EarthboundBenjy

I'm finally done with Pokémon Legends Z-A. Full Pokédex, full Hyperspace Pokédex, all sidequests done, all Mable research done. I am so sick and tired of this game. This is the complete opposite feeling I had after finishing Legends Arceus, which was sheer contentment.

I will definitely replay Arceus for nostalgia's sake in a few years' time. But it would be too soon if I never saw Lumiose City again.

Anyway. With that out of the way, I can move on to better things.

Right now I've began playing Skies of Arcadia Legends on GC for the first time.
It's extremely slow like any good 2000s RPG is, which is annoying, but once you acclimatise yourself to its pace, it's a dang good game. The characters are fun, the character animation during cutscenes is excellent, especially compared to contemporaries like Tales of Symphonia. The combat is fun and simple but effective and interesting with the SP gauge system. Really having a good time with this game.

uh you guys know that "SGGG" is Segagaga right? that's just the logo not the title lol

EDIT: Dang okay so when I actually look at the website linked here, it seems that they are calling it SGGG in English ??
nevermind

The only reason I have this game is because we were buying secondhand N64 games (during the Wii era fwiw) and one seller had a bundle of games but accidentally said in the listing that it contained Yoshi's Story when it didn't. So they refunded the price of Yoshi and threw in Buck Bumble as an apology.

I did try to play it a few times. I got past maybe two levels or so. I never managed to get fully engaged - after dying a few too many times I lost interest pretty quickly.

The best part of the game is in fact the title screen music haha.

I was hoping Argonaut would remake Croc 2 next, and then include both Croc remakes (plus GBC roms) in a bundle (like the Crash or Spyro trilogies). Hopefully Croc 2 is still on the cards.

@FishyS
Mario also has a cute triceratops with Reznor - if we include rhinos, we gotta include triceratops too, right?

Pokémon Legends Z-A Mega Dimension: Doing the postgame grinding, and I finally got the seventh and final legendary Pokémon from random Special Scans. However, during the whole thing I never encountered a single Rotom hyperspace. .... It seems like legendary Pokémon hyperspaces are guaranteed to appear after enough time spent grinding, however "regular" hyperspaces aren't guaranteed at all. So now I have the prospect of doing indefinite grinding just for the chance of Rotom to maybe appear one day, or to give up and play something else.
I honestly kind of hate this DLC tbh.

I've not seen or heard about this game before, but just from the screenshot here....... this genuinely does have the potential to confuse consumers into thinking it's affiliated with Nintendo, in a way that even Palworld didn't.

@thedeadwing
Unfortunately, the way Switch games seem to work, if they do include the 5gb update on a cartridge, it'll be fine up until they have to release another patch afterwards - then the Switch will download the full 5gb anyway despite it already being on the cart.

Nintendo doesn't realise that by not including useful patch notes, they encourage their fans to datamine their games in order to find out what's actually different.

The game looks interesting. But I won't be getting it at launch because it's a game key card. I'll get it secondhand at some point in the future if I can find it cheap.

UFO 50 is one of my number one favourite games to have ever released.

I got 50 cherries on Steam in 2024, and when the game came to Switch the following year, I got 50 cherries again. I was that obsessed with it.

Even though the deluxe edition was not on Fangamer EU, I decided I liked the game enough to get it from the USA Fangamer store. haha..

Hey, everyone who loves playing retro compilations, and everyone who just appreciates fun and interesting game design.... you really really ought to give UFO 50 a try. It's truly something to behold.

@Anti-Matter

Rhythm Heaven is not that kind of music game. It is a different style of game.

Rhythm Heaven is not a game where they superimpose a sequence of button-presses over an already-existing song, like you would see in many music games.

in Rhythm Heaven, the music was created for the specific purpose of providing interesting rhythmic challenges. It's a very different thing entirely. It's not a game about popular songs, it's a game about playing with rhythmic concepts.

Complaining that Rhythm Heaven is not Dance Dance Revolution is a bit ridiculous - imagine telling a Dragon Quest fan that a new DQ game isn't worth buying because it's not Pokémon. 🤔 Different kinds of games should be allowed to coexist.

Rhythm Heaven is an S-tier Nintendo series for me. Immediate buy, immediate play. Day one, minute one.

Non-fans can't comprehend just the sheer level of obsession the fans can have towards Rhythm Heaven. it gets in your head, it gets in your heart, and it never leaves.

For a lovely classic sci-fi JRPG that takes place on multiple planets, I'm going to recommend Phantasy Star IV - available if you have NSO expansion pass, or if you still have the now-delisted Mega Drive collection.

lol.

The NSO profile icons are really weird imo.
For whatever reason, Nintendo decided that this one tiny aspect of the Switch, the ability to choose a user icon, needs to have the most insanely intricately planned-out FOMO element to it. Despite it not even amounting to anything important at all. It's so absurd how they double and triple down on this one small element of the user interface as being THE place for their promotions and events that you'd better be there for otherwise you'll miss out!!
It's completely absurd to me.

The fact that Pokémon from Z-A can't go to Scarlet/Violet or Sword/Shield or Legends Arceus is kind of ridiculous tbh. What's the point then? To put into HOME and just... leave them there? I thought the whole point of HOME was to transfer them between games.

Okay, so as far as my understanding goes, these time-limited events aren't actually tied to an internet connection, right? It just checks the current date on your Switch system?

If so, that's fine, there is no missable content, you can just adjust the calendar and get what you need. I just need to know if this is actually how it works.

I'm glad the save issue is being addressed. At least now we will have the bare minimum of a functioning product.
But I still wouldn't recommend this version unless they actually put the original music back in.

My hope for this feature is..... players immediately start messing with it, forcing the AI to spit out extremely inappropriate things, and then posting it to social media, and then Square Enix are forced to remove it in response.

I've never played Resident Evil and have been eyeing it for a while.

However I'm a big nerd with a big retro collection, so I would probably want to play them in release order, starting with PlayStation 1 versions.

I enjoyed the Sega picross and even fully completed it. Whenever I next feel like playing Picross, I suppose it'll be this one then, since I love retro Konami stuff.

I enjoy how there are now so many Picrosses based on retro games, it's more interesting to nerds like me than the vanilla ones haha.

the thing is.... the moment game companies start to charge us for basic game mechanics, that's when I play other games.
I already experienced this with Plants Vs Zombies 2 back in the day - you have to pay extra to unlock the Squash? No thanks, I'll go play Spelunky or Shovel Knight instead.

Indie gaming has an integrity that big publishers who want to monetise jumping don't, and that integrity can be incredibly powerful.
Thankfully Nintendo understands this too (mostly).

I've been eagerly awaiting the next chapter. Remember, the previous chapter released on the same day as the Switch 2 console itself. That was a cool day.

To be honest....... because FireRed and LeafGreen are standalone apps that can trade with each other, I would have preferred XD Gale of Darkness and Colosseum to be their own apps too. But because they are part of NSO, they won't be compatible with FRLG for trading.

I love Arle Nadja and I love Puyo Puyo and Mado Monogatari, but seeing this trailer did nothing for me.

I already have no interest in Sonic Crossworlds because the guest characters have no voices. So to me this feels not very genuine I guess. All of these guest characters feel so shoehorned in.
Does Arle not even have Carbuncle accompanying her?

I'm not sure I fully understand Handheld Boost mode.
It makes the Switch software behave as if it was on the TV, while playing handheld? But only for Switch 1 games?
What does this affect?
...I know the new Virtual Boy NSO app for example doesn't function if it's docked, so will this setting make it impossible to play Virtual Boy even undocked?
Which other games detect whether you're docked and behave differently?

I played this already so I won't be playing on Switch 2. I enjoyed the game on Switch 1, but not to the extent where I would want to play it a second time. It is a very cute and clever game though, I recommend it to fans of Zelda and Hollow Knight and games of that ilk.

My favourite thing about this button is how you can remap it to do something else.

@KingMike
I have to admit, I am not so familiar with Dragon Warrior on GBC. I may have to try those versions one day. Will be interesting to see how they differ, in localisation and other ways.

I'm hoping for a non-Key Card version in the future. Maybe the success of the game will allow for a DLC expansion down the line. And then, as with mainline gen 8 and gen 9, they might make a DLC-included physical release after that. ........ if this happens, then I will wait before buying Pokopia.

If this never happens, then at least I hope the popularity of the game will mean the secondhand Game Key Card versions will be plentiful and cheapo at CeX.

Either way, the lack of a proper physical version at launch is the main reason why I am holding off on playing straight away.

I've always felt Dragon Quest games in particular have especially outstanding English localisations.
Even the smaller spinoff games like Dragon Quest Swords on Wii still have the signature charm of the series. It's clear they give the script and tone of Dragon Quest a huge amount of importance.

It's so recognisable that, when a game doesn't have the same high quality of English localisation, such as Dragon Quest Dai Infinity Strash for example, it is immediately noticeable.

And even the original four Dragon Warrior games on NES had notably high quality English localisations compared to other RPGs on NES and SNES - item names and monster names were never shortened - for example Dragon Warrior IV could have an item named "Sandglass of Regression", meanwhile Breath of Fire was struggling with item names like "Mrbl3".
And the dialogue in the original NES games had a ye olde flair to them. It's clear that, even from the beginning, a lot of thought and effort went into the script well beyond what was normal for Japanese-English localisations

...I don't understand why they are fine with AI slop on Switch 1 but are not fine with it on Switch 2. ...they both use the same eShop, so it's not like Switch 2 users don't see it.

@KingMike
Colette's main weapon is her chakrams.

...this isn't a game with 100% realistic weapons - Genis uses a kendama after all

I do like the US/EU cover more.
That being said, I think Zelos isn't as important a character as Kratos, but it's no big deal

It's so weird that Super Mario Run still receives updates after so long like this. It's like they are pretending it's some kind of live service game just because it was released for mobile platforms?

I remember when it was new, I said that the game was fun but I kind of wish they had released it on 3DS too because I don't want to have to tap a screen to jump, I want to press a real button.

....But Nintendo clearly sees this extremely simplistic jumping game as something that needs to receive constant updates and events and things? ...Why?

Is it because it's their "main" mobile Mario game, so it is still valuable to reach the mobile demographic, or what? ...Was this game created to be a an advertisement first and foremost? a gateway for mobile users to become Nintendo customers?
Everything surrounding Super Mario Run just feels so weird.
I like it best when Nintendo just makes videogames for the purpose of making good videogames.

what does a new Xbox even mean?
When I saw "Xbox Series X" all I thought was, that looks like Xbox One but bigger and more expensive.
Is this new one going to be biggerer, more expensiver, and now most likely digital-only?
I ... don't want that?

I didn't even want XB One or XB Series X either.

Literally one game exists for XB One that I would like to have the ability to play one day: Rare Replay. Every other game that I might want to play exists on other platforms.

@Lizuka
I don't think Konami would want to invoke the term "Metroid" in official statements because Nintendo owns that trademark

oh. ... if this is going to have time-limited things then I'm a lot less interested. I already was not too keen on the game because of the game key card.
alrighty then.

@rvcolem1
I don't have the Expansion Pass so I can't test it myself, but the Switch does support zooming-in the screen with the accessibility options. Maybe zooming into the small VB display can help?

@Lizuka
Is Alolan Rattata not available from Let's Go Pikachu / Eeevee like all Alola forms?

Unless there's a weird specific thing similar to Spinda I'm not taking into account

I still play my DS. last year I went on a little journey to play all the Spyro games, I played the GBA and DS ones on my DS Lite.

Still have plans to play more DS games too. After playing Metroid Prime 4, I realised that I never really played the DS Prime Hunters, so that's now in my to-do list to play soon.

And when I finally get around to continuing my journey through the Suikoden series, I already purchased a copy of Suikoden Tierkreis to play on my DS later.

I really enjoyed Dragon Quest Builders, and Pokopia looks really cool. But I don't want to get it straight away because it's a key card. I will wait and see if I can find it deeply discounted at CeX in the future.

it's not technically a guarantee that all evolutions will be in - remember that Kleavor wasn't in the base game for Legends ZA and was only added in DLC, and it isn't even by evolution, it's just obtained as-is.

Aside from that, there was Let's Go Pikachu/Eeevee which didn't include later evolutions in order to stay consistent with the original 151 dex.

While it is extremely unlikely for evolutions to not be included, especially if they are regular exp level evolutions, there is a teensy bit of precedent for it.

easiest quiz i ever took. I got all of the monsters memorised, even the newer ones.

I just played this game for the first time recently.
It's got amazingly smooth sprite animations for Alice. I recommend checking it out just to see the spritework.

The game itself is fun and not too difficult. The level design is nothing to write home about, but it is inoffensive for the most part. Except for the part with Bill the Lizard, that part is kind of bad. I enjoyed playing the majority of the game.

Overall though this is a very fun and cute GBC platformer. A highlight of the third-party library for sure.

From the image, it looks like you won't be able to put Pokemon into FRLG from other games?
If that's the case, then they'd better release Ruby Sapphire Emerald too, because the national dex will be impossible to complete otherwise

The only one of these games I've seen before is Silver Surfer, because I watch Angry Video Game Nerd lol.

....after the Rayman collection, I'm not at all pleased to see the words "All new music" though. ... ... especially because Silver Surfer has especially amazing music for NES, it absolutely shouldn't be touched.

@DrJoson
Bubsy 4D will be physical as well
And the recently announced Indiana Jones from bethseda

@vio

Are you talking about the 2D Rayman 2 prototype that you get to play a snippet of in the PS1 version of Rayman 2 after beating Razorbeard and seeing the credits?

...The reviewer didn't say that. They just said "Rayman 2". How was I supposed to assume something that wasn't said?

@tseliot I agree that Rayman 1 is mostly a nostalgia play these days, which makes it all the more baffling why the music is gone. easily the most nostalgic aspect of the game isn't included.

I disagree that including Rayman 2 wouldn't have been such a stretch. If anything, Rayman 2 would also be a prime candidate for a collection of different ports just like this.

My childhood version was the original PC Rayman 2, and this is the one I'd want to see the most. I know the Dreamcast version is the fan-favourite version. The PS1version has some significant level design differences. And the PS2 version significantly revamps the game and introduces a hub world, adds more collectibles and powerups, and rearranges the structure of the adventure.
I would argue that the different versions of Rayman 2 are MORE different to each other than the different versions of Rayman 1 in this collection.

It's NOT a simple matter of "this collection of Rayman 1 versions should have just snuck in Rayman 2 for good measure". .... That criticism seems ridiculous to me.