Cinaclov

Mild spoilers here I suppose, but there are quite a few non-Galar Pokémon coded into the game but unavailable. It seems to mostly be the Kanto starters, Incineroar (because we just cannot escape how meta-defining it is), the legends/mythicals and standard forms.

I can't seriously be the only person who really enjoyed TLJ? There were moments that didn't work well but over all I thought it was brilliant (especially compared to the Ep4 remake we had prior)

"As you can see from the trailer, genres such as RPG, shooter and platformer can be bolted together for unique results"

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the article doesn't appear to have a video? Just an image?

"Exactly what changes will be made under the hood is anyone's guess, although rumours abound that Game Freak may use the downtime to patch a Raid exploit which allows players to change the clock on their Switch to earn Watts and farm Gigantamax Pokémon."

...

...wait, that means- OH SHOOT!! (grabs Switch)

I wasn't paying attention 1st time around, gonna have to re-watch now XD

@NoxAeturnus Imported from Kalos. Expect a premium on Slowpoke tails post Brexit.

Also; "When Game Informer originally asked Sword and Shield director Shigeru Ohmori if people in Galar were making sausages out of Pokémon, he replied saying he didn't know what was in them."

Sounds about right. Ponyta meat Lasagna anyone? XD

Ah, Arceus, that 'mon that even Pokémon can't decide on how to pronounce. I first started pronouncing it 'Arr-see-us', then Battle Revolution pronounced it different, so did the movie, then someone explained that 'Ark-ay-us' is probably closest to the actual stuff it's based on. shrug

Y'know what blew my mind? When the article pointed out Brie was in Scott Pilgrim. Never made that connection until now.

I did a double take when I booted up my Switch and saw this, but I'm actually quite excited by it. I'm going to get Sword as a download and Shield as a cart, this is a really cool freebie that eases my slight worry about unequal case space - Sword is to be the main one for me, hence it's a download, but consequently wouldn't have a physical presence in my game collection whilst Shield would, which was concerning on some mild level.

Considering it's free, I would've bought Sword as a dowload anyway and it eases that scenario, I'm fully supportive. Do't ask why, take what you can get

I remember discovering Fangamer about a decade ago and being absolutely in awe. "You can buy a hand illustrated field guide for Kanto Pokémon! Actual Zelda Small/Boss keys for your keyring! 8bit voxel warp-pipe mugs!"

I just had a look now, it's really cool how they've progressed but there doesn't seem to be much in the way of that kind of stuff anymore, which is a shame.

@ZeldaToThePast It matches the pose from the artwork they used all the time for TP.

It had great moments, but ultimately my overall feeling is one of disapointment. There's so much potential surrounding asymetric gameplay and very little of it realised.

But the biggest crime is the lack of 4Swords and Crystal Chronicles.

This has actually made me a lot more interested in this. I had sort of mentally passed on it but will be paying more attention now; shorter RPGs for busy people are all I need to hear to get my attention these days

Also, "Game Freak have devised a scheme whereby staff can filter out and stretch their legs on other projects before returning to the studio's most famous franchise refreshed and rejuvenated.". I have never heard about this but heartily endorse it, that's fantastic and I hope it continues.

@Heavyarms55 They mean temporary stuff, like Christmas trees. Where I live a lot of graffiti is listed as pokestops; whilst I don't mind in the slightest (it's a damn sight more interesting than most landmarks) almost none of it is still there. They probably don't want stuff like that (although as said, I will be upset if anyone reports of of it via this)

@Shepdawg1 I remember when Tesco broke the UK release date for X/Y days beforehand, then everyone else went and did as well. ORAS and Sun/Moon were all a good week behind the rest of the world after that XD

It's been a few years since I played through it on PS3 but I never had a complaint about your AI companions in battle. Just to put that out there.

@Krisi "The Mega Man collections and Sonic are on it, but not the Zelda one?"

Zelda Collectors Edition is 5th, OoT Master Quest is 6th

There are a lot of games lower down that I was initially annoyed by them being so low, but when you consider just how many truly quality games the GC had it's inevitable that some will get pushed lower than seems fair (though it always pains me how disregarded Sunshine is, and the lack of Pokémon Colosseum is a real oddity imo).

Was pleasantly surprised by the Zelda collectors and Master Quest ranking so high though.

Also, regarding Tales of Symphona; "although the plot might be a little workaday if you're at all familiar with the genre, there's a lot to love here". I'd actually argue it's one of the best storys in the Tales franchise; the way they subtly show the effects of racism in its varying forms, as opposed to battering you over the head with dialogue about it, means that by the time you meet the overall 'villain' you completely understand his motives. It's a really effectively told story, especially compared to some of the more recent games. Xillia for example recycles a lot of Symphonias plot points but the accompanying story is so convuluted and needlessly dense that you very quickly tune out. That's why the HD port was so disappointing; with a little love and attention it could have been the best Tales game, instead it comes across as lazy.

The trailer feels more like Fable than Zelda. Looks cool

Sounds like an Animal Crossing feature, right?

I was excited when I read the headline, then looking through the list realised that I've played through the ones I was interested in playing again very recently on 3DS - Super Metroid and ALTTP only a month or so ago. It's a good step toward making the online pass a worthwhile deal, but not for me quite yet.

@Heavyarms55 "much more enjoyable than VGC which can end in a couple turns. Not to mention VGC's rules make team building so much more limited with obtuse bans on Pokemon that aren't remotely unbalanced while allowing broken OP Pokemon that are just because the former is an event Pokemon and the latter isn't. Remember the XY years? Mega Kanga and Talonflame were basically GODS and on like 90% of teams. Not to mention VGC's asinine ban on any Pokemon that was not obtained in that generation."

See, those are almost all positives for me. I said about the match time being shorter in VGC; trust me, after 6 hours of concentrating at a tournament you don't want long drawn out games. You speak to some of the TCG players after their 9th round match, where games commonly run up to time and end in draws, they are starting to struggle on the enjoyment side of things. I also prefer the range of strategies and options it presents.

With the Pokédex, I accept that this is largely preference, though you are heavily exagurating; Incineroar currently has the most usage of any Pokémon in VGC, at 78%. Talonflame and Kangaskhan never saw that much usage. Kangaskhan in XY is actually my go to example as to why I prefer a single set of rules per season; under Smogon, Kangaskhan would have been out right banned from the start, there never would have been any development from that. In VGC14, the best players just dealt with it. The result? Kangaskhan was nowhere in the worlds standings. Similar happened in VGC16 with Xerneas.

Regarding Pokémon not being allowed beyond their current gen, if you mostly play on Showdown I can see the frustration; everything is available to everyone, what's the problem. On cartridge though, there have been decades of event/game exclusive Pokémon. Do you remember when Follow me Magmar top cut worlds, almost a decade after it got the move in Pokémon XD? Or the outrage when Ice Punch Tyranitar did well in 2014 but at the time was a Japan exclusive move? There's enough stuff outside of players control as it is, let alone without adding more stuff that most players can't obtain.

There will always be things that can be improved upon, and at the end of the day both of our opinions are just that, but ultimately I think the structure we have is the best for the way our current circuit operates.

@Heavyarms55 It is a lot cheaper to play VGC though. Also, trust me that singles take so much longer to complete and long drawn out games really sap the fun out of tournaments.

Such a fantastic library, one of my most played retro consoles by far. I had to put a lot of thought into rating this (eg; Animal Crossing just hasn't aged that well, I would have given it a 9 at the time but realistically I think it's now a 7 when compared to all the other games here that have aged fantastically).

It's also tough for some of my favourite titles; Pokémon Box is incredibly useful, to this day in fact (it's far easier to homebrew and PKHex Box through the Wii than it is GBA titles so is the route to GBA competitive Pokémon), it's an incredible tool, but is it actually a good game?

Similarly with Pokémon Channel, I really enjoyed it but is it objectively a good game? Almost certainly not, especially when compared to others on this list.

The headline actually touches on one of my biggest concerns going forwards; the 3DS is perfect for competitive play. You have two screens so have the main game play out on top and your commands on the bottom; this not only works with the clamsheel design of the console to hide your commands from your opponent but also means that if you're streamed you just stream the top screen. There's other hardward features as well; infrared is crucial for large tournaments.

The Switch doesn't do any of this. If all the stats are on one screen, how do you stream it without revealing one players entire set of information? Can you imagine trying to use wireless to connect with a 400+ player tournament (I know the right joycon has it, but that's really badly placed and isn't included on the Switch Lite).

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried about this. But equally, I'm so excited for the coming season

Unless it's required for some Sword/Shield connectivty bonus I'll probably trial it for a day or two then forget about it. Looks like it'll really tax my phone performance wise as well

Yoshi has always confused me slightly, entirely due to Melee (Which I'll come back to). On the character select screen the narrator pronouces it "Yo-shee", which is fair enough. However, when you play as Yoshi and taunt, the dinosaur pronounces their name "Yosh-ee". So I've always pronounced it Yosh-ee as well, as I assume Yoshi know how to say their own name.

But more importantly - Why was Smash Melee on that on the poll? 100% of people either pronounce it "Super, Smash Brothers, MAAAY-LAAAAY!!", with the appropriate pauses and emphasis, or they've never actually played it.

Sunshine is my favourite Mario platformer, closely followed by Odyssey. They're also the two that are least like platformers and most like adventure games, which probably says more about my gaming preferences than the quality of Mario games.

I recently replaced the D pad in my GBA, just swapped it with one from a cheap GC controller I bought for £1 and it works perfectly. Really pleased with myself for that.

Otherwise, loads of DS/3DS hinges, both my own and other peoples consoles. I know several of my friends had Gamecubes that stopped reading discs around 2 years after purchase but Nintendo didn't charge of us for repairs, which was cool. I've seen others with DS screen issues but never had any myself.

I've also got a pre-owned GBA SP that sometimes the power switch doesn't register for, occasionally you have to switch it back and forth a few times for it to turn on. But considering how battered and scratched it is I'm surprised there aren't more flaws tbh (seriously, how anyone wrecks their console like that one is beyond me, though it's one of the backlit ones and plays fine though so meh).

And that's pretty much it. Nintendo stuff definitely feels pretty sturdy overall.

Rebought a DSLite recently to transfer Pokémon which has prompted me to dive back into some DS games, it's got a really wide catalogue and a lot of solid titles. As a whole I think 3DS is one of my favourite consoles, largely because it's got an even better catalogue, backed up by the virtual console and DS compatability.

I enjoyed it for a couple of weeks, then stopped playing, deleted it as it was a massive file size and forgot it existed until this article. I feel slightly nostalgic for it, but not enough to play it again.

Itt reminded me of Amaterasu.

Wish they'd kept the bald cheeks on Pikachu, that always seemed odd to me that they'd add that

"Want to tick Tolstoy's War and Peace off the ol' bucket list? There are very few shortcuts for that one, I’m afraid"

But the book is always there, in a fixed form, for you to slowly work your way through.

The problem with videogames, especially older ones, is that you are prevented from progressing until you've 'proven' you're good enough. I could spend 10 minutes a day on War and Peace and eventually I would definitely complete it. But there is no guarentee that I could complete a really challenging retro game in that same timeframe, especially if there is a restricted/non-esistant save system.

That to me is the biggest advantage of playing old games now, with save states and walkthrough guides/videos on tap. It becomes much more plausable to progress through games.

Just being able to continue from the exact moment I left off in a game like Super Metroid is so much more convenient and makes the games much more achievable, let alone that you can create a save right before a tricky platforming section to avoid having to run through the same series of corridors when you fail and fall in order to get back to those platforms again.

Xbox has a backwards compatability sales on at the moment, which although is clearly geared toward Xb1 owners is also live on the 360. So I've dug that out and am playing Red Dead, with a side of other games that I have't played that were around the £2-£3 mark.

I just want to see everything easily at once.

I do like the SP versions of titles. Zelda 2 is actually possible to progress in when you begin with your health, magic and attack strength maxed out.

I remember when we had to petition to get the GC version released here in the UK, especially painful as the Australian version works without any modification on our PAL GC's.

And now it's a flagship series for Nintendo. How times change.

The original was surprisingly fun up until the final boss. Might pick this up at some point

Grookey is the best one. I don't really like the fire bunny tbh. Sobble seems pretty forgettable.

It's odd, I've always felt like water is my type and for the first 4 gens it was without question (even though Cyndaquil is better than Totodile ). 5th gen I didn't really care for any of them, though Snivy was probably the best, then it's just been the grass types winning each gen since.

Well, there we go. Just a starter Pokemon at the end of the day isn't it.

Didn't Hyrule Historia have design notes that mentioned plans for multiplayer in the original GB release?

@justin233 That was oone of my first thoughts. I don't think it would ever be a day 1 purchase for me if BotW is available cheaper.

Not keen on the eyes, but otherwise pleasantly surprised. Hopefully the Oracle games also recieve this treatment ^_^

I wasn't going to get Let's Go, and only did because I wanted a Switch and thought I might as well. The game is pretty much exactly what I expected it to be, which is fine but definitly not a must buy.

Speaking to others, it definitely seems like I'm not the only one. Kanto is great and all, but Kanto fatigue is real.

FFXHD is possibly the only game that has an arguement against rebuying games on Switch to have them portably. Really love that the PS3/4 versions share saves with the PSVita version through the cloud, and at this point can both be gotten fairly cheaply in sales. I know the Vita sold abysmally outside of Japan and the Switch removes that need completely, but I wish more games had done that.

@Appleflap It's Yahweh, isn't it?

From a nostalgic point of view I'm sad, but can anyone honestly say they are surprised?

I've been thinking that this seems a reasonable route with regards to remakes. FRLG were remade shortly after RS launched. We've now had remakes for RS at the 10 years mark, and a rerelease of R/B/Y on virtual console. That's not quite the same, and I can't see them doing that for all the games going forward (re-releasing them on VC equivilant). Rather than re-releasing the FRLG remakes, Lets Go makes sense. As much as I loved HGSS it'd make sense for a G/S remake as well.

That felt sort of rambly, but I basically agree.

@hirokun The mobile direct seems a good resource. It goes over everything fairly comprehensively.

As for the game itself, it looks pretty similar to Ys. That's no bad thing, though on a personal level I'd have prefered turn based.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4wz7Mb8Kqw

"While it would be unrealistic to expect Nintendo to give us the Netflix for classic video games overnight"

But I want a Nintendo Netflix