MatthewTaranto

Thanks for the lovely review, NL! We're currently working on getting the game to regions outside of the US.

This kind of thing is right up my alley. What a fascinating time in the game industry.

NL, thank you for spreading the word (and for the good review)!

Streets of Rage 4 was great.

Otherwise, not my favorite year, but there were some solid Switch games. A few not mentioned here that I enjoyed include Clubhouse 51, Trials of Mana, and the fantastic Bug Fables.

The visuals are pretty distracting IMO (I'm pretty spoiled by the amazing Streets of Rage 4) but it's cool to have a modern Double Dragon, so I'll keep my eye on it.

Ditto the comments vis-a-vis DQXI's quality. It's my second-favorite game of the entire decade (behind only BotW) and is a magnificent JRPG. The story managed to punch me in the gut more than Mother 3 did!

DQB2 is also a superlative game and would've probably been my favorite game of 2019 had DQXIS and Cuphead not released on Switch that year.

I don't get the "We don't know who Five Dates is aimed at" complaint. Isn't it aimed at pretty much the same market any dating sim is aimed at? What's the confusion?

My running theory is that Lost Levels (SMB2 Japan) stages would eventually be added or purchase-able. It seems like the simplest way to do things since both games share an engine and most visual assets are identical.

This happened to me last night, it was awesome. Still won!

What happens is someone goes to 4-1 and clears out a couple Lakitus. Other people start reaching the level and do the same. Once there are a few Lakitus, people are more likely to use the POW block, which kills them all, and if they're set to Attackers, all those get sent to multiple people, etc.

It's like a virus!

@nessisonett

It's a pun. You know, "Kong Quest," like "conquest"?

Don't feel bad, it took me about a decade to realize it myself.

Ancel does deny the accusations in his response, although there's obviously a bit of a language barrier so it's not the cleanest reply. Anyway, it all sounds like the usual "he said, she said" stuff. Unless there's a solid amount of evidence behind this, I say innocent until proven guilty.

I'm sick of this trial by public opinion junk anyway, where people's dirty laundry (or fabricated dirty laundry) is aired out for all to see and judge.

Looks fun! Great to see it embrace a 3D world again. Hoping the marriage options will at least include some older-looking women though. I love Frontier but the bachelorettes look disturbingly young...

@sketchturner

I agree about Metroidvania--it's always bugged me! (although technically, you could argue that Castlevania aped Metroid with CV2: Simon's Quest, but I think most people are using the term to refer to games more like Super Metroid and SotN).

Originally, "Metroid-vania" was used to describe the Castlevania games that PLAYED like Metroids (SotN, the GBA ones, etc), and then it just kinda morphed into a genre label with all the indies being of that genre.

I much prefer the term "Metroid-like." The credit goes to the discoverer!

Glad to have single-system co-op! Hopefully there's a multi-system wireless local co-op option as well.

This is an amazing game and it's looking like the patch will make it even better!

To those concerned about the difficulty, I'd say don't be. The Hardest and Mania settings are already brutal--these tweaks simply make the mechanics a little smoother and less frustrating. It'll still be very challenging to win (especially with S-Ranks or in Hard Mode).

I don't think they used the term "timeline" correctly--those are just two time periods. Unless they actually mean each of these settings takes place in alternate universes.

Gonna have to pass on this too. The lack of local multi is a bad decision. As another user said, the extra resolution and screen space would've made it very possible to have the menus available onscreen.

@Blizzia
I don't care what year it is, online is not automatically preferable to local multiplayer. I would've loved to play FFCC with my kids and in-laws in a same-room adventure (with only one $300 game system required), but that's not going to happen now thanks to these limitations.

This isn't as funny as the UR MR GAY thing, made even better from Mario Galaxy 2's logo spelling "YA I M, R U?" when read in reverse.

11/12, I got the color one wrong! But that's way closer to red than pink, in my opinion!

My favorite genre is the platformer and Rare has made a ton of fantastic ones. And I don't care for FPSes much at all; I play about one a generation. So when I say Perfect Dark is my favorite Rare game, I think it really says something about how well-made it is.

Give us Rare Replay already!

1994 saw the release of my two favorite games of all time, plus several other strong contenders. I have to vote for it.
Super Metroid, Final Fantasy III/VI, Mega Man X, Donkey Kong '94 (GB), and Donkey Kong Country is quite the lineup, not to mention stuff like Earthworm Jim and Sonic 3/Knuckles.

@PiggyDan16
That's me! Hello

They do have an Easy setting, but it can still be challenging. I love Cuphead (it's probably my favorite indie game) but I do have to be in a specific mood to play it--the kind of mood where I don't mind redoing a boss over and over again to perfect it. Looking forward to the DLC!

I voted 1986, although it's a little tricky since the NES did a test launch in 1985 so I consider Super Mario Bros and other launch games a 1985 title. But with that in mind, the only notable games of '86 (in America) were the following:

-Urban Champion
-Balloon Fight
-1942
-Ghosts n' Goblins
-Gradius
-NES ports of Donkey Kong and DK Jr.

Say what you will about 2020 but it's quite a bit stronger than that puny lineup.

2016 was a pretty sad year as well.

It's not ideal but it's not the worst thing in the world compared to--as many have pointed out--the prices of SNES and N64 games back in the day.

What also bears mentioning is the fact that Walmart has recently lowered the price of all their new games by $10, likely in an attempt to compete with Amazon for game sales. The last few (full-price MSRP) Switch games I've bought new have been 50 bucks.

Not exactly sure where I read it, but I think SMB3's bosses are presented in order of age. So from youngest to oldest, it'd go Larry, Morton, Wendy, Iggy, Roy, Lemmy, and Ludwig. This might be confirmed in that Mario 30th Anniversary book, maybe...?

So glad you didn't leave off DQXI, one of the finest games I've played in many years!

I wonder what people's reactions to this story would be if it was a man throwing his girlfriend out over video games.

Happy birthday, you magnificent game! I remember renting this one Friday, eating pizza and watching TGIF. One of my favorite childhood memories, as was my next birthday when I got it and stayed up all night playing it and eating birthday ice cream. I still run through EarthBound every few years or so and it's as magical as it was when I was 10.

I loved this game and would happily buy some DLC for it!

Are we back to MARIO TEACHES KIDS TO STOMP TURTLES levels of journalism now?? What is wrong with people?

Man, do I wish the Dream Suite was still available so we could check out stuff like this. Why the heck is it gone??

NA is okay. Doesn't really look like anything in the game but it gives you an inkling of what the game is about without having bad composition.

I think Japan's has the former problem, where it looks decent as official art but doesn't convey enough information about the game.

EU's is the worst, in my opinion. A close-up of a zombie's blurred, black-and-white face on a blank background. I guess they were going for a spooky minimalism thing, but it just comes across as lazy. And it kind of crosses over into nasty and unpleasant, I dunno.

I think the art looks nice!

It's not like Toriyama's art is completely cut anyway--if the Slime and Sabercat are anything to go by, his monster design (which has always been my favorite of his works anyway) is very much present and accounted for.

Dragon Quest XI S was amazing, one of the best games I've played in years!

It's an incredible game in its own right (80+ hours in so far), but I also hope more third parties look to titles like this for examples of how beefy games can still look great on the Switch.

@Kriven
Based on the art here, she's got the body of an adult. As stated by @BLD, it's possible her clothes are just baggy in a specific way, but she's weirdly busty-looking. Bart Simpson is a more accurate cartoon representation of a 10-year-old, and he's yellow!

The Pokemon characters seem to hit puberty years before real people do.

That girl looks way older than 10.

Well-deserved for a fantastic RPG! But how does 300K in a week compare to other Japanese DQ releases?

What I'm really curious about are the American sales numbers...

Definitely my favorite of all the DLC characters so far. I'll definitely be playing Smash tonight! (assuming the server doesn't explode)

I like both the US and Japanese art, but nostalgia aside, I have to go with the original Japanese box for this poll. Ridley's pose is much stronger and more natural, and Kraid's feet and belly aren't floating above the horizon like in the US one. That said, I do wish Ridley stood out slightly more from the background in the Japanese one, but it's still a lovely piece of art.

Bonus points for the near-imperceptible giant Metroid near the top of the JPN box.

I wasn't particularly impressed with BotW's OST either (considering I feel the rest of the game knocks it out of the park). I actually enjoy the choices for the overworld, but the rest of the music is what I have a problem with.

Hateno, Kakariko, Goron City, the Divine Beasts and the snow theme were all pretty forgettable songs, IMO; after nearly 300 hours of playing, I couldn't hum any of those to you. Zora's Domain sounds like a nice update in a vacuum but you can barely hear it while playing in-game.

The song you really hear the most of is one of the most phoned-in to me: the Shrine theme. It's just meandering and repetitive, a far cry from the strong melodies of Kondo's contributions to the series. Not really a song worth hearing 120 times in the game (plus DLC).

On the other hand, I did really enjoy the main theme, the new Rito/Dragon Roost song, and Hyrule Castle. But overall, I'd say BotW has one of the weaker soundtracks in the series by abandoning the emphasis on strong melodies that made the series' soundtracks what they are. It's not really a huge deal since the rest of the game is ridiculously awesome, but with a better soundtrack, I could see it topping OoT itself in my eyes.

I'm skeptical. As others have said, the pattern repeats in the middle so the original texture is just three stars that happen to have an escalating pattern to them. The note placement is different than the song's, with the second star much higher than it should be. The first star should also be blue to match the A button. And lastly, the picture has nothing to do visually with Zelda or the Song of Storms. I really think this is just a coincidence.

The note placement looks more like the Song of Soaring (which also works better thematically since it's in the sky)! Cue next Easter Egg theory in 3...2...

Dragon Quest basically invented the gaming Hero archetype. You guys complaining about more "anime swordsmen" should direct your complaint to Fire Emblem (and more specifically, how that series has handled its reps). It's not a 1988 character's fault that Smash picked a bunch of swordsmen before him!

Awesome inclusion for a legendary series, I'm over the moon! (and Banjo-Kazooie is a great pick as well. Can't we all just get along?)

The Mario Maker segment was fairly quick (maybe too quick?) and fun to watch on account of it being a new game and having well-designed challenges.

Splatoon was fine but felt similar to past Splatoon matches.

Smash was the real issue. Solely because they made some really bad decisions with the matchups and rules (6 minute timed battles with no Stock??), they turned something exciting and fun into a jumble of chaos. And it took a really long time to get to each match.

I wouldn't say the NWC is in trouble; Nintendo just needs to be smart about how it presents these games and how many matches should be played for each. Step up the pacing and make everything quicker.

I really think it's too early for Switch to be number one. It hasn't even been out two years, and while its launch year was amazing, this last year was merely decent (which is good enough, but hardly beats the 5-6 year lifespans of most of these systems, IMO).

My list:

13. Virtual Boy (Wario is really solid at least)
12. Game Boy Color (Kind of a stopgap system)
11. Game Boy Advance (Some great games like Advance Wars but lots of ports)
10. Wii U (a little light on the mega-hits, but if we're including BotW that helps)
9. Switch (as of now, but it's sure to move up once its completed its lifespan)
8. N64 (not many games, but a few of them are legendary)
7. Game Boy (quite a few hidden gems and was relevant for almost a decade)
6. DS (lots of games and neat tech. Could use a couple more legendary titles)
5. Wii (good innovation and lots of games helps balance out the tech issues)
4. 3DS (all-around strong system)
3. NES (groundbreaking titles and a ton of games)
2. GameCube (fantastic exclusives)
1. SNES (standard-setting controller and the best combined quality and quantity of the Nintendo libraries)

Slime would be my top DQ choice, but I'd still flip a nip for Erdrick. DQ absolutely has to be in Smash at this point and I'd hate if they pass it up entirely after the DLC releases.

@Trajan
@HollowGrapeJ

Maybe, but don't games like God of War and Witcher III already have topless women (and are still M-rated)? The weird thing is, people aren't even buying those games for their sexuality, while a game like this--in which the ladies are clearly the focus--doesn't show as much skin as God of War? It's very strange. Maybe a Japanese/Western dev thing.

I'm no fan of DOA, but I don't really see the issue with games like this existing (outside of it being kind of a goofy concept). There's no evidence that video games promote sexism any more than there is evidence that video games promote violence. Stuff like this is like the gaming equivalent of those trashy romance novels that target women; it's just whatever. And no, the male equivalent wouldn't be muscular guys in thongs because most women don't find "more skin" alone to be appealing in the way men do.

That said, anyone else find it kind of dumb that these games are clearly all about sexuality, but they don't involve any sort of actual nudity? I don't really get what the point is then. If you're gonna do porn, then do it!

Awesome game, even awesome-r soundtrack. Will buy this.