Swifthom

Woah, that is a dark game.
I remember watching a video play through of it a few years ago. Weirdly the story is based off is even more bizzare and disturbed than the game - and that's impressive given what we get

@Yosher The only one I would say is 'rough' is FF2.
1 and 3 are short and sweet - pretty basic, story is minimal, but don't outstay their welcome. FF4 and 5 have different focus to 6 - the sense of humour is a little wacky at times - but worth trying.

Just don't go to FF2 next. It's definitely the roughest.

@Lizuka Angel of Darkness is historically bad - in fact it could have killed the franchise it was so broken. That's in part because the game before it Chronicles is the definition of 'average'. Last Revelations also has issues - it's the longest and hardest game of the entire series - so really most recommended for people who love the franchise.

From the Trio none of the games are individual games are as strong as the first trilogy - but AoD is the only objectively 'bad' game - and that is in part due to bugs and loading times. However - ported to modern consoles - with bugs removed and no obnoxious PS2 loading times... it could become passable?!? Who knows. I'm excited to have the whole set - I was betting it would be further off than this so clearly first trilogy sold well enough to justify it - so good news all around!

@DollyrotsFan1 I think you are confusing 'fan games' with 'official products'. SEGA wont touch 06 with a bargepole - however a fan has remade the game from the ground up in Unity. It's incredible, a fantastic remake, but SEGA has nothing to do with the game.

The fact SEGA is less aggressive than Nintendo at taking down fan projects is an entirely other interesting conversation

Where are the Mega drive titles? In current day and age theresno reason not to present all 8 and 16 buit games from both console families in q package for IP like this....

@samuelvictor It's so very minor it's not worth mentioning (to me - I've spoken to other people who claim the difference is night and day and game breaking)

The music in Sonic 2 has the most differences - the boss battle music, new ending music, the title screen are different. Sonic Chaos has different music on the water level and Gigapolois.

@SalvorHardin As someone who owned a master system - and played the emulated GG titles on the Sonic Adventure gamecube - I speak with some subject knowledge when I say for me GG Sonic 2 is nearly unplayable whilst the MS version is a delight.

The availability of screen real estate to see objects further in the distance fundamentally alters your ability to control the character which for a platforming game is absolutley essential - and more than worth a 'minor' downgrade is sprite quality and sound FX.

Final boss has a QTE that, if you fail, means you have to play it again from scratch. Given it takes about 7 minutes to beat.... meh.

I failed the QTE by button mashing (which your meant to do on other QTE prompts but not this one) 3 times. When I finally saw the credits I was not s happy camper. Quite a bit of swearing...

But overall game was a load of fun to play. Peaked early on with the run up to the first boss - about 5 hours of truly excellent game there. Just a bit more polish on the ending next time please

Wow, that is probably one of the most obscure crossovers I could have imagined. Will be cool to see though

This looks suspiciously like the version of Bullseye I remember from Pub Quiz machines (pre pandemic - I assume they're still there but haven't had a chance to check for a while)

@AllieKitsune LEGACY OF KAIN. See my above post but this. I would 100% adore this over anything else. The original Blood Omen NEEDS a graphical touch up - and the others would all benefit from up rezzing a decent amount.

A lot of people talking about Square Enix bread and butter RPGs (Chrono, Final Fantasy etc).... But - SE have acquired a LOT of properties over the years from mergers and acquisitions that they've barely touched.
Given Forever's expertise on bringing Saturn / PS1 era games up to date - could it not be something more simple like Tomb Raider or Gex?
The Spyro / Crash trilogies have shown there is a market for games of this era repackaged and touched up - I could easily see a tomb Raider 1 - 5 touch up going down well. And - given they have no history of the franchise internally, SE might be more forgiving about handing the reigns over to a relatively unknown third party.

Who knows - I'd like FF13 on Switch but, this is just as likely to be something obscure, a franchise from SE's vault they had no plans for.

Got excited for this then remembered Brexit...

You know, I usually vote european as i genuinely think they have some strong covers. But I have NO nostalgia for the european cover of this one, NoA all the way

Wow, I loved this game.
Curious about control schemes though - Pikmin was perfect for the point and click with the wii remote, I absolutely adored playing it that way and can't imagine reverting back to analogue stick (Pikmin 3 was my first in the series)

@MrAsild The other games are sequels to this - this stands on its own.

There are older games from the same studio which share 'themes' with this but it has no direct connection at all. It is its own new universe and series. And a great one!

@CairiB This one is MUCH more accessible than its sequels. It has incredible depth, it goes some VERY crazy places, but the original pulled me in by just being a really good RPG with some unique mechanics.... Then 50 hours later I realised I was hooked. Then 50 hours later again I realised I needed to stop...

@nimnio The story is stronger... Well, Xenoblade 2 builds to something incredible but it has a very slow start that lasts several chapters before it pulls together - this game is much more focused and I adored it back in the day. All cutscenes we've seen so far match up fairly closely to the original so I'm not expecting too many changes save the epilogue adventure promised. The story feels like a war movie, with a very tight beginning, middle and end arc for these characters.

Gameplay - the original was a touch closer to traditional RPG mechanics (as in select from a range of attacks from a list - rather than the fluid but very restricted choices of the sequels) so it will be interesting to see what they changed. The concept of following one type of attack with another that matches it is there but it is more open ended and sprawling.

As a retro re-release this is brilliant. I've played through to the ending last night and it is 10/10 for a retro re-imagining. However it is not the best version of Sonic 2 (the mobile release Taxman upgrade - widescreen support is a game changes for fast platforms).

P.S. Ollie - you've linked to the master system sonic 2 in the article - and I would like a Sega Ages upgrade of those games at some points this definitively is not that.

Did a run through of Sonic 2 last night and, though its been over a decade, the muscle memory was still there. It's a shame we couldn't have the widescreen Taxman upgrade but as a retro blast this was brilliant

Interesting. Given this won't be thee taxman remake, which brings much needed improvements (wide-screen support is SO useful for Sonic games in particular) adding knuckles lock on may be the only thing thst gets my attention

In the article would be worth mentioning though the USA gets free repair Europe has no clear policy on this. So many stories are written stating 'at least Nintendo are fixing this'. NO THEY AREN'T. Not in Europe.

Rarely watch strictly but... ha. It's so classy 90% of the time but when it goes off the rails it REALLY goes off the rails

@hendie001 I always previously applauded Nintendo for making things that last... which is why the drifting joy con issue has infuriated me so much

And like before so many people are piling in to doubt the defective joy stick design. Yes, it is unusual it happened so quickly, but that is no reason to dig into people who are upset they have bought a defective console (and this time it IS a console - not just an accessory but a CONSOLE).

Glad this has been extended beyond the original lawsuit - but not far enough

@Quarth Nintendo has repeatedly replied to multiple outlets, including Nintendo Life, that they do not comment or respond to rumours or any requests for information. They will release a press release when they are ready and in their own time.

I would counter and say, as a significant population (myself included) are frustrated by the current situation. I currently have no means of playing my switch unless the game will only allow right joy cons to be used and I REFUSE to spend more money on replacing my 3rd broken left joy con after 3 in a row have broken (and trying to replace the electronics on one of the drifting ones resulted in me busting the joy con completely rather than just being glitchily unplayable)…

So I guess that's it. Unless Nintendo does something I am out until the next console generation. Ignoring the 2 original joy cons that came with the unit I have spent £140 on replacement joy cons and both have broken within 6 months. I do not have receipt or packaging so I am screwed. And I will not commit another £70 until I hear they have replaced the faulty part and my new purchase will not suffer the same fate.

So I applaud any news updates and chances for sites like Nintendo Life to put consumer pressure on Nintendo to acknowledge the issue they have created by using sub standard parts in their manufacturing.

Is this america only? Will need to contact nintendo uk outlet next week and find out

They need to replace the component parts they are using for the sticks. The current design is fundamentally flawed. Sadly this acknowledgement falls far short of that, but at least they acknowledge the issue.

@loyalroyal1989 I am pretty sure it was playing hollow knight that killed my last joy con. 2d games can certainly stress them

@PBandSmelly if this encourages nintendo to correct a faulty design I struggle to see the issue

@AlternateButtons I haveowned every nintendo console since the game cube. I have 3 dead joy cons. I have never seen faulty Nintendo hard ware before. This is not a taking care of hardware issue - it is a well document internal fault as the electronic connections inside the stock are liable to be damaged over time. The joy cons appear far more vulnerable than other controllers.

To be honest I am only sad this is only for US people, in the UK I cannot sign onto the lawsuit sadly

@NotTelevision on 2 of my 3 drifting switches I could not got the controller to recalibrate - as when I pushed right it only ever went 2/3 of the way to the edge of the circle. The drift was so bad it could not go fully right. Impossible to recalibrate, impossible to fix. 100% a hardware issue - Google graphite electrical contacts and you can see some details on the mechanics on why this cheap part is failing quicker than sticks on previous consoles has been

@JamesJose7 I selected all the time because I have 3 left joy cons that became unusable. I have 3 right joy cons that have always been fine. Either way I have encountered it as a persistent issue that both ruined my gaming experience and was a constant headache not just an intermittent annoyance. If a £40 controller is unusable it is bad enough to be option 1, even though other joy cons haven't exhibited it it still counts. I have become more vocal recently because until now I have been staggered that people haven't been talking about this.

@VGScrapbook yes, in some respects this is true. The temporary loss of connection to console and therefore the control input 'lingering' is certainly a thing on the older joy cons - after 6 months or so they changed the design slightly to improve the signal, particularly ont he left joy cons.

The 'drift' comes from the stock itself being faulty.

The fact both issues are possible in a £40 device is abhorrent.

3 joy con pairs purchased over 2 and a bit years. 3 right joy cons are all fine. 3 left joy cons all have horrendous drift making nigh on unplayable. Have recalibrated, tried air blowing, tried wd40 and tried taking out joy stick and replacing with new one bought on amazon. Accidentally broke one of the electrical ribbon connectors, couldn't solder it back in and now whole thing is dead. Am furious.

Was really hoping for a UK based Joy-con reduction in price - have 3 broken left joy cons now (2x drifting stick, 1x stick doesn't work at all and also constantly disconnects (is my original one from when Switch launched). Sadly seems to be US only...

And Crash is still there!
I think the rest of the world gets why FIFA dominates the UK charts but our love for this PS1 remake (which fared well internationally but is long burnt out now) is unmatched.

Still would have preferred the Taxman (mobile version) of these games... If just for wide-screen. It would be beautiful on the full screen, as proven by Mania. We can only hope a Taxman collection with 1,2,CD Nd hopefully 3&K follows soon

If Namco thinks seeing the trilogy packaged for other consoles but not switch doesn't lower my. Interest they can't have great consumer research. It 100% has reduced me from a definite buy to maybe... If its in a sale... Probably not purchase,. And I don't have a ps4 or xbox so that won't get them a different sale, I just don't like feeling I'm being offered an inferior product

Regarding the the old sonic games it's taxman or bust I'm afraid - M2 are great but for Sonic it just isn't the best way to play

@DABYX re Mega Drive vs SNES - from memory it wasn't exactly an annihilation in terms of sales numbers, but the mega drive definitely did significantly outsell (I would need to do some searching to pull stats out - if I recall is slightly beyond an inversion of the way SNES outsold mega drive in USA)

...but in terms of marketing, and perceived national uptake, it was certainly an annihilation. Nintendo have never (and I maintain still don't really) marketed effectively over here (again I am ignoring the Wii sales rush because that was lightning in a bottle, but it was only 2 years or so when the wii launch took everyone by storm).

Mega drive era Sonic entered the public consciousness in a massive way - not just video games but comic books (UK Fleetway published StC ran for +200 fortnightly issues), cartoons doing very well on national TV, games getting plenty of press coverage,.... There was a kids TV show called GamesMaster (with Patrick Moore playing the very creepy titular role - look up clips online, it was excellent) that ran 1992-1997, it adored the mega drive and playstation, looking at an online records the MD appearances outstripped SNES 2 : 1, although there was plenty of Atari and other hardware as well.)

The UK seemed to be a bit of a tech haven for smaller, innovative tech. It embraced more powerful hardware and smaller spin out tech quickly.

@Knuckles-Fajita Given this is the UK only market I'm not surprised - Nintendo has never done as well in the UK as elsewhere - The Sega Mega Drive dominated the SNES here and the PS1 / PS2 dominated the N64 / gamecube... Sonic, and then Crash, were mascots with a far bigger presence than Mario - although time has proven they didn't have the staying power.

So given Nintendo historically hasn't done well here (ignoring the Wii) this is an amazing achievement.

Really want to support it but can't see myself purchasing an inferior version of sonic 1.

Yes... I respect M2, and this may be a good 'port' but it is immediately obvious that Christians Whiteheads 'remake' is better.

Will hold out in the vain, pathetic hope Sega will see sense.

As much as I respect M2, this effectively kills any chance of taxman Sonic ports on the switch which is a great shame.

(Sonic CD, 1 and 2 mobile versions exist using the mania engine and they are the best way to experience these old games by a long country mile)

So boo that but yay to the rest of the games. Still, guess they need Sonic to ensure sales.

This game is 10/10 for content, 8/10 for execution. A few stutters and loading problems only slightly mar what is otherwise a brilliant experience.