I still need to know how this works for Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac and Sonic Racing Crossworlds. I want to own both of those games physically, but not on a game key card. So, I'd like to get the Switch 1 versions and then install a much smaller Switch 2 patch, if possible.
There's a typo in the article where the first mention of the time has 6 a.m., EST and 9 a.m., PT which is backwards. It should be 9 a.m., EST and 6 a.m., PT as it is elsewhere in the article.
Anyways, I'm super excited. It's unusual for Nintendo to announce it two days ahead of time; I remember they used to do it that way a long time ago, but more often than not, they announce it the day before.
One hour is also pretty unprecedented outside of new console blowouts. This is the same length as the big April presentation, but this one will presumably be focused solely on games while the other one spent a lot of time going over hardware specs and accessories like the new camera. If this is one hour of just games, this could be a real banger.
Maybe they'll do it like some of those early Switch 1 Directs, where they would spend the first 10 minutes or so talking specifically about 3DS games. I think back to March, 2018 where they started by showing games like WarioWare Gold, Luigi's Mansion for 3DS, and a new Dillon's Rolling Western before transitioning to Switch news.
I could see the first 20 minutes of this Direct being about Switch 1, with a deeper dive into Tomodachi, Rythm Heaven, and some ports like Yoshi's Woolly World or smaller games like a new Mario Baseball.
With it being an hour long, we might even see some Mario 40th anniversary announcements lumped in, although I'm keeping my expectations in check. I don't think we'll see Galaxy 2 (as much as I want it), because at this point, I think Nintendo is saving it for Wii games on NSO, which we probably won't get for another few years.
I expect more new information on Kirby Air Riders with characters like Marx confirmed and a substantial single player mode. We'll also get a release date for Prime 4 and probably Age of Imprisonment. I hope we also get a release date for Splatoon Raiders and that it's coming sooner rather than later.
We're not getting a new Smash game anytime soon, since Sakurai has his hands full. But shadow dropping Melee on NSO would be incredibly hype and a very easy win for Nintendo.
A Switch 2 edition for Pikmin 4 that adds a new winter stage as well as split-screen co-op and the return of Bingo Battle would be amazing. Would look beautiful in 4k, 60FPS.
Mario Kart World failed to impress me, especially with the $80 price tag. So, I hope we hear about a substantial expansion that will be free for NSO Expansion Pass members like the Booster Course Pass was, adding new characters like K. Rool.
Many key figures behind the development of Mario Odyssey were missing from DK Bananza's credits like Yoshiaki Koizumi, so I don't think it's unreasonable to think we could see the next new 3D Mario here, which I hope will be fully open world.
I posted a podcast episode on my YouTube channel (Nintentrovert) last weekend where I go more in depth on my hopes and predictions, if anyone wants to check it out! I'll likely record a live reaction as well.
Everything else about this looks fantastic, but I have to be honest about one change that actually disappoints me, which is the changed boss battles. I know I'm probably in the minority, but even though Inky, Blinky, and Pinky all had more-or-less the same fight (albeit the difficulty ramped up each time), I reaply enjoyed each iteration of the ghost mech fight.
Yeah, it was kinda weird in retrospect that Clyde was the only one whose boss fight was unique, so I imagine they had to make all the others the same due to time constraints. Maybe this remake is closer to their original vision. But I dunno, the mechanical polar bear and owl boss fights just aren't what I'm used to.
I'm hoping at least Blinky or Inky's fight will function similarly to the originals. I thought it was so cool how there were two different methods to defeat them--either by rev-rolling into the side of the mech or pounding it from on top.
Some may have found those old boss fights repetitive, but to me, they were one of the most memorable and enjoyable parts of the game, right up there with B-Doing Woods and the Haunted Boardwalk level. I'm not expecting it, but man, I would love a way to unlock those original boss fights.
Don't get me wrong, I'm still really stoked for this game, and the boss fights could still be a lot of fun in their own right. I'm pleasantly surprised to see the Arcade returning, since Namco already has a lot of those old Pac-Man arcades games available in various other collections you can buy. I'm sure Ms. Pac-Man won't be there, though.
I'm not reading the article, as I haven't yet finished the game and don't want to be spoiled. But yeah, this game has a shockingly heavy and realistic plot with its portrayal of a dysfunctional family. It's pretty heartbreaking, the way Jenny dissociates by acting like a frog as a coping mechanism toward her parents' arguing.
When I spoke to the mom in the kitchen and she referred to her daughter as a "freak" for this behavior, I was livid. Like, it's your fault she's acting this way, but instead of getting her therapy, you're making it about you. I don't think I've ever hated a character like I did in that moment, but that's how you know a game is doing something right when it can bring out that kind of visceral emotion in you.
So far, this is one of the best stories in a Nintendo game, and while I doubt it will ever happen, I think Chibi-Robo 100% deserves to get its own movie. It Takes Two is a great game, but Chibi-Robo handles the theme of family separation even better than the GOTY winner, in my opinion.
I think I'm getting close to the end. I've never felt so motivated as a player; the stakes aren't as high as saving Hyrule from a demon king or rescuing a princess from an evil turtle monster, but it doesn't matter. This is personal. There's a sad little girl whose parents don't deserve her, and she needs my help.
This is my first time seeing this game, and as an animation buff who pines for the return of hand-drawn films, I must say, this looks incredible. Games that go for the hand-drawn look often fail to nail it for me and wind up looking more like a mobile flash game. This is one of those rare exceptions along with Cuphead and Rayman Legends that absolutely nails the style for me. Color me very, very intrigued.
@HammerGalladeBro I'll be honest, I've only played the first Prime game, so I was unaware about both of those, lol. Still, I wouldn't think the d-word counts as "strong language," though. The Hunters thing is quite shocking, I must say...
@Orwellian87 This isn't clickbait; the title perfectly describes what the article is about. Clickbait is intentionally misleading by over-exaggerating, like if they titled it something like "Metroid Prime 4 release date IMMINENT???"
I have plenty of qualms with how Nintendo Life does things, but this isn't one of them. If you think this is a 'nothing' piece of news and undeserving of an article, that's fair. But it's not malicious in the way clickbait is.
To me, articles like these are harmless. I'll take a slow news day over a no-news day.
Infrequent use of strong language? That one definitely has me raising an eyebrow. Not sure how it can be gambling "and/or" that, since the two have no correlation together, so which one is it? Or is that just somw generic description that applies to all T-rated games?
Well, I was interested in Kirby Air Riders for a good few hours, anyways.
Pac-Man and the ghosts being playable in Sonic Racing Crossworlds has me so freakin excited! For years, I've been wanting a new Pac-Man racing game, or for him to be added to a mainline Mario Kart since he used to be in the arcade games. This is the next best thing. Plus, there's also gonna be Avatar DLC, which is my favorite show of all time. I can't believe this sick, perverted joke of a timeline we're living in where I'm actually more excited about a Sonic racing game than Mario Kart. I kinda hope we get more waves of DLC beyond this season pass.
And having an incredibly ambitious-looking Sonic level in Pac-Man World 2? That's so cool!! Pac-Man World 2 is my childhood, so I was already excited when they announced not only the remake, but that the game would be getting additional new crossover content. I thought it was just gonna be other Namco properties like a Katamari or Klonoa level, but this opens up so many new possibilities.
Man, I love that yellow circle. I'd take a bullet for him.
Looks pretty good, but I don't have a whole lot of experience with the GameCube original, so my hype at this point is maybe like a 7/10.
I was hoping for more than just one City Trial map, but the one we're getting is much larger and has a lot of interesting locales. Very happy about more playable characters. I really wanted to see Marx though, who is my favorite Kirby character, but I imagine there are still more to be revealed in the future. I'm happy about Magolor and Suzie, but I also want to see Taranza, Queen Sectonia, Haltmann, Daroach, etc. Hopefully, there will be a sizeable roster.
I also wanted to see a substantial single player campaign, but they sort of teased that at the very end, so I'm not ruling it out. We'll probably see more in the rumored September Direct.
Visually, the game looks solid, but I think I was expecting a little more since Kirby games tend to be among the best-looking on their respective hardware and we now have Switch 2 horsepower to work with. It looks like it could run on a Switch 1 just fine. It has a prettier art direction than Mario Kart World, though.
Seeing Sakurai is always a treat. I got a chuckle out of his jokes about it being a Mario Kart clone, and "unfortunately" having to add a second button. Everyone speculated he asked Nintendo to make this game as a personal passion project, but evidently, they reached out to him instead, which is peculiar from a business standpoint.
I also want the game to have a substantial amount of content. The original game only had like 9 tracks; for a $70 game that still only has one City Trial map, there'd better be a lot more than that. I also want a grand prix mode (in addition to a story mode), as well as weekly/monthly online challenges to give it some extra replay value.
I think this presentation was a solid start, but they're still holding out on us. I just hope what they're saving is actually substantial--I don't want to get burned again like I did with Mario Kart World.
Wasn't it a major issue with the Switch 1 that third-party docks were bricking systems and people were being advised to stay away from them? Why am I seeing so many promoted now on Switch 2?
I'm always seeing people share things on Twitter like, "Instead of remaking games that were already great, developers should prioritize remaking games that had the potential to be great but didn't live up for one reason or another."
This comment section is basically just, "Nah, screw that," lol.
I, for one, am personally really excited for this title. The original had its fair share of issues, but I honestly enjoyed it. I hadn't played the Banjo games at the time, so I didn't really have a frame of reference going in; I just knew that I loved sandbox 3D platformers and grew up on plenty of "B-tier" ones like Ty the Tasmanian Tiger.
When they first announced the remake, my first instinct was to think, "Well, this feels kind of scummy. They raised all this money to fund the development of the original game, delivered a game that many people found subpar, and now they're expecting people to double-dip to have the experience they should've gotten in the first place."
But after chewing on it for a bit, I realized, no--this is totally valid. I truly think Playtonic isn't doing this as some cheap cash grab but because they really believe in Yooka-Laylee as an IP and know their original game didn't get off on the right foot. Game development isn't cheap, and what they're doing is a pretty drastic re-haul. Amid all the company layoffs throughout the gaming industry over the past several years, it's unrealistic to think Playtonic can just release something like this for free out of the goodness of their hearts as a show of good will toward the fans. This game will still probably cost around half the price or less of DK Bananza. Personally, I think that's a much more fair asking price than the $80 I paid for Mario Kart World, which I'm still salty about.
Besides, the devs at Playtonic have strongly hinted that they are far along in development of a "Tooka-Laylee" or whatever you want to call it, and that if people knew what they were working on behind the scenes, it would silence all the criticism that they haven't been working on a sequel all this time.
This is just something they wanted to get out there first.
And besides, there's no reason to rush the sequel when the last thing anybody wants is another half-baked platformer.
This isn't the same as Nintendo--a company with all the resources in the world--releasing a barebones port of Luigi's Mansion 2 for $20 more than it cost on the original hardware. This is a passion project by a much smaller dev team and an example of not giving up in the face of failure. It's the video game equivalent of not making the basketball team but still practicing for next year's tryouts. Or getting rejected by several publishers but still thinking there is value in your novel.
I bet they anticipated the backlash this remake would receive, but they didn't let that stop them. This isn't about pleasing everybody; this is personal. It's about the artistic drive to perfect your work into something you can be proud of. So, I respect their decision and will be supporting this game on day one.
As much as I'd love to have Super Mario Galaxy 2 on Switch, I'm not expecting it anytime soon. I think Nintendo is probably saving it for Wii NSO, which I do think is coming. We'll probably get DS NSO first in a couple years, though, which means we're probably a good 4 years away from getting Wii games. Can't wait to play Super Mario Galaxy 2 again in the year 2029!
@LazyDaisy Cosmic Shake had one joke I thought was hilarious where SpongeBob mentions the mesopelagic zone of the ocean. Patrick says, "I stopped messin' with mesopelagics a LONG time ago, man!"
I also liked the line, "Some fellas are so crooked, they can swallow a nail and spit out a screw."
I had a feeling they were waiting to show this game until the new Flying Dutchman movie got a release date, since they're so similar. It's kind of a movie tie-in, but also kind of not.
Battle for Bikini Bottom was one of my favorite games growing up, and I loved Rehydrated. I thought Cosmic Shake was underwhelming, but this one looks promising. This was a great first trailer, but it's wild to me they got David Hasslehoff for this and not a remake of the Movie game (which he was never actually in but should have been). Hopefully, Purple Lamp do that next. (And Epic Mickey 2.)
If this had been in the Partner Showcase, I would have unironically given it a 9/10. The double whammy of this with Pac-Man World 2 would have been awesome.
I've been begging for Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac for years now, since... well... before the first Re-Pac was even announced, lol. I honestly regret not getting up early and recording a live reaction to the showcase because that would gave been a pop-off moment for sure. Who would've thought they would announce it so close to the release of Shadow Labarynth? I really thought that was the only Pac-Man game we were getting this year. Between this and Once Upon A Katamari, I'm personally very happy. I didn't expect this Direct to have anything that would appeal to me, but I'm very happy to have been wrong. I know I'm probably in the minority as a lot of people found it underwhelming, but I guess that just goes to show how varied peoples' tastes are. It felt like I was one of the only ones who was disappointed with the big April Switch Direct, whereas most prople seemed to love it.
•Jak and Daxter •Sly Cooper •Astrobot •Ape Escape •Ratchet and Clank •Sackboy
These titles would be right at home on a Nintendo platform and would sell gangbusters, I'm sure of it. Nintendo Switch is getting dangerously close to having every game I've ever cared about available on one singular platform, and I'm here for it!
It's crazy to think how less than 10 years ago, people were saying Nintendo would go third party after the Wii U failed. Now, they're the last company that hasn't gone multiplatform.
The implications this has for Smash Bros. are mind-boggling as well. Nintendo fans just keep winning (except for our bank accounts).
@RasandeRose I've had the same issue with my ZR button on the JoyCon 2 as well! How did you go about replacing it? Did you do it through Nintendo's website directly?
I'll be honest, the main reason I bought one is because Switch 1 pro controllers can't wake the console out of sleep mode and I'm too lazy to walk up to the dock every time and press the power button. I still think it's asinine they can't do that and hope a future firmware update can fix this.
That said, it's a super comfortable controller that really melts in your hands--that's the best way I can describe it, really. Battery life also seems to be much better than Switch 1's and closer to the Wii U Pro Controller, which held charge for a super impressive amount of time. My only issue is that the faceplate makes a popping sound when pressed in a certain spot, which makes me think it may not be attached securely and I worry about it loosening up over time.
Obviously, he experienced peak and decided it wasn't worth playing any other video games since nothing would ever top the GOAT Super Mario 64. This is understandable.
Calling it a "computer game" is unforgivable, though.
The fact that the series with the smallest ratio of women gamers is MARIO, of all series, is wild to me. Like, what do you mean Splatoon and Zelda have a bigger female audience? Crazy.
I really love the N. Sane Trilogy and feel like it's the definitive way to experience these three games. That said, I do recall that when the remake first came out, I struggled a lot to adapt. Something about the controls just felt a little "off," but I couldn't put my finger on it, and I died a lot more than I was used to only PS1.
In time, I got used to it though, and the controls are like second nature to me now. I haven't gone back to the originals since then; I imagine that muscle memory is probably now gone and it would be a learning curve to get used to the old controls again. I think both games control amazingly in their own way, they're just...different.
I just couldn't help myself and looked at the leaks. I really wanted to know whether K. Rool was in the game or not. Now that I know the truth, I could almost cry. I won't spoil whether they're tears of joy or sorrow, though.
Video games are art, but even the most revered examples of fine art weren't made just for the sake of passion. Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel because a patron with a lot of money commissioned him to do it, for example. As consumers, we are the patrons who commission Miyamoto to make us art. I think we try too hard to romanticize works of art as this thing the creator has 100% control over with no desire to appease the masses. If you call yourself an artist but don't care about your audience, you probably won't find much success. Not all products are works of art, but all art is a product.
Bit annoying to release the physical version after the digital launch. I would have definitely preferred to have gotten a physical copy of the game. I actually hit up several GameStops looking for it before googling and realizing the game wasn't getting a physical edition here in the States. So, I downloaded it because I thought that would be my only option, unless I went through the hassle of paying extra for a Japanese import and hoping it has an English language option.
To be fair though, this is Level 5's first game after years of hardship. So, I understand why they might have either worried about poor sales or simply didn't have the budget for worldwide distribution. I guess the game's early success is making them rethink things. I'm glad the game is performing well, as it's a lot of fun. They really understand the psychology of rewarding the player with constant dopamine hits.
Around 30. I only just recently went back to it, as I've mostly been playing Fantasy Life, which is at over 120 hours. I think I'm starting to come around at least somewhat on Mario Kart World. I still don't think it's worth 80 dollars, but I'm trying to appreciate what's there instead of what isn't.
When I saw your comment, I thought you must surely be mistaken, as I've been waiting five years for them to bring that theme back and had pretty much given up hope. I thought it must have been like Super Mario 35 and Super Mario 3D All-Stars where it was another dumb time-limited promotion that would expire after Mario's anniversary and never see the light of day again.
But, I booted up Tetris 99 and checked the theme shop on the off chance you were actually right. And, lo and behold, there it was! I can't believe I missed this, but I really appreciate you letting me know. This made my day, lol.
Nice, this addresses a lot of small nitpicks I've had with an otherwise stellar game. I do hope they improve enemy AI, though. It's really annoying how often enemies enter a state of confusion and can't be damaged until they reset to their original position. It wastes time, and they often regenerate their health while in this state, too. Really loving the game though, I just picked it up a couple weeks ago and have already sank over 100 hours. I have a problem. Never played the first game on 3DS, btw.
Now, add a snow area and the game will be perfect.
Honestly, they did a pretty great job with stock, all things considered. Way easier to get your hands on one than I think any of us could have anticipated. The fact you could go in and find them on store shelves without having a pre-order in was unprecedented for them. This is the same company that used to only ship like a couple amiibo to every store. I was even able to get one of the wireless GameCube controllers the second time they were available online. I missed the first wave, but it took me over a year to nag the wireless N64 controller. So, all things considered, I'm pretty happy with how their supply has been going.
So it's not just my imagination, then. Every time I boot up Wind Waker, it takes me a couple minutes to get used to the rather significant input delay.
I've said it before, but you've gotta give props to Nickelodeon for really going all-in on the gaming market this generation:
Two Nick All-Star Brawl games, three Nickelodeon Kart Racers, Battle for Bikini Bottom remake, Cosmic Shake, another new SpongeBob game on the way, the TMNT arcade collection and new TMNT games, collabs like Avatar in Fortnite, SpongeBob in Power Wash Simulator, SpongeBob and Avatar in Minecraft, Avatar in Overwatch, Rugrats: Adventures in Game Land, an Avatar game, NickToons: The Dice of Destiny, and now this.
There's probably even more that I haven't even mentioned, luke Nick Jr. games such as Paw Patrol, for example.
Not all of these games are of the same level of quality, but most of them I'd say are pretty solid. Way better than all the shovelware they used to pump out. I just wish they would remember that they own way more franchises than Avatar, TMNT, and SpongeBob.
Give me a new Danny Phantom or Fairly OddParents or Invader Zim game, for example. Or port over some of the old THQ ones from back in the GameCube/Wii era, that'd be pretty sick.
I'd love to see games based on Cartoon Network IP as well, like a racing or fighting game where I can play as characters from Courage the Cowardly Dog, Johnny Bravo, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, Chowder, Billy & Mandy, Ed Edd n Eddy, etc.
MultiVersus was the closest we got, but we all know how that turned out.
@mazzel I've listened to enough Kit and Krysta podcasts to know the intern will be getting a very stern talking-to after their boss is grilled with strongly-worded e-mails from Japan.
I never played the 3DS original, but I picked this one up about a week ago and am absolutely obsessed. I've already logged around 30 hours of play time. 😬 This is the video game equivalent of Chick Fil-A; I don't know what they put in the sauce, but I can't get enough of it.
I'm kinda on the fence about the whole situation. It's a shame they let Martinet go after so many years, and I don't think anyone will ever surpass him. But if I'm being honest, I do think he was past his prime. In Luigi's Mansion 3, for example, his Luigi voice is much lower and gruffier to me--it felt like he couldn't hit those same pitches anymore.
So, I get where Nintendo is coming from in wanting someone who is still young and spry who can bring that same level of energy. That said, Kevin Afghani's Mario impression could use work. I think his Luigi and Waluigi impressions are pretty spot-on, and he can make grunt noises like Mario and Wario, but when saying full words and sentences, he struggles with those characters.
He either needs more coaching to do a better Mario, or--as others have said--maybe a re-cast is in order. Nothing personal toward the guy; I genuinely think his Luigi and Waluigi are pretty indistinguishable from Martinet when he was younger. But I've heard random, non-voice actors do a better Mario impression, to be honest. His delivery of the lines "Mario Kart...World!" and "Oh yeah, Mario time!" (from Wonder) is weak and sounds like Mario is hoarse. Which doesn't exactly fit the idea of "young and spry."
Martinet and the other Mario voice actors were let go, Reggie quit, Iwata died, and now, Miyamoto isn't even in the credits of Mario Kart World. It's crazy how rapidly the faces of the company have changed in such a short period of time.
I haven't had a chance to test it for myself, but I've heard Spyro Reignited Trilogy runs much better and even looks a lot better.
I tested out SpongeBob Rehydrated and A Hat in Time. Rehydrated had higher-res textures that didn't take forever to load in, and I didn't notice any framerate issues anymore like in Sand Mountain. There's still tons of pop-in, though, disappointingly. A Hat in Time seemed pretty much the same. Maybe not as many framerate issues, but i did still notice some stuttering.
Crash N. Sane Trilogy looks the same, but at least I didn't have any issues running the game on Switch 2 as others seemingly have.
I want to test out Fall Guys and Disney Speedstorm to see if the menus load up faster like they do in Fortnite. It's really annoying when you have lag just trying to navigate the UI.
Honestly, while the game is fun, I do think it's underwhelming as an $80 game, as a launch title, and as a successor to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (with the Booster Course Pass included). All three of those things set the bar so high, and I don't think it lived up to the expectations.
With so many of those P-Switch challenges in Free-Roam revolving around passing through rings, I couldn't help but think to myself, "this would be a really solid Pilotwings game, but from Mario Kart, I expect a little more."
A lot of people (myself included) were hoping for more. Cut characters like the Koopalings, Kamek, Diddy Kong, and Funky Kong in favor of a non-specific Dolphin and Cow is disappointing. Only two battle modes is also unfortunate, as is the fact there are no bosses in Free-Roam.
In its current state, I honestly can't give this game any higher than an 8/10--which is underwhelming for a Mario Kart title. You can get mad at the fans for saying wre "set our expectations too high" for thinking Nintendo might not have showed their full hand in the Directs. But Nintendo did a poor job at expectation management by--again--making this a launch title, selling it for $10 more than Tears of the Kingdom, and doubling MK8 DX's content in the lead-up to this game.
Even basic features like a ranked mode for online would have made it so much more replayable, where you level-up instead of just gaining VR points, which are (no pun intended) pointless.
I don't know what Nintendo's long-term plans are for this game. Hopefully, they will continue to support it throughout the Switch 2's entire life cycle. But as it is...the game is just "alright." I just hope that any new content will be free for NSO + Expansion Pass subscribers like it was for the last game.
Oh, nice! This is extremely useful information. That was definitely something that bothered me when starting Wind Waker on NSO. I'll be sure to change it for this game as well as Mario Sunshine when it comes to the platform. Thanks!
Comments 3,808
Re: No Switch 2 "Upgrade Path" For Dragon Quest VII: Reimagined Planned
I still need to know how this works for Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac and Sonic Racing Crossworlds. I want to own both of those games physically, but not on a game key card. So, I'd like to get the Switch 1 versions and then install a much smaller Switch 2 patch, if possible.
Re: Nintendo Direct Announced For Friday, 12th September 2025
There's a typo in the article where the first mention of the time has 6 a.m., EST and 9 a.m., PT which is backwards. It should be 9 a.m., EST and 6 a.m., PT as it is elsewhere in the article.
Anyways, I'm super excited. It's unusual for Nintendo to announce it two days ahead of time; I remember they used to do it that way a long time ago, but more often than not, they announce it the day before.
One hour is also pretty unprecedented outside of new console blowouts. This is the same length as the big April presentation, but this one will presumably be focused solely on games while the other one spent a lot of time going over hardware specs and accessories like the new camera. If this is one hour of just games, this could be a real banger.
Maybe they'll do it like some of those early Switch 1 Directs, where they would spend the first 10 minutes or so talking specifically about 3DS games. I think back to March, 2018 where they started by showing games like WarioWare Gold, Luigi's Mansion for 3DS, and a new Dillon's Rolling Western before transitioning to Switch news.
I could see the first 20 minutes of this Direct being about Switch 1, with a deeper dive into Tomodachi, Rythm Heaven, and some ports like Yoshi's Woolly World or smaller games like a new Mario Baseball.
With it being an hour long, we might even see some Mario 40th anniversary announcements lumped in, although I'm keeping my expectations in check. I don't think we'll see Galaxy 2 (as much as I want it), because at this point, I think Nintendo is saving it for Wii games on NSO, which we probably won't get for another few years.
I expect more new information on Kirby Air Riders with characters like Marx confirmed and a substantial single player mode. We'll also get a release date for Prime 4 and probably Age of Imprisonment. I hope we also get a release date for Splatoon Raiders and that it's coming sooner rather than later.
We're not getting a new Smash game anytime soon, since Sakurai has his hands full. But shadow dropping Melee on NSO would be incredibly hype and a very easy win for Nintendo.
A Switch 2 edition for Pikmin 4 that adds a new winter stage as well as split-screen co-op and the return of Bingo Battle would be amazing. Would look beautiful in 4k, 60FPS.
Mario Kart World failed to impress me, especially with the $80 price tag. So, I hope we hear about a substantial expansion that will be free for NSO Expansion Pass members like the Booster Course Pass was, adding new characters like K. Rool.
Many key figures behind the development of Mario Odyssey were missing from DK Bananza's credits like Yoshiaki Koizumi, so I don't think it's unreasonable to think we could see the next new 3D Mario here, which I hope will be fully open world.
I posted a podcast episode on my YouTube channel (Nintentrovert) last weekend where I go more in depth on my hopes and predictions, if anyone wants to check it out! I'll likely record a live reaction as well.
Re: Pac-Man World 2: Re-Pac Looks Waka Waka Wonderful In New Gameplay Trailer
Everything else about this looks fantastic, but I have to be honest about one change that actually disappoints me, which is the changed boss battles. I know I'm probably in the minority, but even though Inky, Blinky, and Pinky all had more-or-less the same fight (albeit the difficulty ramped up each time), I reaply enjoyed each iteration of the ghost mech fight.
Yeah, it was kinda weird in retrospect that Clyde was the only one whose boss fight was unique, so I imagine they had to make all the others the same due to time constraints. Maybe this remake is closer to their original vision. But I dunno, the mechanical polar bear and owl boss fights just aren't what I'm used to.
I'm hoping at least Blinky or Inky's fight will function similarly to the originals. I thought it was so cool how there were two different methods to defeat them--either by rev-rolling into the side of the mech or pounding it from on top.
Some may have found those old boss fights repetitive, but to me, they were one of the most memorable and enjoyable parts of the game, right up there with B-Doing Woods and the Haunted Boardwalk level. I'm not expecting it, but man, I would love a way to unlock those original boss fights.
Don't get me wrong, I'm still really stoked for this game, and the boss fights could still be a lot of fun in their own right. I'm pleasantly surprised to see the Arcade returning, since Namco already has a lot of those old Pac-Man arcades games available in various other collections you can buy. I'm sure Ms. Pac-Man won't be there, though.
Re: Ubisoft Kicks Off Rayman's 30th Anniversary, Says New Project Is In "Good Hands"
Just give us a collection of the first three games to hold us over for the new one. A Rayman "Raymastered" trilogy, if you will. Please and thank you.
Re: Opinion: No One Told Me 'Chibi-Robo' Is Traumatising
I'm not reading the article, as I haven't yet finished the game and don't want to be spoiled. But yeah, this game has a shockingly heavy and realistic plot with its portrayal of a dysfunctional family. It's pretty heartbreaking, the way Jenny dissociates by acting like a frog as a coping mechanism toward her parents' arguing.
When I spoke to the mom in the kitchen and she referred to her daughter as a "freak" for this behavior, I was livid. Like, it's your fault she's acting this way, but instead of getting her therapy, you're making it about you. I don't think I've ever hated a character like I did in that moment, but that's how you know a game is doing something right when it can bring out that kind of visceral emotion in you.
So far, this is one of the best stories in a Nintendo game, and while I doubt it will ever happen, I think Chibi-Robo 100% deserves to get its own movie. It Takes Two is a great game, but Chibi-Robo handles the theme of family separation even better than the GOTY winner, in my opinion.
I think I'm getting close to the end. I've never felt so motivated as a player; the stakes aren't as high as saving Hyrule from a demon king or rescuing a princess from an evil turtle monster, but it doesn't matter. This is personal. There's a sad little girl whose parents don't deserve her, and she needs my help.
Re: Beautiful Disney-esque Horror 'Bye Sweet Carole' Gets Suitably Spooky Release Date
This is my first time seeing this game, and as an animation buff who pines for the return of hand-drawn films, I must say, this looks incredible. Games that go for the hand-drawn look often fail to nail it for me and wind up looking more like a mobile flash game. This is one of those rare exceptions along with Cuphead and Rayman Legends that absolutely nails the style for me. Color me very, very intrigued.
Re: Japanese Charts: Mario Kart World Gets Back To Demolishing The Competition
I had a dream last night that a bunch of DLC tracks for Mario Kart World leaked. One of them was just called "Ohio." 💀
Re: Team Cherry's Already Got "Ambitious" Plans For Hollow Knight: Silksong Additional Content
And so the long wait begins anew...
Re: Metroid Prime 4 Rating Spotted On Nintendo's Website
@HammerGalladeBro I'll be honest, I've only played the first Prime game, so I was unaware about both of those, lol. Still, I wouldn't think the d-word counts as "strong language," though. The Hunters thing is quite shocking, I must say...
Re: Metroid Prime 4 Rating Spotted On Nintendo's Website
@Orwellian87 This isn't clickbait; the title perfectly describes what the article is about. Clickbait is intentionally misleading by over-exaggerating, like if they titled it something like "Metroid Prime 4 release date IMMINENT???"
I have plenty of qualms with how Nintendo Life does things, but this isn't one of them. If you think this is a 'nothing' piece of news and undeserving of an article, that's fair. But it's not malicious in the way clickbait is.
To me, articles like these are harmless. I'll take a slow news day over a no-news day.
Re: Metroid Prime 4 Rating Spotted On Nintendo's Website
Infrequent use of strong language? That one definitely has me raising an eyebrow. Not sure how it can be gambling "and/or" that, since the two have no correlation together, so which one is it? Or is that just somw generic description that applies to all T-rated games?
Re: Round Up: Gamescom Opening Night Live 2025 - Every Switch 1 & 2 Announcement & Trailer
Well, I was interested in Kirby Air Riders for a good few hours, anyways.
Pac-Man and the ghosts being playable in Sonic Racing Crossworlds has me so freakin excited! For years, I've been wanting a new Pac-Man racing game, or for him to be added to a mainline Mario Kart since he used to be in the arcade games. This is the next best thing. Plus, there's also gonna be Avatar DLC, which is my favorite show of all time. I can't believe this sick, perverted joke of a timeline we're living in where I'm actually more excited about a Sonic racing game than Mario Kart. I kinda hope we get more waves of DLC beyond this season pass.
And having an incredibly ambitious-looking Sonic level in Pac-Man World 2? That's so cool!! Pac-Man World 2 is my childhood, so I was already excited when they announced not only the remake, but that the game would be getting additional new crossover content. I thought it was just gonna be other Namco properties like a Katamari or Klonoa level, but this opens up so many new possibilities.
Man, I love that yellow circle. I'd take a bullet for him.
Re: Kirby Air Riders Direct: Every Announcement - How Would You Rate It?
Looks pretty good, but I don't have a whole lot of experience with the GameCube original, so my hype at this point is maybe like a 7/10.
I was hoping for more than just one City Trial map, but the one we're getting is much larger and has a lot of interesting locales. Very happy about more playable characters. I really wanted to see Marx though, who is my favorite Kirby character, but I imagine there are still more to be revealed in the future. I'm happy about Magolor and Suzie, but I also want to see Taranza, Queen Sectonia, Haltmann, Daroach, etc. Hopefully, there will be a sizeable roster.
I also wanted to see a substantial single player campaign, but they sort of teased that at the very end, so I'm not ruling it out. We'll probably see more in the rumored September Direct.
Visually, the game looks solid, but I think I was expecting a little more since Kirby games tend to be among the best-looking on their respective hardware and we now have Switch 2 horsepower to work with. It looks like it could run on a Switch 1 just fine. It has a prettier art direction than Mario Kart World, though.
Seeing Sakurai is always a treat. I got a chuckle out of his jokes about it being a Mario Kart clone, and "unfortunately" having to add a second button. Everyone speculated he asked Nintendo to make this game as a personal passion project, but evidently, they reached out to him instead, which is peculiar from a business standpoint.
I also want the game to have a substantial amount of content. The original game only had like 9 tracks; for a $70 game that still only has one City Trial map, there'd better be a lot more than that. I also want a grand prix mode (in addition to a story mode), as well as weekly/monthly online challenges to give it some extra replay value.
I think this presentation was a solid start, but they're still holding out on us. I just hope what they're saving is actually substantial--I don't want to get burned again like I did with Mario Kart World.
Re: Kirby Air Riders Direct Revealed for Tomorrow, 19th August 2025
Dang, when Sakurai said soon, he meant SOON soon!
Re: Review: ANTANK S3 MAX TV Dock Station For Nintendo Switch 2 - A Decent Little Travel Dock
Wasn't it a major issue with the Switch 1 that third-party docks were bricking systems and people were being advised to stay away from them? Why am I seeing so many promoted now on Switch 2?
Re: Yooka-Replaylee Is Now "Content Complete"
I'm always seeing people share things on Twitter like, "Instead of remaking games that were already great, developers should prioritize remaking games that had the potential to be great but didn't live up for one reason or another."
This comment section is basically just, "Nah, screw that," lol.
I, for one, am personally really excited for this title. The original had its fair share of issues, but I honestly enjoyed it. I hadn't played the Banjo games at the time, so I didn't really have a frame of reference going in; I just knew that I loved sandbox 3D platformers and grew up on plenty of "B-tier" ones like Ty the Tasmanian Tiger.
When they first announced the remake, my first instinct was to think, "Well, this feels kind of scummy. They raised all this money to fund the development of the original game, delivered a game that many people found subpar, and now they're expecting people to double-dip to have the experience they should've gotten in the first place."
But after chewing on it for a bit, I realized, no--this is totally valid. I truly think Playtonic isn't doing this as some cheap cash grab but because they really believe in Yooka-Laylee as an IP and know their original game didn't get off on the right foot. Game development isn't cheap, and what they're doing is a pretty drastic re-haul. Amid all the company layoffs throughout the gaming industry over the past several years, it's unrealistic to think Playtonic can just release something like this for free out of the goodness of their hearts as a show of good will toward the fans. This game will still probably cost around half the price or less of DK Bananza. Personally, I think that's a much more fair asking price than the $80 I paid for Mario Kart World, which I'm still salty about.
Besides, the devs at Playtonic have strongly hinted that they are far along in development of a "Tooka-Laylee" or whatever you want to call it, and that if people knew what they were working on behind the scenes, it would silence all the criticism that they haven't been working on a sequel all this time.
This is just something they wanted to get out there first.
And besides, there's no reason to rush the sequel when the last thing anybody wants is another half-baked platformer.
This isn't the same as Nintendo--a company with all the resources in the world--releasing a barebones port of Luigi's Mansion 2 for $20 more than it cost on the original hardware. This is a passion project by a much smaller dev team and an example of not giving up in the face of failure. It's the video game equivalent of not making the basketball team but still practicing for next year's tryouts. Or getting rejected by several publishers but still thinking there is value in your novel.
I bet they anticipated the backlash this remake would receive, but they didn't let that stop them. This isn't about pleasing everybody; this is personal. It's about the artistic drive to perfect your work into something you can be proud of. So, I respect their decision and will be supporting this game on day one.
Re: Feature: What We Expect From Nintendo For Super Mario Bros.' 40th Anniversary
As much as I'd love to have Super Mario Galaxy 2 on Switch, I'm not expecting it anytime soon. I think Nintendo is probably saving it for Wii NSO, which I do think is coming. We'll probably get DS NSO first in a couple years, though, which means we're probably a good 4 years away from getting Wii games. Can't wait to play Super Mario Galaxy 2 again in the year 2029!
Re: SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans Of The Tide Brings A Ghostly Adventure To Switch 2 This November
@LazyDaisy Cosmic Shake had one joke I thought was hilarious where SpongeBob mentions the mesopelagic zone of the ocean. Patrick says, "I stopped messin' with mesopelagics a LONG time ago, man!"
I also liked the line, "Some fellas are so crooked, they can swallow a nail and spit out a screw."
Re: SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans Of The Tide Brings A Ghostly Adventure To Switch 2 This November
I had a feeling they were waiting to show this game until the new Flying Dutchman movie got a release date, since they're so similar. It's kind of a movie tie-in, but also kind of not.
Battle for Bikini Bottom was one of my favorite games growing up, and I loved Rehydrated. I thought Cosmic Shake was underwhelming, but this one looks promising. This was a great first trailer, but it's wild to me they got David Hasslehoff for this and not a remake of the Movie game (which he was never actually in but should have been). Hopefully, Purple Lamp do that next. (And Epic Mickey 2.)
If this had been in the Partner Showcase, I would have unironically given it a 9/10. The double whammy of this with Pac-Man World 2 would have been awesome.
Re: Reaction: Switch 2 Needed A Partner Showcase With Pep; This Wasn't It
I've been begging for Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac for years now, since... well... before the first Re-Pac was even announced, lol. I honestly regret not getting up early and recording a live reaction to the showcase because that would gave been a pop-off moment for sure. Who would've thought they would announce it so close to the release of Shadow Labarynth? I really thought that was the only Pac-Man game we were getting this year. Between this and Once Upon A Katamari, I'm personally very happy. I didn't expect this Direct to have anything that would appeal to me, but I'm very happy to have been wrong. I know I'm probably in the minority as a lot of people found it underwhelming, but I guess that just goes to show how varied peoples' tastes are. It felt like I was one of the only ones who was disappointed with the big April Switch Direct, whereas most prople seemed to love it.
Re: Nintendo Expands Switch Online's SNES Library With A Mouse Game
Nice!
Now everybody who's been begging for this for years can finally play it for 10 minutes, never touch it again, and beg for something else instead!
In all seriousness though, this is cool and I'm happy about it. But it is just kinda a neat novelty and nothing more.
Re: Ubisoft Reportedly Cancels Star Wars Outlaws Sequel
Ubisoft has to have the world record for most canceled projects, right? I mean, who else even comes remotely close?
This must be why they told their consumers to get used to the idea of not actually owning their games; because you can't own what never releases.
Re: Sony Job Listing Suggests More PS5 Games Could Get A Nintendo Release
•Jak and Daxter
•Sly Cooper
•Astrobot
•Ape Escape
•Ratchet and Clank
•Sackboy
These titles would be right at home on a Nintendo platform and would sell gangbusters, I'm sure of it. Nintendo Switch is getting dangerously close to having every game I've ever cared about available on one singular platform, and I'm here for it!
It's crazy to think how less than 10 years ago, people were saying Nintendo would go third party after the Wii U failed. Now, they're the last company that hasn't gone multiplatform.
The implications this has for Smash Bros. are mind-boggling as well. Nintendo fans just keep winning (except for our bank accounts).
Re: Around 1 In 3 Switch 2 Owners Bought New Pro Controller Despite High Price Point (US)
@RasandeRose I've had the same issue with my ZR button on the JoyCon 2 as well! How did you go about replacing it? Did you do it through Nintendo's website directly?
Re: Around 1 In 3 Switch 2 Owners Bought New Pro Controller Despite High Price Point (US)
I'll be honest, the main reason I bought one is because Switch 1 pro controllers can't wake the console out of sleep mode and I'm too lazy to walk up to the dock every time and press the power button. I still think it's asinine they can't do that and hope a future firmware update can fix this.
That said, it's a super comfortable controller that really melts in your hands--that's the best way I can describe it, really. Battery life also seems to be much better than Switch 1's and closer to the Wii U Pro Controller, which held charge for a super impressive amount of time. My only issue is that the faceplate makes a popping sound when pressed in a certain spot, which makes me think it may not be attached securely and I worry about it loosening up over time.
Re: Random: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Actor Hasn't Played A Video Game Since Super Mario 64
Obviously, he experienced peak and decided it wasn't worth playing any other video games since nothing would ever top the GOAT Super Mario 64. This is understandable.
Calling it a "computer game" is unforgivable, though.
Re: Nintendo Music Update Adds 26 "Old-School" NES And Famicom Game Albums
@kerplunk
Your comment and your profile picture lead me to believe you're actually this guy...
Re: Gender Split & Average Ages Of Japanese Nintendo Players Revealed Via New Survey
The fact that the series with the smallest ratio of women gamers is MARIO, of all series, is wild to me. Like, what do you mean Splatoon and Zelda have a bigger female audience? Crazy.
Re: Crash Bandicoot Co-Creator Believes The Remakes "Botched" The Jump Mechanics
I really love the N. Sane Trilogy and feel like it's the definitive way to experience these three games. That said, I do recall that when the remake first came out, I struggled a lot to adapt. Something about the controls just felt a little "off," but I couldn't put my finger on it, and I died a lot more than I was used to only PS1.
In time, I got used to it though, and the controls are like second nature to me now. I haven't gone back to the originals since then; I imagine that muscle memory is probably now gone and it would be a learning curve to get used to the old controls again. I think both games control amazingly in their own way, they're just...different.
Re: Square Enix Rules Out Switch 2 "Upgrade Path" For Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake
How about they "upgrade" the Switch 1 cloud versions of Kingdom Hearts to a native Switch 2 port?
Re: Uh-Oh! It Looks Like Donkey Kong Bananza Is Already Out In The Wild
I just couldn't help myself and looked at the leaks. I really wanted to know whether K. Rool was in the game or not. Now that I know the truth, I could almost cry. I won't spoil whether they're tears of joy or sorrow, though.
Re: Miyamoto Views Games As 'Products', Not 'Works Of Art', Says Ex-Nintendo Dev
Video games are art, but even the most revered examples of fine art weren't made just for the sake of passion. Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel because a patron with a lot of money commissioned him to do it, for example. As consumers, we are the patrons who commission Miyamoto to make us art. I think we try too hard to romanticize works of art as this thing the creator has 100% control over with no desire to appease the masses. If you call yourself an artist but don't care about your audience, you probably won't find much success. Not all products are works of art, but all art is a product.
Re: Fantasy Life i Switch 2 Physical Release And Photo Mode Update Announced
Bit annoying to release the physical version after the digital launch. I would have definitely preferred to have gotten a physical copy of the game. I actually hit up several GameStops looking for it before googling and realizing the game wasn't getting a physical edition here in the States. So, I downloaded it because I thought that would be my only option, unless I went through the hassle of paying extra for a Japanese import and hoping it has an English language option.
To be fair though, this is Level 5's first game after years of hardship. So, I understand why they might have either worried about poor sales or simply didn't have the budget for worldwide distribution. I guess the game's early success is making them rethink things. I'm glad the game is performing well, as it's a lot of fun. They really understand the psychology of rewarding the player with constant dopamine hits.
Re: Poll: How Many Hours Have You Spent In Mario Kart World So Far?
Around 30. I only just recently went back to it, as I've mostly been playing Fantasy Life, which is at over 120 hours. I think I'm starting to come around at least somewhat on Mario Kart World. I still don't think it's worth 80 dollars, but I'm trying to appreciate what's there instead of what isn't.
Re: Tetris 99's New Maximus Cup Sees The Return Of Four Nintendo Themes
@shoeses
When I saw your comment, I thought you must surely be mistaken, as I've been waiting five years for them to bring that theme back and had pretty much given up hope. I thought it must have been like Super Mario 35 and Super Mario 3D All-Stars where it was another dumb time-limited promotion that would expire after Mario's anniversary and never see the light of day again.
But, I booted up Tetris 99 and checked the theme shop on the off chance you were actually right. And, lo and behold, there it was! I can't believe I missed this, but I really appreciate you letting me know. This made my day, lol.
Re: Fantasy Life i's Latest Switch 1 & 2 Update Is Now Live, Here Are The Full Patch Notes
Nice, this addresses a lot of small nitpicks I've had with an otherwise stellar game. I do hope they improve enemy AI, though. It's really annoying how often enemies enter a state of confusion and can't be damaged until they reset to their original position. It wastes time, and they often regenerate their health while in this state, too. Really loving the game though, I just picked it up a couple weeks ago and have already sank over 100 hours. I have a problem. Never played the first game on 3DS, btw.
Now, add a snow area and the game will be perfect.
Re: Minecraft Is Updating Copper To "Make It More Useful"
Okay, hear me out.
To combat inflation, why don't we just update copper to be more useful in real-life?
#BigBrainLogic
Re: Disney Speedstorm Is Getting A Free Switch 2 Upgrade
Nice, I hope a Switch 2 update for Fall Guys is on the way soon too. Those are pretty much the only F2P games I still dabble in.
Re: Bandai Namco's Summer Showcase Promises Plenty Of Switch News Later This Week
Namco doing everything except for Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac
Re: Nintendo's President Apologises For Not Being Able To Meet Switch 2 Demand
Honestly, they did a pretty great job with stock, all things considered. Way easier to get your hands on one than I think any of us could have anticipated. The fact you could go in and find them on store shelves without having a pre-order in was unprecedented for them. This is the same company that used to only ship like a couple amiibo to every store. I was even able to get one of the wireless GameCube controllers the second time they were available online. I missed the first wave, but it took me over a year to nag the wireless N64 controller. So, all things considered, I'm pretty happy with how their supply has been going.
Re: Tetris 99's New Maximus Cup Sees The Return Of Four Nintendo Themes
Day 1276 of me asking Nintendo to bring back the Super Mario All-Stars theme...
Re: Video: Switch 2's GameCube Emulation Apparently Has Underlying Issues Nintendo "Desperately Needs To Fix"
So it's not just my imagination, then. Every time I boot up Wind Waker, it takes me a couple minutes to get used to the rather significant input delay.
Re: Drag X Drive Switch 2 eShop Price Revealed
"Many didn't expect the game to retail at a high price given its premise..."
Yeah we did, lol. This is the same company that charged full price for Sushi Striker.
Re: Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds Officially Reveals Nickelodeon Collaboration
I've said it before, but you've gotta give props to Nickelodeon for really going all-in on the gaming market this generation:
Two Nick All-Star Brawl games, three Nickelodeon Kart Racers, Battle for Bikini Bottom remake, Cosmic Shake, another new SpongeBob game on the way, the TMNT arcade collection and new TMNT games, collabs like Avatar in Fortnite, SpongeBob in Power Wash Simulator, SpongeBob and Avatar in Minecraft, Avatar in Overwatch, Rugrats: Adventures in Game Land, an Avatar game, NickToons: The Dice of Destiny, and now this.
There's probably even more that I haven't even mentioned, luke Nick Jr. games such as Paw Patrol, for example.
Not all of these games are of the same level of quality, but most of them I'd say are pretty solid. Way better than all the shovelware they used to pump out. I just wish they would remember that they own way more franchises than Avatar, TMNT, and SpongeBob.
Give me a new Danny Phantom or Fairly OddParents or Invader Zim game, for example. Or port over some of the old THQ ones from back in the GameCube/Wii era, that'd be pretty sick.
I'd love to see games based on Cartoon Network IP as well, like a racing or fighting game where I can play as characters from Courage the Cowardly Dog, Johnny Bravo, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, Chowder, Billy & Mandy, Ed Edd n Eddy, etc.
MultiVersus was the closest we got, but we all know how that turned out.
Re: Random: Switch 2 Ad Claims Metroid Prime 4 Is "Out Now"
@mazzel I've listened to enough Kit and Krysta podcasts to know the intern will be getting a very stern talking-to after their boss is grilled with strongly-worded e-mails from Japan.
Re: Fantasy Life i Free DLC Will Steal More Time In Huge Roguelike Open World Mode
I never played the 3DS original, but I picked this one up about a week ago and am absolutely obsessed. I've already logged around 30 hours of play time. 😬 This is the video game equivalent of Chick Fil-A; I don't know what they put in the sauce, but I can't get enough of it.
Re: Mario's Voice Actor Says It's "Unbelievable" To Hear His Voice In Mario Kart World
I'm kinda on the fence about the whole situation. It's a shame they let Martinet go after so many years, and I don't think anyone will ever surpass him. But if I'm being honest, I do think he was past his prime. In Luigi's Mansion 3, for example, his Luigi voice is much lower and gruffier to me--it felt like he couldn't hit those same pitches anymore.
So, I get where Nintendo is coming from in wanting someone who is still young and spry who can bring that same level of energy. That said, Kevin Afghani's Mario impression could use work. I think his Luigi and Waluigi impressions are pretty spot-on, and he can make grunt noises like Mario and Wario, but when saying full words and sentences, he struggles with those characters.
He either needs more coaching to do a better Mario, or--as others have said--maybe a re-cast is in order. Nothing personal toward the guy; I genuinely think his Luigi and Waluigi are pretty indistinguishable from Martinet when he was younger. But I've heard random, non-voice actors do a better Mario impression, to be honest. His delivery of the lines "Mario Kart...World!" and "Oh yeah, Mario time!" (from Wonder) is weak and sounds like Mario is hoarse. Which doesn't exactly fit the idea of "young and spry."
Martinet and the other Mario voice actors were let go, Reggie quit, Iwata died, and now, Miyamoto isn't even in the credits of Mario Kart World. It's crazy how rapidly the faces of the company have changed in such a short period of time.
Re: Feature: 11 Games With 'Secret' Performance Bumps You Should Revisit On Switch 2
I haven't had a chance to test it for myself, but I've heard Spyro Reignited Trilogy runs much better and even looks a lot better.
I tested out SpongeBob Rehydrated and A Hat in Time. Rehydrated had higher-res textures that didn't take forever to load in, and I didn't notice any framerate issues anymore like in Sand Mountain. There's still tons of pop-in, though, disappointingly. A Hat in Time seemed pretty much the same. Maybe not as many framerate issues, but i did still notice some stuttering.
Crash N. Sane Trilogy looks the same, but at least I didn't have any issues running the game on Switch 2 as others seemingly have.
I want to test out Fall Guys and Disney Speedstorm to see if the menus load up faster like they do in Fortnite. It's really annoying when you have lag just trying to navigate the UI.
Re: Round Up: The Reviews Are In For Mario Kart World
Honestly, while the game is fun, I do think it's underwhelming as an $80 game, as a launch title, and as a successor to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (with the Booster Course Pass included). All three of those things set the bar so high, and I don't think it lived up to the expectations.
With so many of those P-Switch challenges in Free-Roam revolving around passing through rings, I couldn't help but think to myself, "this would be a really solid Pilotwings game, but from Mario Kart, I expect a little more."
A lot of people (myself included) were hoping for more. Cut characters like the Koopalings, Kamek, Diddy Kong, and Funky Kong in favor of a non-specific Dolphin and Cow is disappointing. Only two battle modes is also unfortunate, as is the fact there are no bosses in Free-Roam.
In its current state, I honestly can't give this game any higher than an 8/10--which is underwhelming for a Mario Kart title. You can get mad at the fans for saying wre "set our expectations too high" for thinking Nintendo might not have showed their full hand in the Directs. But Nintendo did a poor job at expectation management by--again--making this a launch title, selling it for $10 more than Tears of the Kingdom, and doubling MK8 DX's content in the lead-up to this game.
Even basic features like a ranked mode for online would have made it so much more replayable, where you level-up instead of just gaining VR points, which are (no pun intended) pointless.
I don't know what Nintendo's long-term plans are for this game. Hopefully, they will continue to support it throughout the Switch 2's entire life cycle. But as it is...the game is just "alright." I just hope that any new content will be free for NSO + Expansion Pass subscribers like it was for the last game.
Re: PSA: Remember, You Can 'Fix' The Camera In Zelda: The Wind Waker On Switch 2
Oh, nice! This is extremely useful information. That was definitely something that bothered me when starting Wind Waker on NSO. I'll be sure to change it for this game as well as Mario Sunshine when it comes to the platform. Thanks!