whitespy12

FUN FACT if you play Battletoads on Family Computer - Nintendo Classics thru a Japanese account, you can actually beat it because the Japanese version is CONSIDERABLY easier and more forgiving

The good Nintendo giveth (Nier Automata is here!) but also taketh away (Resident Evil 4 is now "unsupported" and has some serious issues that weren't there at Switch 2 launch!)

@ffru having never played the 2600 version of Galaxian before today, it is actually the highlight of this pack for me and I prefer it to the arcade version! It's so vibrant and fluid, just an absolute vibe.

@Solid_Python This is a misconception due, I believe, to the first chapter area (the one included in the demo everyone got their first impressions from) having a very intentionally soft and noisy post-processing appearance because of it's desert setting. Later chapters look much cleaner and sharper on Switch 2 over Switch 1.

@Jack_Goetz This game is VERY well optimized for Series S, Steam Deck and ROG Ally, so I'd wager this game could definitely come to Switch 2

Back when Devil's Third was about to come out, I would interact with him on Facebook and he wound up friending me. Years later when I had my daughter, he would like photos I posted of me playing with her when she was a baby. Always found it so heartwarming that this man from the other side of the world, who didn't know me personally and whose games I loved would find even a fraction of enjoyment from seeing photos of me playing with my baby girl. RIP Itagaki-san.

I'm utterly perplexed by the praise for the handling compared to previous Sonic Racing games, since my feeling is the complete opposite. The cars in Crossworlds feel like they have no weight whatsoever, to the point where I almost lost all enthusiasm for this game while playing the open network test.

I wound up playing more and got used to the more floaty mechanics, and yes, now I love this game quite a bit. But the drifting in this game is still utter trash compared to All-Stars Racing Transformed in my opinion. Yeah, there's a more of a weight to the vehicles while drifting, but that's exactly what makes mastering drifting in those games so dang satisfying. Once it clicks, you can really do so much more with changing directions and chaining drifts than any Mario Kart game. Drifting in those games is more akin to Outrun 2 (also developed by Sumo Digital, so that tracks) than Mario Kart, and I sorely miss it in Crossworlds.

@romanista technically Camelot (of Mario Golf/Tennis and Golden Sun fame) are the original makers of this series, but since Clap Hanz were the stewards for EVERY game in the series outside the first one and this new one.. yeah, that's fair

Absolutely adore these games! On any given day, Ghouls 'n Ghosts, Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts, Ultimate Ghosts n' Goblins, and Ghosts 'n Goblins Resurrection could be considered my favorite game in the series. Played the latter two to 100% competition and they were a RIDE.

I'm still completely terrible at the original arcade and NES games, but I do well with Digital Eclipse's GBC port. It uses the NES graphics, but fixes the stuttering jankiness and tones down the difficulty slightly to accommodate the smaller screen size. My preferred way to play the original!

Positively chuffed to get this collection, and this is coming from someone who rented AND HATED Bubsy II multiple times as a child (but really liked the box art for some reason) and can count Bubsy 3D as the only game ever to literally make me vomit.

There's absolutely room for bad games to be remembered and even celebrated, and I am all here for it. Also Bubsy: Paws on Fire was pretty good and Bubsy 4D looks stellar.

This is the second review I've come across that takes time to address and bemoan the use of AI software to generate trees and foliage (and fair enough, consumers should be made aware when AI is used).

But at the same time, it's strange that it keeps getting brought up cause it's Speedtree, a generative tree and foliage software that's been around for 20+ years and is used in dozens and dozens of games like Monster Hunter Rise, Resident Evil Village, No Man's Sky, Final Fantasy VII Remake, the Batman: Arkham games, Fallout 3, etc.

Played thru the first grand prix on Switch 2 handheld last night, and yeaahhh, didn't look too great. Might give it a shot on my Switch Lite later and see if the smaller screen size helps.

My bigger issue is actually just the way the game feels. As someone who believes Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed to be THE BEST kart racing game of all time (better than any Mario Kart imo), this one just feels off. The drifting is wrong and the cars feel like they have no weight to them.

I found the lack of a map refreshing! It allows you to engage in the dungeons and crypt areas thru pure observation and memory ala Zelda II dungeons (or the original Shantae for GBC for that matter). None of them are TOO labyrinthian either and do a good job of moving you thru without feeling strictly linear.

And it's DEFINITELY not needed in the main overworlds either, since the stages just loop around endlessly (and the world-shifting mechanic pared with the foreground/background layers would make a map VERY difficult to comprehend, let along implement). Sure, it can certainly get confusing trying to recall which caves you wanted to re-enter with an animal ability later, but none of the overworlds are particularly large and everything is fairly straightforward to traverse.

Bionic Commando is the best Switch 2 launch title

The European art is straight up bad design. The title treatment and the character art at the bottom are given equal weight and aren't even centered in frame, so the whole thing comes across as very sparse and lacking any impact whatsoever (Don't even get me started on utilizing the same characters twice in the same artwork).

Japan's is a much better design, albeit perhaps a bit too busy. The North American design definitely screams 2005 (but then again so does it's tracklist, so it fits). Definitely the most eye-catching of the bunch and the one that gets my vote.

@OtterXPT it was reported a few months back that Nintendo denied dev kits to Embracer Group due to prolonged instability at the company. Supposedly Nintendo feared that they might shut down studios (as they were doing a ton of last year) and, in the process, misplace or lose Switch 2 dev kits. Since LRG is owned by Embracer, they would not have been granted dev kits until recently.

@OtterXPT I understand much of the flak that Limited Run Games gets, but not really fair to blame them on this front. This is a Switch 1 game that was developed and locked-in for release before the team even received Switch 2 dev kits.

Nintendo confirmed that all Carbon Engine games had start up issues back in April, but LRG didn't receive dev kits until just a week or two prior to Switch 2 launch and immediately got to work on troubleshooting a fix for the Carbon Engine titles and submitting patches to Nintendo after tracking down the issue. I'm sure they were hoping Nintendo would review and approve the patch by launch day for this one, but alas, sounds like they did everything they could under what I'm sure were a stressful few weeks. Hopefully we don't have to wait too long now.

As someone who put 40+ hours into the Switch version of MK1 (and loved it despite its blatant and inherent flaws), this upgrade has been the biggest surprise of the Switch 2 launch for me. Of course it's still inferior to the PS5/XBX, but it does look crisp and has surprisingly good texture quality for the base hardware. No more vasoline smear, long load times, or absurdly low dynamic resolution scaling. It's a smooth and snappy time now. Might even get me to try out Invasions mode again, since the load times made me not even want to bother

@Automated_Unit_4937 it does! Played a Klassic Tower this morning, load times between matches were like 2 seconds (!!), characters render much faster on the selection screen, and the gameplay appeared to run at a rock solid 60fps with no dips in resolution, at least from my half hour of testing.

@AmplifyMJ on account of DOOM Eternal being on Nintendo's "Games with issues that are planned to be addressed by launch or shortly after" list, I'm hoping they optimize it since they're pushing out an update anyway. And while they're doing that, might as well update DOOM (2016) as well, right?

From a pure design standpoint, I LOVE the Japanese one. Doesn't seem very impactful as cover art per se, but it would make for an excellent print ad.

@Serpenterror Xbox consoles - like most electronics - are primarily manufactured in China.

@Novamii as someone who just lost his primary OLED Switch (that contained all of my user data going back to my launch Switch) a few months back and got set up on a Lite as I wait for the Switch 2, I can confirm that your playtime DOES reset if you simply register your account on another device without doing a transfer.

However there's one caveat: The most recently launched games that actually display your playtime under your account info will retain those playtime counts, but the count will still internally reset to zero. Meaning if you played 40 hours of MK8D on your old Switch (and it was one of the most recently played games on your system) but got it set up on a new Switch without transfer, it'll show 40 hours until you play it for another 45 hours. This doesn't apply to games that are not displayed in your user info playtime counter when you move over to the new system, so you'd simply have to launch other games (preferably ones you've never launched or only played for "a little while") to knock the games with the messed up playtimes off the list.

Just be aware that: A.) since this method very much depended on the primary/secondary console backend, I have no idea if the switch to Virtual Game Card affects this.
B.) Some games - like Animal Crossing and Splatoon 2 - can ONLY have their sava data transfered via system transfer, so make sure all your games support save data cloud and you have an active NSO membership before attempting.

I turned off the psychedelic background for the standard maze stages but kept it on for the tempesty tunnel bits. That seems to be the sweet spot to me. Love that it's even an option to have one and not the other.

At first I was a little disappointed in the lack of console versions (would love an official western release of Gradius II for Famicom!), Gradius IV (even the PSP collection had that!) and especially a port of Gradius V... but once I watched the expanded trailer and learned this was part of M2 ShotTriggers series, this became my most hyped (non-Metroid Prime 4) announcement of the entire Direct.

There are so many QOL features and those beautiful, beautiful M2 Gadgets. Maybe I can finally beat Gradius III with the new easy mode. And an official western release of Salamander II AND a brand-new M2 developed Salamander III?! PINCH ME.

Yeah this game was announced in a Nintendo Direct is early 2021(!?) but didn't wind up releasing for another 3 years. And literally that whole time, it was at the very bottom of the eShop "Coming Soon" page with a TBA release date.

I actually wound up really enjoying this one and played it a TON at launch (maxed out the battle pass even), but kinda dropped it after one season like I do most live-service games. Really loved the character designs (Rieve!), the quick pace of the matches, and the more streamlined, simplified gameplay over other hero shooters.

The only live-service games I've ever really clicked with have been Knockout City, MultiVersus, and this.. AND NOW THEY'RE ALL DEAD.

The fact that this works not only with the Switch (for Fortnite Festival) but also with the PS3 made this an immediate pre-order for me. Still got several Guitar Hero and Rock Band games on my PS3, but my old GH guitar has seen better days..

@sketchturner oh yeah I know that it's all based on user ratings and not the opinions the staff or anything like that. Obviously only a fraction of people have played VB Wario Land over Wario Land: SML3, so that's gonna reflect in the list.

But it is my personal opinion (which is no more or less valid than any other opinion) that the users are wrong lol.

I don't think I've ever disagreed with a NL list more. Virtual Boy Wario Land at number 8, while it's less inventive (but admittedly MUCH more widely played) predecessor is number 1? I'd definitely have put 2, 3, 4, and VB higher.

I guess it's tough to really judge with a series like Wario Land though, where every other game completely shakes up the core gameplay. The puzzle platforming of 2 and 3 are personally my favorite, but I totally get why someone would prefer the more frantic stylings of 4 and Shake Dimension or the more straightforward subversion of the Mario formula with Wario Land/VB.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that most of these games are downright amazing and deserve a top spot. I disagree with this list, but that doesn't make it wrong by any means

Absolutely adore Star Fox Zero and Sol Cresta and find it odd they've been scrubbed. But the real oddball move here is the removal of Madworld. It's literally the first Platinum game! There's some real historical significance there

@Aneira considering the Switch (unlike the Wii or Wii U) allows for users to login and play on secondary Switch consoles, I figure worst case scenario your Switch 1 would be relegated as a secondary console after transfer, which would require a quick online check every time you boot a downloaded game. Though that can be a bit annoying if you're bringing it out of the house.

I know I'm HIGHLY in the minority on this, but I've been SO TIRED of all the conversation about framerate and performance that has dominated the gaming landscape over the past decade. I'm not gonna pretend that smooth solid performance isn't preferable 99% of the time or anything, but as long as the game remains playable and fun, I really don't mind too much.

This goes doubly so for something like Lollipop Chainsaw, a game that exudes late night low budget B-movie charm. It's a Troma movie in game form, and frankly, I find the uneven performance to be part of that charm. Like if it was polished and steady, it wouldn't be punk enough, y'know? I should add I feel the same way about Deadly Premonition and No More Heroes 3. Those choppy scene transitions and stuttery performance? That's a dang FEATURE.

That said, I do miss the licensed tracks. I understand why they're not there from a business perspective, but the generic music they replaced it with doesn't cut it. I'm happy "Lollipop" by The Chordettes remains though.

Got Kraino Origins last year solely based on the 9/10 review on here and my love of spooky and macabre games, and... yeah, didn't like it much. Felt like a third rate Shovel Knight knockoff with lesser gameplay and level design, and as is always the case in these situations, I'd rather just play Shovel Knight for the 47th time.

That said, this looks promising. I'll follow this one (and hopefully not get burned a second time).

If we can have a Yars' Revenge metroidvania (where you play as an entirely original main character) then we might as well do the same for Pac-Man I guess.

I should add I thoroughly enjoyed Yars Rising and I'm looking forward to this.

I know I'm HIGHLY in the minority on this, but I've been SO TIRED of all the conversation about framerate and performance that has dominated the gaming landscape over the past decade. I'm not gonna pretend that smooth solid performance isn't preferable 99% of the time or anything, but as long as the game remains playable and fun, I really don't mind too much.

This goes doubly so for a game like Lollipop Chainsaw, a game that exudes late night low budget B-movie charm. It's a Troma movie in game form, and frankly, I find the uneven performance to be part of that charm. Like if it was polished and steady, it wouldn't be punk enough, y'know? I should add I feel the same way about Deadly Premonition, No More Heroes 3, and the Wii version of House of the Dead: Overkill. Those fuzzy visuals, choppy scene transitions and stuttery performance? That's a dang FEATURE far as I'm concerned.

This is strictly composed of games that are fully owned by The Tetris Company, which makes sense from a rights perspective. Nintendo maintains some rights to it's home versions, making it tricky to get Game Boy and NES on here (plus this is a multi platform release, AND those games are/will be available on NSO, so yeah, that was never gonna fly).

As for Tengen Tetris - even though Tengen was linked to Atari thru the Atari Games offshoot, Tengen was sold to Warner Bros in the 90's, so those rights reside with WB (who barely do ANYTHING with it's legacy Atari Games/Tengen and Midway holdings).

@Sylamp it's 50% off in the US as well. Definitely worth a fiver.

Just finished my 100% playthrough last night and loved every second of it. The path to unlocking and beating the true final boss gauntlet is definitely a hearty challenge, so even though the game is technically not that long, I easily put 10+ hours combing thru the levels and mastering the intricacies of the mechanics (and REALLY enjoying the soundtrack, which understandably gives off some Tropical Freeze vibes at times).

A far superior game to the original imo and will likely be a top 5 of the year for me.

The GBC version is THE version I sunk the majority of my time into back in the day. Excited to give it another whirl!

Already 100%'d it on Switch and never encountered a single crash.

I absolutely adored the first game, 100%'d it on both 3DS and later when it came to Switch. It was definitely a top 5 game of the year for me back when it first launched.

But I think part of the reason I loved it so much was the quick pick up and play immediacy of the gameplay loop. Inventory management was there, of course, but it was fairly quick and simple. This one sounds like I'll be tinkering in menus A LOT more and it's seriously turning me off. Plus the length of the first game was, frankly, perfect, so tripling the length is also giving my pause. I'll probably check it out down the line regardless, but my excitement for it is way lower than I'd have anticipated.

@MontyCircus You are correct, I completely misremembered that The Lost RPGs was a separate purchase (since I bought them all at the same time it felt like a complete package to me). Out of curiosity, when you buy the Retro Collection alone, is it still labeled as The Great Yokai Battle Bonus Content? The icon being essentially the same as Yokai Battle always bugged me.

Speaking of The Great Yokai Battle, I recommend it! It's a hyped up take on the original game and I had a ton of fun with it (still haven't beaten the last few stages in Hell mode though. It gets brutally intense). Definitely worth it at 80% off imo.

Played thru Pinball Quest last week when it dropped and had a good time with it. Physics aren't great (like most NES era pinball games), but the RPG Mode progression was very fun and unique.

Uses the same wrapper as City Connection's other NES/Famicom re-releases like Zombie Nation and Hebereke, but it's quite feature complete and the borders are fully customizable (including multiple artwork options for people who are into that thing and you can choose which if any side widgets to add or remove). Bought Yokai Club yesterday, definitely gonna give it a look!

Possibly my favorite thing about the Switch is the absolute treasure trove of NES/Famicom games getting re-released, oftentimes for the first time officially in English. We got "Kid Dracula" in Castlevania Anniversary Collection, "Splatterhouse Wanpaku Graffiti" in Namco Museum Archives, SIX Ninja JaJaMaru games in the Ninja JaJaMaru: The Great Yokai Battle Deluxe Edition, and ELEVEN (?!) dang Kunio-Kun titles translated into English on the Double Dragon & Kunio-Kun Retro Brawler Bundle. Not to mention games like Devil World and Mysterious Murasame Castle on NSO. The list goes on and on and as an NES fanboy thru and thru I AM HERE FOR ALL OF IT.

@larryisaman based on what we know so far, it's believed that "Lollipop" by The Chordettes may be the only licensed song kept in the game. Brand new songs were apparently arranged to replace the bulk of the licensed stuff.

The European box art is definitely moodier.. but they already bungled the artwork with that sterile anime art style anyways, so might as well lean into the excess. NA/JAPAN FOR ME.

Rondo and Portrait did the anime look better in more befitting styles for the franchise. Dawn looks like a 4Kids Saturday morning cartoon.

Ayami Kojima's artwork is of course the gold standard, but Masaki Hirooka's artwork for Order of Ecclesia is also a perfect match for the series. But this? Not even close.

@YoshiAngemon From the information revealed so far, it sounds like "Lollipop" being used in the shop might wind up being the only licensed music retained in this version. The official word from the developer is that the soundtrack is based around new, original songs, BUT ALSO there's a Streamer Mode that replaces the shop music ("Lollipop") with an original song.

Really gonna miss Cherry Bomb playing on the title screen myself.

"There have been dozens of Nwc repros made and have not been shut down".

Yeah but those dozens of repros aren't publicly seeking funds and displaying the money they're bringing in on Kickstarter to produce derivative works of copyrighted materials. These folks are doomed.

I keep forgetting I Kickstarted this back when the Switch was only like a year old or so. Not really expecting it to make this revised release date either tbh

@ChromaticDracula Considering SEGA's Power Drift did the camera angle drift tilt thing back in 1988, that's more likely what was copied. Plus Slipstream didn't introduce the camera tilt until the 2022 console revision (it was absent from the 2018 PC release), two years after Victory Heat Rally had featured the camera tilt in it's 2020 Kickstarter trailer.

I really tried to like Warrior Within, but the early 2000's nu-metal vibes and emo edgelord of a Prince are just the worst. Especially after the utterly charming and adventurous nature of Sands of Time, it's just a complete miscalculation that straight up spits in the face of the franchise's roots.

I agree with most of this list and definitely align on the top 2, but I'd probably put the SNES Prince of Persia at #3 (and drop the SNES Prince of Persia 2 and Warrior Within a few spots each).