Buizel

I voted GBA SP purely based on the backlight and the rechargeable battery - both were a big deal at the time, and make going to any earlier models a bit of a pain these days.

That said, I'm not a big fan of the form factor (the original GBA feels much better), nor the clamshell design which would be standard until the Switch (the hinges would frequently get too loose, plus it simply just doesn't feel as good to play on a system with a clamshell design IMO).

I'm only interested if games work out the box. I enjoy PC gaming (PC is my second platform after Switch), but currently it's the antithesis of the Switch. Whereas Switch is perhaps the most accessible console ever made, PC gaming still suffers from unexplained crashes, compatibility issues, need to set up / calibrate a lot of things, etc. If all of this can be streamlined in Valve's device I'm all for it, but will believe it when I see it.

Hard to beat Akira Toriyama.

Always up for a beat-em-up with a cool art style. Will keep my eye out for this one!

My top 5 has seen a lot of change in recent years. I don't have a de facto list, but Persona 5 (Royal), Mario Odyssey and Fire Emblem Three Houses are all strong candidates for my top five (with Final Fantasy VII Remake a runner up), and they were released in the past 5 years. I don't believe I've ever enjoyed gaming more than I do now, and I'm always discovering new titles to fall in love with.

That said, there is at least one game (Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver) which will be difficult / impossible to knock down. But we'll see...

Absolutely love this. Honestly I think that there's so much more than can be done with the 2D, overhead aesthetic, but I can see why Gamefreak would never go back to it.

Generally agree with the premise of this article. Sure, there are loads of negatives at the moment (Nintendo ignoring legacy content, Xbox buying up previously multiplatform studios, Sony making some questionable business decisions and abandoning Japan, many issues with the AAA industry), but the industry was never 100% perfect and I think it's easy to forget those negatives in hindsight.

But games have never been more accessible and we've never had more choice. Personally the Switch is my favourite Nintendo console of all time, combining almost everything I love about the company into a compact package.

That said...I don't think there's ever been a "bad" time to be into video games for the past 3 decades or so. There's always been a wealth of diverse content to enjoy and that only continues to this day.

New Super Mario Bros was a great game that was highly praised, and a massive deal at the time. And it still holds up today IMO.

I think the main reason people dislike it is because of the many sequels it got which are thematically pretty much the same. It's a shame because prior all 2D Marios had their own unique identity.

I hope Nintendo manages to do something to shake 2D Mario up again in the future. Personally, I think Super Mario 3D World is the best 2Dish (or "course completion") Mario we've had in years (despite it technically being in 3D). Perhaps this could be the future of course-completion Mario?

@OldMcGroin Competition can benefit the consumer by expanding choice and forcing companies to be...well, competitive.

But it can also have downsides, especially in a market rife with exclusive content. Publishers/developers may only have limited capacity to bring their content to different platforms - and if they decide to bring something to Apple's new handheld instead of my preferred platform in the Switch, that's a problem for me. In the seventh generation, we saw the majority of Nintendo's third party support migrate to a new competitor in Playstation. Even worse, a competitor may buy up studios to ensure exclusivity of content (as seems to be Microsoft's approach this generation).

That said, I'm not worried about this with regards to Apple. The Switch is a well-established console under the all-time handheld market leader, so I don't see many publishers opting to release on an Apple console over the Switch on their own accord. Apple buying studios is a possibility (especially since they have so much money)...but considering they have no experience in the industry, this seems like a costly and risky move for them. We've already seen how Google's done trying to get exclusive content...

A Switch without Mario, Pokemon, Animal Crossing, etc., and from a company with no experience in the console market?

I'm not too worried.

Even at this price point, it seems third party controllers come with too many caveats. Personally I'm happy to stick with the official controllers.

Hard to understand what they're saying due to the terrible grammar. Are they referencing their own reports? Or someone else's reports?

Nice proof of concept, but agree with many that it looks quite ugly. Maybe it's the weird mix of higher-poly models with the low-poly backgrounds and low res textures, or maybe it's that ray-tracing doesn't do much for a game with such low detail to begin with.

Show me ray tracing in Super Mario Odyssey and then we're talking.

Three copies (a physical copy each of OR and AS, and a digital copy of AS that came with my 3DS) - all work fine, which is a relief.

I've been holding on to my Pokemon games since Red/Blue/Yellow so it'd be a real shame for such recent games to stop working already.

First time I've been tempted to get a third party controller for Switch.

But lack of HD rumble is really disappointing. Does this mean no rumble at all?

I buy digital so I probably wouldn't get much out of manuals these days.

That said, I do miss a few of them (especially those with cool artwork). But I otherwise get my fill by buying art books / strategy guides for games that I really enjoy.

Nintendo, unpredictable as always!

I only really care for the virtual console and gamecube games.

I like the minimalist design of the Switch OS and personally wouldn't make use of channels or the notification LED.

Only worth buying for the Virtual Console IMO. In terms of unique games that are worth playing and can't be played anywhere else...well, the only one I can think of is Xenoblade Chronicles X.

Always amazed by the many reports of people having multiple (if not all) of their joy-con drift, especially within a few months. I bought my Switch at launch and have accumulated several sets of joy-con since...and have yet to experience drift on any of them.

I do wonder if some batches are just more likely to drift?

@Doofenshmirtz lmao I just came here to say that.

I have no need for a Switch Lite but oh man, this is lovely! Definitely reminiscent of the Gamecube and Gameboy Advance as others have mentioned.

This looks great. I really enjoyed Wonder Boy The Dragon's Trap as an early Switch title (in fact it was probably my gateway into the Metroidvania genre), so I'll probably give this a go.

Only ones I'm really bothered about are Activity Log and StreetPass.

Never seen the appeal of folders - reminds me too much of work. I much prefer seeing my most recent games, as well as an alphabetical list, to manually sorting my games by some arbitrary criteria.

@FX102A Had exactly the same!

Hoping Amazon honours the pre-orders. Difficult to guarantee any electronics these days!

@Clyde_Radcliffe I feel the same to be honest, was surprised to see NL praise the graphics.

Still, willing to give this game a try. The gameplay looks really solid and I'm in the mood for a new 2D platformer.

@Franklin Came to say this, narrowly beaten!

Happy to see Sonic Chronicles in here. It's very popular to hate on the game - and with the common consensus on modern Sonic, the meme-worthy music, and cheaper aspects of the title, I can see why. But it's still a great time and a solid title for anyone curious to see what a Sonic RPG would be like. Plus I found the touch controls to make the battles quite engaging.

I'm not sure I've ever seen anyone genuinely complain about the number of sword fighters - moreso people commenting about the complaints. But, as pointed out, one in five or so characters wielding a sword in a roster of 85+ is nothing to complain about...you might as well complain that too many characters in Street Fighter use their fists.

At the very least, I can understand the complaints of too many similar Fire Emblem characters (we already had Marth, Roy and Lucina filling essentially the same role...and then they added Chrom). But this is the same old issue of echo fighters not taking the place of entirely unique characters. You can hardly argue that Link, Sephiroth, and Shulk all play the same. And what happened to people wanting Ganondorf to use his sword?

The bottom line is, Smash Ultimate probably has the most diverse roster of any fighter ever. To complain about a character wielding a sword (or being a sword, which isn't exactly a mundane concept) is silly IMO.

Still torn as whether to get this on Switch or PC. Switch is perfect for Persona, but the lack of antialiasing is a bit of a bummer and I'm stuck at home anyway, so...

Tbh, I'll probably end up double-dipping anyway so may not be that important a choice in the end!

@RupeeClock Google "cartoon cactus" and half the images have the same arm positions. Spikes come with the territory. True, these cacti are both more angular than most cartoon cacti that you'd see - but I think that's part of the New Super Mario Bros style, rather than evidence of a direct copy.

The flower position is a little suspect, but in Newer Super Mario Bros the flowers appear on several different parts of the cactus...so there was a good chance of coincidence there.

They're not actually that similar?

I mean, how many ways are there to design a cactus in Mario style?

Seems like little more than a coincidence.

15/20. Nice challenge!

@Bolt_Strike I agree. He's often cited as the father of Sonic, but let's not forget that was 30 years ago. Nights is highly praised but honestly I don't see the appeal. His last project to get a reasonable amount of press was Rodea the Sky Soldier and that was a mediocre game that felt very janky to control. His best output in the past 20 years IMO has been Billy Hatcher, which is an overlooked gem on the Gamecube.

I wasn't interested in Balan because it looked like more of the same. I'll try the demo out of curiosity, but if the demo wasn't available I'd probably pass altogether.

Of those, the GB Micro. But wouldn't really describe any of the above as "sexy" - they're a bit too garish and chunky for the most part.

My vote would go to the Switch, with certain models of the (New) 3DS/XL as a runner up.

Nice in concept (I don't think Nintendo have done nearly enough with special console editions this generation), but too garish for my tastes.

I suppose this was intended for the anniversary but got delayed due to supply issues?

As someone who games mostly on Switch and PC I'm always intrigued by this type of tech. However, I think I'm at the point now where the Switch library is so vast that it covers most of my portable needs (plus I have a gaming laptop which is...somewhat portable).

I must say the "joycons" look really uncomfortable though. They don't look they provide much grip/support either.

The hands look off on the unofficial one, but otherwise I imagine this was an easy mistake to make if they went to Google.

Reminds me of the time Capcom published Okami with the IGN watermark on it.

@TryToBeHopeful Makes sense. I don't hate the feeling of actual peaches (as they are soft) - it's the feeling of peach-like fuzz on harder objects that I despise.

The fuzzy material used makes me feel uncomfortable...am I alone in this?

@Tyranexx Agree, these really gave me Sonic vibes when I first saw them.

Man the step up from Medium to Very Hard is huge. I destroyed him on the former, but struggle to get him below 120 HP or so in the latter.

Playing as Cloud because...why wouldn't you?

@MantaPloc This is how things trend on social media. it's almost always talk about how other people are talking about something, rather than anything of substance itself.

For this reason social media does a very good job of propagating stupid ideas that probably very few people had to begin with.

@impurekind @Tao this was my impression too. The most commonly talked about spiritual successors are made by people who worked on the originals, e.g. Yooka-Laylee, Mighty No 9, Bloodstained.

Perhaps there is a broader definition to include games that are heavily inspired by another game. But I feel by calling it a "spiritual successor" you're probably leaning a bit too much on the original work.

Can it be called a spiritual successor if no-one from the original game is working on it?

First time I've got 100% on one of these...Nice!

2016, imo. The only game that really grabbed me that year was Pokemon Sun/Moon, and they're my least favourite in the series.

2015 had Splatoon and Mario Maker - perhaps two of the strongest arguments for the Wii U's existence.

Ultimately tried for four hours and one of the products ran out of stock before I could check it out.

Reminds me of the amiibo days!

Been trying for an hour and it just keeps returning an error / emptying my cart. How frustrating.

Picking up a pack of the hanafuda and playing cards (although agree they're a bit expensive). Site is very slow though - won't seem to process my payment!