Earthworm Jim, Ridge Racer, and Doom
Hands On Mario & Luigi: Brothership Shows The Bros. Are Back In Classic RPG Form
Dial L for Luigi
You would be forgiven for assuming the Mario & Luigi series was no more. It has been nine years since Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam was released as the last new entry. Since then, Superstar Saga and Bowser's Inside Story received 3DS remakes, but then developer AlphaDream shut up shop in 2019 after
Reaction A Little Device That Makes Sounds In Sync To Movements On The Bed?... Oh, Nintendo
Surprise, delight, alarm
You've got to love Nintendo. Here we all are, refreshing our feeds and inboxes every hour thinking that maybe, just maybe, it's the day our favourite purveyor of video games lifts the lid on the mythical 'Switch 2'... and then this. You want new hardware, do ya? Sure, here's your new hardware, pal. Let's not get hung up on...
Feature "We Tested 60fps In Pre-Production, But The Smoothness Felt Unnatural"
Respecting Japanese animation in 'Shin chan: Shiro and the Coal Town'
Back in the summer of 2022, the world of Crayon Shin-chan collided with Millennium Kitchen's My Summer Vacation series in a delightful, beautiful game with an unnecessarily long name. Shin chan: Me and the Professor on Summer Vacation -The Endless Seven-Day Journey- brought Kay...
Talking Point After A September No-Show, Will There Be An October Nintendo Direct?
No Nintendo 'nnouncements?
We're now one full week into October following the first September since 2016 without a really big Nintendo Direct. Looking back at our Nintendo Direct broadcast history guide, it's all there in black and white (well, red and white). 2020's Direct might have been a Super Mario-focused job themed around that series' 35th...
Feature Nintendo Life eShop Selects & Readers' Choice (September 2024)
Our picks for the best eShop games in September
We're fast approaching GOTY season, so it's time to strap in and look back at the best of September in this month's edition of eShop Selects. Wait, what do you mean "a brand-new Zelda game came out last month"? We know, don't worry — but what about all of those eShop exclusives, eh? We'll be looking...
Poll Box Art Brawl - Duel: Mario Party Advance
A portable party
Hey everyone, welcome to this week's edition of Box Art Brawl! Last time, we saw three 3DS covers go head-to-head as we matched up the regional variants for Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask. Despite having all those options, it was Europe that walked away with a commanding win after taking 56% of the vote. North America...
Opinion Hyrule Really Needs To Take A Look At Its Prison System
In the c(Link)
My first hour in The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom left me with a single, unshakeable thought: God, Hyrule's prisons are terrible. Yes, I was besotted with how traditional the whole thing felt and still somewhat in shock that I had a brand new Zelda game in my hands a mere 18 months after its predecessor. But all that went out of...
Community Did We Miss A Switch Game You Love? Send Us Your Recommendations
Slipped through the net
Oh, hello there. You must be here for our bi-annual Games We Missed callout. It's a familiar story. Loads of Switch games — too many, perhaps — and while the majority of the eShop deliveries each week are a load of old AI-generated pap, there's also a load of great games which, unfortunately, we just aren't able to cover...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (5th October)
Is there an echo in here? in here..? in here......?
Well folks, another week and come and (almost) gone, and it's been another fun-filled one in the world of Nintendo. First up, our preview for Super Mario Party Jamboree went live and we think it's looking absolutely fabulous so far. We also got a look at a rather fetching
Talking Point How Would You Fix Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom's Most Frustrating Feature?
Natural selection
We've been playing The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom pretty consistently over the past week and it's safe to say we're really rather fond of it. Sure, the frame rate could be improved (not that it bothers everybody) and the lock-on can be a little fiddly, but overall it's a jolly good time and a fine return for top-down Zelda...
Feature The Nintendo Museum Goes Hard On Merch & Fun, But Could Dive Deeper Into History
Worth a trip to Japan?
This week, Nintendo opened the doors to a site destined to become a stop-off for many a video game fan visiting Japan: the Nintendo Museum. This latest venture into the real world promises a peek into the company's archives and history, and Kyotogamer was there for Nintendo Life with an account of what's in store if you make...
Poll Are You Bothered By The Frame Rate In Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom?
In a bind?
Now that The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is out in the wild, we suspect many of you have become fairly well-acquainted with the game over the last handful of days. We've already asked what review score you'd give it, and it's currently sitting at #22 on our reader-ranked Best Zelda Games list. (Hey, 22 is pretty great when you...
"...so I have to work and buy many toys"
In case you haven’t heard, Hironobu Sakaguchi, the father of Final Fantasy, is returning home to Square Enix, so to speak, for the first time in 21 years, bringing Mistwalker’s one-time Apple Arcade-exclusive RPG Fantasian to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5 (both physically and digitally) and to...
Opinion I Didn't Realise How Much I'd Missed 'Traditional' Zelda Dungeons
(Boss) Key to my heart
Last year, hot off the back of Tears of the Kingdom, I wrote a piece expressing my love for Zelda's 'Modern' dungeons. These puzzle-centric areas had been a little hit or miss, sure, but I found that there was a lot to like in each once I got past the general terminal-activation-ness of it all. I thought I was over Zelda's...
First Impressions Nintendo's Taken Feedback To Heart With 'Super Mario Party Jamboree'
Now, that's a flashy fiesta
Super Mario Party has returned! Okay, so it's only been a handful of years since Mario Party Superstars dropped on Switch, but we are excited — psyched even — for this latest edition, as it promises to deliver in several key areas where the series has floundered somewhat in the past. Yes, if you cast your mind back...
Poll What Review Score Would You Give The Legend Of Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom?
ReDead good or Bore-blin?
If you're anything like us, then chances are you've been absolutely rinsing The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom over the weekend. Let's face it, it's a new Zelda game, for goodness sake. It seems almost preposterous that we've got a brand-new Zelda title so soon after the majesty of Tears of the Kingdom, yet here we are;...
Feature Here's 10 Games We Played At TGS 2024 Coming To Switch
Fantasian! DQ3! Phantom Brave! Sonic, again!
With the Nintendo Switch winding down, the Switch successor still unannounced, and Nintendo itself not typically showing games at the Tokyo Game Show, it can be a little hard to find titles you can play on your favourite hybrid handheld console between massive booths for Monster Hunter Wilds and the...
Feature Life Is Strange: Double Exposure Directors Discuss Caulfield, Canon & Switch
"Both endings of the original Life is Strange are canon"
What were you getting up to in 2015? Maybe you were playing video games back then too, so as a refresher, 2015 was the release year for the sweeping epic Metal Gear Solid V, the somewhat polarising Fallout 4, and indie darlings Rocket League and Undertale. If you were one of the few people...
