Mario

It's Saturday! And that means it's time, once again, to discuss our weekend gaming plans. Team Nintendo Life has the usual range of games on the go this weekend, from RPGs to party antics and everything in between, so make sure to read through our lovingly crafted words and join in the fun with our poll and comment section below. Enjoy!

Glen Fox, guides editor

I'm going away for a short holiday this weekend, so I'm gonna dig into something new I think – probably Hollow Knight. It's a mishmash of a few different genres I love (Dark Souls, Metroidvania, and platformer) so I'm expecting good things. If I don't immediately take to it I'll probably go back to Xenoblade Chronicles 2 - stalled on that 'cos it got a bit repetitive, just like the first one.

Apart from that, I'm not really playing my Switch much at the minute! Stoked for Pokémon Let's Go but taking the time to play some Black Ops 4 and Guild Wars 2 in the meantime. What can I say? I like a varied gaming diet...

Ryan Craddock, staff writer

Every night for the past week has been Super Mario Party night, and I daresay this will continue for the foreseeable future. Last week I actually mentioned grabbing Death Squared and the new Overcooked 2 DLC, with the intention of playing through those, but a last minute mention of nipping out to find a copy of Super Mario Party and a Chinese takeaway quickly ruined that - and we've been hooked on Mario's colourful new world ever since.

My household is currently making our way through each of the game's modes, hoping to collect each of the five gems along the way. I managed a particularly satisfying win last night (grabbing five stars in just a ten-turn game) so hopefully I can recreate that success over the weekend.

Gonçalo Lopes, contributing writer

This weekend I need to touch up on a few post-production tasks for my upcoming new music album release out next week. My perfectionist doesn't allow me decent sleep until those are done away with, so I will need to at the very least try to look like I’m staying away from my Switch.

My neighbours have pointed out that I picked up a strange habit of screaming out at the top of my lungs every time I pull a special move in Dragon Ball FighterZ; I didn't really notice but it does explain my sore throat in the morning. While expediting completion of DBZ story arcs will continue, Valkyria Chronicles 4 proceeds to absolutely overwhelm me with its brilliance. It is quite clear I won’t be able to finish the game before the original arrives on 16th October, but I will keep on making progress this weekend, along with what I believe are the closing hours of my prologue adventures on the back of a Titan in Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna - The Golden Country.

Game of the week award goes to Mark of the Ninja: Remastered. It was a close call between this and the surprise elbow drop from Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition arrival on Monday, but despite “me gusta la lucha” any game with ‘Ninja’ in the title is an automatic winner. I promise to pretend to look away during the more brutal assassination animations.

Liam Doolan, news reporter

I’ve recently acquired a New Nintendo 2DS XL, so this weekend my plan is to revisit some of my favourite games from the 3DS library and see how they hold up on a bigger display. Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon sounds like a good place to start considering the original game has just been released on the same system. I might even move onto the original game at some point.

When I’m not playing standard 3DS releases, I plan to make use of the ‘New’ system by downloading a few games from the eShop that likely won’t be made available on the Switch any time soon. This includes Super Mario Kart, Super Mario World and the Donkey Kong Country trilogy. I’m very excited about being able to take these games with me wherever I go.

Dom Reseigh-Lincoln, reviewer

This weekend my free time will be spent flying through the stars and planets of Starlink: Battle for Atlas. As a life-long Starfox fan - and someone who can't get enough of dogfighting games in general - I cannot wait to fire up my Arwing and leap into Switch's exclusive content. Expect my official verdict right here on Nintendo Life next week. I'll also be playing a LOT of a certain new AAA shooter, but then again, if you know me then that's hardly a shocking revelation.

Steve Bowling, US editor

This weekend is a busy one. While I longingly stare at a group of Starlink toys with no game to play them with, I'll be diving into The World Ends With You, which I missed on the DS back in the day. I'm excited to see what all the fuss is about, however, as with most RPGs, I'm sure I'll take a break in between which means I'll still be plugging away at The Messenger and Crossing Souls; two of my favourite indies this year.

Richard Atkinson, contributing writer

Ahh... the mid-month slump where I’ve spent nearly all my extra dosh on takeaway food, shopping trips and random stuff online. It happens every month but I’m so happy with a game that I’m even taking it into work with me to play on my lunch breaks and when the boss isn’t looking, and it goes by the name of Hollow Knight. This may seem very strange to compare it to, but it’s reminding me of Zelda: Breath of The Wild. I’m drawing this comparison because the last time I spent a lengthy amount of time texting my friends to see what they’d uncovered and getting jointly excitable about secret areas and quirky enemies was with Link and the gang last year.

Developer Team Cherry has done an excellent job of balancing the title and it’s just so difficult to put down that even Super Mario Party will probably only earn around an hour or so of my precious gaming time.

Alan Lopez, contributing writer

Mi gente, ¡voy a jugar “Guacamelee! Súper Turbo Campeonato Edición” para el Nintendo Switch!

Guacamelee is a game that occupies a peculiar place in my heart, sporting a little bit “is it, or isn’t it?” when accounting for homage vs. caricature. My best guess is that it’s a bit of both, and while your local Mexican Nintendo writer tires of pueblo towns and hard-up locals as the only point of reference for Mexican culture, that doesn’t make Juan Aguacate any less awesome of a protagonist. It also doesn’t hurt that the game itself is an absolute joy of an action platformer, borrowing the very best of the Metroidvania formula and marrying it to a silky smooth combat system that never gets old. What fun to see Guacamelee surprisingly drop on the Nintendo Switch this week, with promise of the sequel coming soon after.

Like fun? Bright colors? Tons of hidden secrets? Spend the weekend playing through Guacamelee if you haven’t played it before. It just might inspire you to go on and create the next, great Mexican-flavored video game. May I suggest a game about a modern-day, Mexican grad student who likes to write about Nintendo?

Dave Letcavage, contributing writer

While I’m waiting on the release of single player games like Starlink, Dark Souls: Remastered, and Red Dead Redemption 2, I’m staying busy with Super Mario Party multiplayer shenanigans. So far, most matches between the wife and I (and the CPU) have gone in my favor, but she’s improving, and I’m liking my chances of winning less and less. When we aren’t partying with Mario and pals, I’ve been having a great time watching her play through Mega Man 11 (her very first Mega Man experience). With only three Wily stages left, I believe she may see the credits roll before the end of the weekend. I just hope none of this interferes with postseason baseball…

Which games are you playing this weekend? (367 votes)

  1. Hollow Knight5%
  2. Xenoblade Chronicles 26%
  3. Super Mario Party16%
  4. Death Squared  0%
  5. Overcooked 22%
  6. Dragon Ball FighterZ5%
  7. Valkyria Chronicles 43%
  8. Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna - The Golden Country5%
  9. Mark of the Ninja: Remastered3%
  10. Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition4%
  11. Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon2%
  12. Super Mario Kart2%
  13. Super Mario World  0%
  14. Donkey Kong Country2%
  15. The World Ends With You: Final Remix2%
  16. The Messenger3%
  17. Crossing Souls  0%
  18. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild6%
  19. Mega Man 115%
  20. Something else (comment below)30%

Please login to vote in this poll.

As always, thanks for reading! Make sure to leave a vote in the poll above and a comment below with your gaming choices over the next few days...