Tag: Hands On - Page 3
Hands On Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes Is Shaping Up To Be A Belter
Choose House Hack 'n' Slash
It's been five whole years already since Nintendo's Fire Emblem and Koei Tecmo's Warriors series first collided, resulting in the rather magnificent Fire Emblem Warriors, a game we called "one of the best Musou outings yet" that "combines enjoyable combat with re
Hands On Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak Is Looking Like A Mighty Meaty Hunk Of DLC
More than just new monsters and new quests
Monster Hunter Rise is tremendous — if you haven't played it, you only have to look at our review to see how much we loved it — so when Capcom asked if we fancied having a pop at the honking new DLC expansion titled Sunbreak, we couldn't say no. We got to have a go at just two of the quests on offer...
Hands On Drainus Is A 2D Shmup Masterpiece, So Keep Praying For That Switch Port
(Port-begging works, right?)
Japanese developer Team Ladybug is really good at homages. Its output so far has been dominated by titles with a Metroidvania theme, with the excellent Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth drawing massive inspiration from the game that helped coin the genre's name – Castlevania: Symphony of the Ni
Hands On Mario Strikers: Battle League Makes A Furiously Good First Impression
Where Mario can kick Yoshi in the face
Yep, we’ve only gone and played Mario Strikers: Battle League (Football) by invitation of Nintendo UK. We’re not boasting or anything, we just didn’t know how else to open the article. Fittingly, we had a good 90 minutes with the game and have been able to get a fairly decent idea of what we can expect...
Hands On Final Vendetta - The Ultimate Love Letter To Final Fight And Streets Of Rage?
Everybody was Kung-Fu fighting
Beat-em-up fans are like addicts cluttering up the mean streets of an '80s New York, willing to shoot themselves up with almost anything resembling the belt-scrolling boom that swept arcades in the early '90s. Whether pink-mohawked punk or run-of-the-mill gamer, if you’re still experiencing withdrawals despite the...
Hands On Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge - The Ultimate 'Retro Throwback'?
We chat to Dotemu and Tribute Games about the road from 1987 to 2022
It feels like an age ago now, but when Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge was announced it triggered excitement among gamers of all ages. For sure, some of the reaction came from players of a certain vintage that remember the original show and the TMNT arcade game,...
Hands On Nintendo Switch Sports Has Great Highs, But Disappointing Lows
Wallyball
Many of you will have already had a go at Nintendo Switch Sports through the recent online play test, but last week we were invited by Nintendo to experience the full fat version of the game without even having to be online. It's been over 15 years since we first woke up with the dreaded Wii elbow after Wii Sports' enthusiastic recepti
Hands On 4K Gamer Pro - A 4K 'Silver Bullet' For Your Nintendo Switch?
Keeping up with the upscalers
The arrival of the PS5 and Xbox Series X has made 4K gaming a reality for millions of players, so it's understandable that many Switch owners are feeling a little left out and are seeking to make the resolution jump as well – despite the fact that Nintendo's console is now five years old. Rumours of a Switch Pro (and...
Hands On WaterField's Analogue Pocket Pouch Perfectly Protects Your Precious Portable
(Sorry.)
Given how hard it is to come by, it's little surprise that the Analogue Pocket has become a treasured object for those lucky enough to own one. With that in mind, it goes without saying that some form of protection is in order – especially if you're going to be, you know, carrying this thing around with you, so thank goodness for the...
Hands On Turn Your Nintendo Switch Into A Gundam With This Case
A new meaning for the term 'Mobile Suit'
Cases for the Nintendo Switch aren't a new phenomenon. Given that the device is portable in nature, it stands to reason that plenty of cases are available – especially with the Switch being five years old now – and we've seen a wide variety of different options, too. Some cases merely prevent damage...
Hands On Kirby And The Forgotten Land: More 'Super Mario 3D World' Than 'Mario Odyssey'
Or should that be 'Super Kirby 3D World'?
It's closing in on six months since we got our first look at Kirby's upcoming 3D adventure, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, and the reaction to the initial Nintendo Direct teaser back in September last year was certainly a positive one. Here's a game that gives the impression it isn't resting on the series'...
Hands On MLB The Show 22 Tech Test Impressions - Sony Takes A Swing At Switch
Strike
For those of us that consider it to be the true sport-sim addiction, rather than the usual FIFA and Madden entries, news that MLB The Show 22 would represent the series' debut on Switch was rather exciting. A PlayStation exclusive for many years, Major League Baseball clearly felt a broader audience was needed and — presumably in license...
Hands On Triangle Strategy Delivers Deep Turn-Based Combat To Match Its Incredible Art
For Norzelia!
As we've already reported, a brand new demo for Square Enix's upcoming tactical RPG, Triangle Strategy, dropped onto the Switch eShop during the latest Nintendo Direct and it's a pretty generous offering, giving players a chance to dig into the game's
Hands On Rune Factory 5 Feels Comfortable And Familiar, But Is That Enough?
A decade on, a new day has dawned
It’s rather hard to believe, but this July will mark the 10-year anniversary of the initial launch of Rune Factory 4 for the 3DS. Since then, the farm sim genre arguably hasn’t seen much innovation or notable movement, other than the release of a certain indie gem that hardly needs any introduction. Still,...
Hands On 'Mina The Hollower' Mixes Zelda, Castlevania, And Plenty Of 'Git Gud'
Death is coming
When Yacht Club Games formed way back in the distant sepia-toned past (2011), there was a good amount of buzz around a studio predominantly staffed by WayForward veterans. The prospect of outstanding pixel-art gaming was then fulfilled when Shovel Knight was unveiled in 2013, with the game going on to have a hugely successful...
Feature Aya Neo Next Review: Could This $1,300 Switch 'Rival' Hold The Answer To Joy-Con Drift?
Aya Neo Next uses 'Hall Effect' sensors for its analogue inputs
Remember the Aya Neo 2021 Pro, the super-powered and super-expensive portable PC we covered a short while ago? Well, the company behind it is releasing a new handheld this year which boasts a feature that should be very interesting to long-suffering Switch owners. The Aya Neo Next is a...
Hands On 'Infernax' Blends The Best Of Zelda II And Castlevania II While Skipping The Flaws
Gifting gore and irreverence this Valentine's Day
The eShop is not short of retro-styled titles that show due reverence to iconic games of the 8- and 16-bit eras. From feisty ninjas in the likes of The Messenger and Cyber Shadow, to high profile efforts like Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon and its sequel, there are plenty of titles that are both...
Hands On Knobs, Bums, And 4D Armrests - Getting Comfy In Secretlab's New Pokémon Chair
Well, it's more like "bums on"
If a person's life story can be told through the state of their office chairs, then mine would be near-unpublishable. I have left a trail of destruction in the wake of my sedentary lifestyle: hard-wearing workhorses passed down from my parents, a fancy Herman Miller at my former job, and the peeling faux-leather...
Are we in the best timeline, or the worst?
If you could hop into a time machine and fly back to the early '90s and tell a young gamer that one day, Nintendo would make a piece of Sega hardware, they'd probably spit out their sugary Sunny D and laugh in your face. "Sega and Nintendo are mortal enemies," they would retort; "what planet on you from,...
Video We've Actually Played Metroid Dread, Does It Meet Our Expectations?
[The same 'dread' pun everyone else has made]
That's right, we've finally managed to get our mitts on Metroid Dread (temporarily); Nintendo UK were kind enough to invite us down for a good old fashioned preview in their showroom so we could have a go on it using one of those swanky new Switch OLED Model consoles to boot. Our expectations were high,...
Hands On We Created A GameCube Pad In Minecraft-Style Farm Sim 'Staxel'
We tried, okay?
Gather round, folks, for a tale of love, loss, and failure: For never was a story of more woe, than this of Kate and her, er, GameCube controller. Let's back up a little. 'Twas a Friday night after a long and tiring week, and my partner and I sat down for a game of Staxel, which is a sort of Minecraft-Animal Crossing-Harvest Moon...
Hands On PowerA's Spectra Controller For Switch Is A Light Show With A Catch
LEDs on a lead
We're not sure if you noticed, but there are LEDs on everything these days. If you've dabbled in the realm of PC gaming you'll no doubt have noticed the proliferation of colourful lights on keyboards and mice, and that trend is carrying over to console accessories, too – including joypads which light up like the 4th of July during...
Hands On One Man's Vision Shaped The GBA-Style GameForce CHI
...but is it any good?
If you're familiar with the raft of emulation-focused handhelds that have been emerging from China over the past few years, then the work of Anbernic and Bitt Boy will no doubt be on your radar already. While these are clearly small-fry when compared to the likes of Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft, they're still firms with a fair...
Feature Zooming Through Sonic Colors: Ultimate And Getting The Switch Lowdown
Sonic customisation, the new Wisp and that Switch framerate
SEGA has had various events and tie-ins to celebrate 30 years of Sonic the Hedgehog, but the big event from a gaming perspective is the upcoming Sonic Colors: Ultimate, which will see the previous Wii-exclusive come to various platforms including, of course, the Nintendo Switch. We were...
Hands On Streets Of Rage 4's Mr. X Nightmare DLC Is A Dreamy Add-On
Packs a punch
Streets of Rage 4 was a big hit in 2020, tempting in newcomers with its stylish visuals and weighty combat, and delighting series veterans of a certain age that had been waiting many years for an official sequel. It's a game with plenty of replayability, too, with a good number of unlockable characters and a generally moreish campaign...
Hands On It's Time To Judge The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles
Law blimey
It's been six years since the release of The Great Ace Attorney — known as Dai Gyakuten Saiban: Naruhodō Ryūnosuke no Bōken in Japan — and in that time, although a fan translation was made, the game was never released in the West. Many people speculated as to the reason: it's hard to localise, it relies on the player having basic...
Hands On LEGO Builder's Journey Is A Tiny, Beautiful Experiment About The Joy In Play
Creative block
LEGO Builder's Journey might fly under the radar on Switch, despite bearing the name of the mega-popular brick manufacturer, purely because it's quite different to their normal fare — but we really hope it doesn't. For the past couple of decades or so, the LEGO games have been dominated by other massive franchises — Star Wars,...
Hands On NEO The World Ends With You Has Us Caught In A Twister
A true evolution of touch controls
If you were a Kingdom Hearts kid back in 2008, you probably played or at least had ambitions to try out The World Ends With You on DS. Between its sharp, stylized visuals, pull no punches attitude, a bopping soundtrack, and the way it utilized touch and button controls, there's plenty of reason it sits very high on...
Hands On Book4Games "Precision Game Storage" - Fancy Warehousing For Your Loose SNES Carts
We go hands-on with the fanciest alternative to a shoebox yet
Many years ago, some wise penny-pincher at Nintendo decided that shipping games in flimsy cardboard boxes was a sound business decision, and as a result, NES, Game Boy, SNES and even N64 owners had to endure packaging that was annoyingly delicate when compared to that seen on rival...
Hands On From Xbox Series X To Nintendo Switch, The Falconeer: Warrior Edition Soars
An impressive port of a fascinating game
The Nintendo Switch has a broad library of multi-platform games, but publisher Wired Productions has confirmed one of the more intriguing download titles to transition to the hybrid system. Yes, it was beaten to the punch by an early eShop game page, but The Falconeer: Warrior Edition is announced and...
Hands On Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne Still Has The Power To Shake You Up
Featuring Dante from the Devil May Cry series
Ahead of the game's launch on 25th May, we recently had the chance to sit down with a pre-release version of Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne HD Remaster. Here follows our hands-on impressions from intrepid Nintendo Life (p)reviewer, Mitch Vogel... Before we get into impressions, let’s set the scene...
Hands On The EverDrive GBA X5 Mini Solves The Only Real Issue We Had With The Original
Small but still mighty
When we tested the original EverDrive GBA X5 flash cart back in 2016, we had plenty of good things to say about it, but the fact that it was bigger than your typical GBA cartridge was ever-so-slightly irksome. It meant that the cart protruded from the GBA's cartridge slot – a "first world problem" without a doubt, but one...
Hands On We've Played Bravely Default II On Switch, And Here's What We Think So Far
Classic gameplay meets classic grind
The original Bravely Default launched during a time where it felt like everyone had moved on past the tried and true turn-based RPG. Even the king of the formula, Square-Enix, seemed like it had given up on the genre as it had been (unfortunately) pouring its everything into the action RPG, Final Fantasy XIII,...
Hands On We've Played Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury, And Here's What We Think So Far
Cat's entertainment?
When it started to become clear that Nintendo was porting many of its Wii U games to the Switch, a lot of fans naturally hoped that Super Mario 3D World would be one of the games making the jump. It's hard to believe it’s taken nearly four years, but we're finally just a matter of weeks away before this much-requested Mario...
All aboard with the chart-topping hit
This digital board game's only been out a few months, and yet in that short period of time, Momotaro Dentetsu: Showa, Heisei, Reiwa mo Teiban! has utterly dominated the Japanese charts and sold over 2 million copies (digital and physical sales combined). It topped the Japanese multi-format charts when it...
Hands On We Test Our Cheeks On The Herman Miller X Logitech G Embody Gaming Chair
If it's good enough for Reggie...
Back when the all-powerful Reggie Fils-Aimé announced his retirement from Nintendo in 2019, he shared a photo online through his brand spanking new Twitter account, and some eagle-eyed office chair aficionados noticed that Reggie had been sitting his readied body in an outdated 12-year-old office chair – a Herman...
Hands On Fitness Boxing 2: Rhythm & Exercise - More Of The Same, And That Might Be Fine
Will the sequel hook you?
The first Fitness Boxing launched two years ago, when Nintendo and developer Imagineer presumably decided it was their duty to eradicate obesity around the world. Last time we checked, though, a load of us are still packing plenty in the podge department, so now the pair are back with a sequel to make sure they get the...
Hands On Hyrule Warriors: Age Of Calamity Makes You Wish You Didn't Know How It Ends
Breath of the Wild prequel makes a strong first impression
Silence, they say, is golden, and while Hyrule's own golden boy hasn't had much to say for many years now — beyond the odd 'hyaaa!' or 'eurghhh!' — the motormouth cast of Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity highlight Link's stoic silence all the more. These characters spoke a lot in Breath...
Hands On Immortals: Fenyx Rising Could Be The Switch Adventure You Need This Holiday
A Greek Mythological take on the Breath of the Wild formula
Last year at E3, the world was given the first look at a brand new, animated adventure from Ubisoft named Gods & Monsters, and after a year's worth of radio silence, we were finally treated to our first look at gameplay, along with a new take-it-or-leave it name, Immortals: Fenyx...
First Impressions Jurassic World Evolution: Complete Edition On Switch
Our thoughts on a hands-off demo with developer Frontier
It's rare that a game launches these days without a dreary, ill-defined subtitle hanging off the end, and that's doubly true of Switch ports. 'Definitive', 'Enhanced' and 'Special' Editions are ten-a-penny, and it generally takes some digging to find exactly what makes them so. Frontier's...
Hands On Pikmin 3 Deluxe - This Wii U Classic Is Shaping Up Well On Switch
I'll send Olimar loving to you
As the Switch continues to receive ports of Wii U games, the number of true exclusives on Nintendo's previous console is starting to dwindle. Pikmin 3 is the latest game to be given the Switch treatment, and while the majority of its improvements are minor, so far it looks like they're all positive ones. For those not...
Hands On Is Genshin Impact The Zelda: Breath Of The Wild Clone Fans Thought It Was?
It's out now, so we had a look
There’s been a lot of buzz surrounding a game called Genshin Impact ever since it was revealed back in June 2019, and not because it looks fantastically original; quite to opposite in fact. It didn’t take long for fans to see similarities between Genshin Impact and the latest mainline entry in the popular Zelda...
Hands On Blue Fire's Platforming And Zelda-Style Dungeon Combat Shows Promise
Blue Fire walk with me
Over the past few months we've seen an influx of incredible games from smaller studios on Switch and Nintendo's platform feels like a perfect fit for them. We here at Nintendo Life highlighted a bunch of titles in our recent Nintendo Life Indie Spotlight, and the platform holder's Indie World Showcase broadcasts regularly...
Hands On Using Dream Glass 4K Is Like Strapping A 200-Inch TV To Your Face
And it works will any HDMI console
The notion of strapping a huge TV to your face might seem like something out of a bad sci-fi movie, but with £180,000 of crowdfunding raised so far, DreamGlass 4K isn't some ill-conceived fantasy – it's happening right now, and we've been lucky enough to get some hands-on time with a beta unit to see what all of...
Hands On Fuser Cues Up A Potent, Peripheral-Free Mix Of Harmonix's Music Game History
The crowd say "Bo selecta"
What exactly is Fuser? The upcoming title from Harmonix--the musical maestros behind Frequency, Amplitude, the original Guitar Hero titles and the Rock Band series--can be difficult to parse from screenshots alone. There's no mesmeric note-filled runway rolling towards you, and while the coloured decks along the bottom of...
Hands On Sci-Fi Horror FPS The Persistence Makes A Good, If Familiar, First Impression
Making the Switch from PSVR
You know how it is: you go to sleep on a creepy space-faring colony vessel which has a run in with a spacial anomaly and you wake up to find the halls of the ship stalked by a nightmarish enemy. Before you know it you're in a violent, existential fight for survival. That old chestnut. Actually, that does sound familiar...
Hands On First Impressions Of Sea Of Stars, The Next Project From The Messenger Dev Sabotage
Hands off, actually
There is certainly no shortage of retro-inspired titles across all platforms these days. In fact, it can sometimes feel like every other game is a pixel art 'homage' to a retro classic. Still, when those games are done well and do more than fondle your nostalgia zones, the results can be potent. Sabotage Studio's first game, The...
Hands On The Dongii Is A Switch Dock That Fits In Your Pocket, And We Love It
Update: Kickstarter campaign is live once more
Update #3 [Sun 15th Mar, 2020 15:00 GMT]: The Kickstarter is now live again, and we've had an official statement from Better Digi: Dear Dongii fans, First of all, thanks to all backers’ love right from the beginning. A few days ago we got a little problem with Nintendo copyright. Our company highly...
Hands On Dipping Into Island Life In Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Book with the Nook
Animal Crossing games don’t come around all that often – at least not mainline games – so it’s hardly an understatement to say that hype surrounding Animal Crossing: New Horizons has been a touch feverish recently. Well, we were lucky enough to get our hands on i
Hands On Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore Could Give The Game The Second Chance It Deserves
The Kingdom Hearts of Fire Emblem and Shin Megami Tensei
What started out originally as a strategy RPG crossover of the Fire Emblem and Shin Megami Tensei series ended up taking quite a dramatic twist early in development and ended up forging a more unique identity in the form of Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE, a Persona-style turn-based RPG that has it
