BANJO
Image: Nintendo / Rare

Another week has passed, which brought some interesting news in the world of Nintendo and the wider games industry. A lot of attention fell on the planned Microsoft acquisition of Activision Blizzard, of course, and its potential impact on the industry. Back in the Nintendo Life, it was confirmed that Switch was the bestselling console of 2021 in the UK and US, Pokémon Legends: Arceus leaked early to the surprise of no-one, a Switch system update took stability to another level, and LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga got an April release date.

After all that it's time to chill out and discuss our weekend gaming plans. A few members of the Nintendo Life team have done just that below, so feel free to give our entries a read and then join in with your own via our comment section. Enjoy!

Tom Whitehead, deputy editor

It was a tough week for me, I had to make a difficult and emotional confession to the Nintendo Life team. We gathered around, I was passed the 'confession pillow', and as I clutched it to my chest I mustered up the courage to say... I've never played Banjo-Kazooie. I'd like to thank the team for being so supportive in this difficult time, and I've resolved to play it on Switch this weekend.

Elsewhere I've been part archaeologist, part mass murderer in The Rise of Tomb Raider. I've been enjoying the gaming equivalent of a popcorn munching blockbuster and will finish that off before, perhaps, jumping into some Hitman Trilogy.

Kate Gray

It's a busy busy week for me, and I haven't left the house in days, so hopefully this week I will be able to go out and touch grass. Granted, all the grass is frozen stiff and covered by snow, but I'm still going to try. When the cold gets too much, I'll be snuggled up inside with a hot chocolate and The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles, which I finally have time to finish — although I wrote the review on it, there are still a couple of cases I haven't had time to wrap up yet!!

Gonçalo Lopes, reviewer

Solar Striker was my very first Game Boy game back in 1991 so I’m possibly a bit biased towards Pixel Game Maker Series THUNDER STRIKER, an eShop offering that succeeds to be much like Cham the Cat as the Super Mario Land sequel you never knew you needed. I'm still grinding for geons in Geometry Wars: Galaxy and will also be replaying The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers on GameCube.

Game of the week is Blackwind. I was a bit worried the Switch version might have a noticeable visual and performance downgrade but my fears were unwarranted. Brilliant game out of nowhere!

Ollie Reynolds, reviewer

After taking a bit of a break from gaming (I had one of those 'baby' things, so my time has been pretty limited), I'll be back to it this weekend with some Banjo-Kazooie and a little game called The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. I've a feeling the latter will just end up being one of those games I replay on an annual basis… at least until the sequel shows up.

Elsewhere, I'm playing through Horizon: Zero Dawn on the PS5 in the run up to its own sequel next month. I never quite got into the game in the past (again, blame Breath of the Wild), but I'm actually really enjoying my time with it now.

Gavin Lane, editor

Banjo. 'Nuff said.

Have a good one, folks!


As always, thanks for reading! Make sure to leave us a comment below with your weekend gaming plans!