I'm not buying Returns on Switch next month. I'm going to buy it second hand and play it on the 3DS instead as a protest!
11 years without a new Donkey Kong game is shambolic from Nintendo. This trailer merely highlights the embarrassing fact that despite Switch's huge success and their filthy riches... they can't get a new game from one of the oldest, biggest and most iconic game IPs in existence.
Call me entitled, I don't care, it is rubbish that we live in a world that gives us FIFA and COD every darn year over and over again, but meanwhile Donkey Kong is at 11 years and counting.
Nintendo should give the IP to someone that can actually manage it properly.
I'd definitely want to work for Nintendo if I was Japanese. As a Brit, I definitely do not want to work for Nintendo.
It seems to me NoA and NoE are marginalised all the time. I'd expect it to be an incredibly frustrating "do as you're told" place to work. No thank you!
Am I right in thinking this is the first time the third game in the Rastan Saga series has been playable on a console? That adds enormous value to this collection.
Also, the first Rastan Saga on the Game Gear is around the £150 mark for a cartridge these days. You can get a Turbografx Hucard of the second one for much cheaper - around £30 complete in box. The third one though... only ever at arcades as far as I am aware. So that's a nice inclusion here.
I played the first one on the Game Gear literally last month. It's a good, but not great, game. I scored it 35/50. I've got the second one lined up to play sometime next year.
I'll pick up this collection on Switch in a sale next Christmas time I reckon as I'd like to play the third!
MP2 remake will only receive a green light once MP4 has launched and is a proven success.
It's a similar release schedule to TP and WW getting ported.
Think about it... MP4 launches in 2025. How many years will we then all have to wait for MP5? That void of 6, 7 maybe even 8 years is where MP2 Remaster would be.
But even that is a stretch right now. MP4 needs to be VERY successful first - it cannot be a typical Metroid sell through, it has to be bigger. Retro Studios have released zero games for eleven years - that's a huge expense running a large dev studio that needs to make some serious money.
TP and WW are the ones you'll see first. TotK has been and gone and we now wait a long long time for the next 3D Zelda. That's exactly when TP comes along to play.
I'd love to see the ESG strategy for Guinness. Seems like every business has some degree of focus on the environment... meanwhile Guinness give certificates for a near endless opening of plastic wrappers. Great stuff 👏
@Axecon Yes the optimist in me (he's in there if you look very closely) would agree with you. I mean DK is comfortably the biggest Nintendo IP on the longest run without a new game - so logic would dictate a game is coming.
I can't help but feel that we should have already had a third and final game in the "Returns" series. Feels like the Tropical Freeze re-release appeased the decision to put Retro onto MP4 instead and then Returns is further appeasement for the fact, with respect to them as I do like them, Retro have taken a long time on MP4.
Oh and in terms of what Nintendo have lined up... I would be reasonably confident in it being a 2D/3D DK game ala Mario 3D World and Kirby Forgotten Land rather than anything groundbreaking in the DK 3D arena.
Completed this on my Pocket a couple of months ago! Great game - I scored it 44/50. It got 10/10 on Sound - there are some great tunes.
I also played the first one earlier in the year and gave that 43/50 - so if you enjoyed 1 you're likely to enjoy 2 too! That also scored a 10 on Sound.
I think the second game is marginally better as it builds on the ideas of the first game and has some great hidden/unlocked content too - which I personally always enjoy. (Although it will take you some dedication to unlock it!)
Oh... and if you're stuck when you've turned into a spider... look it up. It ain't obvious lol
Looking forward to playing the 3rd one - ive deliberately saved it for next year!
If Sony can get a handheld that plays GTA6 and FF7 Remake Part 3 out of the box then Nintendo will certainly have a fight on their hands.
Ultimately, I feel like there's room for both devices. The problem Nintendo has is convincing people to upgrade their Switch to whatever their new device is versus a competitor device.
I'm hoping Nintendo have some major software trump cards up their sleeve... and not just Metroid Prime 4... Surely they have a new 3D Mario, new Donkey Kong and new Mario Kart all in late development, right?
If they don't... Man, could we be looking at a Wii U scenario all over again? I mean, surely not, right? Surely they won't do that mistake again?
I still struggle to believe that Switch doesn't have GTAV on it. Why on earth didn't Nintendo do more to secure that game? Foolish and it could bite them hard if people start to learn about another device that could do GTA6.
I cancelled my membership a while ago now and it's a bit of a weird one I guess because it's not as a result of the cost. It's undoubtedly good value.
I cancelled because I realised the game collections would never meet my needs. They just cannot get the rich depth of titles that I want to play - namely all the amazing 3rd Party games that they clearly will never get. So it made me question the point of the service.
That led me down the hilariously expensive rabbit hole of Analogue and just buying the games I want to play. I've never been happier!
Where would you even go to buy/sell this? Seems like the kind of thing that would just get a load of time wasters on ebay and the like. Is there a reliable specialist auctioneer for this kind of thing?
This was always going to bad... LEGO games work best on the BIG franchises. I'm not saying Horizon is t a good franchise, but compared to Star Wars and Marvel it's miniscule - I mean how many Horizon characters can you name?! A handful at best - so how was this ever going to feature one of the LEGO games biggest features?
It's difficult to be excited about this as a Donkey Kong fan. I want a new Donkey Kong game - it's been almost eleven years.
The fact this theme park expansion seemingly leans on the Returns game from ages ago is a real shame too. It's like Nintendo are confirming there's nothing else lined up - Not even a third game in the Returns series (which given that Land and Country were both trilogies is clearly going to be a huge disappointment for fans).
Retro Studios have a lot to answer for in my opinion. They haven't released a new game since February 2014. They clearly could and should have had a third game lined up for Donkey Kong - featuring K Rool, more animal helpers etc.
They've had one perhaps even two projects terminated early and Metroid Prime 4 is still without a release date. I almost feel bad for the amount of pressure they must be feeling... but it's difficult to have compassion when they are clearly not doing very well and they literally remain silent.
Not to go on... but consider how long ago Nintendo must have decided to place Donkey Kong both into the Mario Movie and the Theme Park so prominently in both cases. They've taken that decision a long time ago - where is the game? I don't believe a re-release of Returns was the plan, and if it was, that's comfortably the lowest move by Nintendo this console generation - it's not even a Wii U game, it was Wii - everyone has played it - at least twice as many would have the 3DS port too (myself included!).
It's poor. DK deserves the third part of the Trilogy AND a new 3D game to boot.
I assume this means SEGA plan to release yet another Mega Drive collection in the near future.
Why they don't do a Dreamcast or Saturn collection is anyone's guess.
I'm done with it now. I am never again buying a Mega Drive collection. SEGA have milked it to a point where it is beyond holding no value - it actually now generates negativity.
@Mando44646 Star Fox and F Zero are both certainly worthy, but seriously... where the heck is Donkey Kong? January will see yet another re-release, this time an even older one from the Wii.
How's Donkey Kong's growth? You put him in the Mario movie... you put him in your theme park... you put him in your museum... but yet the game franchise is in decline because you still, at nearly ELEVEN years, haven't released a new Donkey Kong game.
@kkslider5552000 I could not disagree more. They charge for the NSO service (albeit a very, very reasonable amount). A paid service should be serviced appropriately - I'm not super fussed about the amount of games (most people crying foul about it don't even play the games any longer than an initial boot up) but I do expect the games to run properly.
I think it's embarrassing that in 2024 Nintendo still can't get an N64 game to run exactly as intended.
Fortunately Analogue have come to the rescue and done Nintendo's job for them. As of Q1 next year I can finally play Perfect Dark and GoldenEye with the exact same precision as the original release.
Nintendo used to have extremely high standards. Switch has been a huge success, but those standards have dropped everywhere - poor service, poor build quality (joy cons) a d shockingly bad eShop (navigating and the quality of content / Nintendo's approval process).
Star Fox Zero should have been ported across to Switch years ago and we should be getting excited for a new entry on Switch 2.
That's the cold hard truth.
Donkey Kong is the biggest fail of the Switch era, but Star Fox is not far behind.
Star Fox Zero is a great game with garbage controls. It is not a huge ask to refine the controls and release it on Switch... that's absolute nonsense to suggest. Besides, Nintendo are swimming in millions of pounds of profit right now. Star Fox as a franchise is in dire need of some of that money.
As is frigging Donkey Kong. Seriously.
But no... we get Xenoblade again!! It's like Nintendo enjoys this! lol
Star Fox Zero being talked up for Switch 2 is just such a stupid conversation too. Oh how exciting... a last generation game we should already have on current generation Switch... being put forward for future Switch. Am I supposed to be impressed by this? It's plain stupid. If anything it suggests Switch 2 is going to be "more of the same"!
Sorry, but Donkey Kong and Star Fox deserve far better. Nintendo better have some cards up their sleeve because a port of Returns (a Wii game no less) and dropping Zero like it's suddenly relevant today but wasn't FIVE years ago is just woefully inadequate.
I already have all the gaming music I want downloaded and saved. Why would I want to only listen to Nintendo music? It doesn't make any sense to me! I have various Nintendo OST's but I have playlists with all sorts mixed in - from Amiga games to Final Fantasy.
I don't really understand the whole Spotify/Apple Music subscription approach with music to be honest... but I do largely listen to dance and house music, and that's always been poorly represented on these services (especially when you are after certain mixes).
I'd encourage people to download the music themselves and make your own playlists and edits. You can do everything directly on your phone these days. I don't think we should entertain these piece-meal, rent-to-listen nonsense apps.
It takes time and effort - maybe that's the problem (ha!), but it's way more rewarding than using these subscriptions.
If you want a media player recommendation, Poweramp is brilliant.
It genuinely blows my mind that there are people that use this site that don't already have game soundtracks downloaded to their phone... Jolly Roger Bay is pretty much a requirement to access this website, surely?!! Or at least have the YouTube video in a playlist, yes?! Strange times indeed.
The irony that Nintendo launched the App WITHOUT Jolly Roger Bay too. lol
I've got all the other Switch Monkey Ball games, but I'm not prepared to spend any more money on it as I felt the previous games were a let down.
My plan now is to avoid the franchise entirely. I'll then pick up an FPGA Gamecube at some point in the future (5 years or so) and I'll play, and thoroughly enjoy, the original 2 games.
If SEGA want to come to the table with something decent in the meantime... by all means. They haven't managed it yet though, and their embarrassingly low standards on the remake fills me with zero confidence.
This weekend I am working my way through Mario Tennis on the Gameboy Color and I'm particularly excited to boot up Streets of Rage on the Game Gear too!
The Streets of Rage soundtrack is one of the greatest things that the videogame industry has ever created. Ever. It's an absolute masterpiece. There are plenty of individual gaming tracks I rate as highly, but for a complete soundtrack and how it all slots together with the gameplay and builds that incredible atmosphere... I'd personally argue only FF7's original soundtrack does a job as good as this.
This is one of the games I never played previously so I've got it lined up for the 3D when it is released early next year.
I gave up on NSO when they released GoldenEye with so many bugs. I don't want an immitation of the games I remember playing growing up. I want the precise same game. It's pretty mad that when you look at all the advances in technology over the past 25 years... the N64 has proven too difficult for Nintendo to bring the games to present day.
Well, I say too difficult... maybe they simply don't care enough? Nintendo are at their best when they care about the minor details though...
"Donkey Kong is in somewhat of a healthy state now". Err no it isn't? We Are now just 3 months short of ELEVEN years without a new Donkey Kong game.
Returns and Tropical Freeze are awesome games but they are both from over a decade ago.
Single handedly Nintendo's greatest failure in the Switch era. Worse than even Labo, or that AR Mario Kart that was fun for approximately 43 seconds.
The complete and utter mismanagement of Retro Studios. And it's sad, because we'll likely not see any other "Western studios" given a chance in the wake of Retro's complete and utter lack of any output for over a decade. Consider how much money Retro have poured into a fire over the eleven years since they released a game... all those staff wages, all those exec bonuses, rents, utilities...
Yea. Donkey Kong hasn't been in a worse place than it is today. Ever.
My backlog and my retro stash are literally soaking my carpet with the sweat and tears of their stress at the prospect of me starting to play remakes of games that aren't even 10 years old.
I just can't sign up to that. It's stressful just thinking about it!
It's the same reason I don't buy grown up colouring books. I don't have time for that! lol
If you're not going to pay for someone to conduct your testing and instead get your userbase to do it for you for free then you have to expect to make certain compromises.
If Nintendo really had something top secret here they really didn't want people to see... they wouldn't have us lot anywhere near it!
Seems to me it's just a standard disclaimer so they can take stuff down if and when they choose. It's not like anyone signed an NDA or had to send in their driver's license is it?
I very often find myself musing over music trends! It's because when I was growing up, it was really rare to hear anything at all from the 50s, you'd get some 60s (mostly dedicated radio shows bar the real classics) and the major hits from the 70s.
Today though... you get the above as it was, but then you get absolutely loads of 80s. Loads of 90s. Loads and loads of 00s and 10s and loads of 20s too.
The more we move forward, the more popular music there is and the reality is we don't lose the old stuff anywhere near like we used to. The Beatles. Queen. Oasis. Chili Peppers. Madonna. Elton John. Fleetwood Mac. And so on and so on and so on. It's timeless.
Or is it though?! This I find interesting. At what point in the future will we stop listening to Queen?
And then consider radio stations... do they keep moving their music forward a decade to "move with their audience getting older" or do they just keep essentially watering down their playlists as more and more years pass and more and more songs get added...
It kinda makes your head hurt when you really stop and think about these things lol
It's not unique to music either...
2024 is the first year where I have played more retro games (defined as more than 20 years ago in this instance) than I have new games (defined as released in the past 5 years). I never really thought about this maybe happening one day, but it has for me. 2024 was the year.
I'm 80% complete on Rayman Advance at the moment. I hope it's not this one they are remaking as it's proving to be an absolute chore to complete... finding all those cages (I checked, it's not optional in order to finish the game!) is nightmare inducing.
I'll check out the soundtrack on YouTube, but the game is a whole big nope.
I'm a huge Donkey Kong fan, and sadly that's why I can't play any imitations. Donkey Kong is Donkey Kong - this may look similar, and may even be considered a copy in many ways, but it's just nowhere near the same level.
Tropical Freeze doesn't receive anywhere near the plaudits it deserves. That game is seriously an absolute platforming masterpiece. That's why it's such a travesty that we still don't have the 3rd part of the Returns series (you know, the one with the K Rool and the Kremlins and a load of returning "animal helpers" that we were meant to get). (Retro spending all their time on some Metroid game instead apparently... )
I completed the GBA version of Super Mario Bros 3 last weekend and I had actually forgotten just how brilliant that game is. I've got the Super Mario World GBA version to play at some point next year too. Definitely agree with those 2 at the top.
I know I'm in a minority here, but I wouldn't have Odyssey or Wonder anywhere near my top 10. Both are great games, but both are missing that sprinkle of magic that the best Mario games have. Wonder should have been a World/Bros 3 game but with some Wonder effect sprinkled on top - instead of the whole thing being the Wonder effect. I literally dreaded finding it in levels after the first few Worlds.
And Odyssey. I think the fact we never got Odyssey 2 shows very clearly that it wasn't quite good enough. Plenty of great moments, but also a whole load of filler - too many moons, and the levels were too enclosed too. It felt claustrophobic - Super Mario 64, Galaxy 1 and Sunshine all never suffered from that feeling because the worlds sat inside the Castle and that made some sense. Odyssey doesn't have that and it really needed that hub - and some better worlds, only a handful that I really liked. Many I didn't like.
@Toastmaster Microsoft need to put their foot down on the matter. A Banjo game made by Rare adds much needed credibility and makes the whole thing more appealing. If the heads of Rare are saying no, get rid of them and bring in some new heads. May seem harsh but I'm sorry, there is a reason Rare are judged by their past exploits... they've done virtually nothing of note for a long time.
The image of Mario and Luigi used in this article is dreadful! Did Nintendo really share that with media to use to promote the game?! Or have NL created this "asset" - the quality is really poor and the art style is... yikes! Maybe it's just too zoomed in. In any case, it's not selling the game to me...!!
It's just a shame we didn't get this the first time... I feel like I've been stung by Mario Party twice already on Switch so I'm sorry but this one is a bridge too far.
I gave up on NSO a long time ago. I've gone rogue and ha e been buying the physical games I want to play instead.
Analogue Pocket has been fantastic this past year and I now have a collection of 150 games across Gameboy, Color, Advance, Game Gear, Atari Lynx, Turbografx and Neo Geo Pocket. Whilst there are a few factors that have led me down this path, one of them is certainly how poor NSO has been.
One decision from Nintendo that has really irked me is the fact that whilst we still await a new Donkey Kong game, after coming up to ELEVEN years, they still haven't given us DK64 on NSO. I've now bought a physical copy of it and I am ready to preorder the Analogue 3D (just as soon as they announce it... whenever that may be...)
The Switch era will rightly be remembered as a period of huge success for Nintendo, but it is no exaggeration to say that it is also a period where they have massively dropped the ball in regards to Retro gaming.
I know for a fact I am not alone in my spending habits with retro. So much money Nintendo have left on the table (and, let's be honest, the stubborn 3rd party fools that would rather make nothing than something from their decades old games).
If Nintendo are thinking MP4 and yet another average Pokemon game (a fair assumption based on all previous Switch Pokemon releases) will take them through yet another year with the original Switch...
...well, they're probably right. I'll be switched off from it, but ultimately, I'm not too bothered waiting another year. Fact remains, the longer we wait now... the more likely we have new 3D Mario and Mario Kart games around the launch - and surely some frigging Donkey Kong?!
Yes, yes, trust me to bring something negative up... but seriously. We're approaching 7 years since a new 3D Mario and it's over a decade since new Donkey Kong...
I know it's not like for like...
But imagine what could have been instead of that stupid Mario Kart AV game, Labo, this alarm clock...
Imagine if Nintendo focused solely on GAMES instead of theme parks, a museum and films...
I'm fine with all the above IF we get the games. Fact is, the game cycles are way too long and I blame this alarm clock!! lol
Seems to me the Wii/Wii U development moved over to Switch as expected, but the 3DS development is MIA / turned into pieces of cardboard and alarm clocks... ⏰️ 😅
I don't think this is true. Rogma made me think of a frog more than anything...
Nintendo barely reference their Japanese staff in this way. They're not going to do it for NoA or NoE... and even less likely ex-employees. Nintendo are pretty notorious for behaving in this way with their "other territories".
If we were all being super honest, it's precisely why we wouldn't want to work for them. It's just "them" and "us" culture throughout.
It's a nice idea, but I don't think it's well executed at all. They've created an old style alarm clock... but then made it have to be tethered to a power cable. No thanks?!
The first game is hands down the best piece of Alien franchise related content I have experienced since the first two films. Nothing else has come even remotely close. It's an absolute masterpiece of Alien content.
I'd love the sequel to be Aliens Isolation. Let's give the second movie some love - it recently got re-released in 4k. Still a brilliant film - albeit very different to the original. It's more of an action film, and interestingly, it's the Alien action games that have been the most disastrous down the years...
We need a decent Alien action game. I don't think we need more of the same from the first Isolation game... it makes sense to go with Aliens I think!
Comments 2,202
Re: Nintendo Highlights Every 'Donkey Kong Country' On Switch With A New Trailer
I'm not buying Returns on Switch next month. I'm going to buy it second hand and play it on the 3DS instead as a protest!
11 years without a new Donkey Kong game is shambolic from Nintendo. This trailer merely highlights the embarrassing fact that despite Switch's huge success and their filthy riches... they can't get a new game from one of the oldest, biggest and most iconic game IPs in existence.
Call me entitled, I don't care, it is rubbish that we live in a world that gives us FIFA and COD every darn year over and over again, but meanwhile Donkey Kong is at 11 years and counting.
Nintendo should give the IP to someone that can actually manage it properly.
Re: Nintendo Is Ranked The Third Most Sought-After Employer In Japan
I'd definitely want to work for Nintendo if I was Japanese. As a Brit, I definitely do not want to work for Nintendo.
It seems to me NoA and NoE are marginalised all the time. I'd expect it to be an incredibly frustrating "do as you're told" place to work. No thank you!
Re: Taito Milestones 3 Finally Locks In A Western Release Date On Switch
Am I right in thinking this is the first time the third game in the Rastan Saga series has been playable on a console? That adds enormous value to this collection.
Also, the first Rastan Saga on the Game Gear is around the £150 mark for a cartridge these days. You can get a Turbografx Hucard of the second one for much cheaper - around £30 complete in box. The third one though... only ever at arcades as far as I am aware. So that's a nice inclusion here.
I played the first one on the Game Gear literally last month. It's a good, but not great, game. I scored it 35/50. I've got the second one lined up to play sometime next year.
I'll pick up this collection on Switch in a sale next Christmas time I reckon as I'd like to play the third!
Re: Talking Point: Where The Heck Are Those Metroid Prime 2 And 3 Remasters?
MP2 remake will only receive a green light once MP4 has launched and is a proven success.
It's a similar release schedule to TP and WW getting ported.
Think about it... MP4 launches in 2025. How many years will we then all have to wait for MP5? That void of 6, 7 maybe even 8 years is where MP2 Remaster would be.
But even that is a stretch right now. MP4 needs to be VERY successful first - it cannot be a typical Metroid sell through, it has to be bigger. Retro Studios have released zero games for eleven years - that's a huge expense running a large dev studio that needs to make some serious money.
TP and WW are the ones you'll see first. TotK has been and gone and we now wait a long long time for the next 3D Zelda. That's exactly when TP comes along to play.
Re: Pokémon Fans Open Over 22,000 Cards In Record-Breaking 24-Hour Livestream
I'd love to see the ESG strategy for Guinness. Seems like every business has some degree of focus on the environment... meanwhile Guinness give certificates for a near endless opening of plastic wrappers. Great stuff 👏
Re: Nintendo Expands Switch Online's Game Boy Library With Another Classic
@Axecon Yes the optimist in me (he's in there if you look very closely) would agree with you. I mean DK is comfortably the biggest Nintendo IP on the longest run without a new game - so logic would dictate a game is coming.
I can't help but feel that we should have already had a third and final game in the "Returns" series. Feels like the Tropical Freeze re-release appeased the decision to put Retro onto MP4 instead and then Returns is further appeasement for the fact, with respect to them as I do like them, Retro have taken a long time on MP4.
Oh and in terms of what Nintendo have lined up... I would be reasonably confident in it being a 2D/3D DK game ala Mario 3D World and Kirby Forgotten Land rather than anything groundbreaking in the DK 3D arena.
Re: Nintendo Expands Switch Online's Game Boy Library With Another Classic
@Axecon I have to disagree with the sentiment. Its absolutely criminal that we don't have brand new DK content to mark this occasion.
But even forgetting about "the moment" of the theme park opening... the last brand new DK game released on valentine's day 2014.
Almost eleven years ago.
Excuse me if I don't sing Nintendo's praises on DK.
Re: Nintendo Expands Switch Online's Game Boy Library With Another Classic
Completed this on my Pocket a couple of months ago! Great game - I scored it 44/50. It got 10/10 on Sound - there are some great tunes.
I also played the first one earlier in the year and gave that 43/50 - so if you enjoyed 1 you're likely to enjoy 2 too! That also scored a 10 on Sound.
I think the second game is marginally better as it builds on the ideas of the first game and has some great hidden/unlocked content too - which I personally always enjoy. (Although it will take you some dedication to unlock it!)
Oh... and if you're stuck when you've turned into a spider... look it up. It ain't obvious lol
Looking forward to playing the 3rd one - ive deliberately saved it for next year!
Re: Sony May Be Plotting A New PSP To Compete With Nintendo's 'Switch 2'
If Sony can get a handheld that plays GTA6 and FF7 Remake Part 3 out of the box then Nintendo will certainly have a fight on their hands.
Ultimately, I feel like there's room for both devices. The problem Nintendo has is convincing people to upgrade their Switch to whatever their new device is versus a competitor device.
I'm hoping Nintendo have some major software trump cards up their sleeve... and not just Metroid Prime 4... Surely they have a new 3D Mario, new Donkey Kong and new Mario Kart all in late development, right?
If they don't... Man, could we be looking at a Wii U scenario all over again? I mean, surely not, right? Surely they won't do that mistake again?
I still struggle to believe that Switch doesn't have GTAV on it. Why on earth didn't Nintendo do more to secure that game? Foolish and it could bite them hard if people start to learn about another device that could do GTA6.
Re: Latest 'Switch 2' Rumour Suggests Nintendo Is Preparing For An Enormous Launch
I call BS on this story.
1. Nintendo are default cautious even at the best of times.
2. All signals are pointing towards "Switch 2" being more of the same.
Sorry, but a "more of the same" console ain't shifting even 4 million units at launch, let alone 7.
Re: Nintendo Is Offering An Extra Code With Any 12-Month Individual NSO Purchase
I cancelled my membership a while ago now and it's a bit of a weird one I guess because it's not as a result of the cost. It's undoubtedly good value.
I cancelled because I realised the game collections would never meet my needs. They just cannot get the rich depth of titles that I want to play - namely all the amazing 3rd Party games that they clearly will never get. So it made me question the point of the service.
That led me down the hilariously expensive rabbit hole of Analogue and just buying the games I want to play. I've never been happier!
Re: Gallery: Unboxing A Nintendo 64DD Development Kit
Where would you even go to buy/sell this? Seems like the kind of thing that would just get a load of time wasters on ebay and the like. Is there a reliable specialist auctioneer for this kind of thing?
Re: Review: LEGO Horizon Adventures (Switch) - A Beautiful But Basic Build Of Sony's Series
This was always going to bad... LEGO games work best on the BIG franchises. I'm not saying Horizon is t a good franchise, but compared to Star Wars and Marvel it's miniscule - I mean how many Horizon characters can you name?! A handful at best - so how was this ever going to feature one of the LEGO games biggest features?
Re: Feature: Nintendo's Long-Lost Advent Calendar Game Comes Home For Christmas On Switch
Shouldn't this be... free?
Re: My Nintendo Store Reveals Donkey Kong Country Returns HD Pre-Order Bonuses & Bundle (UK)
There's only one way I will purchase this game and that's if they confirm they have a new DK game coming out in 2025.
Otherwise, I literally just boot it up on my 3DS...
Re: Nintendo Direct Announced For Super Nintendo World's Donkey Kong Expansion
It's difficult to be excited about this as a Donkey Kong fan. I want a new Donkey Kong game - it's been almost eleven years.
The fact this theme park expansion seemingly leans on the Returns game from ages ago is a real shame too. It's like Nintendo are confirming there's nothing else lined up - Not even a third game in the Returns series (which given that Land and Country were both trilogies is clearly going to be a huge disappointment for fans).
Retro Studios have a lot to answer for in my opinion. They haven't released a new game since February 2014. They clearly could and should have had a third game lined up for Donkey Kong - featuring K Rool, more animal helpers etc.
They've had one perhaps even two projects terminated early and Metroid Prime 4 is still without a release date. I almost feel bad for the amount of pressure they must be feeling... but it's difficult to have compassion when they are clearly not doing very well and they literally remain silent.
Not to go on... but consider how long ago Nintendo must have decided to place Donkey Kong both into the Mario Movie and the Theme Park so prominently in both cases. They've taken that decision a long time ago - where is the game? I don't believe a re-release of Returns was the plan, and if it was, that's comfortably the lowest move by Nintendo this console generation - it's not even a Wii U game, it was Wii - everyone has played it - at least twice as many would have the 3DS port too (myself included!).
It's poor. DK deserves the third part of the Trilogy AND a new 3D game to boot.
Re: Batman Arkham Trilogy Games Now Available Individually On Switch eShop
I've never played City. I'll definitely pick it up individually at some point.
Re: Sega Delisting 'Mega Drive Classics' On Switch eShop This December
I assume this means SEGA plan to release yet another Mega Drive collection in the near future.
Why they don't do a Dreamcast or Saturn collection is anyone's guess.
I'm done with it now. I am never again buying a Mega Drive collection. SEGA have milked it to a point where it is beyond holding no value - it actually now generates negativity.
Re: Nintendo Reports Rapid Growth For Metroid, Xenoblade Chronicles, And More
@Mando44646 Star Fox and F Zero are both certainly worthy, but seriously... where the heck is Donkey Kong? January will see yet another re-release, this time an even older one from the Wii.
Re: Nintendo Reports Rapid Growth For Metroid, Xenoblade Chronicles, And More
How's Donkey Kong's growth? You put him in the Mario movie... you put him in your theme park... you put him in your museum... but yet the game franchise is in decline because you still, at nearly ELEVEN years, haven't released a new Donkey Kong game.
Maddening!
Re: Switch Online's Latest "Mature" N64 App Update Appears To Fix Some Perfect Dark Emulation Issues
@kkslider5552000 I could not disagree more. They charge for the NSO service (albeit a very, very reasonable amount). A paid service should be serviced appropriately - I'm not super fussed about the amount of games (most people crying foul about it don't even play the games any longer than an initial boot up) but I do expect the games to run properly.
I think it's embarrassing that in 2024 Nintendo still can't get an N64 game to run exactly as intended.
Fortunately Analogue have come to the rescue and done Nintendo's job for them. As of Q1 next year I can finally play Perfect Dark and GoldenEye with the exact same precision as the original release.
Nintendo used to have extremely high standards. Switch has been a huge success, but those standards have dropped everywhere - poor service, poor build quality (joy cons) a d shockingly bad eShop (navigating and the quality of content / Nintendo's approval process).
Re: Random: Takaya Imamura Ponders The Possibility Of Star Fox Zero On 'Switch 2'
@batmanbud2 Xenoblade and Star Fox are so wildly different they should just both be ported over. There's no need for an either or scenario.
Re: Random: Takaya Imamura Ponders The Possibility Of Star Fox Zero On 'Switch 2'
Star Fox Zero should have been ported across to Switch years ago and we should be getting excited for a new entry on Switch 2.
That's the cold hard truth.
Donkey Kong is the biggest fail of the Switch era, but Star Fox is not far behind.
Star Fox Zero is a great game with garbage controls. It is not a huge ask to refine the controls and release it on Switch... that's absolute nonsense to suggest. Besides, Nintendo are swimming in millions of pounds of profit right now. Star Fox as a franchise is in dire need of some of that money.
As is frigging Donkey Kong. Seriously.
But no... we get Xenoblade again!! It's like Nintendo enjoys this! lol
Star Fox Zero being talked up for Switch 2 is just such a stupid conversation too. Oh how exciting... a last generation game we should already have on current generation Switch... being put forward for future Switch. Am I supposed to be impressed by this? It's plain stupid. If anything it suggests Switch 2 is going to be "more of the same"!
Sorry, but Donkey Kong and Star Fox deserve far better. Nintendo better have some cards up their sleeve because a port of Returns (a Wii game no less) and dropping Zero like it's suddenly relevant today but wasn't FIVE years ago is just woefully inadequate.
Re: 'Nintendo Music' Update Adds Super Mario Bros. Wonder Songs
I already have all the gaming music I want downloaded and saved. Why would I want to only listen to Nintendo music? It doesn't make any sense to me! I have various Nintendo OST's but I have playlists with all sorts mixed in - from Amiga games to Final Fantasy.
I don't really understand the whole Spotify/Apple Music subscription approach with music to be honest... but I do largely listen to dance and house music, and that's always been poorly represented on these services (especially when you are after certain mixes).
I'd encourage people to download the music themselves and make your own playlists and edits. You can do everything directly on your phone these days. I don't think we should entertain these piece-meal, rent-to-listen nonsense apps.
It takes time and effort - maybe that's the problem (ha!), but it's way more rewarding than using these subscriptions.
If you want a media player recommendation, Poweramp is brilliant.
It genuinely blows my mind that there are people that use this site that don't already have game soundtracks downloaded to their phone... Jolly Roger Bay is pretty much a requirement to access this website, surely?!! Or at least have the YouTube video in a playlist, yes?! Strange times indeed.
The irony that Nintendo launched the App WITHOUT Jolly Roger Bay too. lol
Re: Super Monkey Ball: Banana Rumble Scores A Switch eShop Demo
I've got all the other Switch Monkey Ball games, but I'm not prepared to spend any more money on it as I felt the previous games were a let down.
My plan now is to avoid the franchise entirely. I'll then pick up an FPGA Gamecube at some point in the future (5 years or so) and I'll play, and thoroughly enjoy, the original 2 games.
If SEGA want to come to the table with something decent in the meantime... by all means. They haven't managed it yet though, and their embarrassingly low standards on the remake fills me with zero confidence.
I'm happy to wait.
Re: Random: Skull Kid "Clocks In" To Super Smash Bros. In This Awesome Fan-Made Trailer
Good effort, enjoyed it!
The atmosphere in Majora's Mask is one of the greatest things ever created in a videogame.
I really hope the Ocarina Of Time Remake rumours are true, because it will make a Majora's Mask Remake that little bit more likely.
We need another dark Zelda game. It's been too long. We've had a good fill on cutesy Zelda - come on Nintendo... let's go back to Termina.
Re: Feature: The Man, The Mascot, The Moustache - The Many Faces Of Mario
@Banks Oh I think you're right actually!
Re: Feature: The Man, The Mascot, The Moustache - The Many Faces Of Mario
@Banks Haha agreed! Oh and bonus marks for... that is the ship from Alleyway, right?!
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (26th October)
This weekend I am working my way through Mario Tennis on the Gameboy Color and I'm particularly excited to boot up Streets of Rage on the Game Gear too!
The Streets of Rage soundtrack is one of the greatest things that the videogame industry has ever created. Ever. It's an absolute masterpiece. There are plenty of individual gaming tracks I rate as highly, but for a complete soundtrack and how it all slots together with the gameplay and builds that incredible atmosphere... I'd personally argue only FF7's original soundtrack does a job as good as this.
Re: Random: Oops! It Looks Like Banjo-Tooie's Idle Demo Is Sped Up On NSO
This is one of the games I never played previously so I've got it lined up for the 3D when it is released early next year.
I gave up on NSO when they released GoldenEye with so many bugs. I don't want an immitation of the games I remember playing growing up. I want the precise same game. It's pretty mad that when you look at all the advances in technology over the past 25 years... the N64 has proven too difficult for Nintendo to bring the games to present day.
Well, I say too difficult... maybe they simply don't care enough? Nintendo are at their best when they care about the minor details though...
Re: Video: Yooka-Replaylee Side-By-Side Graphics Comparison (Original & Remaster)
@theberrage Yea, I feel inclined to agree. This feels very desperate on their part.
Re: Alleged Concept Art From Cancelled Donkey Kong Project Emerges
"Donkey Kong is in somewhat of a healthy state now". Err no it isn't? We Are now just 3 months short of ELEVEN years without a new Donkey Kong game.
Returns and Tropical Freeze are awesome games but they are both from over a decade ago.
Single handedly Nintendo's greatest failure in the Switch era. Worse than even Labo, or that AR Mario Kart that was fun for approximately 43 seconds.
The complete and utter mismanagement of Retro Studios. And it's sad, because we'll likely not see any other "Western studios" given a chance in the wake of Retro's complete and utter lack of any output for over a decade. Consider how much money Retro have poured into a fire over the eleven years since they released a game... all those staff wages, all those exec bonuses, rents, utilities...
Yea. Donkey Kong hasn't been in a worse place than it is today. Ever.
Re: Yooka-Replaylee Remaster Officially Confirmed For 'Nintendo Platforms'
@eaglesfly76 yes, I mean another - "add a game to the series" would perhaps have been more accurate for me to say.
Re: Yooka-Replaylee Remaster Officially Confirmed For 'Nintendo Platforms'
Just make a sequel!
My backlog and my retro stash are literally soaking my carpet with the sweat and tears of their stress at the prospect of me starting to play remakes of games that aren't even 10 years old.
I just can't sign up to that. It's stressful just thinking about it!
It's the same reason I don't buy grown up colouring books. I don't have time for that! lol
Re: Nintendo's Switch Online Playtest Is Already Being Streamed, Unsurprisingly
If you're not going to pay for someone to conduct your testing and instead get your userbase to do it for you for free then you have to expect to make certain compromises.
If Nintendo really had something top secret here they really didn't want people to see... they wouldn't have us lot anywhere near it!
Seems to me it's just a standard disclaimer so they can take stuff down if and when they choose. It's not like anyone signed an NDA or had to send in their driver's license is it?
Re: Nintendo UK's Latest Switch Advert Shows Just How Little We Know About Pop Music
I very often find myself musing over music trends! It's because when I was growing up, it was really rare to hear anything at all from the 50s, you'd get some 60s (mostly dedicated radio shows bar the real classics) and the major hits from the 70s.
Today though... you get the above as it was, but then you get absolutely loads of 80s. Loads of 90s. Loads and loads of 00s and 10s and loads of 20s too.
The more we move forward, the more popular music there is and the reality is we don't lose the old stuff anywhere near like we used to. The Beatles. Queen. Oasis. Chili Peppers. Madonna. Elton John. Fleetwood Mac. And so on and so on and so on. It's timeless.
Or is it though?! This I find interesting. At what point in the future will we stop listening to Queen?
And then consider radio stations... do they keep moving their music forward a decade to "move with their audience getting older" or do they just keep essentially watering down their playlists as more and more years pass and more and more songs get added...
It kinda makes your head hurt when you really stop and think about these things lol
It's not unique to music either...
2024 is the first year where I have played more retro games (defined as more than 20 years ago in this instance) than I have new games (defined as released in the past 5 years). I never really thought about this maybe happening one day, but it has for me. 2024 was the year.
The year of the backlog...!
Re: Rumour: A Rayman Remake May Be On The Cards At Ubisoft
I'm 80% complete on Rayman Advance at the moment. I hope it's not this one they are remaking as it's proving to be an absolute chore to complete... finding all those cages (I checked, it's not optional in order to finish the game!) is nightmare inducing.
Re: Review: Nikoderiko: The Magical World (Switch) - A Gleeful DKC Tribute, But Light On New Ideas
I'll check out the soundtrack on YouTube, but the game is a whole big nope.
I'm a huge Donkey Kong fan, and sadly that's why I can't play any imitations. Donkey Kong is Donkey Kong - this may look similar, and may even be considered a copy in many ways, but it's just nowhere near the same level.
Tropical Freeze doesn't receive anywhere near the plaudits it deserves. That game is seriously an absolute platforming masterpiece. That's why it's such a travesty that we still don't have the 3rd part of the Returns series (you know, the one with the K Rool and the Kremlins and a load of returning "animal helpers" that we were meant to get). (Retro spending all their time on some Metroid game instead apparently... )
Re: Best Super Mario Games Of All Time
I completed the GBA version of Super Mario Bros 3 last weekend and I had actually forgotten just how brilliant that game is. I've got the Super Mario World GBA version to play at some point next year too. Definitely agree with those 2 at the top.
I know I'm in a minority here, but I wouldn't have Odyssey or Wonder anywhere near my top 10. Both are great games, but both are missing that sprinkle of magic that the best Mario games have. Wonder should have been a World/Bros 3 game but with some Wonder effect sprinkled on top - instead of the whole thing being the Wonder effect. I literally dreaded finding it in levels after the first few Worlds.
And Odyssey. I think the fact we never got Odyssey 2 shows very clearly that it wasn't quite good enough. Plenty of great moments, but also a whole load of filler - too many moons, and the levels were too enclosed too. It felt claustrophobic - Super Mario 64, Galaxy 1 and Sunshine all never suffered from that feeling because the worlds sat inside the Castle and that made some sense. Odyssey doesn't have that and it really needed that hub - and some better worlds, only a handful that I really liked. Many I didn't like.
Re: Xbox Studio Rare Excited About The Return Of Banjo-Tooie Next Week
@Toastmaster Microsoft need to put their foot down on the matter. A Banjo game made by Rare adds much needed credibility and makes the whole thing more appealing. If the heads of Rare are saying no, get rid of them and bring in some new heads. May seem harsh but I'm sorry, there is a reason Rare are judged by their past exploits... they've done virtually nothing of note for a long time.
Re: Round Up: The Previews Are In For Mario & Luigi: Brothership
The image of Mario and Luigi used in this article is dreadful! Did Nintendo really share that with media to use to promote the game?! Or have NL created this "asset" - the quality is really poor and the art style is... yikes! Maybe it's just too zoomed in. In any case, it's not selling the game to me...!!
Re: Round Up: The Reviews Are In For Super Mario Party Jamboree
It's just a shame we didn't get this the first time... I feel like I've been stung by Mario Party twice already on Switch so I'm sorry but this one is a bridge too far.
(I didn't buy 3 on the N64 either, so there!)
Re: Switch Online's Expansion Pack Promises "Excitement" In 2025
I gave up on NSO a long time ago. I've gone rogue and ha e been buying the physical games I want to play instead.
Analogue Pocket has been fantastic this past year and I now have a collection of 150 games across Gameboy, Color, Advance, Game Gear, Atari Lynx, Turbografx and Neo Geo Pocket. Whilst there are a few factors that have led me down this path, one of them is certainly how poor NSO has been.
One decision from Nintendo that has really irked me is the fact that whilst we still await a new Donkey Kong game, after coming up to ELEVEN years, they still haven't given us DK64 on NSO. I've now bought a physical copy of it and I am ready to preorder the Analogue 3D (just as soon as they announce it... whenever that may be...)
The Switch era will rightly be remembered as a period of huge success for Nintendo, but it is no exaggeration to say that it is also a period where they have massively dropped the ball in regards to Retro gaming.
I know for a fact I am not alone in my spending habits with retro. So much money Nintendo have left on the table (and, let's be honest, the stubborn 3rd party fools that would rather make nothing than something from their decades old games).
Re: Rumour: Switch 2's Codename Believed To Be In Latest Pokémon Data Leak
I'm sure it will be annOUNCEd soon...
Re: Talking Point: Is It Time For Another Side-Scrolling Zelda Game?
I really disliked the 2D sections in Echoes, but I think it's because it felt very overused.
In Link's Awakening I enjoyed them as they felt novel. I didn't finish LA feeling like I wanted more, or there was more they could do with it.
Re: Pokémon Developer Game Freak Reportedly Hacked, Massive Amounts Of Data Allegedly Leaked
If Nintendo are thinking MP4 and yet another average Pokemon game (a fair assumption based on all previous Switch Pokemon releases) will take them through yet another year with the original Switch...
...well, they're probably right. I'll be switched off from it, but ultimately, I'm not too bothered waiting another year. Fact remains, the longer we wait now... the more likely we have new 3D Mario and Mario Kart games around the launch - and surely some frigging Donkey Kong?!
Re: Review In Progress: Nintendo Sound Clock: Alarmo - Pricey But Delightful, And Something Only Nintendo Could Pull Off
Yes, yes, trust me to bring something negative up... but seriously. We're approaching 7 years since a new 3D Mario and it's over a decade since new Donkey Kong...
I know it's not like for like...
But imagine what could have been instead of that stupid Mario Kart AV game, Labo, this alarm clock...
Imagine if Nintendo focused solely on GAMES instead of theme parks, a museum and films...
I'm fine with all the above IF we get the games. Fact is, the game cycles are way too long and I blame this alarm clock!! lol
Seems to me the Wii/Wii U development moved over to Switch as expected, but the 3DS development is MIA / turned into pieces of cardboard and alarm clocks... ⏰️ 😅
Re: Reggie Fils-Aimé Acknowledges Potential Easter Egg In Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom
I don't think this is true. Rogma made me think of a frog more than anything...
Nintendo barely reference their Japanese staff in this way. They're not going to do it for NoA or NoE... and even less likely ex-employees. Nintendo are pretty notorious for behaving in this way with their "other territories".
If we were all being super honest, it's precisely why we wouldn't want to work for them. It's just "them" and "us" culture throughout.
Re: Forget 'Switch 2', Nintendo Has Just Revealed An Official Alarm Clock
It's a nice idea, but I don't think it's well executed at all. They've created an old style alarm clock... but then made it have to be tethered to a power cable. No thanks?!
Re: An Alien: Isolation Sequel Is Officially In Development
The first game is hands down the best piece of Alien franchise related content I have experienced since the first two films. Nothing else has come even remotely close. It's an absolute masterpiece of Alien content.
I'd love the sequel to be Aliens Isolation. Let's give the second movie some love - it recently got re-released in 4k. Still a brilliant film - albeit very different to the original. It's more of an action film, and interestingly, it's the Alien action games that have been the most disastrous down the years...
We need a decent Alien action game. I don't think we need more of the same from the first Isolation game... it makes sense to go with Aliens I think!