LastFootnote

Just another quick shout-out: If you own a pair of NES controllers for Switch, you should buy UFO 50 right now. For one thing, if you're the kind of person who bought those controllers, you're probably the kind of person who will enjoy the faux-retro games on offer. But second and perhaps more importantly, every game in the collection (and the interface connecting them) is meant to be played with an NES-style controller. Every single game is played with the D-pad and two face buttons.

I've beaten 21 of the 50 games so far. I've only hated two of them, and I've loved more than 10 of them. Even at full price, each game effectively costs 50 cents, and right now it's 20% off. If you love NES-era games, this is a no-brainer.

EDIT: Also on this list, Cyber Shadow was designed to be playable with an NES controller as well. It's also well worth the asking price.

@SplatRay001 It’s possible! The catalog is large enough that we may not get any Xenoblade soundtracks next year either. We get about 50 shots if they keep up this cadence.

@dartmonkey I didn’t notice any typos. Also, I’m really glad you wrote this article and created this poll! Here’s hoping the AI bubble bursts soon.

@LightSpirit I dunno, dude. I think it's great and have certainly gotten $20 of value out of it. Sorry for not calibrating my enjoyment to your standards?

For me, Mario Kart is the game I bought this year that's way to expensive for how much fun it is. I'm glad I got it in the bundle for just $50. DK Bananza plus Emerald Rush is easily worth the $90 I paid for it.

EDIT: Also, you can not like it all day and night, but claiming it's only 30 minutes of content is simply incorrect. No way is anybody blowing through the entire DLC in 30 minutes. That's actually impossible. You can claim there's only 30 minutes of worthwhile content, but that's not at all the same thing (and also I disagree, in case that wasn't clear).

And also you heavily imply in your original comment that you haven't bought the DLC yet? So probably you haven't played it? You're speaking awfully authoritatively on it for somebody who hasn't actually experienced it.

@sportymariosonicmixx I'm also wondering this. Maybe he has arthritis that prevents him from playing action games? I have no idea.

As for the genre discussion, I've found it interesting that UFO 50 labels its "metroidvania" games as both "adventure" and "platform". That sounds about right to me. A metroidvania game is a platforming adventure.

EDIT: Which, yeah, means that Pippistrello is not really in this category. It's a 2D adventure game, like 2D Zelda titles.

@JackTako Yeah, agreed about the art direction. I will say I found it better in practice than it looks in screenshots, but it's still not my favorite.

I played the demo today. Seems pretty deep and well-made, but it didn't really excite me. I put it on my wishlist and I'll almost certainly pick it up once it's 50% off.

@Grumblevolcano I'll be surprised if different-colored Joy-Con were released for the Switch 2 anytime soon. Maybe they'll never be released. It's pretty clear they want the colors of the controllers to match the colors of their sockets on the Switch 2 itself. Nintendo seem scared to death these days of consumer confusion.

@Willo567 I hadn’t even heard of Nintendeen until maybe a week ago? Still haven’t seen a video of his.

Here’s an article from right here on NintendoLife: https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2025/12/the-us-suffered-its-worst-november-since-1995-in-terms-of-hardware-sales

@LightSpirit 30 minutes!? Are you just talking about exploring DK Island? Sure, that probably takes about 30 minutes. But the real point of the DLC is the incredibly fleshed-out and challenging roguelite mode, which I have easily spent over 10 hours on so far and haven’t unlocked everything yet.

@DennisReynolds The sales were extremely good. It seems like they’ve dropped off quite precipitously over the holiday shopping season.

If I thought Mario Kart World was worth $80, I’d be singing a different tune. I think it’s worth $50. And to be clear, I want Nintendo to succeed. But I want them to succeed by offering good value. If they’re going to continue raising prices and retiring loyalty programs like gold points, they deserve to fail a bit.

Just keep shooting yourself in the foot, Nintendo.

I’ve noticed the sound issues in Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove. I hope they’re able to fix those soon.

@Suketoudara Reading your comment and discovering there was any EPYX content on Switch at all, I rushed to the eShop. There are two whole EPYX games collections on there and STILL no Jumpman. Come on, people!

In Europe you could buy C64 games for the Wii Virtual Console. Not so in North America! We have been Jumpman-less for decades!

@JohnnyMind If I had a nickel for every time you wrote "looking forward to it when I have time" here on NintendoLife… I would have an extremely large number of nickels.

Wow, the Switch 2 really is just a license for studios to get even lazier and optimize even less than on Switch.

I wish they hadn’t announced the Mega Man game more than a year out. Also, why not a numbered entry? The gameplay screams classic Mega Man.

@MarkSeteth72 Yeah, I’m glad Team Cherry wasn’t rewarded for not offering pre-orders and therefore crashing all the digital storefronts. That was a pretty crappy decision that shows their disdain for others.

Extending playtime by an hour will be handy for me. It would be nice if it were more granular though.

@obijuankanoobie Huh. I guess I should try it with my OLED sometime. I would think the images would be slightly too far out to the sides.

@SwitchplayerJohn I would not bet on that. In fact I would bet very strongly against it.

@obijuankanoobie It’s not that the Labo software won’t run on an OLED. It’s just that some Labo bits rely on the Switch being that exact size it is. The OLED is larger, so it won’t fit well into the VR cardboard. Moreover, the goggles are calibrated to expect the base model’s screen size, and the OLED’s is bigger. Hence, the images won’t be centered correctly.

The question I have is: will the Nintendo Labo VR set serve this purpose? It only fits an OG Switch, but I’m optimistic it’ll work.

@KayFiOS I believe they’ve already confirmed a drip feed, though I couldn’t point you to where I read it.

Counterpoint: the new mode in the Bananza DLC is easily worth $20, assuming you like Bananza’s gameplay and don’t hate roguelites.

This Nintendo Today! leak means literally nothing. Each theme has a little animation for every day of the month with various franchise characters. I'm more interested in those MKW voice credits.

I'll say this: Nintendo better not try to charge us for Mario Kart World DLC after the game was so lackluster at $80. At worst, it should be paid, but included with Nintendo Switch Online.

I'm also less excited for the game after playing the demo. That being said, I kickstarted it, so at minimum I'll get that copy. If I enjoy it, I'll probably pick up at least one more copy on another system in order to support Yacht Club (as long as the game isn't crazy expensive).

@cylemmulo For some stupid reason, they took the PC demo down not long after making it available, and it doesn't work even if you'd already downloaded it. Apparently it was always meant to be a limited-time demo.

I believe the Switch demo has stuck around though.

EDIT: Nope, looks like they took away the Switch demo as well. I'm not sure what they're thinking.

I'm sure Kirby Air Riders is polished to a fine sheen and stuffed with more content than you'd ever want, but I cannot justify spending $70 on another racing game when I don't even enjoy the genre.

Sakurai-san, give me another Kid Icarus (or a remake of Uprising) and I'll buy it. That's a promise.

@larryisaman But basically every Nintendo game “tries new things”. Where’s the line?

@SoIDecidedTo You have to beat the game and buy the DLC for statues to be a thing. I wouldn’t worry about it. The game is great and complete without the DLC.

That said…

Man it was tough for me to get that Lanky Kong statue. It took four tries.

Wow. Nothing for loyally following the series and having previous amiibo, huh? You gotta buy the new $30 and $40 figures to actually unlock anything. That tracks.

Wow, they couldn’t even make it run well on Switch 2? One less thing to add to my wishlist I guess.

The Upgrade Pack is not in any way an “In-game Purchase”. Get your act together, ESRB!

I saw this at Target yesterday! My son played a bit of it but didn’t want too many spoilers pre-release. I’ll probably try it next time I get the chance.

Sad not to see any Ace Attorney, but ecstatic to see Breath of Fire!

OK, Nintendo! This is fine, but you’re running up against the end of my Thousand-Year-Door goodwill. Maybe something exciting next Monday?

I tried the demo briefly. It’s certainly polished. I might have paid $40 for it even though I probably wouldn’t play it much. I cannot justify paying $70 for it.

@Dev-N Yeah, the last event was incredibly easy, thankfully in a fun way. I believe I got my first and only V-rank during the event. I do expect this one to be slightly more difficult just by dint of the Hilltop Layer, but hopefully the curated perks will help a lot.

@Elektrogeist1287 I'm confused. Are you suggesting that they should wait a few years before nominating Bananza for 2025's Game of the Year?

Only Groove perks, huh? And on the Hilltop Layer. So, probably prioritize Turf Groove right away and then turf Surf everywhere you can. Should be fun!

I feel like Ghost Trick is conspicuously absent.

@AlanaHagues Thanks a ton! I really appreciate it.

Wow, $70! I think all of the Game-Key Card games I've seen before this at least haven't gone above $60. In the goddamn US of A where digital games can apparently never ever be cheaper than their physical counterparts, I can see using a Game-Key Card in order to keep the price of the game down across the board. Now Nintendo themselves is publishing a $70 Game-Key Card game. What a scam.

@Megas75 Uh huh. And how big is the hard drive on an XBox? Is it cheaper or more expensive to expand your storage on XBox compared to buying MicroSD Express cards for Switch 2?

Hey @AlanaHagues, would y'all please STOP putting art/screenshot for a random game at the top of this post without including the name of the game in the caption? I'd really appreciate it.

Yeah, I'm not sure a 20% discount qualifies as news. Once it's 50% off I'll probably pick it up.

Meanwhile, the starting salary for new university graduates will see a similar 10% increase from 300,000 to 330,000 yen (approx $2,140).

Wait, what? Is that per year? I hope it's, at minimum, per month. Better yet, per pay period.

@PerfectFrost Yeah, this game with simplistic graphics and a fixed camera probably needs lightning-fast loading.