BustedUpBiker

@RaizenPrime True, but it's monumentally daft to include the component but not wire it up for functionality. Especially at the price they are charging.

@OfNullAndVoid That's entirely what I was going for. Haven't played it in a year or so but it was amazing back then. Expanded levels, branching story, plenty of characters and customisation, a mash up of the 3 Megadrive games.. Would be a brilliant fit for Switch.

Excellent review. The Megadrive was my first console and Sonic will always have a special place in my heart.

Now, can SEGA please let the Streets of Rage Remake guys do their thing as well?

@sillygostly That list was hilarious!

I'm really indifferent when it comes to achievements in games. True, they are easy to scoff at. All they have ever provided for me is the odd giggle if some effort is put into the descriptions, or perhaps some clues to alternate paths or missed mini games in the descriptions of the locked ones post-completion.

Pleased to read that the devs are aiming for optimisation without compromising the gameplay structure of the existing version.

@Ralek85 Absolutely. As I said, I adore my Switch and the display is perfectly sufficient. I also forgot to mention the lack of motion blur which is great considering it's LCD.

The Switch display is of course outperformed by the more expensive Samsung S7. The S7 is pin sharp with its high pixel density, has extremely accurate colour reproduction to both the RGB and Adobe standards (class leading at the time I think), and YouTube looks so sweet in 1440p60.

However I play my mobile games on the 1080p60 setting. Helps with battery consumption and I guess framerate (hard to tell as the GPU is very capable), and it still looks trick despite being sub-native.

I'll stand by my view that for the current internals of the Switch, particularly performance and battery capacity, 720p is the sweet spot. Had, say, the Switch been based off a Tegra X2 variant, with the potential improvements in performance and power consumption, I'd have expected a 1080p display for sure. Perhaps the 2nd generation Switch will do so, as it'll be a quick win for the devs - they could use the current docked performance profile to deliver 900p or 1080p when in handheld mode, and us early adopters will still be supported with the 720p handheld mode.

Or maybe we'll be lucky like those who managed to pick up an OLED PS Vita, and the current model will be the pick of the bunch. Time will tell.

Great review. Loved FTL and Rogue Legacy, among others, so this has piqued my curiosity.

Completely happy with the clear, bright, colourful 720p display on my launch model, thanks very much. Lovely balance for the tech in the Switch, and it's tough as old boots by most accounts.

The 1440p display in my Samsung S7 completely failed from a 2 foot impact. Glass was intact but the display died. Following an insurance repair I'm not convinced it's waterproof any more. I'm very confident the Switch would have shrugged it off.

@ddudek Haven't tried it myself but the first post on the channel states it won't work in Shrines or on certain terrain, so I doubt it will spawn the items in the Master Trials.

Cook up and guzzle one of these just before entering the trials:

30 mins x3 Attack boost - 3 mighty bananas, 1 mighty thistle, 1 dragon horn

30 mins x3 Defence boost - 3 ironshrooms, 1 armoranth, 1 dragon horn

@Bustacap That's cool, if something genuinely useful shows up it'll be nice to use it in both normal and master modes.

Edit: The article on the channel has now been updated to 2 apples.

Okay, the channel is up so here's some perspective.

The gifts are related to the tips given on the channel e.g. if a recipe is discussed you may get some of the ingredients to get you started.

The first such tip gives you one apple and one piece of meat. Apologies for the major spoiler.

Unless the channel starts giving away Fierce Deity armour and Twilight bows, I really don't see what all the sulking is about.

Loved the split screen racing back in the day. I don't mind the squish - I'm just glad they made the effort to include the mode.

Right on the Mark, Alex

Looks dope. Hope they get it dialled in and don't bail at the last minute. If they nail the flow I'll be stoked. Looking forward to shredding some gnarly hills. Sick.

The demo is a bit broken IMHO. In handheld it's a joy, but docked the performance is sketchy. Stuttering audio in at least two of the levels and in the Castle Rock level it's like Rayman is running slower and the timing is laggy. Made it much more difficult. I think the demo has subsequently been pulled from the shop page.

I noticed this performance disparity particularly after playing it handheld before playing docked. And the demo didn't keep my progress between sessions either.

Fingers crossed for a port of the BotW top down concept onto mobile...

Think I played this on my first smartphone.

Their Riptide games are pretty good. Would fill the gap for Wave Race, in the way that Fast Racing Neo has for F-Zero NX or whatever they call it.

I want to be excited. Bit envious of The Show on PS4. RBI Perfect Inning on Android is okaaaay. Haven't tried this as £5 is a bit much for a punt on a phone game in my opinion. £30 is a hefty markup as we're seeing other mobile games for about a tenner, unless it's a lot closer to the home console version.

I would also like to see an ACA Super Baseball 2020, and the wacky Super Mega Baseball Extra Innings. The latter is on Shield already.

@FatAlbert1 Exactly my perspective. Great post. Seeing as we're landed with this method of voice chat, I hope they innovate with it like you have described.

As it is I have unlimited minutes on my mobile so I sometimes call my player 2 on speakerphone when we play MK8D. This seems very similar to that - as well as using external hardware to voice chat on Steam, such as a microphone or Webcam.

Totally happy with the go and use anywhere possibilities and listening to voice chat on speaker or in one ear.

Also, my phone allows split screen multitasking so it'll be interesting to see if that works.

@ThomasBW84 One day they'll make Switch with that New 3DS flavour you have so eloquently written about, and our gaming lives will be complete.

Cool, but I don't think I really want to. I already thought I'd broken my first horse (Fisher Price) a few hours into Master mode, and I really don't want to glitch the game out with a dodgy exploit.

I was blazing past the clifftop camps heading to the dueling peaks tower, in a hail of arrows did a slick horseback jump into a paraglide, and my ego was then deflated as the nutter proceeded to run off the cliff Revenant style and survive to swim to the wee island below the tower. Turns out you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him swim to the mainland. Or drink. But I did, in an AVGN kinda way.

Luckily as I had registered him I was able to ask a stable to get him for me. The rescue effort would have made the news, I'm sure.

Lack of gumption on his part, more like. And common sense. And basic arithmetic.

I'll vote with my wallet at Toys'R'Us, thanks very much. They typically match the best online prices as well.

That's awesome. How about a Double Dash iron stomach version where your pal sits on the back as well?

Comes across as a little bitter to me. Doesn't seem very open minded either. Still, he is entitled to his opinion. I wonder if it has changed any over the last few months.

Brilliant! As soon as I saw the proper story ending I thought it would take this direction. Hopefully the first quest is to defeat Ganon again, then it flows from there, rebuilding Hyrule after 100 years of decay.

Planning to complete the game again in Master mode, then play the Winter DLC in that. That is, if I'm up to it.

Is Switch inherently imbalanced when it comes to CPU performance and GPU performance, like the PS4 ando XO? Their Jaguar CPUs seem relatively weak, you have to redline the hell out of those budget laptop chips to get anywhere.

Does Switch, while relatively underpowered, offer a better balance of system architecture? If the CPU can cope, by all means scale down graphics to suit the system. If games can be released on, say, PS3/X360 and PS4/XO as they were in the first years of this current generation, why can't Switch get a look in. It surely outperforms the last gen.

However, it can't be that simple of course. Modern games will probably be designed from the ground up for the similar architecture on both home consoles, so porting to Switch will be anything but trivial.

Also, with the XOX and PS4 Pro, and the current landscape in the gaming market, scalability will surely be key for devs who want their game to work across all systems. Switch should not be left out of this process by default.

Edit: @NotSoCryptic Enjoyed your comments and perspective here.

Well, none of you are going to get anything you want until YOU ALL STOP BICKERING

It doesn't have to be bigger to be better Nintendo. Sometimes just going back to basics works a treat. And can we have Wave Race as well please?

The Trials have been humbling and a re-education on combat in BotW. Enjoying them very much. Does anyone know if they double both levels of the Master sword? To explain, normally it does 30 damage and 60 while glowing because of orcses. When upgraded through the trials is it, say 60 all the time, or is it 60 normally doubling to 120?

Master mode for me evokes that same sense of danger and dread that I felt when first starting normal mode back in March. The vulnerability of Link makes you measure twice, cut once when it comes to tactics. I'm going to see this through to the end for sure, and probably play the Winter DLC in Master mode instead of normal.

As for the rest of it, it's already been said. The medallion is nice, as is the Hero's path, and perhaps the Korok mask if I'm brave enough to get it early on, but the rest is cosmetic fan service, especially as they can't be upgraded.

Edit: Having spent several hours in Master mode now, I have changed my opinion on the DLC armour. The Phantom set, Midna's helmet and Majora's mask are coming in very handy. If you're brave enough to get them, the Phantom set is the best early armour by far, with a healthy attack bonus. And Majora's mask is essential if you don't want a pitched battle every 100 yards.

@Nin_Myski Hard mode has one manual save and is limited to one autosave, and they're separate from normal mode. Choose between modes on the title screen.

Okay so it says, in black and white, bottom right corner - Bayonetta & Bayonetta 2.

It'll be brilliant playing these on Switch. First time for me. So, how long to wait, and how much to pay? Choo chooooooo

I've loved the Milestone bike road racing games since SBK, MotoGP and Ride. Ride 2 in particular is the dogs.

Trouble is, I turn off all driver and physics aids from the start, so it's full on physics, realistic handling and AI with no traction control or anti-wheelie. Good analogue triggers are essential for fine throttle and brake control. These are bikes after all. Playing these games on full sim settings and getting it right is sublime. So rewarding.

Trouble is I can't see this working the same way on Switch. Perhaps I could adjust to using the right stick, perhaps not. My pie in the sky hope is that Nintendo allow you to connect an X-Input wired controller to the dock by USB, such as one of my PC 360 pads.

Otherwise it's back to the old school using microtaps to control the throttle input. I've been trying Gear.Club on mobile and microtaps on the throttle can be sketchy with no driver aids. It's manageable though and I prefer to play it that way. Will be interesting when it comes to Switch.

Anyway, so stoked Milestone are looking at Switch, but concerned that the controls and handling will be dumbed down for digital inputs. Who am I kidding, I'll probably pick it up regardless.

Also, their Street bike series (Ride 2) included actual road racing championship tracks like Ulster, the Northwest and Macau, so I'm dreaming of a TT game next. Bring the next Ride to Switch as well please.

Anyone else think they should make a Gameboy Advance "classic" with 50 or so games built in?

On topic, @SLIGEACH_EIRE, I think it's great that Starfox 2 is getting a release. Just because Nintendo pulled it in the shadow of the next generation of consoles doesn't mean it wasn't good enough. It was yet another questionable business decision, especially as they had gone so far as to QA it and produce a master. I'm sure many SNES owners would have loved it as a swansong release and enjoyed the 3D on their good old Nintendo.

Even the colour scheme on the mobile page here is purple! Where is the JP/EU colour scheme button NL?!?

This will be fun, great news, can't wait.

Boggles my mind slightly though, that a console with a performance level where it is doesn't directly support Unreal 3.

It would be perfect for ports such as this one, and maybe the Batman Arkham games, Devil May Cry, Injustice / Mortal Kombat, Mass Effect, Life is Strange, X-COM etc.

Plenty of excellent stuff there that has also appeared on PS4/XO. This is the age of the re-release after all. And as someone with an ageing PC, Unreal 3 games run full on and flat out, and still look shiny and all that.

With that and the lack of analogue triggers, a couple of tricks have been missed.

Anyway, that's my tuppence on the subject. Only 3 days 'til more Zelda!

Nice selection of games here.

What more do they need? Fuuuuuuuuuuuu....

They love the machine. It's done amazingly well. They're getting asked about PES on Switch already. Bomberman is selling. Come on, grow a pair guys. Speculate to accumulate etc.

And please don't use Fifa as a finger in the air. I for one would rather have PES any day of the week, and if it was coming I'd definitely hold out for it.

Edit: Okay, rant over. Bit cranky today. I'll enjoy my 1st party games so much the time will fly by until publishers jump on the bandwagon next year.

@NintySnesMan Yup, can't really argue with that. And the library will be amazing I'm sure. But it's a little frustrating for me to see games like Micro Machines and PES slip through Nintendo's fingers at this time. Ho hum.

It'll be nice when a few publishers grow a pair and take the gamble though.

Spent most of a pay cheque on one back in the day. First console I bought myself. Felt amazing to rock up at home with Starfox.

Highlights for me were Ocarina, Mario, Starfox, Wave Race, 1080, Rogue Squadron, F-Zero X, Pilotwings, multiplayer Goldeneye and Mario Kart, Resident Evil 2, Blast Corps, Excitebike and probably many others I can't remember right now. Time to dig the old girl out again I think. Goosebumps.

Oh, and carts are the future. Probably.

Edit: I'd love to see modern versions of all of the above on Switch. We're already getting there.

What exactly are they waiting for? Switch is selling like hot cakes. Don't they see the mutualistic symbiosis between software and hardware, with more of the former leading to more of the latter and so on?

Here's hoping they choose to port to Switch rather than sit on the increasingly crowded fence.

Edit: Now EG are reporting that Konami are on said fence. Quoting their global product and brand manager:

"I love the machine"
"(Switch) definitely performed amazingly well"
"We're getting asked that (about PES on Switch) quite a lot"

What are they waiting for then? I reckon the Fox engine would scale well.

Great sub-heading

@buildz Just trying to be informative. My search for Sega Forever led me to the Sega catalogue, and all the games are up individually. Compared to the Sega Classics model on Steam, where all the games are conveniently centralised, it could get a bit messy in the end.

I just wanted to let you know that they're available now, as they weren't when you posted originally.

@buildz
@SegaBlueSky
They're up on the Google play store now. There is no browser app, they're individual titles. Phantasy Star II and Comix Zone for me so far! Phone connected to TV and a Bluetooth controller - Ace.

Articles like this are one of the main reasons I visit this site.

We are truly fortunate that Nintendo are still doing their thing. Long may it continue.

I've never considered this a problem, however I've adjusted to the right stick placement by not using my thumb tip, but the pad nearer the first knuckle. The shorter travel compared to a conventional controller helps. Found myself doing this naturally.

It's certainly more comfortable than my OG 3DS. Now THAT gave me the claw. More like the 3DS XL I'd say.

Like with Gear.Club and Oceanhorn, at least we can try before we buy on Android or iOS. However the Oceanhorn trial was especially short.

If they don't manage to pull this off, it'll be my eyes streaming

Subtle as a big metal box in the face.

Images look perfectly fine on a calibrated display Alex

Best thing about the Flashback remake? The original was included as well. Hopefully that's still the case.