Buizel

Not AI? So the game's just ugly then?

No hope for this game or Ubisoft for that matter. The last trailer was terrible - capturing absolutely none of the magic from the original game - and every update since has just made me more more sure this game either won't release, or will be a disaster.

@JimNorman no problem! Great quiz otherwise.

@larryisaman haha yeah I would've lost the point regardless for the same reason.

1 is incorrect. The answer to "How many versions of Nintendogs launched on the DS?" is 5: 3 at launch, and 2 later on, as noted in the the quiz. 3 would be the answer if the question was "How many versions of Nintendogs were there at the game's launch?"

Got 16/19 myself, which is much better than I tend to do on these quizzes!

@Samalik Fair, I guess this isn't really the standard on Switch - I can't think of a single game that offers it, come to think of it (probably because most third party games are compromising both fidelity and performance on Switch!). I wonder also if the duality of docked and portable mode complicates things at all.

Hoping Switch 2 offers more options of the sort as we see on PS5. I'm usually a Performance Mode guy myself.

@Haruki_NLI Yeah I can't speak for 31.5 in particular and why they would've gone for that, it does seem like an odd choice. My point was moreso on the matter of 30 vs 60 fps.

I will say that I don't notice any of this "choppiness" when playing though, fwiw. Not to say it isn't there...

@Samalik @Haruki_NLI AFAIK the game usually runs at 1080p 30fps...and this is 720p 60fps. So I guess they chose resolution over frame rate. Doesn't strike me as something as simple as changing one line of code suddenly making things better - there was a trade-off here.

Both kinda boring. But I voted the western one as the Japan one looks like they've just placed stock art on a background (reminiscent of SA2, which is a nice callback tbf) and called it a day.

@Ristar24 yeah I'm not seeing any stuttering/juddering at all.

Honestly I didn't expect to be this impressed by the Switch 7 years into it's life, but here we are. The game runs like a dream.

IMO this is tied with Nier Automata as the most technically impressive non-Nintendo game on the system.

I've given it a safe 8/10.

Modern Sonic is fantastic - probably the best 3D Sonic levels in the series.

Classic Sonic - while I used to like it - is definitely the game's weak point gameplay-wise, especially now after we've had the gold standard for 2D Sonic in Mania. Something about it just feels off, but it's serviceable.

Shadow Generations is a mixed bag, but on the whole a step in the right direction, and I'm coming to like it as I replay the levels more. 3D stages are generally well-designed but I do have the odd annoyance and a lot of deaths feel quite cheap. I also prefer Sonic's more barebones moveset over the complexities that the doom powers introduce.

I will say that the story on both sides is rather weak. I kinda miss the days of more ambitious Sonic stories, but it's not a deal-breaker.

Overall great game though. Excited to see where the series is headed.

Seems I'm not enjoying Shadow Generations as much as most - while good, I think the stages pale in comparison to Sonic's stages and I think Shadow's moveset is maybe a bit too complex. Happy to see people are enjoying it though.

Having said that, having Sonic Generations on the go is amazing - and I'm really impressed with how it runs on the Switch.

I was a little concerned about the Switch version, but this does seem promising. 30 fps isn't ideal, but a fine compromise to have this portably. Think I'll almost certainly pick it up for Switch considering Generations is one of my favourite Sonic games, and probably in my top 20 or so games of all time.

Still, seems very odd for them to focus on graphics when Sonic is at a standstill. That almost never happens in this game - you'll be moving at blistering speeds to the point that minor graphical details will be unnoticeable. Overall performance is definitely king here.

It's been a while since I played it, but wasn't a large component of Pokemon Ranger using your Pokemon's unique abilities to get past obstacles? That was pretty cool from what I remember.

It was also done lightly in older games with HMs, as mentioned in the article. I have the unpopular opinion that HMs were a good thing - just executed poorly. Basically I think if you simply decouple them from the Pokemon's moveset then you get rid of 90% of people's issue with them. But if, as opposed to what was done in SuMo and SwSh, you still assign them to your own Pokemon, you still have the added touch of it feeling like your companions are helping you through the story (rather than some random Pokemon/item that was gifted to you).

Nah, I think Echoes of Wisdom got the perfect balance. Predominantly top-down with 2D segments is great.

Great news for those nostalgic for these games (or otherwise wanting to try them) but...eh, I had my fill this year. I think I've had enough classic TR for a lifetime.

Will happily take either of the two more modern trilogies though.

Seems so strange to me that this was even a thing for Squaresoft/FF games in the US 30 years ago. We wouldn't get our first Final Fantasy until FF7 in 1997 in the UK!

Very cool, I would've loved to do this as a kid.

Not surprised in the slightest. Traditional animation in 60 fps is vomit inducing. Although I generally prefer 60 fps - particularly in 3D games with camera control - it isn't the case that higher number = always better.

Although I will add myself to the list of people who can't access the site!

@AngelSlayer There has been a 10% discount before IIRC, but 5% is still better than nothing, right? Plus you can stack discounts in the eShop - vouchers, sales, gold points...

I'd say these are pretty even but I went for Japan on this one - just because the characters' props make a bit more sense with the added context.

Also, it's so weird to see 2D drawings of the Mario cast in this era outside of super-stylised games like Mario and Luigi and Paper Mario.

Hasn't bothered me too much tbh, but I would welcome a "favourites" menu.

I actually think multiple rows/lines in the menu would be actively worse than the current system. A 1-dimensional list is easier to navigate than a 2-dimensional one IMO.

There's a difference between "noticing" and "being bothered by" which I don't think this poll captures.

Do I notice the frame dips? Absolutely,

Am I bothered by them? Eh, not really. It does strike me as a surprising lack of polish in a 1st party Nintendo game. But honestly, in a top-down / 2D-style game it doesn't affect my enjoyment in the slightest.

Having never played Professor Layton, I think these all look pretty bad.

I went with US as I feel it is the most balanced - Europe is way too cluttered, and...what is even going on with Japan?

Good stuff. If only smaller creatives were also afforded this opportunity.

@ArcadianLegend99 Xenosaga? The same series in which they skipped the first game, and only gave us Xenosaga Episode 2 in Europe?

Makes sense.

@XenoShaun Yeah I seem to remember this as well...

@IceClimbers Nice, I'll definitely pick it up then. Let's hope this does well enough to prove their prior reticence wrong.

A shame it's not Yakuza 0 though...

@Ralizah Came to comment the exact same thing.

It's frankly bizarre how they've treated Yakuza on Switch considering how Sega's generally been great with Switch support.

Do people need to be reminded of this? They aren't gonna just drop info on the next console in a Museum Direct or a Partner Direct dedicated to current hardware.

I would imagine we'd have some sort of dedicated communication to announce the console, probably Q1 next year.

Nice, this being trapped on the PS3 has put my off playing this one.

Now please don't botch it like you did Symphonia (which is a terrible port even with all the patches imo! )

Ruby and Sapphire was the right choice. Not only are "Indigo" and "Crimson" a bit too close to "Red" and "Blue", but "Indigo" is just begging to be confused with the Indigo League / Indigo Plateau of Kanto.

Plus Ruby and Sapphire just sounds cooler, and without those names we might not have got those cool translucent cartridges.

Adobe threatening legal action for the logo is even more ridiculous now considering what has come out about them in recent weeks...

Haha, the second I saw the title I knew I could relate.

As someone who never grew up with Metroid, I picked up Zero Mission for the first time in 2021 following my enjoyment of Dread.

Overall I didn't enjoy the game that much, tbh. And this battle was certainly a low point. Even using save states / rewind as I did, I found it a real annoyance. No way in hell would I have got past this in the original GBA release.

Damn, seems everything's getting a revival this generation.

Everything about this game is utterly gorgeous.

Not surprised at all. It looks nice, but certainly not out of the realm of the Switch's capabilities.

I think as the generation closes, and after years of hearing "the Switch is underpowered", there's become some collective delusion that the Switch can't render anything better than your most basic of games.

Quite an abuse of power, and part of why I'm really not keen on leakers for the most part.

It's okay though. It's not like this Google has sensitive data belonging to ordinary people or anything.

@Itachi2099 Oh wow, thanks!

@Itachi2099 What has Midori accurately predicted? I keep seeing "perfect track record" but when searching her I'm mostly seeing things that are unconfirmed, not those that turned out to be true.

I could go either way, tbh.

I, for one, actually really like the joy-con. While I don't tend to use them wirelessly (I have the Pro Controller for that), they're great for handheld mode - their comfort and feature set far exceeds anything we've seen on handhelds prior. I also prefer digital triggers to analog for the most part, and I've personally managed to never have any issues with drift over the 7 years of having the system, despite the Switch being my primary console.

That said, if the Switch 2 is going to come with new joy-con anyway...I guess I'll use those? Hopefully they don't change something about the design to put me off (like Dualshock 4 --> Dualsense, which became a bit too bulky for my hands).

@Rob3008 "Gamers should try complaining less over inconsequential things and enjoying their hobby more."

This is exactly why I'm finding myself engaging less and less in online gaming discourse.

People are free to feel disappointed / feel how they feel about anything relating to gaming (and tbh I've probably shared a fair bit of negativity myself!). But I'm having a much better time just enjoying my games over going online and seeing a bunch of people complaining about X, Y and Z.

It's a bit disappointing knowing that the remake is a lower FPS than the 20-year-old original.

That said...I was surprised to learn that the original even was 60 fps. I would've totally believed both versions were 30 fps based on my memory of the game.

I think 30 fps is totally fine for a game like this. I'll probably notice for a few seconds when I start up, but get used to it fairly quickly. It's a slow-paced, (mostly) 2D RPG. It'll be fine.

Is there a game that has so collectively disappointed Nintendo fans?

Definitely the biggest disappointment I've experienced from the company.

There goes another one of the few non-Switch games I was playing.

I really wonder if it's worth me buying games on other platforms anymore. Outside of the AAAs, everything seems to come to Switch eventually.

I'm already 100% digital on the Switch, and I intend to continue this way for future platforms.

If access to my games is revoked in 15-20 years? I'll have either moved on, or will find another way to access these games...

Disappointing.

I learnt from Tales of Symphonia to hold off on buying remasters until I can be sure they provide a decent experience. That came out a year ago now and is still plagued by horrible loading times that weren't in the (now 20-year-old) original.

A shame but I guess I'll have to stick to PC for Arkham Knight.

Pleasantly surprised to see how well this has scored considering how much these games have aged (plus how poorly some ports/remasters have been handled recently). Very excited to jump into these tomorrow (I'll be starting with my favourite, III).

As for the manual saving? My memory of playing these on PC was basically save scumming before every jump or risky activity. I'd be surprised to see people forgetting to save in this game as retrying after failed attempts is a staple of these games.

Personally I'm a near life-long Sonic fan who has been with the series through all its highs and lows.

But when you've generated so much bad faith with your audience (we're talking the past...20 years?...here) that they have reason to doubt/debate the quality of every release at launch, yet have the balls to release a fairly small 2D platformer in 2023 in the same month as Mario for £55... Yeah, I have no sympathy.

Personally I chose to skip getting this day one and I'm thankful for it. Not only because I saved myself £55, but because, based on the reviews and gameplay I've seen, although it looks like a decent time it mostly seems like I'm not missing much. Maybe I'll pick it up if it drops to £10.

As someone who considers Sonic Generations to be the best 3D Sonic...

Please don't suck please don't suck please don't suck