World

Huh, it's funny because I saw this game recently in the Coming Soon and thought the art style looked cool but wouldn't play this as it's a Metroidvania and I'm not into those. Shame they're getting all that hate, but I'm not going to say I'm shocked unfortunately.

I do like the idea of fantasy-themed games as a concept branching out a bit from the usual medieval Europe-ish and feudal Japan-like settings. Just send me some games in genres I will play (lately mostly VNs, so perhaps a hard sell for devs, oops).

While I don't think Nintendo is doing this because Twitter is bad/a liability now, it's good that they're dropping the platform either way.

Adding to everyone else's comments on the platform itself, the only people who care about "free debate" or whatever are people so bathed in privilege that they have absolutely no dogs in any fight.

Everyone else just wants to live their lives and not have to justify their every action to some weirdo who spends their days huffing podcasts that insist they're a special little boy for worshiping rich people.

@smoreon No, not in that sense unfortunately! Toree is not long and neither is its sequel. However, I think it makes up for it in being more challenging and having some additional replay value in that there are collectibles and letter grades in the stages. I'd compare the platforming to something like Sonic Adventure; overall fairly kinetic, and rewards additional runs. Still not as long as I'd like, but more substance than something like MacBat 64 for sure.

Thanks for the review!

I was on the fence about this one, but it sounds pretty good to me; I might pick this up! Although I like the concept of bringing back 32-bit/64-bit aesthetics, my main concern with the raft of these N64/PS1 throwback games is---with very few exceptions (e.g., Toree, Lunistice)---that they're all incredibly short and easy, to the point where they barely feel worth playing.

Sounds like this one goes against the grain in that respect, so that's good!

@Not_Soos I've never played Iggy's and only know Tuff E Nuff from the NSO, but Spanky's Quest is one of my favorites on SNES. Agreed on the terrible name, though. It's a fun action-puzzle game with jazzy background music.
Also, the Super Famicom version has a much nicer name, translating to "Monkey Reflections: The Adventures of Mr. Jiro." (It's also quite a bit different as a game; it has a tutorial and a world map! I have the cart of this one, and I'd say I play it more of the two versions).

I think these weirdo updates are great, though! These are games that many if not most would've rented back in the day, so it does make a sort of sense to make them available to "rent" here.

Some of these games are pretty good! As others have mentioned, Qubic published the original bit.Trip series on Switch and those regularly go on sale for a good price (although I don't know if they're in this sale).

Another one of theirs I really liked was Not Not. It's a simple logic game where you have to choose which one of four directions to go, based on the instructions on the screen. Sounds simple, but it's not (not?).

Robonauts is also kind of interesting. A bit of a chaotic shooter with gravity elements (think Super Mario Galaxy rather than Gravity Man from Mega Man 5).

And Mini Trains is a little "make the trains run based on putting the rail pieces in the right direction" puzzler that isn't too bad for those who like trains.

This is one of those companies, I think, that is literally the definition of hit or miss, so I'll be keeping an eye on what pops up in these sales for sure!

@KingMike Oh, cool! Thanks for the additional information. I did know there was a Japanese version that was never released, but I didn't know how far along in the development cycle it had progressed.

Now I'm curious what differences there are between the two (if any, aside from language)!

I bought this, and noticed that it has a third option for the Japanese version. As far as I know that one was never officially released, but I haven't tried it to see if there are any differences or anything.

Anyway, the review is fair. I liked the NES version a lot back in the day, and have never tried the Game Boy one, but I certainly don't think there's $25USD worth of game here for anyone new to these games. As the review says, it does play a bit like Kirby, but it also reminded me of a less frenetic and slope-ridden Plok (with all the game-changing powerups and punch-based combat, I guess).

Also, it's a Konami collection so based on past experience, anyone who is interested might as well wait until it's below $10.

This is an especially awful take from a company famous for them, but I do think physical will not disappear entirely. I wouldn't be surprised if the whole industry moved the way music did, and we ended up with more boutique consoles like the Evercade popping up in response to this, like we now have with indie record labels publishing lots of physical media that is accessible directly to the general public (instead of only gatekept through retailers as in the past).

I'm personally strongly in favor of physical media, and will be interested to see where this goes.

While I think there's a case to be made for making some games like this available for purchase (and not just NSO), I'm honestly so done with remakes. I just can't imagine getting hyped for a game that already existed before (and is readily available in some form---I think maybe my answer might change if we're talking about a prototype, an unreleased game, or even something that's just really obscure), but now it's different somewhat.

Okay so I've heard the name Braid thrown around but had no idea what it was until this trailer.

And, like, omg the main guy looks like a huge dork??? And he runs...backwards but you're rewinding time so it's the same animation as forwards; this is too good, haha

It certainly looks good though! We'll see what happens if it comes to Switch.

Honestly this looks amazing, haha
The rough edges just add a bit of charm.
I think I remember seeing this in like an Indie Direct or something but hadn't thought much more of it after that. Good to know it's at least somewhat decent!

@Not_Soos This would've been around the height of the Satanic Panic era in the US/Canada, so I'm sure Nintendo of America at least had their eye on that when they made that decision. I doubt I would've been allowed to play this as a kid, even growing up in the 90s.

Coincidentally, this was one of the first games I bought when I started collecting Famicom titles as an adult. I like it! Certainly less sophisticated than Pac-Man, but it provides a neat twist on the formula that is good for at least a few runs.

I'm glad that we're now getting first-party Famicom titles on NSO like this, Murasame Castle, and Joy Mech Fight!

This looks cute! A shame that it's Red Deer and I can't bring myself to buy anything by them, considering their release policies on Switch. I'm not going to buy or recommend anyone else buy games by a company whose market strategy is "let's release 50 versions of it to keep it at the top of the eShop." (And there have been a few in which I've had interest, like Sprout Valley and that Cats Astronomy game).

It's horribly annoying to see new versions of these games flood the eShop every week, but it also suggests the games can't stand on their own which is a shame as some of them seem decent.

Nice! I was kind of half-watching this one, and hoping it would get a review. I love the look of it, but I don't really like "do the thing people want, based on a recipe" gameplay, so I was on the fence.

It sounds like that might be a non-issue (as it sounds like you can't really "fail" a recipe), so maybe I'll wait and see if the random crashes and grammatical errors are fixed up before buying it.

If it wasn't backwards compatible, I'd be looking at buying one much later in its lifespan. I have too many Switch games to play as it is, and I'm at a point in my life where FOMO means nothing to me so I'd only get one once I've exhausted what I want to play on Switch.

But if it was backwards compatible, it'd be like upgrading the Switch I currently have while also getting access to a new library so I'd be more likely to buy it earlier in the lifespan.

I'm torn on this one! The cookies look so much better on the Japanese box art, but I really love the soothing blue of the North American box art.

This would be a rare case where I would have to say both!

Haha, this is great.

Also: "All your shooing can't harm me; I'm in invincible mode!" is the real very best like no [Pokemon vocal track] ever was.

@CammyUnofficial Yeah, I know of the 8-bit one on Switch, but wasn't aware they were planning on putting an original version out as well (I think the 8-bit one is a port of the NES one that came out a few years ago, but I could be wrong)!

(Haha, yeah! It's funny some of the names 80s games had that actually mean something....quite different than we thought as kids)

@MontyCircus We're getting the original Montezuma's Revenge on Switch? I knew we got that remake, but that's exciting! Great game!

I would also gladly take Wizardry (did you see the original is getting a remake?) and Manic Miner too!

Like many on here, I own the Speccy version of Horace Goes Skiing, but I'd probably consider buying this just to have Horace portable and on a console I regularly play.

The other three, I could go either way, but in my opinion they're not bad games necessarily.

Huh. I'm definitely interested in this, but I'm certainly surprised by it! Even though it seems like everything is coming to Switch, I would not have expected two different ROTK games to come to Switch.

@samuelvictor Haha! Watching that movie, I had always wondered if maybe that's how it was like in some part of the world. Here (Canada), I've never been aware of places where you could do that for free. We always camped in campgrounds on trips.

My uncle had a little trailer like Rossi's though; I wonder if he did that!

This is classic MBA-brain thinking. No regard for the nuances of the industry they're working in, just making decisions based on "this will make the good numbers go up," regardless of whether or not it takes a wrecking ball to their own company's goodwill.

@samuelvictor Oh, the theme song is embedded in my mind too! And yes, I would agree with the overall philosophy of Rossi hitting at a formative age such that it has influenced me in important ways. I encountered Rossi in movie format, and I still think about that poem/rhyme at the beginning of "Mr. Rossi's Vacation."

@room_909 Wow! That's so cool!
(And what a neat tool! I love it!)

@samuelvictor I'm not an animation expert by any means, so it's interesting to see that you (an animation expert) said it looked European too! It caught my eye because to me it seemed vaguely reminiscent of Bruno Bozzetto's Mr. Rossi cartoons, which I loved as a kid.

Anyway, glad it reviewed well! This was one of those wild card games I wishlisted, having no idea what it would be like to play.

@room_909 It's interesting that you mention Namco as your inspiration. I've been playing Raindrop Sprinters this weekend and my thought while playing is that it would fit well into Namco's early 80s slate of arcade games. (The Arcade Archives version of Mappy is one of my most-played Switch games, so certainly this is a compliment!)

Overall, it's a great game and is exactly my thing! I look forward to seeing what you do next.

@theModestMouse Well, I was maybe joking a bit there, haha. Your pun is good too!

So I think this is okay. I'm sure there are people out there who didn't buy Shredder's Revenge the first time and are now looking for a physical. This would be a good option for them, although I can understand why people would be frustrated. I prefer physical games, but I'm not personally a collector by any means so I don't get too bothered if another version releases.

I also wanted to take a minute to appreciate the pun in the subtitle. Must be a Nintendo Life Top 5 contender for sure. Not a quote, not a reference, just pure pun perfection. 10/10.

Looks like exactly my thing, and can't go wrong with cats! I look forward to playing this over the weekend (or maybe earlier if I can sneak it in)!

My top two (Nabbit and Yoshi) are forced into Easy Mode, so I don't know? Mario, I guess?

@Not_Soos Of course! I did not get that you thought it was Pratt from your reply. That was more just generally addressed to people who were saying it in the thread, haha

I do think it's a bit sad to see these big players get moved on to other things, though! It'll be interesting to see what Nintendo looks like in a few years for sure.

@Not_Soos I think in this case he hasn't "essentially been fired" but I think it also isn't because of Pratt.

If you look at Nintendo's overall strategy in the post-Switch years, part of that is to distance itself from the Iwata era more.

Look at all the big names from that period: Reggie, Miyamoto, Martinet, even some of the juniors like Tezuka, Aonuma, and Sakurai. They're all out of the company entirely like Reggie, are being moved out of active development and into either more senior executive/admin roles like Tezuka and Aonuma or into custom-built roles like Miyamoto's "Creative Fellow" or this "Mario Ambassador" thing.

I think Nintendo knows the brand goodwill it earned from that era, but wants to build a more nimble, adaptable company for the future and so they're trying to retain that goodwill while aligning the company more to the new corporate strategy from within.

@Jayenkai Not sure why this amazing comment doesn't have more likes, haha

On the topic: the game looks like it has some depth but I don't think I could play this? Like, to me...the main character is just...nothing. Not in a charmingly primitive "Atari-like" kind of way. Just like they used the base model of some 3D art thing.

Also: lol at "Mine Resources" in the trailer
"You can mine resources in this game! Such as rocks and checks notes trees and grass."

This is great news! The other two games are some of my favorites on Switch. And the second one was better than the first, so hopefully that trend continues with this entry!

@EarthboundBenjy I was half-joking there, but I actually did wonder about the appeal of watching it, so that's a pretty good analogy! Hadn't really considered the community aspect of it. Very interesting! Thanks for the info!

I think this is interesting. Movies, TV, music have all had biopics about anyone and everyone for quite some time now. And video games have had some but they're largely about devs and Billy Mitchell (lol).

I've never in my life watched a speedrun (do we "watch" speedruns? Is that a thing?) and the last Zelda I played was Twilight Princess on Wii, but more generally with regard to the medium at large I'd love to see more of this kind of thing.

To be honest, this is the kind of update I look for! I've played Joy Mech Fight, but the other three would be new to me, so I'm happy.

I played most of the big titles growing up, so I have no real interest in revisiting them. From NSO, I prefer seeing these little curiosities I would never have had a chance to access or just never got around to back then.

Honestly, reading this has me a bit more interested in the game. I wasn't that impressed by the footage I've seen and the title came across as both unsettling and generic to me (like it was made by AI or one of those guys whose "leaks" is really just their own personal wishlist). So yeah, I'll be thinking more about getting this now.

To paraphrase something Miyamoto maybe never said, "A game developed under crunch is never good [at launch], but a game where the developers are treated fairly is sometimes good."

Oh, what? This comes with Demon's World on the physical cart? I kind of ignored this release as I have these games on Evercade, but it looks like there's a bit more here than just the games, and Demon's World is a lot of fun, so I might pick this up. Great review!

Great article. I was wondering about these games too.

This is absolutely on Nintendo. Shovelware is one thing. As the article says, it can be somewhat subjective. Finished, fully-developed games should be allowed on the eShop whether I think they are good or bad.

My concern with these SEO-type games is that sooner or later they'll eat into Nintendo's goodwill as a brand. These are turnkey products developed by people who know nothing about games and purchased by companies that know nothing about games for release. Their only connection to the industry is they heard somebody say something about the Switch doing numbers so they cynically think they can insert coins and generate returns with no prior ties to the industry.

If that keeps up, Nintendo could become known for this SEO sludge. As mentioned, its platforms have always been known for family-friendly shovelware and people can overlook it as its on-brand (Nintendo itself is family-friendly too), but this is something else entirely.

It'll be interesting to see what happens with this issue.

Looks great! I always end up having fun with these kinds of platformers. I had actually not heard about this one, and will definitely be keeping an eye on it!

I was on the fence with this one because of the price not seeming worth it, but I love shmups and I love that Meijin was involved, so I went for it at the 40% off launch sale price.

I personally really like it! The levels are a bit more interesting than you'd expect for a caravan shooter (albeit still pretty simple so YMMV).

Also, just kind of an unexpected thing for me, but to see Meijin's likeness in a game again---this time a likeness based on his 60-something self---after so many years is really something special for someone who grew up playing the Adventure Island games, and especially so considering he himself was involved with Hudson's earlier caravan shmups. I found it kind of a nice full-circle thing.

I don't understand the people saying this is bad. Sharing hobbies with your partner is...bad? Somehow??? I think it's adorable.

Great story, thanks for sharing!

@Ryu_Niiyama Yep, same! I normally like avoiding spoilers on games but at this point getting spoilers in indies is more like doing due diligence so I always do that.

@Ryu_Niiyama Same. That sort of anti-player misdirection is why I'm always super hesitant to take a chance on indie games.

It's like, "Ha ha, thanks for buying my game, sucker! Now here's some potentially traumatizing stuff that wasn't implied in the trailers!"

@KingMike Oh man, didn't know this about Flipull (not that I would be good enough to find out firsthand anyway, lol). What a ripoff!

@WeirdoOfWierdos A Gimmick Special Edition is actually coming to Switch. Ufouria too!
As I mentioned above, there's a Sunsoft stream on the 20th. Both Gimmick and Ufouria have been announced but no date as of the last Sunsoft stream. So here's hoping we get those dates this time!

This is such an interesting game to show up. I'll probably get it for the museum content and to see what they did with the colorization because I really like the game, but yeah. Those saying this game is just kind of...nothing are right too.

It looks great, sounds great, and it is fun. But there's really no challenge at all. For the most part, the enemies don't even fight back? I'd be interested to see if there are any other tweaks to this one!

Also, not sure if this was mentioned on NL yet, but later this week (the 20th) Sunsoft is doing a sequel to last year's "Sunsoft Is Back" stream so I wonder if this will get mentioned there too?

While this game looks cheap, we are absolutely spoiled for choice on Switch in the genre of "side-scrolling shmup that is not a bullet hell and also has a dog in it."