Latest Features - Page 2
Poll Box Art Brawl - Duel: Inazuma Eleven
Footpoll
We are back with this week's clash of the covers! Welcome to another edition of Box Art Brawl. It was a trio of designs for the NES' Dragon Power that went head-to-head (to-head) last time, though neither the European nor North American artwork stood a chance against the eye-catching Japanese variant, which gobbled up 72% of the vote and...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (15th November)
Urobororororos
Eeeeeeyyyyy, it's the weekend! This week has been surprisingly busy, huh? We've had a brand-new trailer for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie along with confirmation that Brie Larson and Benny Safdie are joining the cast as Rosalina and Bowser Jr. We also finally received the Metroid Prime 4: Beyond trailer
Guide Top 100 Nintendo Games, As Chosen By Nintendo Life & IGN
A century of must-have classics
Nintendo has been around for well over a century and has been an active part of the video game industry since the 1970s. The company's impact on the realm of interactive entertainment is almost unprecedented, and its consoles and handhelds have played host to some of the most iconic titles of all time. Nintendo Life...
Feature 10 Years On, Is Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival Really That Bad?
Bored game
Few games have tapped into the popular zeitgeist quite like Animal Crossing: New Horizons did back in 2020 at the onset of the global pandemic. It’s sold a whopping 48.62 million copies worldwide since launch, elevating Animal Crossing from a fan-favourite series to a full-fledged cultural phenomenon, earning its place alongside...
Feature 12 Details You Might Have Missed In The Mario Galaxy Movie Trailer
Do you like what you Odys-see?
Nintendo has revealed our first proper look at The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, with a trailer that lasts all of 2:25. Nope, that's not very long, but there are a lot of details crammed in there. To make sure you caught all of the little touches, we've assembled the following rundown of every neat detail, reference, and...
Anniversary Romancing SaGa 3 Celebrates 30 Years Of Eclipsing Death
An Octopath well-travelled
I think it's fair to say we got a bit of an unexpected gift when Square Enix re-released Romancing SaGa 3 for Switch back in November of 2019. While it may not generate quite the same level of excitement as your Final Fantasies (and that's understandable), Romancing SaGa 3 deserves any plaudits it gets for bringing a...
Feature Now Samus Is Doing It - What Is It About The 'Akira Slide' That's So Great?
Metroid shred
The cultural consciousness loves the ‘Akira Slide’; a single moment in the 1988 anime movie Akira where Shōtarō Kaneda, following a bike race, skids across the tarmac to slow himself down, facing the screen, his bike side-on, trails of smoke billowing up from the road. Of course, he could use his brakes, but it wouldn’t be as...
Poll Box Art Brawl - Dragon Power (NES)
This is a wild one, folks
Hello everyone, and welcome to another edition of Box Art Brawl! Last week, we checked out the wonderful Animal Crossing: Wild World for the DS and, as expected, the western design won the day with a whopping 84%. Good effort Japan, but this one just ain't it. This time, we're looking at Dragon Power for the NES. Released...
Anniversary 20 Years Ago, 'GUN' Brought America's Old West (And An All-Star Cast) To GameCube
Kris Kristofferson is my dad now
Ever feel like getting your video game cowboy on, but Red Dead Redemption and its kinda bloated sequel, as good as they are, just take way too long to bed into? You know what I mean. Rockstar's epics are the obvious go-to choices in this scenario. However, sometimes I just want to shoot stuff in the cowboy style,...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (6th November)
Hyrule? No, you rule!
The weekend is finally upon us, and we're ready to play some games... once we've recapped this week's big news, of course! In the absence of a major Animal Crossing announcement, this week felt a little quieter than last, but there was still plenty to get excited about. The Pokémon Legends: Z-A Mega Dimension DLC scored a...
Opinion Third-Party Support For Switch 2 Is Already A Dream Come True
An avalanche of quality
The Switch 2 has gotten off to a bit of a weird start. Although there’s no denying that the console has been a massive commercial success since its launch on 5th June 2025 — officially selling over 10 million units — there’s a niggling, underlying sense of dissatisfaction amongst some fans regarding Nintendo’s...
Gallery The 'Samus & Vi-O-La' amiibo For Metroid Prime 4 Could Be The Best Yet
Ready to roll
Nintendo has released its first batch of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond amiibo, including 'Samus' and 'Samus & Vi-O-La'. A third, 'Sylux', will launch alongside the game itself on 4th December 2025. We've managed to get our grubby little mitts on Samus & Vi-O-La, and we thought you might like to take a closer look at what this thing looks...
Talking Point What's The Best Firework Sequence In A Video Game?
Oooh! Aaaahh!
"Remember remember the fifth of November, gunpowder, treason, and an excuse to talk about 'Jump Up, Super Star!' again." That's a rhyme that we Brits are all familiar with (at least, words to that effect), because here it's Guy Fawkes Night. Or Bonfire Night, if you prefer. On 5th November every year, we gather in cold, wet fields...
Poll Is The Latest Metroid Prime 4 Trailer Teasing Another Legacy Character?
Kan it be..?
Nintendo has released a fresh new look at Metroid Prime 4: Beyond - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, and while much of the footage is recycled from previous trailers, there were definitely a few interesting new shots to consider. One of these is pretty throwaway at first glance, but a few fans online believe it might be hiding a pretty...
Talking Point Smashing Switch 2 Numbers Prove Nintendo's Strategy Is Super Effective
In this economy? Well played
The world of video games hasn't provided much respite from global issues recently, not for those of us who love games and the people who make them. The issues facing the industry and players post-COVID — including mass layoffs, cancelled projects, questionable acquisitions, the encroachment of generative AI, rising...
Back Page Pokémon Legends: Z-A Fit Check - Celebrating Lumiose Fashion Week In Style
Florges? For Spring? Groudonbreaking
In the magazine business, the back page is where you'd find all the weird goofs that we couldn't fit in anywhere else. Some may call it "filler"; we prefer "a whole page to make terrible jokes that are tangentially related to the content of the mag". We don't have pages on the internet, but we still love...
Feature Nintendo Life eShop Selects (October 2025)
Our picks for the best eShop games on Switch and Switch 2 in October!
Hello, hello, hello! you know what time of the month it is? Oh yes, it's eShop Selects. And we've got some fireworks in here. Spooky season has passed and many of us are now looking ahead to the 'H' season (or perhaps there's some Turkey in the near future for you for those of...
Poll Box Art Brawl - Duel: Animal Crossing: Wild World
Someone's Nooking at your door
Testing, testing. Is the Animalese-to-English translator up and running? It is? Good. Welcome back to another edition of Box Art Brawl! Last time, we put Metroid Prime 2: Echoes under the microscope, and it was a pretty close-run contest. The North American / European design just clinched the win, in the end, with 58%...
Feature The Art I 'Stole' From Nintendo
And where it is now
It began with a Zelda T-shirt. I was wearing my “It's dangerous to go alone! Take this.” shirt while running a quick errand at the bank. The teller spotted it. He was at least 20 years younger than me, but his “Nice shirt!” comment kicked off a lengthy conversation about our shared Nintendo fandom. Before long, he...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (1st November)
FIGHT!
Gosh, we're into November already – how on earth did that happen? Well, either way, it's the weekend, so let's do a quick recap of the week before we dive into what we're playing, shall we? Naturally, the biggest news of the week was the announcement from Nintendo that Animal Crossing: New Horizons would be making a comeback, with both a...
Opinion Animal Crossing On Switch 2 Has Me Equal Parts Buzzing And Baffled
What about New-er Horizons?
I adore Animal Crossing: New Horizons. I know, I know, such a hot take puts me in a niche of... about 98% of people that read this site, but what I mean to say is that when the announcement of Animal Crossing: New Horizons - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition and the 3.0 update were announced yesterday, I was about as excited as...
Talking Point When Did 'Good Enough' Become Good Enough For Pokémon?
The old magic
Over the weekend, we republished our reader-ranked list of all the Pokémon games after everyone had had a chance to spend some quality time with Legends: Z-A and vote accordingly. That's 22 mainline games by our count. The entries at the top of the table probably won't surprise you, as the inventiveness and sheer novelty (and...
Back Page I Was The Louvre Heist Thief, But I Was Just Trying To Steal Their 3DSes
C'est tout un gros malentendu!
In the magazine business, the back page is where you'd find all the weird goofs that we couldn't fit in anywhere else. Some may call it "filler"; we prefer "a whole page to make terrible jokes that are tangentially related to the content of the mag". We don't have pages on the internet, but we still love terrible...
Opinion One Year On, Every Positive 'Pokémon TCG Pocket' Update Still Comes With A Catch
A flip-flopping Magikarp
About a year ago, I reviewed Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket here at Nintendo Life, awarding it a respectable 7/10, largely because collecting ‘mons from that initial set of packs felt kinetic and exciting. Sure, there was far too much monetisation in the form of multiple different currencies, and the battles lacked a...
Poll Box Art Brawl - Duel: Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
Interest-Ing
Hello hello, and welcome to another edition of Box Art Brawl! Last time, we looked at Hey You, Pikachu! for the N64, and although neither version was particularly popular, it was the North American version that won the day with 61% of the vote. This week, we're back with the Metroid franchise with Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, the...
Book Review Metroid Prime 1-3: A Visual Retrospective - Stunning Art, Though Lacking Context
The real logbook
It often feels like Metroid fans are starved for new goodies these days; doubly so for fans of Retro Studios’ Prime series. Yet just over a month before the highly anticipated fourth mainline entry for Switch and Switch 2, you can get your hands on an absolutely stunning hardback art book from Piggyback covering the first three...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (25th October)
Baller
Hello folks, and welcome to that wondrous occasion commonly known as 'The Weekend'. Before we dive into what we're playing, let's quickly recap this week. First up, Masahiro Sakurai presented another hour-long Direct for Kirby Air Riders, and it was a doozy. We've compiled all the major announcements in one place, so be sure to check it out...
"Breath of the Wild was hugely influential"
Even just a handful of months after its launch, the Switch 2 is proving to be a particularly compelling console for third-party developers. One of the biggest surprises was the announcement that not only would Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade launch on 22nd January 2026, but it would be followed by both...
Opinion Pokémon Legends Z-A Is The Creepiest Entry Yet, Not In A Good Way
Move!
There’s been quite a lot of talk recently about the lack of voiceover work in Pokemon Legends: Z-A, and I can understand why. Game Freak has made some pretty decent strides with its cutscenes, depicting characters that animate realistically right down to their facial expressions and mouth movements. Yet they don’t actually talk. It’s...
Anniversary Fatal Frame: Maiden Of Black Water Still Scares The Pants Off Me Ten Years On
Can I have them back please?
Of all the horror franchises I've subjected myself to over the years, Fatal Frame is the one that sticks in my mind most as properly, actually, scary. It's the answer I'll give every single time to the question of what game series has scared me the most, and it's all down to one very simple reason. As today is the 10th...
Gallery Here's A Closer Look At The London Pop-Up Nintendo Store's Sweet Merch
Pop Up, Superstar!
This week, London will be treated to its very first pop-up Nintendo Store, making all of us UK Mario fans clutch our wallets in fear. The shop opens to the public tomorrow (22nd October) in the Shepherd's Bush Westfield London Shopping Centre, where it will be stocking its sweet merch until 16th November. Those hoping to visit...
"The porting process to the Switch 2 turned out to be unexpectedly smooth"
I’ve been dreaming of a Persona 3 Reload port for Nintendo’s hybrid hardware long before the Switch 2 was even revealed. Having played through its lengthy campaign on my Xbox over the span of a month, I wished I was able to play more of this untethered from my couch. That...
Poll What Review Score Would You Give Pokémon Legends: Z-A?
Z-A++?
The latest Pokémon adventure has landed on the Switch and Switch, letting players roam about a much-expanded rendition of Lumiose City from X & Y. Pokémon Legends: Z-A has received some fairly mixed reception so far, though it seems most are in agreement that although it might not be the prettiest game ever made (far from it!), the new...
Poll Box Art Brawl - Duel: Hey You, Pikachu!
Pika-who?
Welcome back, one and all, to this week's edition of Box Art Brawl! It was the NSO newbie Fatal Fury Special that got put under the microscope last time, as we matched up two covers for this SNES brawler. Overall, it was a pretty one-sided fight. The colourful Japanese variant walked away with 68% of the vote, leaving the North American...
Talking Point How Do You Play NES Games These Days?
Or, do you even play NES games?
The NES — specifically the Nintendo Entertainment System, not the Famicom — turns 40 today. The console's staggered rollout across the US makes its launch a bittier affair than the orchestrated, worldwide drops we're used to these days. But four decades ago, the first units were purchased in the United States and...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (18th October)
Oh balls
Ahoy chums! It's the weekend, so it's time to recap some of the biggest stories from this week before we dive into some good ol' gaming. First up, our review for Pokémon Legends: Z-A - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition went live, and while we certainly enjoyed our time with it, the game just doesn't quite match up to Legends: Arceus. We've also...
Poll Is It About Time Game Freak Added Voice Acting To Pokémon?
Discourse is swirling
Pokémon games have never, at least to our knowledge, had voice-over work. At least not the mainline games or direct spin-offs. For many, especially those who have been with the series since the very beginning, this hasn't really been much of an issue. After all, it was only when Pokémon had properly transitioned into the 3D...
Feature "We're Going To Need More Toilet Paper" - This Is Mario Kart-Attack!
A Mario Kart Live anniversary blowout
We may only be a few months into a shiny, new Mario Kart game with lush open worlds and challenges aplenty, but as I scrap it out in yet another Knockout Tour or pootle about for P Switches and Peach Coins, I can’t help but yearn for something a little more familiar. It’s a sentiment shared by many, if...
Poll Box Art Brawl - Duel: Fatal Fury Special (SNES)
Ready? Set? NSO!
We are back, back, back with another edition of Box Art Brawl! Last time, it was the Virtual Boy in the spotlight, as we matched up a duo of covers for Teleroboxer. It was two very different designs and they pulled in very different results, but the North American variant took the dub with 69% of the vote, leaving the Japanese box...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (11th October)
Get tactical, marines!
Hello hello, yes, it's the weekend once again! But before we dive into what we're playing over the next couple of days, let's just look back at some of the recent news highlights. The big talking point this week was undoubtedly the debut video(s) from Nintendo Pictures. While there was a lot of mystery surrounding the first...
Opinion Ogre Battle 64: Person Of Lordly Caliber's Revolutionary Heart Still Burns Brightly
Say, you want a revolution?
Has it really been 25 years? Yes, my wizened friends, it has. Back in the year of our lord 2000 (or 1999 if you're from Japan), if you weren't still calming down from the trauma of Y2K (still can't believe nothing happened) you may have been getting completely sucked into one of the few truly amazing RPGs on the Nintendo...
Feature Nintendo Life eShop Selects (September 2025)
Our picks for the best eShop games on Switch and Switch 2 in September!
Phew. What a month, hey? It's time for eShop Selects, and it's a doozy. As we approach the holiday season, we're practically drowning in games, with two of the biggest indies of the year hitting within weeks of each other. A Nintendo Direct ensured we'd be swimming in more...
Opinion Sonic Racing Crossworlds > Mario Kart World, And It's Not Even Close For Me
Plus, vote for your kurrent kart-racing king
When I initially found out that we were getting a brand new Mario Kart with the launch of Switch 2, I was a little bit concerned. Not disappointed, definitely excited, but concerned all the same. Mario Kart 8, you see, has become such an all-encompassing thing over the years, a sprawling collection of...
Poll Box Art Brawl - Duel: Teleroboxer (Virtual Boy)
Telerobrawl
Hello folks, and welcome back to another edition of Box Art Brawl! Last week, we looked at the ridiculously titled Layton's Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaires' Conspiracy - Deluxe Edition for the Nintendo Switch, and it was the Japanese box art design that
Feature From Z To A — Honouring My Favourite Pokémon, One Letter At A Time
Gotta alphabetise ‘em all
Ever since The Pokémon Company uttered the name Pokémon Legends: Z-A, one idea has obsessively swirled around my mind: I needed to declare my favourite Pokémon for each letter in the alphabet, in reverse alphabetical order. Anyone else? Just me? And why? I don’t know, because what I thought would be a fun, breezy...
Community Played A Great Switch Game We Missed? Send Us Your Hot Tips
2 hot to stop
It's that time of year for our six-monthly Games We Missed round-up, when you lovely people flag great Switch games that slipped through Nintendo Life's nets. And this is the first edition since Switch 2 launched! While we've done our utmost to keep up with every new Switch 2 game after 25 of them dropped on 5th June, there have...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (4th October)
Galactic plans
The weekend! Before we dive into what we're playing, let's do a little recap of this week, hm? First up, our review for Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2 for the Switch went live, so you should definitely check that out. Nightdive Studios announced yet another remaster coming to consoles, and the
Talking Point Can Metroid Prime 4's Title Screen Go As Hard As The Others?
Beyond iconic
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes has one of the best title screens ever. It starts off with edge-lit glimpses and silhouettes, a bit like a Bond intro. But instead of naked bodies and wait-was-that-a-nipple, there’s something grotesque and alien and impressively FMV in the darkness. There’s those classic Prime-y choir synths, which might...
Opinion Silksong Might Just Be The Funniest Game Of The Year
Silks and giggles
It's very easy not to see the funny side of Hollow Knight: Silksong. Don't worry, I've been there. Something about bashing your head against a boss for the 20th time takes away the giggles a little bit, and that's okay. But you have to hear me out here: I haven't laughed this much at a game in a very long time. It tickles a very...
Feature Get A Job - 30 Years On, Seiken Densetsu 3's Class System Is Still One Of The Best
Hi, I'd like apply to be a Fenrir Knight
Who doesn’t love a job or class system in an RPG? From endlessly levelling jobs and sub-classing skills in Final Fantasy V to building the perfect teams and pairings in Octopath Traveler, classes bring a level of customisation and character that feels pretty unique to the genre. But while most games allow...
