9_10DOH64

@libersolis There’s a market for both.
The sad thing is, if/when everything is 100% digital only it’ll be too late to realise everyone has lost in a big way.
You don’t own anything

Now Nintendo are releasing game key cards!? What the hell is going on?
I just read what this game is about and changed my mind about it, sounds really interesting and I’m collecting physical games.
But as a key card? Goes straight back in the “no thanks” list

They should release an actual physical version of all three games.
Requiem standalone
VII &VIII as a two game cart

Hard toss up between squirtle and Pikachu.
Squirtle in the blue version every starter run. Then didn’t leave the forest without a pikachu

This is getting ridiculous now.
Why the hell did Nintendo come up with game key cards?

The demo? Impressive and drew me in. Genuinely enjoyed the mechanics and really enjoyed the nod the PN03, really felt like a sort of successor to it.
My gripe? Why the hell is this game not releasing as a physical game?

Nintendo need to release 32GB, 16gb and 8gb carts and fast. Although I think capcom still wouldn’t use them as we could have had a physical Street fighter VI in a 64GB card and they never bothered.

A physical cope of Pragmata at £59.99? I would buy on day one, without question.

With smaller cards possibly looming from Nintendo and a possible physical re-release of some games, puts me off buy digital.

I will NEVER buy a game key card.

@Krisi there’s a lot of garbage and spin offs there though, and just pedantic.
The main series of Goemon is what’s there already plus the N64 series

Sick of lack of physical games.
Why isn’t res evil 7 and 8 releasing as physical?

Really wish this had been a full collection with Goemon 64 1 and 2

Now if only they’d release this physically on an actual game cart, I’d buy it on day one.
But I’ll pass

That is a WEAK 2026 line up.
On all formats really

@MeatSauce I know, but I can guarantee you if it was 45Gb we’d still be getting a pathetic code in a box. I’m actually up for the £139.99 Monday night raw is war version of this game, but no WAY am I paying £139.99 for a game and not having an actual physical game to own and collect. Absolutely ridiculous price point for a digital game.
If they started making 128Gb carts for games like this and CoD but charging £79.99, I would actually pay that for a Physical of such a game on switch 2.
Digital only or key code cards should be £39.99…. Max. Any more is a literal rip off for something you never really own

Now make sure it gets an actual physical release and not a game key card

Well day one, for the entirety of week 1 it was absolute garbage as were all reviews online for it, as was Nintendo’s views when I sent them the video of it running and then fully refunding me for an eShop purchase. They may have fixed it a lot since then, but at launch, it was unplayable

@blockfight I got it on release day and for the whole week, it was dreadful. Graphics were choppy, it stuttered all over the place, the online was literally unplayable with input lag way over a full second, and where split seconds count in sports it was just pathetic, the play had half developed before the input had registered.
The off line version didn’t seem as bad, but when more than 75% of the game modes are online, and they want £70 for a 25% playable game?
That’s a hard no. Full refund please and take your game back till you learn how to hire competent programmers that can be bothered with Nintendo properly

I bought this digitally on the eShop in the UK and it was worse than trash. My complaint was so strong, it saw Nintendo actually fully refund me for the game, which they hardly ever do.

I wonder if they’ve fully fixed it? Wouldn’t dare touch this game, or indeed any EA game, without a weeks free trial.

Switch games NEED to have manuals back. It’s always so gratifying to buy games from LimitedRunGames as they always have manuals.
The fact switch cases have a space for a manual and don’t just looks cheap and low quality.
Nintendo need to wake up, understand the value people hold in physical media and start doing a proper job.
Vinyl made a come back, Blu-ray is making a come back cartridges should to, people want to own what they pay for and wick of paying for subscriptions or endlessly buying more an more SSD storage for digital games.
Give us full physical media and manuals, and quickly.

@Jack_Goetz been hugely disappointing. Can only hope the Switch 2 actually starts never year.

We are in a repeating pattern of how pointless the PS5 was in its first 2 years of release, it was all PS4 games for 24 months

I’d like them to port Black Ops 6 and Warzone. Not bothered for BO7 at all. I’d rather get a solid port of an established game. And it’s only 12 months old that I’ve got a years worth of progress and skins invested in.
BO shouldn’t get a new release until 2-4 years between each, BO7 is garbage

The opening year in Switch 2 has been disappointing.
A near full on drought of third parties even entertaining releasing actual physical games and all giving us cheap key cards that nobody wants.
Then is first party world it’s been underwhelming

Mario kart world…. Was not Mario kart. Gone was the GP competition format with podium ranking and a faux open world aimless racer with far too many weapons going on during multi player to even have a chance of leaving it feeling anything like remotely like a racer. 6/10 and one of the weaker Mario kart showings…… ever.

Donkey Kong Bananza, nice game, but majorly repetitive and NOT. A Donkey Kong game at all. 6/10

Metroid 4. The strongest showing from Nintendo first party efforts this year, but nothing stand out about it all, but a solid performance with quality throughout. 7/10.

This year has shown the top level talent in the Nintendo teams that we’ve been used to in the 80’s 90’s and 00’s have now really taken a step back, and not really involved today and letting the younger teams push forward. And the lack of experience is showing.

Video games in general are waning in true quality and originality. But seeing it happening from Nintendo, is a real displacement and painful to see.

Where are the AAA, system selling, instant greatest of all time contender flagship titles that Nintendo used to be known for?

Nope. I wanted to be interested too.
The demo just 100% put me off. Just felt aimless, joyless and utterly pointless as a game

That’s just bad. Really bad. Not bad in an entertaining way. Just. Bad.

Mine arrived today

@Cyrax77 you’ve missed the point. Clearly.
Nintendo fans are fan service games. And they are typically great games.
However, where Nintendo has fallen down since GameCube is that major third party titles just aren’t available on their platform and there are some MAJOR hitters that outsell Nintendo titles that just are present on Nintendo and need to be.
Not necessarily BF or BO7, they are just recent examples but you can list them all going forward.
Nintendo needs to bring third parties fully onboard for Switch 2, the user base is there, they’ve proven that with Switch, they just need to convince third parties to start delivering.
We are entering month 6 and we still don’t have a major Nintendo title.

None of those codes work on the GAME in the UK

NHL 2026 along with ALL EA Sports games clearly uses a LOT of AI intervention to create “moments” instead of actually letting players play each other.
The games are worse every single year and THIS is the worst and where they should have been fixing the failures of last year, they’ve produced painting by numbers programming with AI fluff and it is pure garbage

@Cyrax77 none of those are big games.
They are all Nintendo fan service games.
All the games you mentioned were easily knocked out of first place, second and third by actual big games such as Ghost of Yotai, Battlefield and inevitably Black Ops 7, 2 of which could have been on Switch 2, but aren’t.
Maybe BO7 will be, but nothing confirmed yet. Definitely not at launch and definitely not for Christmas, whereby it’s pointless as anyone who wants to play it, will already be doing so on PS5 /XB and wouldn’t double dip for an inferior version

Nintendo need to start releasing some big titles for the Nintendo Switch 2, and there are still NONE on the horizon.
Passed up EA Sports putting in a decent effort, same old inferior garbage again.
No Black Ops
No Battlefield.
The BIG third party titles are all nowhere to be seen, and no MAJOR first party titles are even in the Horizon.
Mario Kart was disappointing.
Donkey Kong was never going to be big but was well adopted by the Nintendo fans, but nowhere want a system seller or a title that would draw new gamers to adopt the new console.
What are Nintendo doing? Half way into year 1, and there are ZERO huge titles being hinted at.

EA disappoints.

RELEASE THE RESIDENT EVIL 7, 8 AND 9 AS FULL GAME CARTS. LET US COLLECT THEM!!!
Then all will be fine

I couldn’t disagree with Donkey Kong Bananza being No1 any more if I tried.
I think it’s an average game and certainly one of the poorer games to use the Donkey Kong IP.
It isn’t a patch on ANY Donkey Kong Country game or even the original arcade or GameBoy version.

It’s just weak, repetitive and over hyped and adopted because it’s the flagship launch window title to add to the gap with some Switch 1 ports in the lead up to Christmas.

There are way more solid and better quality games to play. Shinobi Art of Vengeance is an insanely high quality game, but I suppose it’s a Switch 1 game, not a Switch 2 game.
The port of Cyberpunk 2077 is more impressive and a better game. Street Fighter VI is better. Hollow knight is better.
Deltarune is better.
Mario Kart World better.
The more I play Bananza, I just feels underwhelming and really, should have used the Warioland IP and not DK.
Smashing around in caves hour after hour is just not what you expect or want from DK. Where’s the joy? the music? the colour? the art style? the technical level design? the challenge? the comedy? The mine carts? The barrel sections? The creative graphical flair?
All null and void as we mindlessly smash through terrain and a young girl shouts ELEPHANT as we turn into and elephant? For some reason?
Mental, absolutely mental and just is not a Donkey Kong game.

This is the best wrestling video game since WWF No Mercy on N64 and is the best wrestling game from 2K games, ever. Finally out everything right from the previous versions and looks amazing running on Switch 2, especially when docked

Couldn’t disagree with this list anymore.
The list generally I do, but Bananza should not even be in the top 10, never mind 1.
Donkey Kong Country Returns
Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze
Donkey Kong Country 2
Donkey Kong Country
Donkey Kong Country 3
Donkey Kong (GB)
Donkey Kong (NES)
Donkey Konga
Donkey Konga 2
Donkey Kong Jungle Beat
Donkey Kong 64

Are ALL better Donkey Konga games.

Bananza NEVER felt like Donkey Kong belonged in it. The more I play it, the more I’m certain.

I got bored at level 900 and stopping playing in in late July and returned to it this week to try and stick with it to finish it at least. Then it hit me.
Bananza should have been Wario Land 5

The random nature and theme, the endless digging in dark and dreary levels. The insane disjointedness of the whole thing, THIS should have been a Wario game.

I don’t get anything of Donkey Kong from this game and shoe-horning him into it, is a huge swing and a miss and a chink on his reputation that can’t be unchanged

Octopath traveller being a game key card only is absolutely disgusting of that publisher.
Collectible franchise from a collective developer and they do that? Absolutely disgusting.
Won’t be buying it based on that alone

@SoIDecidedTo
succeeded. Full refund back on my eshop balance. The godawful game has gone.
Success and EA can suck it

@Dr_Awkward Switch 2 is awesome. Best console in a LONG time. I have no issue with the hardware. It’s the lazy greedy third party developers keeping more of your money by giving you a download code on a piece of plastic over an actual game.

I’m a collector, I stick plays games I bought in 1995 that still work today with no download required.

I don’t trust what will happen another 30 years from when the console is obsolete and you don’t actually own the physical game, you’re reliant on online access to it. Unless they sell you the actual physical game.

On Switch 2 they can sell you that but they refuse as they keep more profit by selling you a code over a cartridge

GAME KEY CARD!? For gods sake!? Can they not figure out we don’t want them and we are willing to pay for actual games on actual cards, that’s why WE BUY NINTENDO CONSOLES

@SoIDecidedTo I thought that. Dodgy gits. Turning the function off so you can’t show the world how bad it is.

@SoIDecidedTo good news is, you can get a refund. I’ve complained through Nintendo directly, as I preordered it on the eshop. Submitted my video evidence if why it’s appalling and not fit for purpose and they’ve agreed and in the process of fully refunding my money back to my eshop account.

This better include physical copies of each on the switch.

Woukd love to see one for each entry. The original PsOne version with the HD remake per cartridge for each release from Zero through to Village and finally have them all in Nintendo on physical cartridges.
I’d buy all of them.
Digital or key card? No sale

If THIS is the result of a team working solely on Switch 2, they all need firing. Total shambles of a game on the same levels as WWE 2k18 on Switch

This game is unplayable.
Can’t even attach me EA account to the game due to a bug, which means cannot play any of the online modes (which is most of the £70 game).

Offline. It’s full of bugs, full of slowdown and full of glitches.

Completely unfit for purpose and should not have been released. A majorly sloppy port by an incompetent developer.

Demand a refund immediately. The game is broken.
100% unplayable online.
Offline, it’s poor quality at best.
Do not buy, and if you have demand a refund asap.

Because. And I don’t mean to sound deflating. This game is repetitive and boring.
It is being sorely overrated because it is THE only flagship title on offer and as early adopters we need some actual meet.
Weirdly, receiving third party support in the guise of WWE 2K25 and Madden 26 is far bigger news for Nintendo than a mediocre first party titles.
When do you remember last having such third party stalwarts available on Nintendo hardware?

Nintendo should be flexing Metroid 4, New proper Mario, new Zelda and still to come, in production AAA first titles in the run up to Christmas.

After a mixed launch. This is feeling thin.

@Markiemania95 the first post was an exaggeration, call it being pedantic on your part, or exaggeration on my part, the point remains the same.
If you play ANY DKC game, the music all has a distinct and recognisable signature to it that is instantly DK as soon as you hear it.
All of that is missing. And it sounds nothing like a DK game. Except for a few things here and there. Close to 100% of the soundtrack is something totally different and is worse for it

Excellent list and justifiable reasons for each position! I read these types of articles and often disagree or internally hitch and moan that I don’t agree with certain games in certain positions, as everyone always does. But the piece written for each game is a well written justification for each subjective opinion and it was a pleasure to read.
Donkey Kong is my favourite Nintendo franchise and it was great to trip back through them.

@Johnny44 what is that even an answer to?

@darkswabber I get that. I’m saying, it’s just nowhere near as good and just hope this isn’t the end of DKC as a series, it’s literally one of Nintendo best franchises and it passed in entirety on Switch.
It’s been more than 10 years since the last one, just want it to go the way of the F-Zero series

There’s 5 DKC games and 1 3D prior to Bananza, which was awful.
What trade off are you referring to?

A WHOLE song?
Still a LONG way short of a whole game.
I obviously haven’t got to that 1 level yet. B it that still means 95% of the game, or even more, is the wrong sound.