Tag: Switch

ARMS (Switch) review

Published on by Chris Scullion4 Comments
Nintendo
Switch

When I first played Arms at the Nintendo Switch reveal event back in January, I left with a few concerns.

“Before I fork over my cash for it,” I wrote in my hands-on preview, “I’m going to want to see a lot more characters, plenty more stages (each with a unique gimmick, preferably) and a solid single-player mode that goes beyond arcade-style ‘beat this fighter, then this one, and so on’ stuff.

“I like what I’ve seen so far, but I remain unconvinced at this point. It’s going to take a little more than this to disarm me. You’d think I’d be sorry for that joke. You’d be wrong.”

I’ve now spent the last week playing the game at home, and I’m happy that most of those concerns have been put to rest. I’ve even come to terms with calling it ARMS instead of Arms.

And I’m still not sorry for that joke. Continue reading “ARMS (Switch) review” →

10 characters who should be in ARMS

Published on by Chris Scullion4 Comments

Nintendo’s latest original game is ARMS, which is coming to the Switch on 16 June.

In case you don’t already know, it’s a fighting game in which all the characters have extendable arms, meaning they can attack from a distance. I played it way back in January: here were my obscenely early hands-on impressions.

Nintendo has promised that, as was the case with Splatoon, ARMS will be supported after launch with a bunch of free downloadable content updates.

This will include new stages, new types of arm and – most interestingly – new playable fighters.

Now, if you ask me, this opens the door to a bunch of new possibilities. Friends, I’m thinking crossovers. Continue reading “10 characters who should be in ARMS” →

Ultra Street Fighter II (Switch) review

Published on by Chris Scullion1 Comment
Nintendo / Capcom
Switch

Street Fighter is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. While its popularity may have started in the arcades, gamers of a certain age (i.e. old pricks like me) will always associate it with Nintendo too.

The Super Famicom version of Street Fighter II was the game that got countless western SNES gamers curious about importing, with magazines like Super Play guiding us through the process.

I distinctly remember convertor cartridges being sold out of independent game shops all over Glasgow as I (well, my dad) and many others happily dropped upwards of £100 on the Japanese version of the game so we didn’t have to wait six months for the European release.

For the longest time the SNES version of Street Fighter II and its ‘sequel’ Street Fighter II Turbo were the big winning blow in the 16-bit console wars, the game Mega Drive owners were jealous they didn’t have. Until they got it a year later, mind.

My (needlessly long) point is that when I think back to the early days of Street Fighter II, my mind goes back to the early ‘90s as I played it for hours every night on the SNES, wearing out my L and R shoulder buttons with endless Dragon Punches, Spinning Bird Kicks and Hundred-Hand Slaps.

It’s fitting, then, that Capcom should celebrate Street Fighter’s 30th anniversary with a return to Nintendo and what it hopes is the definitive version of the game that kicked it all off in the first place. And for the most part, it’s succeeded. Continue reading “Ultra Street Fighter II (Switch) review” →

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch) review

Published on by Chris Scullion8 Comments
Nintendo / Nintendo EAD
Switch

For most games, selling 8 million copies would be considered a huge success. Much whooping and hollering would take place, and both publisher and developer would metaphorically and physically kiss each other on the lips at a job well done.

Mario Kart isn’t most games though. For it, 8 million is quite an underachievement. Considering the DS, Wii and 3DS entries sold 23, 36 and 14 million copies respectively, a ‘mere’ 8 million has to go down, bizarrely, as a disappointment.

This was the fate that befell the appropriately named Mario Kart 8, which failed to hit octuple figures through no fault of its own. Indeed, most people who played it considered it the greatest Mario Kart game ever made.

The reason for its relative sales funk, of course, was that it was released on the Wii U, a console that – as genuinely great as it was – ended up being about as popular as an Al Jolson cosplayer at the MOBO awards.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, then, finds itself in an interesting position. It’s essentially an enhanced version of a game that, despite already selling 8 million copies, is set to be experienced by a whole host of new players for the first time. Continue reading “Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch) review” →

How to buy Switch eShop games from different regions

Published on by Chris Scullion19 Comments

Yesterday I reviewed Kamiko, a Switch game that (at the time of writing) was only available on the Japanese eShop.

Whereas before Nintendo gamers haven’t been able to access another region’s eShop without either buying another system from that region or pulling off some extreme tomfoolery, the Switch’s region-free policy makes it much easier than you’d expect.

Despite this, a lot of Switch owners have still yet to add other eShops to their system. If that includes you, yer man Scullion is about to show you how to do it, and how to buy games from them once you do. Continue reading “How to buy Switch eShop games from different regions” →

Kamiko (Switch) review

Published on by Chris Scullion5 Comments
Skipmore / Flyhigh Works
Switch

Well, here’s a nice wee surprise. After last night’s Nintendo Direct ended I decided to check out the Japanese eShop out of curiosity, and there I found Kamiko.

It’s a little Japanese indie game made by a chap called ‘Y. Kimura’, but who prefers to go by Skipmore. He enjoyed a bit of cult success with the Fairune RPGs on the 3DS eShop, and now he’s back on the Switch.

Whereas Fairune was a fairly slow-paced take on the original Legend Of Zelda though, Kamiko is… um, a fairly fast-paced take on it. Continue reading “Kamiko (Switch) review” →

I Am Setsuna (Switch) review

Published on by Chris ScullionLeave a comment
Square Enix / Tokyo RPG Factory
Switch, PS4, PC (Switch version reviewed)

With an enormous new Zelda adventure available at launch, it’s understandable that Switch owners may not have been in a rush to buy another RPG that takes 25-30 hours to beat that they’d have to juggle alongside it.

Now that we’re nearly a month into the Switch’s life though, it might be worth giving I Am Setsuna another look if you haven’t yet done so.

Inspired by RPGs from the ‘golden age’ (the 16-bit era that brought us the likes of Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy IV), I Am Setsuna mixes old-school mechanics with polygonal visuals to give the traditional RPG style a more modern feel. Continue reading “I Am Setsuna (Switch) review” →

1-2-Switch (Switch) review

Published on by Chris ScullionLeave a comment
Nintendo / Nintendo EPD
Switch

“This should have come free with the Switch.”

When it comes to hot takes it’s hard to think of one that’s been more regularly bandied about. The combination of 1-2-Switch’s basic gameplay, its family-friendly focus and the increasing sense of entitlement among ‘gamers’ means nearly everyone and their Nintendog reckons this should have been the next Wii Sports style pack-in.

I don’t necessarily agree. While some gamers bought the Switch for its built-in two-player functionality, just as many (if not more) are solo gamers who bought it more for its handheld capabilities.

As such, if Nintendo had bundled 1-2-Switch with its console, you’d have had just as many complaints from other people moaning that they would have rather had the system without the game for a cheaper price.

What we have, then, is a game that half of Nintendo’s audience has no interest in, and the other half wants for free. No pressure, then. Continue reading “1-2-Switch (Switch) review” →

Othello (Switch) review

Published on by Chris Scullion2 Comments
Arc System Works
Switch

“You are welcome, sir, to Cyprus. Goats and monkeys!”

That’s my favourite line of Shakespeare, that is. It’s from Act 4, Scene 1 of Othello, one of yer man’s great tragedies.

There are no goats in Othello for the Switch. And unless there’s an unlockable somewhere that I’m missing, there are no monkeys either. Just a load of black and white circles. Continue reading “Othello (Switch) review” →

Snipperclips (Switch) review

Published on by Chris Scullion1 Comment
Nintendo / SFB Games
Switch

When Nintendo first held its Switch preview events in mid-January, the general consensus was that Snipperclips was potentially the system’s secret weapon.

A co-op puzzle game that makes the most of the Switch’s JoyCon-sharing feature, Snipperclips put a smile on the face of anyone who tried it.

What remained to be seen, however, was how the game would perform outside of Nintendo’s controlled environment, and whether there was enough content in there to justify forking over your greenbacks for it.

The result is an emphatic yes… as long as you have someone to play it with. Continue reading “Snipperclips (Switch) review” →