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What a busy, busy week it's been in the Nintendo world. E3 has now come to an end, and a good 90% of the Nintendo Life team is feeling ready to retire to our beds for long, well-deserved naps. Before that, though, it's time once again to share with you our weekend gaming plans. As always, we invite you to join in via our poll and comment sections below. Enjoy!

Ollie Reynolds, reviewer

I tend to get overly excited when it comes to new game announcements, so naturally when the sequel to Breath of the Wild was announced during Nintendo's E3 Direct, I went right back to the original and started my quest all over again. And you know what… It's just as good second time through.

I've also taken advantage of the recent eShop sales and downloaded South Park: The Stick of Truth. I don't think I've ever laughed at a game so much in my life - there's just something inherently amusing about flatulence that I don't think anyone grows out of!

Gavin Lane, staff writer

Following the announcement on Tuesday of Banjo (and Kazooie) as Challenger #3, I went to the eShop before bed, picked up a pair of Game Vouchers and immediately redeemed one for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. I’ve tried to get into Smash several times before, but as I said in my Soapbox on the topic, it would take a Banjo-like announcement to push me over the edge. Obviously that came and launched me off the cliff into Smash. I’m hoping the promise of playing as Banjo on a modern Nintendo platform will keep me motivated. I’ll be picking the brains of resident Smash guru Alex Olney, for sure. I hear spamming Fox’s laser is frowned upon? Alex won’t be calling me ‘lovely’ after I’ve pestered him for tips eight hours straight over Slack…

Following my review, I’d also like to go back and complete Cadence of Hyrule: The Longest Title of a Video Game In The World, Ever again using Link. Zelda was my main (see, I’ve already got the lingo Alex!) when I reviewed it and I only spent half an hour or so with the Hero of Hyrule. Cracking little game, that.

Stephanie Woor, reviewer

Three months ago I was all geared up to lose myself in Valkyria Chronicles 4 – it was to be my next big game, something that was going to keep my mind off of whatever choppy waters were ahead, now that I’d just handed my notice in…

Inevitably, I played the tutorial mission and just stopped playing. Not that I didn’t like the game, with its comfy visuals and overall similarity to the original. Sometimes you just pick something up and know you’re going to regret playing it now, because now sucks. So I guess it’s probably a good sign that I’m back on the bizarro anime western front...

Lewis White, reviewer

I wish I didn’t spend my week toiling through the low-budget irradiated city of Pripyat, but that’s exactly what I went and did. This week, I spent hours in Radiation City but, to be honest, I did ask for this… literally!

Thankfully, in between the pain, my old friend Tetris 99 was always there to comfort me. Like a chilled glass of lemonade on a hot day, or an Ice Cream Tub + Bridgett Jones combo after a bad breakup, Tetris 99 always makes the hard times better. Now if only I could actually win for once

Austin Voigt, contributing writer

This sounds silly - but after E3 got me all hyped for the new games we have coming our way these next few months, I’m likely going to spend my weekend playing the originals/previous titles in sheer anticipation. Animal Crossing, Zelda, Luigi’s Mansion, Pokémon, Ni no Kuni... Let’s be honest - these are the games I spend most of my time playing anyway, while ignoring my growing backlog.

I’ll also likely be rewatching the new trailers/gameplay footage on my Switch so that I can pretend I’m already playing them. Wow, I’m lame.

Gonçalo Lopes, contributing writer

E3 is over! Life slowly goes back to normal yet retro gaming is here to stay. Been spending a lot of time with Contra Anniversary Collection and Collection of Mana as of late and will continue to do so over the weekend. After two long years it has come to this: Ninjara versus Min Min for ARMS supremacy. I shall use my unstoppable ninja skills to bring home the gold. It will be much harder to pick a side for this next to last Splatoon 2 Splatfest: I am a full grown adult who has yet to kill his inner child.

Obvious game of the week is Cadence of Hyrule. The game will fool you with its cutesy 2D graphics and earworm friendly stellar soundtrack and then you notice its 3am and you’re still screaming to the beat.

PJ O’Reilly, reviewer

This week I’ve been indulging in some of the hot drops from E3 week, namely the Contra Collection and Cadence of Hyrule, both of which are absolutely superb. Playing Contra again is bringing me right back to the good old days of pumping ten pence pieces into the Contra cabinet which we had in our local chippy (truly halcyon days!) then busting out my SNES copy of Super Probotector when it was time for home.

I’m also a big fan of Crypt of the Necrodancer so it’s no surprise to me how much I’m enjoying Cadence of Hyrule; the gameplay of Crypt slotted into the world of Zelda, it turns out, is a perfect match-up, it might even be the best Zelda spin-off I’ve played!

Ryan Craddock, staff writer

To be honest, now that the madness of E3's over I'm looking forward to playing a game of 'sleep all weekend and possibly for the rest of time'. Failing that, though, I'll likely be continuing my current playthroughs of Banjo-Kazooie and GoldenEye 007 on N64.

I did start up DOOM again in the middle of the week (I gave up on my first playthrough for some reason, so wanted to give it another chance) and have been eyeing up Cadence of Hyrule for the last few days, so one of those could make a sneak appearance.

Which games are you playing this weekend? (383 votes)

  1. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild13%
  2. South Park: The Stick of Truth  0.5%
  3. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate12%
  4. Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the NecroDancer Featuring The Legend of Zelda14%
  5. Valkyria Chronicles 42%
  6. Radiation City  0.3%
  7. Tetris 994%
  8. Luigi's Mansion1%
  9. Contra Anniversary Collection4%
  10. Collection of Mana2%
  11. ARMS4%
  12. Splatoon 29%
  13. Banjo-Kazooie2%
  14. GoldenEye 007  0.3%
  15. DOOM4%
  16. Something else (comment below)28%

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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...