MetalKingShield

They're the best value thing on there! It's great to have a library of 16-bit perfection - the real arcade games. I'm not sure how many of these Hamster would handle, but please can we have Bubble Bobble, Gauntlet, Bad Dudes, Sly Spy and Two Crude Dudes.

I'm surprised Shinobi Refle: Senran Kagura did so well, and yet there are no plans to bring it to the West. Not that it'd necessarily sell so many copies over here, but it's a strange situation when the political climate makes publishers prepared to leave money on the table.

Hopefully the tide has turned and this is the way things will be from now on. There's no point capitulating to the demands of the very authoritarian, puritanical pro-censorship brigade when you end up angering more people who do actually want to buy the game.

Bad Dudes vs. Dragonninja and Crude Buster please. "What a day...!"

I'm hoping it will be like Ocarina of Time or Wind Waker. To me, not having item-gating in Zelda would be like Metroid without having doors that only open with the Ice Beam. Things like that aren't necessarily limitations - they're a legitimate part of the design.

Add in the sense of progression that obtaining a new, unbreakable weapon gives you; and a good plot, where completing a dungeon actually makes you feel you've moved the story along. I'd also say Link's Tunic should gradually increase in functionality (heat/cold resistance etc) rather than having to craft several different sets of armour.

I don't think these games depict children (if they did, even the footage would be dodgy). It's just that, when you're using a cartoony style, you can only really depict pre- or post-pubescent (obviously the former would be completely wrong), not subtle variations between 15, 16, 17 etc. If you look at the line-up from other games such as Peach Beach Splash, they are clearly not children.

It doesn't really look all that naughty anyway. It's a bit silly that it's controversial, as it doesn't push any boundaries in terms of decency; it's just trying to simulate with technology something that's perfectly normal in real life.

@RyanCraddock - thanks for doing the guides. I don't have time to play the game at the moment, but when I get back to it, these are going to be really useful. Much appreciated.

The truth is, no one outside of gaming really cares about this sort of thing, and even within gaming, I'd suggest those who actually want to buy it outnumber those who'd want to stop others having it. Too often, there has been censorship of things like bikinis because publishers are scared of a very small (but loud) collection of activists.

I thought Mario Odyssey was more fun, but I can understand why Zelda won.

That was a great review. I'm loving the game so far and I definitely agree with the 9/10.

Hopefully it doesn't punish vanity, or only reward you for "worthy" choices. I'm going to favour all the frowned-upon things (like beauty) and see where it gets me!

Earth Atlantis, Axiom Verge, Sine Mora EX and Stardew Valley. Good job I couldn't afford Tiny Barbarian DX!

I'd rather have Crudebuster instead of the NES and SNES games, but this is great. Sure, I'd like these on eShop, but Capcom and Data East have some great games between them.

Out of interest, is the patch available on the European eShop? Mine's still at 1.0.0.

Hopefully the patch is good, because the release version of this was almost unplayable.

I just think these mini consoles should specialise in 2-player games, as they're so good for that. Of course, you've got to have the best single-player games, like Zelda and Metroid, but Final Fight 2 certainly would have been good for the SNES Mini.

It's awesome bringing the Arcade Archives range to Switch... I just don't really want the Nintendo ones. The real range includes games from Taito, Data East and Konami (which I'd prefer), but at least this is advocating the idea of having the real coin-ops rather than the NES ports.

OK, SNES was great, but I still think the Mega Drive was better for 2-player fun. To me, it just felt more like the machine of the time.

To be fair to the reviewers, reviews aren't about awarding 10/10 if there are no flaws. Some games just aren't fundamentally interesting enough to get higher than a certain score, whereas some very flawed games are so appealing they deserve a high score anyway. I'm not saying Robonauts isn't interesting; just giving a general thought.

I can't help but think that many of the games in the Arcade Archives range on other consoles are more interesting than Nintendo's arcade games. There would probably be more interest in those, even on Switch.

Spin Master seems really good from what I've played, but it's been a busy week. Can we have Bad Dudes and Crude Buster as well, please?

Hopefully this really is just the start for the non-Neo Geo arcade games (as much as I like that system). Bring on Bad Dudes, Double Dragon and Bubble Bobble please!

Let's have the coin-op version on Switch please!

I've bought too many Neo Geo games, but this one actually looks brilliant.

I'd already have downloaded Double Dragon IV if it used the arcade visuals, but as it uses the NES... I'm not so keen.

@Zach777 - Does it have four new wallpapers specific to Risky Boots? I.e. 100% Completion, Speed Run, 100% Speed Run.

I love this type of game, but I think this sort of thing is best kept proper 2D. Also, although it may sound a strange thing to say about a genre which is about continuous fighting, I think it looks excessively violent.

@SmaMan - Hmm, I'm more inclined to buy it now. I tend to be one of those people who never likes remixes as much, and I can understand the point about Metal Slug 2 being the original vision. Thanks.

A question to Neo Geo enthusiasts... Is there anything Metal Slug 2 does better than X? Does it have any advantages at all? I know some of you do prefer 2 to X, but I just wondered what it had over it.

Good article, Thomas.

What I like is that a lot of companies have chilled out and are happy to make 2D games, and not necessarily feel they have to keep up with "Mario 64" (or the equivalent). Some characters just didn't need to be put into 3D, and thanks to digital distribution, we can have a great new Sonic, Shantae or Wonder Boy for £10-20.

I've also got a load of Neo Geo games on my Switch (cheaply and easily), which were unattainable back in the day.

If I have one complaint it's that developers still follow trends, the current and obvious one being shoehorning everything into the open world genre, but I guess that's human nature (and the nature of using new technology). It's not massively different to FPS and 3D collect-a-thons before it.

For me the most enjoyable era was the GameCube + PS2 generation, because the games were simply the best. They had better graphics than the first 3D generation, but still felt like the work of relatively few designers.

I do quite like the art style. At first the sprites seem very basic, but something about the simplicity and the prominence of their eyes does harken back to the feel Double Dragon gave me back in the day. My preference is more for the sort of 2D graphics seen on Neo Geo, but that was a true art form only mastered by the designers of the 1990s.

It looks good and I can't resist brawlers, so I'll get it!

@ryando - Mine's like that too. I think they just overdid it.

Switch eShop is good. What would make it perfect for me is '80s and '90s arcade games from Capcom, Sega, Technos etc.

It does actually make sense that people would use new technology to simulate feeling bodies. I think it's far healthier than using it to simulate extreme violence, but there you go. Unfortunately, I can't imagine this will be a great bit of software.

I would like to play the pinball game though.

Game looks superb, but that's too expensive for now.

That looks great. Reminds me of Landstalker.

I thought the art from Risky's Revenge and Pirate's Curse was the best. The former had long, slender figures, whereas IntiCreates did some brilliant work with the latter. I thought Half-Genie Hero toned it down too much and was too cutesy.

Really good, old-fashioned artwork that hits the spot.

Metroid, Etrian and perhaps River City.

@OfNullAndVoid - For what it's worth, Pirate's Curse and Risky's Revenge are the great ones, Half-Genie Hero is "good" and the Game Boy original is more like a curiosity. Restore Points are essential, in my opinion.

It's a shame Half-Genie Hero isn't half-price cross-buy if you already have the Wii U version. I want to play the DLC, but buying everything again seems too much.

@OfNullAndVoid - It's not a very difficult game at all. I wouldn't quite go with the "easy" verdict many people have of the experience (there are some fairly difficult jumps), but it's about what you'd expect from a medium-difficulty platformer, rather than the very sharp difficulty spike in Pirate's Curse.

Sonic 1 is pure perfection and I'm also fond of Sonic 3 + Knuckles. The one I can't understand the appeal of is Sonic 2. To me it was overhyped and much less enjoyable to play, with a very frustrating Special Stage.

Well, I am a fan of the genre. I don't mind simplicity as long as it plays well. Is it better than the Jaleco brawlers?

Tiny Barbarian looks just my sort of thing.

If I didn't have the Wii U version and they had the DLC ready and included, I would pay £15.99. As it is, I'll give this a miss. I don't think it's as good as the 2nd or 3rd games in the series.

Just the pure, 2D game (without Way of the Hado) as a £20 download would have been irresistible.

@PtM - No, I do like other cultures. It's getting harder and harder to see something that is genuinely foreign precisely because of homogenisation.

@PtM - I am civil. You're the one being sarcastic. Do you really not champion the ideas of artistic freedom and ownership of product at all? I have no wish to offend anyone by using this gesture. I'm saying it should be filtered out at the ratings board stage by each country that finds it offensive... but not for countries who don't.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but are we not talking about something being censored in a product people have already bought? I know it's minor, and I do not care about this particular animation, but it's the principle. Some people may have liked the animation, and now the product that they bought has been changed.

Imagine you have something in your house (a magazine, for example). Someone from a foreign country doesn't like it, so comes round and rips out the pages they don't like. Is that fair? This is where we've got to with a global, homogenised culture.

@PtM - I wouldn't do either; I'm just saying let those with the problem make the adjustments... for them. I couldn't care less about an animation in Mario Kart, but if you apply this principle to everything, things become very bland.