Kilroy

@Daggot Same dude. Still play it occasionally! All it needs is a touch of paint. Would be nice to have a Chozo Ruins table as well.

Someone tell Treasure that shmups are still very much alive and well. They should know that with the recent port of Radiant Silvergun, though. S&P3, please!

@Selim How big is the game developer? If it's only one or two people, they could've stretched the truth of nine years of part time development in their free time.

Game looks good! Don't care for the trailer's music, hopefully that's just something the devs threw in there for the hell of it.

@JohnnyMind "meta" has always meant "the abstract thinking part of the main game". In strategy, fighting and other genres, balance changes tend to change the "meta game", so calling it meta progression here makes perfect sense (even if I've also never seen that specific term until today).

How much is Best Buy paying the NintendoLife staff to publish this "article"? The amount of people who aren't going out of their way to find three full retail games to buy at once are likely not many. Thus, like others have said, it easily turns into consumer manipulation.

@Spanky84 LRG's production planning has always been bottom of the barrel, but they're banking on FOMO and people not knowing how terrible of a company they are. I've bought two products from them, the first one took around a year and it looks like Radiant Silvergun will too. The ONLY reason I decided to bite on RS is because it's in my top 5 games in 30+ years and even then, I was hesitant because it's LRG. Any other game that's near the top for me already has a physical release (and affordable too), so I don't think I'm in danger of being tempted again, lol

@Spanky84 4+ months after a preorder? Try 12+, lol. Speaking for Radiant Silvergun alone, those preorders ended mid November (lasted a month) and all three tiers of it are still "in production" which has been that way for a couple months now I think. So, give or take six months after preorders, production finally started. It's likely going to be a year or longer before I get my mid tier package of it. I mean, it's "fine" because I have a Saturn copy and bought it digital on Switch when it launched, it's just a ludicrous situation.

What I've heard from others, a year is what you should be banking on for an early delivery.

@TromboneGamer Their physicals also take ridiculously long to produce. I think they bite off more than they can chew, so their resources are spread thin. I'd rather just buy digital in most cases vs waiting a year or longer to get what I paid for.

So many outfits and poses in TotK and they go with the most basic design you can think of. Smh

$50 for three games in a splintered complete package, people should boycott ININ Games until they get the message, otherwise, they'll just keep doing this crap.

@NinjaNicky As you probably know, the Strike games are completely different from most shmups. Free roaming, less chaotic, more deliberate action. But yes, I would absolutely love to see the Strike games come back.

Yes, that's exactly what I want from a software company; hiding the fact something has changed on a product I own (license, whatever...)! Let's ignore respectful communication!

@masterLEON Oof. Hey, at least you were able to get it working again!

(Back to article) I had to look this guy's name up, seems he's only worked on one shmup, Star Soldier R, which while fun, probably wasn't worth the $8 on the Wii Shop. The game looked fun until I saw $38, now it's going in the "probably not until it's 80% off" pile. I'll gladly pay $20 or so for what looks like a quality game, but this one screams "I'm famous, so you're paying for my name"

@Sweetneyplays For them, it's less about waiting, more about simply being able to pirate it. If the game wasn't able to be pirated until launch day, I'm positive these same people would still be pirating it.

But being an idiot and showing the world on social media you're a pirate? Good luck with your choices in life, lol

Con: Easy to get lost; requires backtracking

Did you remember you're reviewing a metroidvania??? Lol

She's fine as the VA, not awful like so many seem to be claiming. Her tone at least matches the situation, have you critics actually heard truly bad VAs or are you just here to whine?

@FightMikes It's because of compression and scaling down. I would not be surprised at all if the game on PC or a stronger console would be at least double the size. Also remember that Switch is 1080p max and also can't process as much as PS4 and Xbox One, so effects get removed to help performance.

@FishyS Oh ok, that makes sense now. As someone with well below zero interest in AC, it's still kind of crazy to me that they're doing this. But if it's making people spend their platinum points, so be it, lol

@PikaPhantom Metroid Prime Remastered icons didn't drop for something like a month or so after release. Plenty of time!

Date of release against the NSO icon launch is irrelevant. Plenty of games released before that have icons like BotW (this was already mentioned in this comment thread).

@HammerGalladeBro They have this slowly but surely growing list of games that have icons and yet, it seems like Animal Crossing is on there every week unless there's a special launch/pre-launch event, lol.

@Ear_wiG No. If a company releases the soundtrack for a game, it is then considered fair use to commercially remix and even if it isn't released, one can still safely remix tracks as long as money isn't involved in creating it. As I understand it, at least.

Sam Dillard wants to make the best possible Dread album he can, but has to wait until Nintendo releases Dread's OST, basically.

Only NintendoLife would use a thumbnail of Samus's iconic pose from Samus Returns super-imposed on the background of Kraid's Dread fight when talking about Kraid's Super Metroid theme remixed into jazz.

But digressing to the actual music, I like it.

@Diogmites My apologies for going off-topic, but I didn't know you can spoiler tag here. How do you do that?

@dartmonkey I see ARK Ultimate Edition made the list, despite the original ARK already having been reviewed. Once again, please reconsider the @Liam_Doolan review of A Robot Named FIGHT! from 2018 because the game has significantly expanded since then. Only difference between ARNF and ARK is ARK had several updates in the forms of DLC while ARNF had nothing but free updates (and no name change).

https://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/switch-eshop/a_robot_named_fight

I started playing the game a few days after the Switch release (two days before your review, in fact), which was the same version you guys had reviewed and since then, I've had 180+ hours on the game, most of it before 2021 (the last major update was late 2020). I joined the game's Discord and Patreon, so I've been quite well-versed on the game's inner workings since basically day one of purchase. That being said, the review on this site from 2018 had several important errors that didn't hold up then and certainly don't hold up now. If I may...

The trade-off here is that story and character development is basically non-existent after the initial opening sequence has finished. Not true at all. The game offered three different endings back then, all intended to be seen in chronological order and all offering greater insight into the world of ARNF. You didn't make a single mention of multiple endings.

The comparisons to Nintendo’s much-loved Metroid franchise might seem excessive, but A Robot Named Fight makes little effort to differentiate itself from the source material it has been inspired by. Metroid was mentioned a lot and for good reason, but it would also be just as accurate to say the game takes obvious inspiration from Binding of Isaac, Mega Man and Castlevania, as well. All four of these inspirations created a unique mix that's well beyond just something that looks like a Super Metroid ripoff. Seriously, even Shiryu said it's way more than just a ripoff as the first comment of the review (to me, implying it deserved way more than just a 7/10).

The trade-off here, as mentioned, is no real story or character development beyond the basics to motivate you to save the day Again, not true. At the time of writing, you had three different final bosses to tackle, not just one. Killing the second final boss offered the origin of the Megabeast and the third final boss expanded on that even more.

Fast forward to now, when the game has six total endings expanding the story even further, three new single player modes (which again, expand the story), a multiplayer deathmatch mode, three new alternative areas, an expanded final area that leads to the second final boss (as opposed to the short and static area from your version), dozens of new unlockables and even a physics update to make you jump more fluidly vs the old Super Metroid floaty slow physics. There are also several 'secret seeds', which are non-canon modes hidden behind the alphanumeric seed menu. Two of them existed back when your review was written (Classic boss rush and Deathmatch when it was still in beta).

Oh, that's another thing! Your review made zero mentions of the seeded run menu, which allows you to replay your previous runs. If you're going to write a review, at least do it well or admit you didn't see everything the game has to offer.

I think that's it for my rant. Have a good day, everyone.

@riccyjay @Tom-Massey Thank you for the clarification. I suppose 11:30 PM isn't the best time of night to be making assumptions instead of researching the Steam version when my mind is tired, ha ha. I understand why you wouldn't explicitly say Steam and Switch are identical since this is a Switch review, though, I think I have seen previous reviews here mention other platforms are the same.

I'm still very much interested in the Switch version because even though I have a capable PC, playing games in portable mode is definitely a selling point for me (and I haven't played any Alfa System games yet).

I can understand $25 because of the Switch Tax publishers tend to tack on, but Steam's regular price is $20! Two exclusive modes should NOT cost almost as much as the base game on another platform.

By principle because it costs so much now, I won't even consider this until it goes below $20.

Okay, if I do get this, it'll be on the Japanese eShop. ININ can rot with their awful practices.

@HalBailman To me, re-run implies the same run every time. Before streaming existed, when TV was the only way to watch something, I only heard anyone say an old episode that's being re-aired as a re-run (or repeat). Hence, why I think this way.

Roguelike, despite never having played the original game it's derived from, I can completely understand the base concept of the game and that's why the term exists. You acknowledge metroidvania as a good descriptor and yet, there's no single game called Metroidvania. The term doesn't describe how it's like Rogue directly regarding assets, it describes the abstract concepts that make up the core gameplay and feel of the game. Exact same thing with metroidvanias; you don't need to know the original game, only what the word is trying to convey. Not seeing why roguelike would be any different.

A Robot Named Fight from 2018 is also STILL missing from this list.

But NL did review it very ignorantly for a 6/10 while missing key features of the game because lord only knows why.

First attempt on the JPN version went well. I like to limit myself by not having infinite credits and only do the initial limit of 9 (default difficulty) and Stage 4 is what I was thinking of regarding the difficulty spike. I managed to get to the boss of S4 with two credits left and beat him (vs the EN version where I almost never even reach him), but holy crap, was he hard.

This is enough encouragement to try to beat the game now (doubt I'm ever 1CCing though)

@Pupuplatter I'll have to try that out, thanks!

@Ooccoo_Jr I've gone back and forth using ad block with NL. I'll turn it off after a good stint of good articles, then turn it back on when I see clickbait-y headlines (most recently the Sonic Frontiers content update, I commented there about it to no response). Most recently, yesterday I think, after turning the blocker off, I was welcomed with an audio ad that randomly started playing. I know it was here because Chrome told me this was the tab that was playing sound. I wasn't even doing anything specific, I was just reading. So, the blocker went back on.

Maybe if NL could get their act together with a few things, I'd feel more inclined to support them by not constantly returning to blocking them.

I really enjoy Capcom's ProGear and I see it talked about sometimes. People said it was worth the price of that specific CAS1 bundle alone. I agreed until I got to stage 3 (I think) where it's mostly vertical movement. That difficulty spike is quite high (or I haven't figured out a good method to approach it yet).

@Cashews I was ready to buy Sol Cresta on release until I saw the $40 price tag and $10 day one DLC, plus a bundle for $50 (where you save nothing vs buying individually). Just checked, it only has 69 reviews on Steam in over a year and is at 76%, not that great at all. And to my knowledge, it has never gone on sale on Switch.

I believe you when you say it's great, but I feel like whoever is doing their marketing needs to be retrained.

@-wc- The problem with U.N. Squadron is that it's never had a release outside of its original system. It 1,000% deserves a rerelease today and if ShotTriggers handles the port, I wouldn't mind paying $40. Played that game to death back in the day.

"only a few hours long"

After a couple playthroughs, that's Metroid Dread. If the gameplay is engaging enough, replaying especially to speedrun won't be an issue.

Missing Metal Torrent and Flip the Core, two good shmups.

I don't understand what people see in NES Remix. The "challenges" before you unlock the Remix stages are almost entirely nothing but mind-numbing tutorials that are set up for you to succeed in. Remix stages were barely anything more than that. Maybe it's because I grew up with the NES, so I know how these games play, but that has got to be the biggest disappoint I've actually purchased in the last 15 years.

And I bought Metroid: Other M!

@romanista https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/Nintendo-Switch-download-software/Assault-Suits-Valken-DECLASSIFIED-2355914.html Pounds, not euros

Why does Europe get this for so much cheaper? $25 USD converted to pounds is £20.36, yet NL has the price listed at £14.99. Which comes out to $18.41 USD and if you have the means to easily convert, I suggest buying the European version now. I was considering this if it was under $20.

Sonic Frontiers' First Major Content Update Adds Jukebox, Photo Mode, New Modes & More

"& More"? What is this? The actual article only talks about the jukebox, photo mode and challenge modes, nothing more.

Moving on, I stopped playing on the second island. Game is too buggy and annoying to truly enjoy anything save for laughing at the bugs and lack of QoL. I'll wait for everything to release before trying to beat it again.

@Justaguest No, I think you're absolutely right. Physical is good for three things anymore; loaning, displaying and collecting (potentially for high resale). The preservation aspect is hard to nail down unless you get an indie game with a limited release, which usually has everything on the cart/disc already. That's why it's important to realize that emulation is not just for pirates.

@Justaguest I wouldn't say rightfully theirs if it's on a new platform. You're buying the license to play on that particular platform, not the right to play forever on every version that's ever made.

And after March, you can still download anything that you bought, just can't buy anything new at that point.

@Justaguest If you create a Nintendo account, you can set that up on your Switch, Wii U and 3DS, that way, all your purchase information will be tied to that in the cloud.

Also, as for why they're doing this, this is Nintendo we're talking here. They are similar to Disney in that they want to create artificial scarcity in order to create demand for older products later down the road, which ultimately results in more money for the company. Look at the Virtual Console, when the 3DS and Wii U eShops cease buying practices, that will effectively be gone, leaving new consumers with only subscription services to play older games if they don't have them already.

Nintendo doesn't care about preservation. They have made that very clear through their actions for a very long time. Sony even arguably cares about it indirectly since they reversed their decision to shut down their older platform stores to some extent after fan outcry. Meanwhile, Nintendo didn't budge.

@NintonicGamer Not saying you're necessarily wrong because like you said, opinions, but I do want to offer some counters since I asked for your side:

elevator rooms look the same so you don't know which one you are in unless you manually check, - Beg to differ. Many of the elevator rooms have subtle and not so subtle differences, like one of the center elevators in Magmoor has two doors, the second elevator you find in Phendrana I believe has a second path via Spider Ball, etc.

the map doesn't do a good job of showing you which area you are going to since you have to manually check, - Agree and disagree here. You can simply scan the elevator to see where it'll take you, takes two seconds, but if you're not already familiar with the map, then you'll probably want to check it anyway to see where to go after you take it.

upgrades aren't indicated with a dot when you get them. - True, but the 2D games also don't have audio cues that allow you to know there's one nearby.

They fixed the controls in the switch version but it's competing with a LOT of modern fps shooters so I have ideas on how it could be more fun and fluid. - I might know what you're getting at, but that may turn it into more of a remake than a remaster, which is not what the game was going for.

There are too many "surprise" enemies that hit offscreen that feels unfair to me. - I don't think anything is unfair when you always have a radar to look at and I can only think of a couple circumstances where the game doesn't explicitly tell you to pay attention to these new enemies with a cutscene or very clear audio, one issue being Omega Pirate. I'll say if you have the music and sound effects all at the same level, it can be hard to hear offscreen enemies approach, though.

I wanna be able to quickly morph ball in split seconds like in other metroid games. It is really fun to use though. - Morphing into a ball is fast and fluid, morphing out, not so much.

Ultimately, I like the idea of not being told everything and being forced to pay attention myself, which is the basic premise of a Metroid style game, anyway. But to each their own.

@NintonicGamer I didn't have any problem with anything you mentioned. How exactly do you want them changed? Have you played the Wii or GC versions? It's a re*master*, not a re*make*. Prime 1 for the GameCube, the version with the least amount of QoL (but most sequence breaks) is rated as one of the best games of all time at 97%.

Voted for Rogue Leader, but just now thought of Star Fox Assault. I should've voted for that.

@Daggot Wasn't expecting a DS response, ha ha. But totally agree! After MPR released, I changed my Twitter handle to "Remaster Metroid Prime Pinball". It still plays perfectly fine (since good pinball doesn't age), just needs a visual update and tables for Primes 2 and 3.

This is a fantastic shmup and has some of the best graphics and stereoscopic 3D on the system. Anyone even remotely interested should pick it up.

This looks not very good. 80's cyber theme that makes no sense given the title and they clearly thought going with knock-off characters would be good. I hope I'm wrong, though.

If you want a Star Fox clone that actually has some of its own spirit, Ex-Zodiac is over on Steam right now.