Bydlak

I play Switch handheld most of the time so it's an issue for me. Seeing their aggressive business strategy, I'm afraid they will come up with an OLED in two years and grab another $500 from me.

@shgamer

I played Space Harrier, of course. While it may have been groundbreaking in terms of programming, it never appealed to me as a kid. My favorite 3D space shooter on the ZX Spectrum was Buck Rogers, probably less innovative but more engaging in terms of gameplay.

Anyway, the things you just said about using the "race down the beam" are fascinating! Your knowledge of the history of game coding is impressive, and you are able to present it in a straightforward and not overly technical manner, which I think is a rare talent. Have you ever thought about writing articles or posting YT videos on the subject? Could be a hit!

@shgamer

Wow, these stories deserve a movie or TV series! Set against a broader social panorama of Thatcher's Britain and with some Adrian Mole nostalgia vibes.

Speaking about music, you got me indeed! Must have been a projection of my aging brain. No music at all and even the sound effects were barebones. Top notch gameplay and graphics though!

@shgamer

Thanks for this post, you reminded me of this great company. In the case of Elite Systems, the company name turned out not to be a coincidence. In fact, the best ZX Spectrum arcade ports, my favorite childhood games, were programmed by them. I didn't even remember that. All of these games were incredibly tight in terms of controls and gameplay, and they pushed the limits of what that little box could do musically and graphically, even though they came out quite early in the Spectrum's life cycle.

I'd love to see an Elite Systems collection on the Switch, although it's probably not going to happen due to copyright issues.

Suikoden I. It's a magic old-schol jrpg, made the way I like it. It's even better than the new DQ 3, way more mature, the characters and choices to be made are more intense and dramatic. Also many minigames and game-changing varieties. A must go for every jrpg fan!

That's hell of a propmotion

To me Guns of Fury came as a big surprise and the best game of February!

Why do I feel robbed?

I would prefer local PvP to co-op. Arkanoid Eternal Battle is great for that, I've spent many evenings playing it against my friend and I'd love to continue our competition on Breakout!

Guns of Fury! Guys, this one is a blast! A Metal Slug metroidvania that's totally polished and awesome gameplay wise. I wish it gained more interest in the media.

I don't like the way sprites are animated here. Sort of not smooth enough.

It's good to hear that! I'm playing it at the moment. 40 hours in and I'm delighted. A beautiful world to explore and everything is so polished!

This music is intense and sophisticated! Must have required a lot of talent and effort. It's great that it it didn't go without being noticed. Makes me think about actually buying the game.

@Rainz

You're right! They boasted of a huge DLC and we haven't seen any yet!

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2021/03/katana_zero_dev_says_free_dlc_is_now_so_big_its_more_like_katana_1_5

It gives me Katana Zero vibes gameplay wise - despite the obvious differences of the setting. I wonder if I'm right here.

I don't know about these but I'm super happy with my Mobapads! They are really hand-friendly and the way they hold on to the main unit is super tight. For the first time I have a feeling that my Switch is a single unit, it feels tight as a brick!

I enjoyed the first one, although the mechanics of different personas tied to moves and weapons was a little bit too
weird for me. Still I think I'll get this one anyway, I like metroidvanias that are really well polished, that's crucial for me.

I mean, backward compatibility is convenient, great etc. But here's a catch: does it mean that on S2 we are getting day one the current eshop overloaded with shovelware?

Never. I forgot they existed.

@Jalex_64

Ah, that's obviously right, ineed! When I peeked at the article, I was like: what's actually the difference between these and the old ones? Would Nintendo really release the new console with controllers looking exactly like previous gen? And why rails if they are supposed to be on magnets? But then I thought that it would be so weird of NL to post a picture of the old joycons in the article about the new ones. Then I concluded it was all some stupid hoax and ceased browsing the article.

No proper d-pad again? Why do they do it to us?

The NA cover is much more vivid in terms of colors, so it seems more lively than the others. It may be a matter of digital reproduction and not the real thing, though.

The absence of Balatro tells something about the difference between Japanese and Western markets.

Vol. 4 looks tasty. But give me a nice sale on the previous ones first!

There is a top notch rpg out there hidden behind the seemingly mild visuals. But even these are fantastic in their variety and creativity. A game of the year for me and an rpg that makes me want to replay it!

Preordered. It will be my first game of 2025, I think.

Why do indie games so often have such weird and off-putting color palettes? Not a single one for me here.

To me this one is clearly the best of the 3. I bounced off the 1st, got disinterested in the 2nd quite soon and I can't get enough of this one. It's so polished in terms of level design and gameplay! And it plays so snappy!

@OorWullie

Got you! I've done it some many times and with so good games, DQXI, OT2, Sea of Stars and many, many others. Now I'm playing Romancing Saga 2 Remastered and I'm enjoying it so much that I swore I would not drop it.

I was really puzzled to see this one. It obviously didn't give the vibe of the original game, and even the pixel art was not there. Still, I was thinking that it must be official because of the name. Now I see what's going on. It's incredible that Nintendo allows for such a scam. Thanks for the article!

@Anachronism

That's exactly my own experience. I would love to grab one of those 1.5 TB cards. But then I think that I'll way until next year, they won't get more expensive after all and I don't desperately need to have all my library in memory.

I think this game is great. I have played most of the Square titles and this one really stands apart. The atmosphere is great, the exploration is exciting, the battle system is very good and managing of the empire is something special. That's close to 10 in my opinion.

N64 is the least appealing Nintendo console to me. It just hasn't aged well. Even the biggest hits of this platform look and play poorly. So I'm happy to pass on this one.

It's Doom time!

Paradoxically (or not at all maybe) it makes me buy the upgraded Shadow Man from the eshop and play it more comfortably.

Games are not downloading in the sleep mode, that's for sure!

It was probably the first time I have bought an Ubisoft game day one and the only time I bought one of them first-hand.

Of course it looks great but I somehow can't stand the font design. It reminds me of terrible FF/DQ mobile ports later ported to Switch. The font just does not match the overall graphics style, it's not easy on the eye taken together. Tactics Ogre remaster had the same flaw. There were people complaining about that before, I wonder why the people at Square cannot see the problem.

Does it need to be plugged in for operation or just for charging?

Just because it's a Zelda thing, I feel like buying it day one. Even though I don't like puzzlers!

Cannot say I'm excited. BT&DD seems just an average brawler to me and the other 3 are truly the bottom of a jar.

Got the demo, I liked it but it's not anything special to me. Probably will wait for a sale.

It used to look better on ZX Spectrum 40 years ago!

I absolutely despise this LEGO-like big-headed artstyle, so I decided on skipping this one (as I did with Link's Awakening) but now, having realized the level of details and the sophisticated world-building, I've changed my mind and pre-ordered the game.

I think I like Engage more because it gives me exactly what I want from a FE game. And lifesim mechanics of Three Houses did not appeal to me at all and only kept me away from the real deal.

Silent Hill, isn't it?

I bought the first version of this day one, a physical copy. And now they are telling me I need to repurchase to have the full experience? Ridiculous. And I won't even sell that OG copy because they're gonna drop in price now.

I think everybody interested and their mother already have the game after all the hype and so many discounts along the way. Let's hope it's a sign that the sequel is round the corner eventually.

Part 2 was already genric and boring and they were saying it was an improvement to this, so it's a big pass to me. I'm probably too old for that childish setting.

Yawn. It's good to have a huge backlog these days. I was so bored that I've booted FF IX again yesterday.