Super Mario 3D All-Stars
Image: Nintendo

After the release of both Pokémon Scarlet and Violet's new trailer and The Super Mario Bros. Movie teaser, our minds are all deep-dived out - but what a time to be a Nintendo fan, huh!

This week, our fabulous writers have been hard at work providing you lovely readers with breakdowns on the Mario Movie trailer, poster, and - erm - Mario's butt. We got a first look at the infuriatingly named Farigiraf from Scarlet and Violet and, obviously, we got introduced to even more new discoveries in Breath of the Wild.

It has also been a big week for interviews as we sat down with No Man's Sky creator Sean Murray to talk all things Switch port, as well as chatting with the folks at Epic Gardening to discuss their upcoming collaboration on SunnySide.

As if that wasn't enough, we have also shared our glowing thoughts on NieR:Automata The End of YoRHa Edition, and our less-than-glowing ones on Life is Strange: Arcadia Bay Collection - what a double bill!

All this is to say that it has been a busy one here at Nintendo Life and we are excited for a bit of a relax this weekend. Below, a selection of our writers have shared their gaming plans for the next few days and it's not entirely Mario-based (we promise).

Have a look through before leaving your own weekend gaming schedule in the comments below! Happy reading, folks!

Ollie Reynolds, staff writer

Was it just me, or did that Super Mario Bros. Movie trailer make everyone else want to dive back into some of the Mario classics? Just seeing characters like Bowser and Kamek again kickstarted a deep desire to just binge the 3D Mario games, so that’s what I’m going to do!

I’ll start off with Super Mario 64 on the Super Mario 3D All-Stars collection this weekend, and it’ll be the first time in quite a while that I’ll actually be able to dedicate a significant chunk of time to it. I think I still remember everything… You just chuck the penguins off the cliff, right?

Jim Norman, staff writer

This week has been all about Tunic for me and you know what, I think this weekend will be the same. Wow, this is a good game! I am only a few hours in at this point and was determined to go in (mostly) blind, but the whole Zelda-meets-Dark-Souls vibe is really working for me! It might look a little washed out on the big screen, but oh boy is it sweet on the OLED.

Aside from this, I have been working on a Professor Layton feature this week and the soundtrack has become well and truly wedged in my head. I'm going to leap back in with Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask - an entry that some deem worse than the rest but I love it when this series goes properly wacky.

Gonçalo Lopes, reviewer

My journey in Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is coming to its conclusion and suffice it to say this game will be in my mind for quite some time. This is also the weekend of ‘impossible Switch ports’ with as much time possible dedicated to both No Man’s Sky and NieR:Automata. Believe it or not and despite their age, both games are brand new to me, having never played anything of either in their original hardware outings. I must however somehow pace myself: This is the last weekend before my new music album releases a week from Sunday and I still need to wrap up some loose ends to ensure a smooth release.

Game of the Week is Prodeus. I’ve been eagerly waiting for this since its days of early access on Steam and the last-minute delay on Switch was a cruel setback - but now it is here and it is simply the greatest old-school FPS of all time! Once you’re done with the single-player campaign, the unlimited potential of the online mode awaits you.

Kate Gray, staff writer

Okay first of all, I want to just fill everyone in on what happened last week. I was going to finish AI: The Somnium Files before it left Game Pass, only... I was too late!!! I have no idea how close I am to finishing the game, but now I have to pay FIFTY-TWO CANADIAN DOLLARS if I want to finish it. Blah!!!

So, I won't be playing that. I might wrap up San Barlow's newest game, Immortality — you must play it if you have Game Pass and a few hours to spare — but more likely, I'll be playing Disney Dreamlight Valley, which I wasn't too keen on. Until it got its hooks in me. Now I just want to play that. It's no Animal Crossing, but the writing is pretty darn good, and there's just something about it that makes me want to keep coming back. I don't know! It's fun, in a mindless sort of way!

Alana Hagues, staff writer

Life is a bit of a blur right now, so short video games are all that I can really manage (unless it's something I've been playing for hundreds of hours and is mindless and easy to pick up at this point).

After our ridiculously positive review, I'm taking the plunge with OneShot: World Machine Edition, a game that I remember people losing their minds over when it was announced for Switch. Now I've got to see what this is all about. Otherwise, it's more Let's Build A Zoo. This one is tapping into my childhood love of Theme Park World, Rollercoaster Tycoon, and Zoo Tycoon — which means I won't be stopping for a while...


As ever, thank you for reading! Make sure to leave us a comment below with your weekend gaming plans!