Tag: Best of 2025 - Page 2
Opinion Upgraded For Switch 2, ARMS Deserves A Second Shot At Greatness
Stretching it?
With the release date of the Switch 2 now so close I can barely sit still on the toilet, I've been having a little wonder to myself about what stuff, besides that new console smell and a brand new Mario Kart game, has got me most excited for my latest child's arrival. That's right, my consoles are my children. Stay off my property...
Feature Limited Run Talks Switch 2 Game-Key Cards, Huge Carts & Difficult Pitches
No plans for Game-Key Cards "on titles where we are the manufacturer and publisher"
Raidou Remastered CE isn’t a standard, numbered Limited Run Games release, but we were still surprised to see that the Switch 2 Collector’s Edition they're offering retails for a whopping $249.99 USD and doesn't include a full game on a cartridge. This edition...
"I'm an absolutist when it comes to preservation"
As far as the 'Average Joe' on the high street is concerned, the physical games market is practically dead and buried right now. Store shelves are emptier than ever, the usually reliable supermarket chains often no longer stock them, and we're rapidly heading into a future in which the majority of...
Feature The Long & Rainbow Road To 'Mario Kart World', From SNES To Switch 2
Lap 1 - SMK, MK64 & Super Circuit
We're just weeks away from a brand new Mario Kart, and to say we're excited is a sizeable understatement. The Booster Course Pass, which arrived in waves starting in 2022, breathed life into Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, but the base mechanics beneath are the same MK8 we've been playing since May 2014 on Wii U. Don't get us...
"Nintendo was very supportive"
When Cyberpunk 2077 first launched back in 2020, it had more than its fair share of issues. Nevertheless, largely thanks to CD Projekt Red's excellent Witcher 3 port, there was a part of us that thought, "Man, it would be great to play this on a Switch one day." This feeling only strengthened as time went on and the...
"How do we make this better?"
Looking back at anything you loved as a kid can bring on a sense of trepidation. Books, films, games - viewed through a modern lens, decades-old efforts may not stand up to scrutiny. Tired tropes and dated dialogue that can come as a smack in our 21st-century chops. Progress is natural — we like to think we're a...
Feature From BOTW To TOTK - How The Switch Helped Me Overcome Mental Illness And Thrive
Dr. Nintendo offered more than pills
May is Mental Health Awareness Month in the US. With Switch 2 drawing near, today Tim shares a personal journey he's been on throughout the Switch generation... If the Switch’s eight-year-long lifecycle has led you to existential 'then and now' thoughts, I’m right there with you. It was my life-changing...
Opinion Switch 2 Finally Gives Star Wars Outlaws A Second Chance
Hoth Take
It's May 4th, Star Wars Day. Or, as we refer to it at Nintendo Life Towers, Oh-god-Jim's-going-to-bang-on-about-Star-Wars-again Day. Heh, it's true, I am a fiend for all things from a Galaxy Far, Far Away, and, if I'm being honest, that has sometimes meant that I'm a little more keen to see the Light Side than embrace the more realistic...
Opinion Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's Best Gameplay Feature Is Straight Out Of Mario's Playbook
QTE in the place to be
If you've been paying any attention whatsoever to upcoming and newly released games of late, you'll no doubt already know all about Sandfall Interactive's stunning Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Indeed, this very writer slapped a 10/10 score on the new RPG over at our sister siter Pure Xbox, so yeah, it's quite good, is this...
Opinion Switch's Secret Best Couch Multiplayer Game Won't Be Playable On Switch 2
Don’t let this gem disappear unloved into the long dark night
After eight years of articles and YouTube content covering the Switch, you might think there are no surprises left to uncover, but I'm here to say that the very best couch multiplayer on the system – a game by Nintendo themselves – was completely missed by seemingly everyone on the...
Opinion It's Time To Get Rid Of Fall Damage
Free faller
Falling. It hurts, right? We’ve all tripped up over nothing while walking and scraped our knees, or tripped up the stairs and landed face-first. It’s not fun. It’s embarrassing, it's painful, and it stands as a persistent reminder that I am the most clumsy of human beings. There’s a reason we can't jump off of buildings and...
Feature "I Can't Believe This Is Happening" - The Game Kitchen On Reviving Ninja Gaiden
"We had a lot of creative freedom"
After rinsing through Blasphemous 2 in 2023, we immediately turned our attention to the future and began to dream about what a potential third game in the series might look like. How little we knew. Of course, another Blasphemous may still be on the cards at some point, but for now, developer The Game Kitchen has...
Opinion In A Post BOTW And Elden Ring World, Xenoblade Chronicles X Is Still Daunting
The Planet between
Whether it’s your first or your fortieth time, booting up Xenoblade Chronicles X and exploring your immediate surroundings is nothing short of incredible. Mira’s huge, biodiverse landscape, populated by monsters both as small as a ball or as large as a four-storey building, with scraps of ruined ships and alien devices dotted...
Feature "We Really Want To Future-Proof" - The Nintendo Switch 2 Interview
Nate Bihldorff talks pack-ins, game-key cards, and Korok Forest
Nate Bihldorff, Senior Vice President of Product Development & Publishing The Nintendo Switch 2 reveal has been a rollercoaster ride. We've been waiting what feels like years for this momentous occasion, and from the game selection and the revelation of the 'C' button's function to
Feature 'Good Game, No Rematch' - Mike Drucker's Hilarious Celebration Of Gaming And Nintendo
“I started to think about asshole birds”
Have you ever wondered what it might be like to be employed at Nintendo? Few companies feel quite as impenetrable when it comes to discovering their inner workings, but after speaking with comedian and author (and former Nintendo employee) Mike Drucker and reading his new book Good Game, No Rematch, life...
"We put all our effort into the game"
Creating a brand-new IP can prove risky at the best of times, yet when Danganronpa creator Kazutaka Kodaka mentioned that Too Kyo Games' latest venture, The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy, had effectively plunged the studio into debt, it demonstrated just how much he and collaborator Kotaro Uchikoshi (
Opinion It's Taken 30 Years, But 'Terminator 2D' Could Right A Childhood Wrong
Judg(e)ment day
One night in 1993, I saw Terminator 2: Judgment Day for the first time. I was nine and I remember negotiating with my folks to stay up and watch the VHS with a Chinese takeaway. I remember the sweet-and-sour chicken, chow mein, and prawn crackers. I remember the lighting and the layout of the living room. I remember the clanking iron...
Opinion Nintendo, Let Us Buy The Games Being Delisted From Switch Online
NSO-go
Well, it finally happened: the first game to be delisted from Nintendo Switch Online will disappear on 27th March. For years, the numbers have only gone up, and the total NSO game-count sits at an impressive 182 at the time of writing - with 109 more if you subscribe at the Expansion Pack tier. NSO was a slow starter, but the value has grown...
Opinion We Need More Couch Co-op RPGs
Our-PG
When the girl joined the party in Secret of Mana, a whole new world opened up to me. Bright-eyed, huddled close to our TV, a second SNES controller plugged into the little grey box, I didn’t just have to sit and wait my turn to play an RPG for once. I could play at the same time my mum could. Secret of Mana was the first time I felt like...
Feature "His Vision Was Clear" - Afterlove EP Producer Talks Grieving Through Game Development
"Emotion takes up a big part of your life on a daily basis"
Afterlove EP, a 'mix-tape visual novel' from the studio behind Coffee Talk, was announced back in 2021, but just one year after its reveal, the team went through something no developer should have to deal with: the sudden and unexpected death of studio founder Mohammad Fahmi. Fahmi had...
Opinion The Hyped-Up New Pokémon TCG Set Is A Total Bummer To Open
Pokéntial earnings
It must have been tough for chocolate lovers to get any chocolate when Willy Wonka was hiding golden tickets inside the wrappers. Joking aside, that's more or less been the vibe from Prismatic Evolutions, the just-released, mega-hyped Pokémon card set that’s memorable for its heavy representation of the fan-favourite Pokémon...
