MegaWatts

@Polvasti very glad you posted this. I have been living under a rock when it comes to Switch and didn't know about the Mobapad. Have ordered one today and looking forward to it. Thank you!

@dartmonkey thank you for replying, that's great to know. I have a weakened wrist from an accident a few years back and so I find it very hard to play with standard joy-cons in handheld mode for very long. I was thinking of getting the Hori ones but would really like gyro still, so these sounds really ideal.

@dartmonkey great review! Quick question: in terms of ergonomics, are these more comfortable than the Hori Split Pad Pro?

That article tagline chef's kiss

Great to see @ThomasBW84 back on the good ship NLife! Definitely one of the most dedicated people I've ever had the pleasure of working alongside.

The moment I saw the article tagline, I knew Damien had written it! XD

Does anyone know whether this has local wireless play?

@RupeeClock It's been confirmed that this particular mod doesn't currently work on original N64 hardware. Hopefully, it gets optimised for console one day, like Star Road was!

@dartmonkey Yes, mate!! Thanks so much for compiling this list! There are actually a fair few titles here I was completely unaware of (such as The Gardens Between), so I'm looking forward to sticking those on my wishlist 😊

Lovely to see yet more great, user-focused ideas on here. Good work!

@dartmonkey I only recently got a Switch and have been finding your list articles super helpful, so thanks!

I was wondering whether you might consider creating a list of the best "relaxing" Switch games — I'd be keen to get your expert advice on top choices in that regard!

This is exactly the sort of relaxing experience I'm after lately. £1.79 is a great price too!

@Melkac Nah, we just dine out on stuff everyone else already wrote about 20 years ago

Thanks @Dom for featuring my post — and congrats on your newfound editorship!

@ThomasBW84 This was the first thing I thought as well!

Do we know how well it sold? I'd be interested to see if their strategy worked!

What @N64Memories already said. It's a little rough around the edges in a few places, but otherwise it's as if it were a sequel to GoldenEye 007 that released back in the day. Still has that sandbox, objective-based approach but the new environments, guns, character models, sound effects, etc. make it feel very distinctive too. Some of the levels are absolutely massive too - perhaps a little too big in places (affecting the frame rate) but it's forgivable.

While Backup Technique looks like it was an excellent magazine, I don't follow the argument of this article. Western magazines primarily provided mainstream, wide coverage of gaming or a particular system; this focuses on the niche area of hacking - they're completely different things.

The look on Reggie's face in the article image makes it look like he's thinking the complete opposite: "Oh crap, we don't actually have any games!" Guessing it's not intentional (and just the screenshot that was taken) but it's hilarious.

This is complete and utter PR nonsense and, quite frankly, should be ignored. They've said it countless times before, and we all know from experience that Nintendo has enough trouble supporting its current systems.

@Damo And you don't look a day over 25, ya sexy devil

I wouldn't say Star Rush addresses the issues of recent Mario Party games: each player moved individually in Island Tour and the DS one too.

@Kirk There's a very good reason for black on white text — it's very legible. Yes, there are alternatives, but again, you've got to consider all users. I am assuming that you must have pretty decent vision (or have glasses/lenses that give you it) but not everyone does. So choosing a still-legible, but ultimately less legible option could be problematic for your audience. You then have to factor in that not everyone is viewing the website on exactly the same device with exactly the same settings. On my PC, it may be perfectly legible. Put it on a 5-inch mobile screen, where I have to either scroll/zoom, everything is smaller, and I'm potentially viewing it in a noisy and distracting area with different lighting conditions, and it's suddenly less desirable than just having big and clear, black-on-white text.

It's not logic based on what a couple of people merely think; it's based in years of research, hence why the majority of websites do the same thing.

@Kirk I certainly agree about how wonderfully the magazine layout works, but it's worth bearing in mind that it's a completely different format. People's behaviour when it comes to a magazine can be completely different to a website. For one, there's the physiological impact of using a screen vs. printed paper; resolution and glare make reading from a screen slower and harder on the eye. Then there's the psychology behind it: people who come to a website looking for an answer (rather than to just be entertained) aren't looking to be bombarded with fancy graphics and layout — they want to find the answer and go. Given how many websites there are out there offering the same thing in many instances, it's even more important to try to meet this need.

I still maintain that shorter paragraphs and sentences are something to strive for — especially when NLife has a great number of international visitors, for many of whom English will not be their first language. Even the copy in those MM reviews is relatively punchy and straightforward in language, and I'm willing to bet it's intentional.

I think the only way scores are ever going to disappear is if every single website does away with them — which is highly unlikely.

While I personally find scores problematic — numerous comments in the past on this site have told me I've "got it wrong", despite the people behind those comments not having actually played the game in many instances — I think they're what users want.

It's comes down to people's web behaviour. While browsing, very few people actually read every single word on the page; we scan-read because we're looking for specific information or answers to questions we may have (e.g., is this game any good?). Scrolling down to a score is much easier than taking the time to find the independent bits of analysis that you want to know about and then come to an informed view on it. That's not to say that numbers are perfect — far from it — but people evidently want them because they suit their web browsing behaviour, and sites should cater to the needs of their users as best they can.

One suggestion I'd put forward for NLife (informed by a recent training session I went to) would be for us to be much stricter with our paragraph and sentence sizes (shorter is better), ensuring we separate different topics/points up by paragraph, and then perhaps also putting key sentences or phrases throughout the article/review in bold. It would enhance a user's ability to scan-read, and might mean they draw more out of a review before they reach that score at the bottom.

Just my two pence.

@Spin The crazy thing is that (and this is from Wikipedia, mind you) that Mario was actually more recognisable to American children in the 1990s than Mickey Mouse.

Just goes to show how Nintendo has certainly retreated from the limelight quite a bit over the past 25 years (with the brief exception of the Wii).

@bluedogrulez Well it's definitely a problem so long as Nintendo continues to not attract third-party companies. If it had competitive hardware that attracted third parties to port their software to it, then the amount of first-party software is potentially less of an issue (although there are still plenty of other factors that could impact its success).

Nintendo's strongest selling point is undoubtedly its first-party software, but the mistake it has always made since the N64 days is not releasing enough of it on a regular basis. If it has somehow streamlined its development processes as rumoured, and that issue is now eliminated, I could see it working very much in Nintendo's favour. I'd happily buy a Nintendo system where I'm more or less guaranteed one good piece of software a month — rather than how it currently is, where we have large breaks between titles, not to mention they're split across multiple systems too.

I was actually lucky enough to get to try this out at an event, and by golly was it fun. It was simple, but very challenging, and it certainly felt like you were controlling this big hulking machine (trying to even stay upright was hard enough).

I think they've probably missed the market with this now, unless there's some sort of clever way they can rebrand it into something more relevant.

I can't help but think that this sort of game would have made a great bundled game for the Wii U at launch, a bit like what Nintendo did with Face Raiders on the 3DS.

@NinjaAceTrainer really? Because I'm pretty sure there's just a handful of games from the system's 387-game library.

Given my love for all things N64, this has me intrigued. Glad to hear it has off-TV play support too!

@Moon Exactly — I'm a bit puzzled as to why he's asking when he's got the sales figures to essentially answer that for him.

This is a lovely feature, Mr Smith, mainly because you've managed to get me thinking about all the little details that made GoldenEye 007 extra special. The gameplay, level design, sound, multiplayer — they're all fantastic. However, I think I sometimes forget how much fun I had looking for secrets, admiring the little details and playing the game in lots of different ways, the latter of which was certainly only really possible in GoldenEye 007 at the time.

I still return to GoldenEye 007 on a regular basis and still find it highly playable. I often hear complaints surrounding the controls but the game is designed with the N64 controller very much in mind, and often I think it's just that people find it clunky in the first instance. I personally feel that Perfect Dark is the better game — it's both more refined and a heck of a lot more ambitious — but GoldenEye nevertheless is an excellent example of not only how to flawlessly distil another form of media into a video game, but also to make it even better with exceptional game design and attention to detail.

Jumps on the 7 must equal bad bandwagon

Oh wait, no — a 7 is good.

Thanks for the excellent review, Damien. I'm looking forward to playing this; not a Final Fantasy fan but I have really enjoyed four-player Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, and while this may not be as deep a gameplay experience, it should still hopefully be good fun with some buddies!

@Stuffgamer1 Ah, that's good to know! In which case, I imagine maybe Nintendo is worried it'll cause confusion when the game asks the player to save the game and it then doesn't work.

The funny thing about Goemon's Great Adventure is that the Japanese version of it actually saves to cart! If only they'd invested a little bit more when it came to the Western versions (thankfully I've played it through so many times I remember everything anyway!).

It's a shame that Nintendo hasn't worked some sort of virtual memory card into the N64 Virtual Console. While the majority of first-party/second-party games used EEPROM, SRAM or FlashRAM, there's a good chunk of third-party games that don't (probably because it made the cartridges cheaper to order). While the N64 is not renowned for its third-party software library, there's still a number of great games that people are missing out on. Moreover, it further adds to the misconception that the N64 "only had a few good games".

I haven't played any N64 titles on my Wii U but can you have save states as per SNES games? I don't remember N64 games having them on Wii VC — if not, then that pretty much guarantees we're not going to get any Controller Pak-only games.

I had the great pleasure of meeting and interviewing Junichi Masuda just before Pokémon X and Y came out; it was immediately apparent from the moment I met him that he has an immense passion for his work. Great sense of humour too!

Happy Birthday!

"It's basically like a museum, except you can touch everything! Games are made to be played!"

Yes! I understand people have different tastes and want different things when it comes to collecting stuff, but I really think actually playing and experiencing retro games is what's truly the most fun thing about it. Even if a game hasn't aged particularly well or wasn't even good in the first place, it's wonderful to go back in time and find out why something is the way it is. Moreover, a great deal of retro games are immensely fun even today, and given that local multiplayer is a dying breed, retro games are definitely worth returning to!

Top interview and love the images! Well done!

@Mr_Zurkon X-Wing Alliance was amazing. I spent £90 on a joystick for it, and it was worth it.

Love it when companies spew out utter nonsense as PR. Comparing the sales of a handheld system that's been on the market longer than two handheld systems means absolutely nothing.

Highly doubt the 3DS is around to stay too - the noticeable recent decrease in support is reminiscent of nearly all of their systems/handhelds since the N64. Happy to be proven wrong though, as I do love the 3DS.

I will be fighting on behalf of pineapple on pizzas — all those that oppose are infidels who must be splatted (preferably with pineapple-flavoured ink).

Co-op looks like it will be a heck of a lot of fun! Looking forward to the challenges!

The fact you managed to cross paths again in MK8 without actually already being friends is pretty crazy. It's perhaps just as well in this paricular instance the player base on Wii U isn't very large!

Great story!

@Storytime7 It's not trashy, it's merely referencing pop culture, something which tonnes of games (and other media) do. If that meme didn't exist and it had still been written like that, people wouldn't be kicking up a fuss at all. The quality of the writing is perfectly fine, and I imagine it would have gone over most people's heads had it not blown up in the farcical way it has.

Also, do not drag my professionalism (and so-called lack of it) into the discussion. I am entitled to an opinion just as much as you are — the fact you feel you can use that to dismiss my input just proves you're incapable of having a rational discussion with people. It's probably also why you're upset about a video game subtly referencing a meme in a small section of dialogue.

Can't help but laugh at some of the angry responses in here. Other ones are just sad.

Also, the argument it will "date" the game is completely invalid. That line of reasoning is almost as stupid as getting angry about the quality of the dialogue.

I can't answer the last question, because I feel it's lacking some context. I would support games being download only (it seems absurd in this day and age to have so much unnecessary plastic when we have the means to do things digitally), but at the same time, digital pricing has been pretty appalling across the board. There'd still need to be some sort of competition to drive down prices — perhaps game retailers still having download cards available to sell at non-fixed prices. If that were the case, then I'd be all for it.

I like the look of this! Looking forward to seeing a trailer of the Onslaught co-op mode!

Dat pun.

@Damo @DarthNocturnal Exactly this! I think people forget that N64 games were extortionate upon release, and games like Ocarina of Time fetched a very high price for a long time. Some did drop to around the £40 mark, but PS1 was pretty much always cheaper. The platinum range was a bargain at £20, too.

@Dezzy How is it naive? Tom Cruise is one of the highest-paid actors in Hollywood. He's renowned and his name alone has enough weight to advertise movies. He earns so much because he provides so much more beyond his acting, and he can demand a high-asking price as a result.

The same can't be said for someone like Jennifer Hale. She's incredibly talented (and that should in no way be understated) and has lent her voice to a number of high-profile games, but to suggest she gives a game a boost in a way that someone like Tom Cruise does is ridiculous.

I don't disagree that voice actors shouldn't be squeezed out of money and not be given suitable working conditions for their specific area — you'll note that I never even said that in my last post. They should be compensated fairly, and, as I've already said, they know their industry, so they should decide. I just don't think drawing comparisons with someone like Tom Cruise as if they are similar situations is a sensible way to look at it.

@Crimson_Ridley I can't help but think that Tom Cruise's movies do gross as much as they do simply because he is in them. I'm not sure to what extent people buy a game because it has a specific voice actor in, or whether that voice actor being in the game results in it selling more.

Either way, I'm not a voice actor and they know their industry. If they think they're right to demand more then so be it.