Latest Features - Page 5
Opinion Nightdive Studios Had Its Best, Most Prolific Year Yet In 2024
And it can only get better
For the younger readers amongst you, I suspect that many 3D games from the ‘90s and ‘00s seem rather quaint at best and downright unplayable at worst. It was a period in which the medium was geting to grips with a completely new third dimension; couple this with the limited graphical capabilities of the PlayStation and...
Feature Game Of The Year 2024 - Nintendo Life Staff Awards
Our personal picks for the best Switch games of 2024
As we head into the final week of 2024, it's time to slay the GOTY monster that devours the Decembers of many a gamer. While Nintendo itself has been in wind-down mode, with most internal resources focused on the next console and a software lineup to kickstart it, Switch itself has had a pretty...
Back Page 'DO NOT MENTION SWITCH 2' - We Infiltrate Nintendo And Sneak A Peek At Its 2024 Calendar
Stealth mission
In the magazine business, the Back Page is where you'd find all the weird goofs that we couldn't fit in anywhere else. Some may call it "filler"; we prefer "a whole page to make terrible jokes that are tangentially related to the content of the mag". We don't have pages on the internet, but we still love terrible jokes — so welcome...
Opinion It's Not My GOTY, But This Nintendo Game Was A Standout 2024 Memory
How Nintendo World Championships helped me ‘git gud’
I’ll admit, I’ve never been fond of speedrunning. The thought of shaving milliseconds off a time in a video game while playing the same sequence over and over sounds, in theory, more frustrating than fun. Sure, as a spectator, there is definitely joy in appreciating the wizardry of players...
Poll Box Art Brawl - Duel: Breath Of Fire II
I'm your fire, at your desire
Ahoy folks, and welcome back to another edition of Box Art Brawl! Last time, we looked at the Wii classic Okami in light of the recent sequel announcement from The Game Awards (woohoo!). Honestly, it wasn't a particularly close battle: Japan, with its beautiful use of colour and composition, won the day with 74% of the...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (Christmas 2024 Edition)
Holly *and* Jolly? In this economy?
Christmas is right around the corner and we're feeling sufficiently merry and bright, so it's time for another edition of What Are You Playing! This week on Nintendo Life, we all questioned our sanity as we checked out our Nintendo Switch Year in Review, a new Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket expansion ha
Opinion The Biggest Question Of The Generation: Er, Why Isn’t Nintendogs On Switch?
All bark and no mic
If there were a trophy for missing open goals, Nintendo would have a fair few in the cabinet. For example, why didn't we get a new Donkey Kong game back when the Super Mario Bros. movie launched last year? Why wasn't the Wii U called 'Wii 2'? And why, for the love of god, is there no Nintendogs game on Switch? There was a part...
Feature Nintendo Switch Year In Review 2024 - Our Most Played Games
But what are yours?
We've all mulled over our music habits, got to grips with our PlayStation and Xbox recaps, and now, with Nintendo fashionably late to the party, it's time to check out our Switch playtime thanks to Nintendo's Year in Review 2024. The Switch 'wrapped' site is now available, meaning you can see your gaming highlights from the past...
Opinion At Last, Vanillaware Hit The Big Time With Unicorn Overlord
"A unicorn is worth more than riches"
In 2009, in the run-up to Christmas, I remember poring over a recent issue of Official Nintendo Magazine looking for games I might want for the holiday season. Flicking through the pages and taking in every single word, one review in particular jumped out at me. The art style was something I’d never seen in a...
Poll Box Art Brawl - Duel: Okami
AwoOooOo
Get your paintbrushes ready, because it's time for another edition of Box Art Brawl! Last week, we matched up a trio of covers for Wario Land 3 on the Game Boy Color and after a weekend of voting, we were left with a clear winner. It was the European variant that walked away with the win, taking 42% of the vote and leaving the North...
Talking Point Is It Time For HD-2D To Take A Break?
HD-TooMuch?
Cast your minds back: it’s January 2017, and while the Switch isn’t on store shelves yet, we’re beginning to get a taste of what to expect on the hybrid console. As part of the build-up to the console, Square Enix announces a brand new IP from the team behind the Bravely Default series – Project Octopath Traveler. I, and many...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (14th December)
2025 draws near
We're back with a fresh look at our weekend gaming plans in the latest edition of What Are You Playing! Before we dive into things, however, let's recap this past week. Mr. Video Games himself, Geoff Keighley, was gracing our screens once again at The Game Awards, and while it was far from a Switch-fest, we did get a look at a new...
Reaction The Game Awards Left Us With One Big Question: Will Any Of This Run On Switch 2?
How would you rate the show?
It was never going to be a Nintendo night and, as predicted, Switch announcements were thin on the ground during last night's TGA 2024 presentation. Nintendo failed to win a single award, but looking back on 2024's first-party releases, you could argue that if there's a year Nintendo didn't deserve to win
Round Up Day Of The Devs The Game Awards Edition 2024 - Every Announcement, Confirmed Switch Games
Hyper Light Breaker! inKonbini! Demon Tides!
Day of the Devs returns for its second showcase of the year, The Game Awards Edition. Taking place the day before the big ceremony, Double Fine Productions and iam8bit return with their non-profit to show us the very best of the indie game scene. And what a selection we have this time around, ranging...
Round Up Every Game From Wholesome Snack 2024 Coming To Nintendo Switch
Preparing for a cosy 2025
With The Game Awards just two days away, we're getting a deluge of new game announcements and showcases, and one of today's headliners is the Wholesome Snack: The Game Awards Edition. The 35-minute presentation showcased tons of cuddly, cosy games, alongside a couple of tearjerkers and some surprise DLC announcements...
Poll Box Art Brawl: Wario Land 3
Who's-a gonna win?
WAH! Welcome to this week's edition of Box Art Brawl! Last time, we matched up a duo of designs for Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate on the 3DS, with Europe and North America facing off against Japan. After a week of voting, it was the former that walked away with a commanding win, with the Western design taking 63%of the vote and the...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (7th December)
2025 draws near
The working week is over so it's time to find out what we're all up to with the latest edition of What Are You Playing! This week in the world of Nintendo, we finally got a release date for the hotly-anticipated Wario Land-like Antonblast, we heard that Digital Eclipse's Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind is
Gallery Feast Your Eyes On This Massive Wario Collection
Out of this WAAHld
Wario, the flatulent, garlic-loving counterpart to Mario's non-gassy, casual garlic admirer, first appeared in Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins and has since gone on to appear in not one, but two separate series of his own: Land and Ware. Everyone loves a bit of the plumber in yellow, but can any of our good readers claim to...
Poll Okay, It's Time To Ask The Obvious - Will We Get Donkey Kong 64 On NSO?
The game turns 25 in Europe
Donkey Kong 64 — not the most beloved of Rare's titles, but probably the developer's most ambitious 3D platformer — turns 25 here in Europe today, 6th December 2024. DK and friends have a lot to celebrate lately: the Donkey Kong Land trilogy on Game Boy has trickled onto NSO over the past few weeks; the Donkey Kong...
Opinion Nintendo Needs To Let Us Block The Crap On Switch 2's eShop
Block and move on
It's been years now since Nintendo opened the eShop floodgates and started letting everything in. In stark contrast to the Wii U days when even established developers had trouble getting their games on Nintendo platforms, the weekly update is now filled with games that would have been unthinkable just one console generation ago...
Talking Point Can Sony And Microsoft Really Compete With Nintendo In A New 'Handheld War'?
Come at the king, you best not miss
It’s safe to say that, 146 million sales later, Nintendo’s risk of launching a dockable handheld console in 2017 has paid off handsomely. After all, Sony’s PS Vita was all but dead by that point, and despite the 3DS managing to reverse its fortunes after a swift price drop in its first year, many claimed...
Poll After Three Quiet Months, Will We Finally Get A Nintendo Direct In December?
Show(case), don't tell
With December finally upon us, our minds have been drifting to the past 12 months, recalling what has been a surprisingly packed year of gaming. We've had surprise drops, indie hits and more than a few big names to tide over the Switch in its twilight year, but we can't help but feel that something has been missing: where were...
Feature Nintendo Life eShop Selects & Readers' Choice (November 2024)
Our picks for the best eShop games in November
What do you do on the 1st of December? Put up the Christmas tree? Open the first door of your Advent Calendar? Or have a browse at the most recent eShop Selects? Of course, it's the latter! We're looking back at November before we hit the holidays, and while those in North America may be recovering...
Poll Box Art Brawl - Duel: Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate (3DS)
Hunting on the go
We are back with another edition of Box Art Brawl! Last time, it was a one-on-one match-up for the GBA's Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land and after a few weeks of close calls, we had a pretty definitive winner in this one. It was the darker European and North American variant that walked away with a comfortable win, taking 64% of...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (30th November)
Monkeying around
The weekend is here, which means it's time to relax and dive into a few games after what has no doubt been another busy, busy week. Before we do, however, let's recap some of the week's biggest stories. First up, it was revealed that Tencent would be bringing an end to online services for the Nintendo Switch in China in 2026. Just...
Guide 133 Games You Should Pick Up In Nintendo's 'Cyber Deals' Switch eShop Sale (North America)
Every game we scored 9/10 or higher
The Black Friday sales are here. The European eShop got its wave of tasty discounts last week and now it's North America's turn. The 'Cyber Deals' eShop sale is now live, with a boatload of titles getting a price cut until 2nd December at 11
Feature 9 Things Nintendo Could Add To Switch 2 So It's Not 'Just Another Switch'
The same but different
So here we all are, waiting. For all the rumours — all the supposed prototype casings and talk of electromagnets and back buttons — the only things we can say for certain about 'Switch 2' are that it'll be revealed sometime in the next 123 days (before the end of the fiscal year on 31st March 2025) and that
Opinion Raise A Glass To The Nintendo DS' Peculiar Peripherals
Let there be cartridge
I've been noodling with my old DS in the last week. Whether it was to celebrate its 20th anniversary, reaffirm it as my favourite system of all time, or simply help me forget that it has been two decades since I first played Nintendogs, I can't be sure. But what I do know, is that I've been having a blast. Naturally, I went...
Talking Point Where The Heck Are Those Metroid Prime 2 And 3 Remasters?
We're wait-Ing
So... where is it? When Metroid Prime Remastered launched on 9th February 2023, we were utterly convinced that its sequels, Prime 2: Echoes and Prime 3: Corruption, would follow suit sometime after. Now that 2025 is fast approaching, our certainty has waned, yet we remain confident that Nintendo will complete the saga on Switch...
Book Review An Unendorsed Anthology Of Club Nintendo - A Terrific Tribute Tome
Join the club
The My Nintendo loyalty program is pretty good, right? If you head on over to the rewards section of the service right now, you’ll find a host of interesting goodies to claim should you possess the required number of coins. These include a Nintendo Switch Online 2025 Calendar, a set of
"Cats are amazing animals"
Stray caught everyone a little by surprise when it first leapt onto PlayStation consoles back in 2022. A cyberpunk platformer where you play as a cute kitty sure looked sweet, but it was surprisingly heartfelt? Surprisingly fun to play? And (un)surprisingly drove any real-world cats in its vicinity wild? We weren't...
Poll Box Art Brawl - Duel: Kirby: Nightmare In Dream Land (GBA)
When light faces dark
Another week, another edition of Box Art Brawl! Before we dive into this week's battle, let's see how things panned out last time. We looked at Double Dragon for the NES, and it was yet another close call. After over 1,600 votes from our dear readers, it was the Western design that took home the win with 53% of the vote. Well...
Talking Point What Would Be The Ideal Way To Play DS Games On 'Switch 2'?
Dual-screen dilemma
This week saw the Nintendo DS turn 20. Naturally, such an anniversary has got us thinking about the unstoppable passage of time delightful dual-screen once again, and more than a few of us have dusted off our old clamshells for a quick blast through some of our favourites. But, being the needy gamers that we are, ever desperate...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (23rd November)
No luck Questing those Dragons, then?
The weekend is finally upon us, so it's time to share what we gamers are all up to in our downtime. Before we get into it, though, let's take a look at what went down this week. The big news this week was the 20th anniversary of the Nintendo DS. Yes, twenty. To celebrate, we asked you for your top five DS...
Opinion Chrono Trigger Isn't The Only Great Time-Travel RPG On DS
Chronologically perfect
No less than an hour into Radiant Historia, Stocke – a special agent in Astiel’s Special Intelligence Unit and the game’s main protagonist – is on the brink of death. His mission to rescue a spy who has infiltrated the Granorg army has failed, and his subordinates Raynie and Marco have been killed. But it’s not...
Poll Was The Nintendo DS Prototype Really So Ugly?
Or just misunderstood?
It's hard to believe that it's been 20 years since the Nintendo DS launched, yet here we are. It's been even longer since it was revealed too, with the newly-appointed VP of sales and marketing Reggie Fils-Aimé taking to the stage at E3 2004 to showcase Nintendo's vision for the future of handheld gaming. We know now, of...
Feature It's 20 Years Since The Launch Of Nintendo's Most Important Console
The rise to heaven
One of the joys of Nintendo's Switch is how it marries the company's home console heritage with its equally prestigious handheld line. Ask anybody over the age of 30 to name a handheld system and "Game Boy" will likely still be the first answer; that system became synonymous with portable gaming in the same way as all home...
Soapbox How Nintendo Unexpectedly Taught Me To Love Gacha Games
From Nah-cha to Got-cha
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, how Tim learned to love the lottery... When I first played Xenoblade Chronicles 2 upon its launch, I was ecstatic to once again bond with memorable characters and explore...
Poll What Review Score Would You Give LEGO Horizon Adventures?
Is everything REALLY awesome?
Well, here's a sentence that we never thought we'd be writing: we spent the weekend playing the latest Horizon entry on Switch. Yes, LEGO Horizon Adventures has let Aloy and co. out of the Sony playground and onto Nintendo systems for the first time, and now it's your chance to let us know what you make of it. The game...
Poll What Review Score Would You Give Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake?
Quest for the best
Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake finally adventured onto Nintendo Switch last week and we'd imagine that many of you have spent the weekend diving into this swanky new take on the JRPG classic. Well, if you have been playing along, now's your chance to let us know what you make of it so far. Square Enix's latest remaster is a...
"If you've got a cool idea for a game, you can pitch your cool idea for a game."
Raise your hand if you haven’t played a Jackbox game… okay, trust us, if this were a real room, this would have created a pretty solid visual for how prolific the Jackbox party games have become over the years. Almost everyone has played one, and this week, believe...
Poll Box Art Brawl - Duel: Double Dragon (NES)
Double trouble
We are back, back, back with another edition of Box Art Brawl! Last time, we matched up two Game Boy covers for the weird Tetris sequel, Hatris, and oh boy was it a close contest! The colourful Japanese design just about clinched it in the end, taking 51% of the vote over North America's 49%. Talk about a photo finish! For a change...
"If the original fans aren’t satisfied, the remake will ultimately be considered a failure"
Booting up Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake and hearing the Overture — known as Loto / Erdrick's Theme in Dragon Quest III — played by the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra for the first time, it's hard not to be washed over by a wave of warmth...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (16th November)
How you dew-ing?
Another week has come and (nearly) gone, which means it's time to see what we've all got planned for our weekends. First, let's see what's been cracking off this week. It's been a reasonably quiet one for news, but we did at least get a Nintendo Direct; perhaps not the one we're all hoping for, but it was delightful nonetheless...
Anniversary 20 Years On, Metroid Prime 2 Represents The Franchise At Its Experimental Best
Crossing worlds
Following up on Metroid Prime was never going to be easy. Although many (this writer included) were sceptical of Retro Studios’ abilities to move Metroid into the 3D, first-person realm, the team not only managed to put its own spin on an established Nintendo franchise successfully, but it also created one of the greatest games of...
Talking Point Will Xenoblade Chronicles X Finally Tie Into The Wider Series On Switch?
It's Uncontrollable
“This story never truly ends…” We’ve been waiting almost 10 years to understand what the final words of Xenoblade Chronicles X mean. We’re used to earth-shattering plot reveals from Monolith Soft at this point, but even for Tetsuya Takahashi, the final sequence of Xenoblade Chronicles X drops a metric ton of them,...
Opinion No, Zelda: The Minish Cap's Worst Sidequest Isn't The Kinstones
Go figure
I've banged the Minish Cap drum so many times by this point that my adoration for Link's littlest adventure is old news. With today marking 20 years since this GBA gem landed in Europe, it felt too easy to sit down at my desk and gush over the tight six-dungeon structure, the brilliant puzzle design or the somehow still under-discussed...
Talking Point With 'Switch 2' Coming, Will Switch Get A Price Cut?
Nintendon'teventhinkaboutit
With the Switch successor's long-awaited reveal planned for sometime before the clock strikes midnight on 31st March 2025, the current Switch is getting another holiday season to itself. As part of Nintendo's six-month financial results presentation, company president Shuntaro Furukawa revealed that the upcoming console...
Poll What Review Score Would You Give Mario & Luigi: Brothership?
Five by five
After the demise of AlphaDream, it seemed like a new entry in the Mario & Luigi saga became nothing more than a mere pipe dream. Thankfully, however, a new collaboration between Nintendo and Acquire has resulted in Mario & Luigi: Brothership, a game that stands as not only the first brand-new entry in the franchise in nearly a...
Scarf out loud
Sonic Boom was one of the most ambitious projects Sega has ever undertaken with Sonic the Hedgehog. It was a full-throttle attempt at creating a brand-new sub-franchise for the blue blur, complete with new world, radically different character designs, and an accompanying animated series. Nintendo fans certainly had a lot to be...
