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[Now where were we?]

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TalkBack / Metroid Prime 4: Beyond (Switch & Switch 2) Review

« on: Today at 05:00:00 AM »

Now where were we?

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/73696/metroid-prime-4-beyond-switch-n-switch-2-review

What do you do when it has been nearly two decades since the last numbered game in your series? Do you up the ante and position it as something that has been building for all that time? When the main character first walks on screen do you hold for applause? Do you completely reinvent it for a modern audience? Or do you simply brush off the dust, stretch a little, and calmly ask “now then, where were we?”

In the period immediately following the events of Metroid Prime: Federation Force, the mysterious hunter known as Sylux has taken over leadership of the Space Pirates and a contingent of metroids (technically mochtroids). Federation bases are coming under attack as he searches for an artifact from an unknown ancient civilization. It is here that we join Samus, who confronts Sylux before being warped away by the artifact to a distant world. Buildings, gear, and personnel from the Federation base are pulled in with her.

Like previous Metroid Prime games, Metroid Prime 4 strives to strike a balance between classic Metroid gameplay, and progression that at times feels more akin to pre-Breath of the Wild 3D Zelda. Taking notes from some of the more often cited criticisms of Metroid Prime 3, it presents an entirely unified map and removes the option for fast travel, requiring you to backtrack through the map as you gain access to new areas via different abilities. The structure of the map, spidering out from a central hub area calls to mind the structure of Metroid Fusion. Like Fusion and previous entries in the Prime subseries, you will rarely be left wondering where to go. Your map nearly always has a marker on it and the challenge instead is found in thoroughly exploring along the way for upgrades and lore, solving puzzles, and engaging in combat. In contrast to many of those contemporary reviews of Metroid Prime 3, I would prefer that Metroid Prime 4 provide you with some fast travel options. I don’t have any issue with revisiting any of the environments. That’s just Metroid. Even the large central desert environment offers some unique gameplay and optional side areas. But, because you’ll often need to return to your base camp to install new abilities the trek back and forth can get annoying.

One key element of the Prime series, and one that has been continuously aped by other games ever since, is the scan visor. Every enemy has a detailed scan available full of lore. Much of the best storytelling is handled through details gleaned by scanning random bits of the environment. From the writings of this world’s long dead civilization, to incidental scene details, Metroid Prime 4 proves that Retro remains the king of this style of storytelling. That being said, it isn’t quite perfect. Back in Metroid Prime 3, color coding was added to scannable objects to make it clear what was a random scene detail, which was something that would be tracked in your logbook (necessary for 100% completion), and what was an object that could be interacted with. Metroid Prime 4 highlights interactable objects in yellow but everything else is the same color of green. This can make filling up your logbook a bit of a hassle as you check random scene geometry or even different sections of bosses for unique scans. Bosses are handled particularly oddly as you are able to get their main scan again after defeating them if you missed it during the fight, but you’re not able to get their secondary scans (usually for their limbs, weapons, or spawns). It is an inconsistency in how the game views missable, one-time scans.  

Metroid Prime 4 is the best looking first-party title to be released thus far on the Switch 2. Given that it is more-or-less a Switch title running at a higher resolution and framerate, this is both a compliment to Retro and an indictment on the rest of Nintendo’s first-party output. While I have no doubt the Switch 2 could produce an even better-looking Metroid Prime game, within the context of this being a Switch game much more so than a Switch 2 game, the output here is remarkable. Performance is essentially flawless, even when set to run at 120 frames-per-second. My one critique here (and this likely comes back to its original platform) is that many secondary elements such as particle effects, are animated at 30 frames-per-second. The gap between 60 and 30 is significantly less noticeable than the gap from 120 to 30, where these animations can be quite jarring. I also noticed some issues in certain cutscenes where the camera or certain character animations were tied to a lower frame rate. It is a nitpick but when dealing with performance this good, nitpicks are really all there is.

Much has been made of the addition of a small cast of Galactic Federation soldiers who Samus encounters on her quest. While the characters themselves feel very much in line with Tanabe’s efforts to expand on the Galactic Federation in Metroid Prime 3 and Metroid Prime: Federation Force, there was concern that they would take away from a feeling of isolation or that their writing would come up short. Ultimately, I found that I had the opposite reaction. Because you’ll be alone for 99% of the game, the rare instance in which you encounter another human character feels like an exciting event. As it turns out, isolation is a lot more noticeable when you have a basis for comparison. Your limited excursions with each character generally bring with them one-off mechanics that help to add variety to gameplay in each area of the map. I wound up getting pretty attached to each of them and would spend extra time in base camp making sure I hadn’t missed any optional dialogue.

But the visuals, the fantastic soundtrack, the surprisingly endearing cast, and the richly built world, all serve to bring you back into the unique feeling of Metroid Prime. These games are known for presenting dense worlds full of narrative detail, landscapes that inspire a sense of awe, and soundscapes that are at once thrilling and haunting. There is nothing quite like a Metroid Prime game. Sometimes they’re puzzle games, but the next moment you’ll turn the corner and find yourself in a horror game. One moment you’re alone digging through ancient ruins, and the next you’re embroiled in first person combat. Each game may add its own mechanics and narrative spins, but they all carry that core Metroid Prime identity. Some are quiet journeys through abandoned and remote locations; others carry the grand scale of galactic war against the Space Pirates. Metroid Prime 4 manages to land somewhere in the middle. It never hits the narrative scale of Metroid Prime 3, but does place a greater focus on narrative than Metroid Prime or Metroid Prime 2.

In the eighteen years since Metroid Prime 3, a lot has changed in the world of game design and the world of Metroid. Over in the parallel world of Yoshio Sakamoto’s 2D Metroid series, Metroid Dread has made waves as a glorious return for classic Metroid. The Legend of Zelda, which was in many ways a sibling series to Metroid in terms of design, has become an open-world sandbox and reignited the series. But amidst that backdrop of reinvention and revitalization, Kensuke Tanabe and his team at Retro just seem interested in making Metroid Prime 4. A game that picks up its game design right where it left it in Metroid Prime 3, and its story right from where it left off in Metroid Prime: Federation Force. For that reason, Metroid Prime 4 feels like a world we never left, like I had simply missed another Metroid Prime game that came out a couple years after Metroid Prime 3. It can be difficult to describe how comforting it was to simply go back and have another adventure without the need to reinvent. It's not that Metroid Prime 4 is exactly like any of the other Metroid Primes. Honestly, taken individually none of them are all that similar. Rather, Metroid Prime 4 just feels like another one. It doesn’t expect you to point and clap when Samus walks on screen. Metroid Prime 4 presents a world in which Samus never left.

[You got Contra in my Wild Guns!]

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TalkBack / Neon Inferno (Switch) Review

« on: November 20, 2025, 06:14:20 AM »

You got Contra in my Wild Guns!

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/73365/neon-inferno-switch-review

What do you get when you combine 16-bit run and gun action with a gallery shooter? The answer is Neon Inferno, a game that proudly touts itself as Contra meets Wild Guns. Set in a cyberpunk New York City and drenched in gorgeous pixel art, Neon Inferno makes a strong impression. But does it have the substance to back up all that style?

The game can be played both single player and cooperatively with a second player. Levels play out in a 2D field but enemies can appear both in the foreground alongside the player and the background. In the foreground you’ll run, jump, and shoot freely. You also have a melee attack (that doubles as a counter) and a dodge. By holding down the right bumper you can instead fire into the background. While doing this you won’t be able to move so its important to carefully manage enemies in both the foreground and the background. Attentive players can also make use of bonus damage by using the melee counter to deflect bullets from the foreground into the background. Punctuating this gameplay are regular set piece moments that will have you jumping between flying vehicles or fighting off enemies from the back of a motorcycle weaving through traffic. Not only does each level feel highly unique, but there is a surprising amount of variety within each level from one screen to the next.

Between stages you’ll have the option to visit a shop where you can purchase special weapons that make use of limited ammo. These cost gold found in levels. However each one has extremely limited ammo and new ammo does not drop mid-level. This makes the actual value of any of these weapons highly questionable. I’d have much rather they be dropped by enemies in a manner more in keeping with the gameplay of the titles that inspired Neon Inferno.

It goes without saying that at any given moment there is a lot to keep track of. Neon Inferno deserves a lot of credit for how readable it manages to keep its chaos all while presenting absolutely beautiful artwork. You also have the option to strengthen or reduce the default CRT effects placed on the game. The art seamlessly blends between 16-bit sprite work that calls to mind the best of the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis era, with modern volumetric effects and real-time lighting. Being in the world of Neon Inferno is visually enthralling and I was always excited to see what the next screen would have on offer.

By default the game is set to hard mode, but also features a medium and easy mode. I opted for medium for my first playthrough. After a couple stages I started to feel pretty comfortable and figured I’d up the difficulty. I was disappointed to see that there was no way to do this without starting an entirely new save file. That obviously goes for lowering the difficulty as well. Add to this a questionable checkpoint system with extremely uneven placing and difficulty balancing does become something of an issue.

Neon Inferno executes on all the toughest elements of its design flawlessly but occasionally gets tripped up in more traditional areas. Blasting your way through enemies before using a sword to deflect bullets into a sniper waiting in the background is extremely satisfying. But at the same time a poorly implemented alternate weapon system and badly paced checkpoints prevent Neon Inferno from ever quite hitting the heights it deserves to hit. That being said even with those occasional missteps it is hard not to get caught up in everything Neon Inferno has to offer. This is a beautiful throwback to some of the best of the 16-bit era that achieves something entirely original.

[Great visuals struggle to save clunky gameplay.]

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TalkBack / House Fighters: Total Mess (Switch) Review Mini

« on: November 18, 2025, 09:04:36 AM »

Great visuals struggle to save clunky gameplay.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/reviewmini/73363/house-fighters-total-mess-switch-review-mini

House Fighters: Total Mess is an aerial combat game in which you control a small toy plane against opposing toys. It's a genre and aesthetic that I absolutely love. Unfortunately, extremely limited gameplay and some rough controls don’t quite live up to the charm of the premise.

Outside of the final mission, the entirety of the game takes place within a single house. Across a variety of missions, you’ll have access to different areas of the house, but the entire thing exists as one continuous environment. Slightly altered layouts for objects within the house and a slow drip-feed of new rooms keeps things fresh for the first chunk of the campaign, but by halfway through you’ll have seen everything. Most missions amount to flying to a certain spot in the house before engaging against enemy planes and turrets. Now and then a level will make use of some one-off mechanics. For example, one mission required me to pick up ingredients for a cake and drop them into a mixing bowl. Moments like that give a glimpse into a much more compelling avenue for House Fighters’ gameplay. However, they are the exception not the rule.

As you progress you’ll unlock new planes and visual customization options. A lot of the customization unlocks are found by exploring the house outside of your main objective for each mission. Unfortunately flying around as your little toy plane doesn’t feel particularly good. Movement is jerky with a camera that is locked tightly behind your plane with no sense of fluidity. The camera focuses on your plane itself rather than where it is going which makes tracking enemies feel clumsy.

What I can unquestionably complement House Fighters on is its visual design and technical setup. The game actually has graphics settings for low, medium, and high visuals. By default, the graphics are set to medium which is likely your best option if playing on an original Switch. However, if you’re playing on Switch 2, you can swap to the high settings with no loss in performance. The high preset adds highly improved light maps that significantly improve the visuals of the game. The low setting meanwhile appears to change resolution settings but even on original Switch hardware I didn’t see much of a reason to use it.

House Fighters: Total Mess is a great concept, but it just never quite executes on it as well as it should. The single player campaign is the only mode and only took me an hour or two to complete. Now and then some more interesting level design will peek through but for the most part this is a forgettable shooter wrapped in a very charming shell that ends just when it is starting to get interesting.

[It's really good.]

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TalkBack / Replaying Metroid Prime Hunters in 2025

« on: November 07, 2025, 04:10:54 AM »

It's really good.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/video/73149/replaying-metroid-prime-hunters-in-2025

I hadn't played through Metroid Prime Hunters since it originally released. With Prime 4 just around the corner I decided to revisit it.

[Worth upgrading or fine on Switch?]

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TalkBack / Pokemon Legends Z-A - Switch VS Switch 2 Technical Analysis

« on: October 17, 2025, 05:00:00 AM »

Worth upgrading or fine on Switch?

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/video/72920/pokemon-legends-z-a-switch-vs-switch-2-technical-analysis

[An early indie is made brand new again.]

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TalkBack / Platypus Reclayed (Switch) Review Mini

« on: October 11, 2025, 01:17:18 PM »

An early indie is made brand new again.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/reviewmini/72855/platypus-reclayed-switch-review-mini

Platypus originally released in 2002, predating what many of us think of as the modern indie game movement. It is perhaps best recognized for its 2006 release PSP. The game's graphics were notable for their use of stop-motion graphics built from photographing physical clay assets. Platypus Reclayed goes beyond a simple HD release of the original as it required brand new assets to be sculpted and photographed. The end result is a visually stunning shooter.

Like the original, Platypus Reclayed plays out as a horizontally scrolling shoot-em-up. You’ll choose from a selection of a few different ships, each with different stats. You only have access to a single weapon so gameplay is pretty simple. Periodically you’ll find temporary weapon upgrades. These upgrades significantly enhance your firepower but will be lost if you take damage or after a certain amount of time has passed. By shooting a weapon pickup you’ll cause it to cycle through multiple available weapon types. So while you can’t carry a specific weapon indefinitely, there is some strategy to be had in picking the right weapon for the job. Being smart about your weapons becomes essential as the level design comes with some noticeable and somewhat uneven difficulty spikes.

Gameplay is solid, even if it is very by the book. But the real star of the show in Platypus Reclayed in the presentation. What stood out to me most was that the game never really cheats with its graphics. For example a rotating turret on the side of a ship isn’t rotated by simply rotating the image, it is actually photographed at each incremental angle. When it fires there is a real, practical light illuminating the physical model. I often found myself playing just one more stage to see what the game would present visually. The only negative in this department is that in certain biomes some background and foreground structures can blend together, making unclear what is decoration and what is an actual hazard.

Platypus Reclayed is an excellently handled update that consistently delivers top notch visuals. It even includes the full original game if you’re feeling nostalgic. Level design comes with the occasionally odd difficulty spike in places, but in general provides a satisfying shoot-em-up experience. It doesn’t really push any boundaries in the gameplay department but handles the basics well. On very rare occasions the gameplay takes second seat to the visuals but most of the time they work together to create an memorable and enthralling journey.

[Yooka-Laylee reimagined for better or for worse.]

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TalkBack / Yooka-Replaylee (Switch 2) Review

« on: October 08, 2025, 05:00:00 AM »

Yooka-Laylee reimagined for better or for worse.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/72839/yooka-replaylee-switch-2-review

Yooka-Laylee, as it launched back in 2017, was a somewhat divisive game. Developed by ex-Rare veterans of games like Banjo Kazooie, it promised a lot of Nintendo 64 nostalgia in a brand new package. Depending on who you ask, you may hear that Yooka-Laylee was too slavish to that late ‘90s 3D platformer inspiration. Others will tell you that it was the deviations from that formula that are the cause of any of its problems. For myself, I actually think Yooka-Laylee is a pretty good game. So when Yooka-Replaylee was announced as a sort of reimagined remaster, I was curious exactly what the result would be.

At its core, Yooka-Replaylee, just like the original, is a 3D platformer that leans heavily into ‘90s collectathons. As a chameleon named Yooka, you team up with a bat named Laylee to recover the stolen pages (Pagies) of The One Book. To do this, you’ll explore Hivory Towers, a factory run by Capital B who intends to use the Book for nefarious purposes. Within Hivory Towers you’ll gain access to five different worlds, each littered with Pagies to find.

Right from the start, I was surprised by just how different Yooka-Replaylee actually is. The entire opening has been redesigned and expanded. A brand new tutorial segment is paired with a new story that lends more significance to Yooka and Laylee’s quest to recover the pages that have been stolen by Capital B. In fact, the story in general has been significantly altered with major changes made throughout. Once things get moving, it becomes difficult to catalogue all of the changes. Collectibles have been reworked and new functionality has been added for them. Feathers allow you to buy upgrades from Trowzer while coins can be spent buying cosmetics and optional game altering tonics from Vendi. Your entire moveset is now unlocked from the start of the game and no longer needs to be acquired from Trowzer. Finally, you no longer need to spend Pagies to expand levels.

This last point is particularly worth highlighting as it constitutes my primary complaint with Yooka-Replaylee. By removing the level expanding system, Yooka-Replaylee has essentially lost its very intentional level design. In the original game, each world would start as a pretty small and easy to cover area. After finding a certain number of Pagies you’d be able to expand the level. This would add new areas to the level along with new, more difficult challenges. The designers were able to gate the difficulty curve behind this expansion because they knew the player would be more experienced by the time they reached those later challenges. After expanding the level enough, you’d eventually be able to reach the level’s boss. In this way each stage, despite being an open sandbox, had an evolving sense of progression to it. Now, to be clear, this system was controversial in the original game. But controversial or not, the levels were built around it. In Yooka-Replaylee you simply wander into absolutely massive levels with no real structure. As a result you’ll encounter random difficulty spikes because the levels weren’t originally designed to be explored this way.

Now granted, as a fan of the original game, I was concerned that this may simply be my own dislike of a change in the formula. So I reached out to Jordan Rudek who has also been playing through the game to help me gather footage for this review. Jordan hasn’t played the original game, so I asked him what he thought of the level design. He responded by telling me that they felt too big and saying that he wished he had some sort of direction. On the other hand, I will give Yooka-Replaylee credit for taking a couple small steps to somewhat alleviate this issue. You now have access to a proper map along with fast travel points throughout each level. The map also includes a checklist for Pagies you haven’t found yet. This by no means solves the progression issue, but it does make the massive stages somewhat more manageable.

As for the Switch 2 specifics, Yooka-Replaylee does an adequate job of conveying the new visuals but does leave some things to be desired. The game runs at 30 frames-per-second, while other versions of Yooka-Replaylee run at 60. It should be noted that the developers have commented saying that they’re investigating adding a 60 frames-per-second mode on Switch 2 post launch. Evidently they only got access to Switch 2 dev kits very late. But that comment is somewhat telling in other areas as well. Both myself and Jordan encountered disturbingly regular crashes both during loading screens and when resuming the game from the home menu. During the final boss fight, I actually noticed that a background texture’s alpha layer had been applied incorrectly and was inverted. This meant instead of a skybox full of clouds, I had a skybox full of bright white squares with a cloud shaped cutout in the middle. Upon beating the boss, the game crashed on the loading screen into the ending. When I re-launched the game it simply flagged that I had beat the boss and loaded me back into the game world. I had to beat the boss again in order to see the ending.

A lot of the changes in Yooka-Replaylee are at best merely different and at worst actively detrimental. But I do what to highlight some legitimately good changes, because there are quite a few. Character control and feedback in combat feels significantly better. Collectibles are more intentionally placed and naturally lead you through levels rather than just being randomly strewn. The soundtrack has been rearranged and re-recorded by the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. There are a bunch of nice technical touches in the graphical update such as volumetric snow and fog. There has clearly been a lot of very thoughtful work put into improving Yooka-Laylee but somewhere along the line, a few elements of key identity have been lost in the shuffle.

At the end of the day I think there is an argument that Yooka-Replaylee is a more accessible entry point for this game than the original. But it is disappointing that I can’t say that more definitively. There are a lot of great quality of life updates but between stability issues and some questionable feature removal, it is hard to recommend this version without reservation. As I said at the outset, I like the original Yooka-Laylee. And I like Yooka-Replaylee. I think I can say that it probably fixes more than it breaks, but I’d rather it avoided breaking anything in the first place.

[Might have some Pikmin music.]

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TalkBack / Nintendo Shares Short Film - Close to You

« on: October 07, 2025, 05:33:28 AM »

Might have some Pikmin music.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/72838/nintendo-shares-short-film-close-to-you

This morning, Nintendo posted an unnanounced short film on their YouTube channels. The video is called "Close to You". It bears no overt ties to any existing Nintendo franchises however some of the music does seem to reference tunes from the Pikmin series.

The short depicts invisible forces manipulating various objects in a baby's room after the baby's mother leaves to answer the door. While whatever is causing the objects to move is not directly shown, it has led to further comparisons with Pikmin. This would not be the first time Pikmin has been the subject of short Nintendo animated films. A series of shorts was produced during the Wii U era centered around the adventures of the Pikmin and Olimar.

While it is possible the film will tie into a yet unannounced game from Nintendo, it is also possible that it is designed to serve more as a short demo for potential investors. It may be intended to simply show Nintendo's ability to produce this level of animation internally in addition to licensing IPs through studios such as Illumination who have handled the Super Mario Bros. Movies.

[If I had a nickel for every time I've reviewed Castle of Heart on Nintendo Switch, I'd have two nickels.]

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TalkBack / Castle of Heart: Retold (Switch) Review

« on: October 03, 2025, 08:00:00 AM »

If I had a nickel for every time I've reviewed Castle of Heart on Nintendo Switch, I'd have two nickels.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/72767/castle-of-heart-retold-switch-review

Castle of Heart originally launched as a Nintendo Switch exclusive way back in 2018. Seven years later it is releasing on Switch again as Castle of Heart: Retold. I reviewed Castle of Heart for NWR in 2018, so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to return it in 2025 to stack it up against this new version.

If you are unfamiliar with the original game, the basic premise was that you are a knight who has been cursed and turned to stone. As you work your way through levels you will constantly lose health as your body reverts to its stone form. Killing enemies and picking up health are the only way to keep the curse at bay. Gameplay is similar to classic 2D action games like the good Castlevanias or even Super Ghouls and Ghosts.

In my 2018 review, I gave Castle of Heart a 7/10 concluding that, “If you can overcome the controller lag, Castle of Heart can quench the thirst for classic action platforming among diehard genre fans.” That reference to controller lag was my biggest issue with the game at the time. Going back to it now with fresh eyes I’d characterize the problem less as controller lag and more a general issue with character animation, combat, and platforming. So, I was excited to see that Castle of Heart: Retold was specifically set to address these exact issues.

Now obviously there are some huge visual changes, and we will get to those, but I don’t want them to overshadow the actual gameplay updates. From the moment I started playing Castle of Heart: Retold I was shocked by just how much more I was enjoying it, as compared to my memory of the original. Platforming felt more responsive, combat was more engaging, and the whole thing just felt good to play. I wound up redownloading the original just to check to make sure that my memory wasn’t flawed. There are a lot of small changes to how the game works, and I won’t go deep into all of them, but I do want to highlight one big one. In the original game when you attacked an enemy, they wouldn’t suffer any knockback or interruption. This meant that fights often devolved into both of you wailing on each other waiting for the other one to die. In Retold, hitting an enemy can interrupt their action making timing your attacks and blocks feel more meaningful. As a result, combat feels more intentional and thus more engaging. I also noticed that your knight no longer does an awkward little shuffle if you attack while moving forward which constantly moved me out of position while playing the original version.

If we do hop over to the visual side of things, it is hard to know where to start. This isn’t just an update, but rather a complete rebuild of most levels. The actual layouts are generally the same. However, the environments and even some enemy placement are wildly different. In 2018 I thought the game looked fine. It looked like a lower budget Xbox 360 game, but it ran well and was pretty sharp compared to what else we were seeing on the system. Retold brings the game up to modern standards with high-end materials and beautiful post-process effects. You will spot some low-resolution textures on some characters when they manage to get a little too close to the camera in cutscenes, but during regular gameplay it generally looks very good.

Naturally then the question is, how does Castle of Heart: Retold run as compared to the original. This is especially interesting given that we aren’t running this on different hardware. This is still a game built for the original Switch. The original game ran at 1080p docked and 720p handheld. As I mentioned in my original review, it was a sharp looking game. This was then paired with a 30 frames-per-second target that the game generally hit without issue. As for Retold the story is, surprisingly, exactly the same. 1080p docked, 720p handheld, at 30 frames-per-second. It does make me curious if a lower resolution mode could be implemented to open up the game to a higher frame-rate. But regardless, it speaks to the advancements that can come on a single piece of hardware simply through greater developer understanding.

I’ve never disliked the original game, but with a score of 7/10 it's clear that in 2018 I felt there was plenty for Castle of Heart to improve on. While it still isn’t perfect, Retold allows us to play this game likely as its developers always hoped it would be. While this is releasing as an entirely separate game from the original, anyone who purchased that 2018 Switch release can get a hefty discount on the Retold version, making it a very worthwhile upgrade. If you didn’t play the original, then I finally feel like I can very earnestly recommend this game. I wouldn’t have expected back then that Castle of Heart would loosely bookend my experience with the Nintendo Switch, but it has been a very pleasant surprise.

[Is this what a cozy rail-shooter looks like?]

10

TalkBack / Candy Rangers (Switch) Review Mini

« on: October 02, 2025, 05:12:16 AM »

Is this what a cozy rail-shooter looks like?

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/reviewmini/72765/candy-rangers-switch-review-mini

One of the nice things about being an outspoken fan of a niche genre like rail-shooters is that, now and then, someone makes one and sends it to you. Such is the case with Candy Rangers from solo-dev Mechano. While I went in completely blind, it was hard not to be immediately charmed by this highly original take on gallery style rail-shooters.

You play as a group of four rangers who set out to fight the Unna, a corrupt group of monsters roaming the world. The game is presented from a primarily isometric perspective. Your four rangers automatically march forward along a course leaving you in control of a crosshair. Each ranger’s weapon has a unique color and is tied to the A, B, X, or Y button. Different weapons ricochet off enemies in different directions. For example the red gun ricochets to the left and right after hitting an enemy. So if you’re approached by a line of enemies in a horizontal formation, shooting them with the red gun will quickly defeat them. The ideal weapon type is shown by a circular overlay on top of enemies that displays a color that also corresponds to the location of its assigned button. It took me a moment to get a hold of and I will note that without any colorblindness settings I was relying primarily on placement of the indicator for certain colors. It would be nice to be able to set my own colors but the indicator can be read without them.

As you get accustomed to blasting away large groups of enemies with optimal weapon choice, the game quickly begins throwing new mechanics at you. While your characters move automatically, you do get access to a dash and a brief stop which you can use to dodge hazards. You can also jump, double jump, and parry certain attacks. All of these actions are assigned to the triggers and bumpers. It is a lot to keep track of in the chaos of later stages but when you do manage to get a feel for it, it becomes extremely satisfying managing everything at once.

Progression is handled by a world map with occasional gates built around collecting medals in each stage. Some of these require replaying levels as they will occasionally be placed along diverging paths so it is impossible to get them in a single run, even if played perfectly. I’m not a big fan of slowing progression like this in highly arcade style games but Candy Rangers does it very sparingly. Oftentimes just for the last couple stages in an area.

Candy Rangers just feels good to play. Simple clean visuals are accompanied by an incredible soundtrack that at times feels like a middle ground between Sonic Adventure and Pilotwings 64. The whole experience is buttery smooth and pretty snappy. This is a unique rail-shooter with a lot of legitimately new ideas that I’ve never seen elsewhere. There are some mild colorblindness issues to be aware of if that is relevant to you, and now and then progression feels a little padded, but it is hard to complain too much when Candy Rangers is doing so many new things and doing them well.

[More beautiful than the day I lost you.]

11

TalkBack / Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac (Switch 2) Review

« on: September 25, 2025, 07:40:50 AM »

More beautiful than the day I lost you.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/72571/pac-man-world-2-re-pac-switch-2-review

In 2002 we were on the tail end of 3D platforming’s golden age. Super Mario 64, Banjo Kazooie, and Spyro had enjoyed their time in the spotlight. There was a push to add ever increasing depth to the genre. For some this was adding elements of third person shooters, or perhaps a large seamless open-world. And then there was Pac-Man World 2. A follow up to the Playstation exclusive Pac-Man World, the sequel branched out to the Gamecube, Playstation 2, and Xbox. While it certainly carried with it some expanded ambition as compared to the original, it maintained a focus on simple, tight platforming. As a kid, I loved Pac-Man World 2, and it has always quietly occupied a space in my memory as one of the best 3D platformers of that generation. It had some awkwardness in its camera controls and level design wasn’t always even, but there was just something about it that stuck with me. Granted, a lot of that comes from being ten years-old when Pac-Man World 2 released.

So it was with a heart full of nostalgia that I sat down with Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac. What I found was much more than a simple, remastered nostalgia trip. But rather an exceedingly impressive effort to make Pac-Man World 2 live up to that nostalgia far more than the original actually does. As it turns out, when you address the few lingering issues in the original game, you wind up with an astoundingly good 3D platformer.

When the ghosts attack Pac-Village, steal the golden fruit, and unleash the powerful ghost Spooky it is up to Pac-Man to restore the village and put things right. You’ll set out across six regions to best the ghosts, recover the fruit, and foil Spooky’s plans for Pac-Land. While I doubt anyone is coming to Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac for the drama, the new and more extensive voice work does lend the story some fun new gravitas. Martin Sherman who played Pac-Man in Pac-Man World 3 returns to deliver fresh dialogue for this previously silent version of Pac-Man. Wormwood, as voiced by Xander Mobus also turns in a particularly great Saturday morning villain performance.

Each region of the overworld map contains a few linear 3D platforming stages and a boss fight. Contrary to what I was expecting, these stages are not 1:1 recreations of the originals. Rather, the developers seem to have been given the freedom to alter, expand, or rearrange, as felt appropriate. We can see it right in the very first stage, where a maze segment has been moved from the beginning of the stage to a point significantly later. Thorn bushes in the original game have been replaced with bear traps, removing the potential confusion with other foliage. Every area of this level is clearly taken from the original game, but rather than being a perfect recreation, it has been somewhat reimagined and in every instance, is an improvement on the original game design. Boss fights tell the same story. Bosses have been given new attacks and phases not seen in the original game. The first boss you’ll face is a large mechanical frog. In the original game you’d wait for him to stick out his tongue, use Pac-Man’s butt-bounce attack, and then wait for him to do it again. In Re-Pac, the frog now has several other attacks, and smaller explosive enemies also wander the field. You’ll have to dodge these new attacks while you wait for your opening. And when the frog does stick out its tongue, a well placed explosive enemy can be caught up in it, getting you an extra health pickup in addition to damaging the boss. It's as if they went back to 2002, took every piece of feedback the original game received, and then rebuilt it from scratch to solve all of those problems. It is utterly ridiculous how much work has clearly gone into touching up every inch of this game.

Pac-Man's movement was always a strong point for the original and it has been made even better here. Paired with a completely rebuilt camera system that holds up to modern standards, the simple act of exploring is now much more satisfying. My one complaint here is that by default Pac-Man’s Rev Roll move (a dash attack similar to the Spin Dash from Sonic the Hedgehog), is mapped to B. Aiming the Rev Roll is best done with the right stick which is awkward while holding B. I remapped this to the unused ZL button instead and found this worked much better. Having the action on B is more consistent with the original controls, but is one area where an obvious opportunity for improvement was missed.

The Switch 2 version of Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac comes with two graphics modes. Thankfully unlike in the Re-Pac version of the first Pac-Man World, performance is now the default selected option. This mode targets 60fps and manages to hit it the vast majority of the time. I did notice a one-off bug where after a cutscene, the camera seemed to be animating at a lower frame rate than the rest of the game. Restarting the level fixed this issue and I wasn’t able to re-create it again. Meanwhile the resolution mode boosts the output resolution slightly and targets 30fps instead. Much like the previous Re-Pac, there is really no reason to opt for resolution mode. The actual increase in resolution is minimal, and the effect on playability is substantial.

It is worth highlighting just how much content is included in Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac. Some of this is carried forward from the original game but this new version goes far beyond that. Each level has a series of missions that can be completed to unlock alternate costumes for Pac-Man, music that can be swapped out for the overworld music, and arcade games to be played in Pac-Village. Unfortunately, due to legal issues, Ms. Pac-Man is not playable in the arcade this time around but you do get access to the original Pac-Man, Pac-Mania, and Pac-Attack. After completing a level you’ll also unlock a time trial mode which also includes access to an online leaderboard. While I didn’t do time trials for every single stage, I did enjoy trying to outperform other reviewers in every boss fight. There is even some new post game content that I won't go into detail on.

I went into Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac expecting a nostalgic trip through a delightful yet flawed 3D platformer of my youth. Instead I got a lovingly re-imagined overhaul that exceeded my expectations in every way. This is now just an excellent 3D platformer with no need for qualifiers. Level design is varied with a nice gradient of difficulty and one-off mechanics in nearly every level. Every good idea from the original has been preserved and everything around it has been improved. While it isn’t technically an incredibly long game, it is dense with content and replayability. The Switch 2 version itself runs great outside of a rare technical hitch. Last but not least, they credit the entire original design team. The biggest negative I can give to Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac is that it makes it very hard to go back to the original.

[A little dessert after Heretic and Hexen.]

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TalkBack / Wizordum (Switch) Review Mini

« on: September 23, 2025, 03:00:00 AM »

A little dessert after Heretic and Hexen.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/reviewmini/72562/wizordum-switch-review-mini

Wizordum is a first-person-shooter based in a world of swords and sorcery. It was odd seeing it crop up in my review docket so shortly after Heretic + Hexen as it clearly draws deep inspiration from these classic shooters. At the same time, it is refreshing to see this style of shooter take something other than Doom or Quake as a source of inspiration. So I went into Wizordum quite excited to see what it would be able to bring to the evermore crowded genre.

You can choose between two classes to start which will alter your starting stats. As you progress through levels you’ll unlock weapons and secondary items at a pretty regular clip. Ammo and other item refills are pretty plentiful so regardless of which weapons I prioritized, I rarely found myself running out of ammo. I did find it a little awkward that switching weapons is on the radial menu that pauses the game, with seemingly no button to quickly tab through buttons. It means you’re breaking up the action every time you need to swap weapons. However, each weapon feels good to use, with unique ideal use cases for each one. An early favorite was an ice rod that could freeze enemies, before using an alternate function to shatter everyone you had frozen.

Overall design is heavily influenced by the early first-person-shooters of the 90s. While much of Wizordum’s gameplay pulls from Heretic and Hexen, its visuals and elements of its level design reminded me more of Wolfenstein. Levels are labyrinthian but don’t feature any real vertical traversal outside of separately loaded zones. In other words while the game looks fully 3D, you are largely operating on a 2D plane. That being said, the level design is still highly complex. And while you don’t do much vertical movement, enemies can still attack from elevated positions. Right from the start, levels have a lot of complexity and generally involve looping through previously explored areas as you find keys and access both critical and optional areas of each map. In an odd way it felt somewhat like Wizordum was starting from the middle of a game, with a lot of level complexity right from the get go. The designs are generally very good but it does make it harder for the levels to escalate as the game goes on.

Your overall enjoyment of Wizordum will depend heavily on what you’re looking for. It doesn’t do much to separate itself from other shooters of this style. It feels very much like a middle ground between Wolfenstein and Heretic. It does that very well and is fun to play, but I would have liked to see it bring in a few more unique ideas. Progression also feels a little flat. Each individual level is well made but I rarely felt like they were getting harder or more complex as I went. This is a solid and well made first-person-shooter, if not a revolutionary one.

[If I had a nickel.]

13

TalkBack / Nintendo Gave Samus a Motorcycle and I'm Excited

« on: September 14, 2025, 10:42:58 AM »

If I had a nickel.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/video/72495/nintendo-gave-samus-a-motorcycle-and-im-excited

[Somehow, Panzer Dragoon II Zwei Remake returned.]

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TalkBack / Panzer Dragoon II Zwei Remake Re-emerges For TGS

« on: September 09, 2025, 06:46:00 AM »

Somehow, Panzer Dragoon II Zwei Remake returned.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/72408/panzer-dragoon-ii-zwei-remake-re-emerges-for-tgs

After last being mentioned way back in 2021, Forever Entertainment's Panzer Dragon II Zwei Remake has made a surprise return for this year's Tokyo Game Show. A playable demo will be available at the event. This will be the first time this remake has been playable. Alongside the announcement came a selection of new screenshots which are the first official look we've had at this remake. We also now have a price set at $24.99.

Forever Entertainment previously published a remake of the original Panzer Dragoon on Nintendo Switch back in 2020 which we gave a 7.5/10 in our review.

Panzer Dragoon II Zwei Remake is set to release on Nintendo Switch, Steam, GOG, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S but no official release date has been announced at this time.

[A visually stunning adventure that holds up great on Switch.]

15

TalkBack / Particle Hearts (Switch) Review

« on: September 09, 2025, 04:00:00 AM »

A visually stunning adventure that holds up great on Switch.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/72404/particle-hearts-switch-review

Note: Game was played across both Switch and Switch 2. Included screenshots were all captured from a Switch in docked mode

I’ll be honest, after being offered a review code for Particle Hearts I went and watched a trailer for the game to get a feel for it. My first thought upon seeing a screen filled with alpha transparencies on characters and foliage, all emitting dense clouds of particles was “There is no way this runs well on Switch.” So my technical curiosity demanded I take the review and find out. As it turns out, not only does Particle Hearts actually run great on both Switch 1 and via backwards compatibility on Switch 2, it's also an extremely impactful narrative adventure.

The game opens with very little context. You are seemingly alone in an ethereal world, but a voice guides you to collect wind chimes. The sound of these chimes gently guides you as you explore and slowly reveal your character’s history; I found the story immediately enthralling. I don’t want to dive too deep and get into spoilers, but it deals with themes of betrayal and forgiveness in a very real way. An early chime will instruct you to make your way to gleaming, white, gateway-like structures. These gateways lead to challenges that must be overcome through a combination of platforming and puzzle solving. Upon completing a challenge you’ll be given an object that can be fed to a massive red creature back in the overworld in order to gain entry to the next large area.

The gameplay loop starts simple, mechanically limited to running, jumping, and dashing. As you progress you’ll gain the ability to briefly scatter your particle-based form, allowing you to pass through certain types of objects. Later you’ll learn to absorb the elements of particles you encounter to take on the qualities of water or fire. Each of these is then excellently factored into the challenge stages, which get progressively more complex in their puzzle focus. I did find that while the worlds you explored developed visually over the course of the game, giving plenty of variety, the challenge stages largely look the same. You’ll spend a lot of time working your way through extremely similar looking purple areas. Even just swapping out the underlying color every few challenges would do a lot to make them feel more distinct.

The world of Particle Hearts is presented in an extremely abstract style. Your character and much of the environment is assembled from tiny particles of light. Trails of errant particles drift through the air and along your path as you move through the world. This is achieved via a combination of legitimate particles being rendered in real-time, and the clever use of animated textures on characters that give off the impression of being built from more of the particles. It generally works very well and the Switch handles it with seemingly no real issue. The one area where I was able to catch the smallest glimpse of the Switch limitations was in the textures used for the environment itself. These are noticeably low resolution and fall short of the otherwise sharp edged particles seen elsewhere in the game. That being said the visual concept is still excellently accomplished overall, and at a smooth framerate and good resolution.

Particle Hearts isn’t a deeply complex game, but it balances what complexity it has in gameplay with an impactful story. I found it easy to simply sink into. I was always equally as excited to reach the next challenge as I was to unfold a little more of the story. There are moments that very genuinely hit and caused me to simply pause for a moment and absorb the storytelling. The world it creates is enchanting and against all odds holds up almost flawlessly on Switch. This is the level of narrative adventure that even with a few blemishes, I can’t help but fall in love with.

[This might be the Switch 2's most impressive game.]

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TalkBack / Star Wars Outlaws on Switch 2 has Ray-tracing

« on: September 04, 2025, 05:06:59 AM »

This might be the Switch 2's most impressive game.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/video/72344/star-wars-outlaws-on-switch-2-has-ray-tracing

[An a game with plenty of Metroid inspiration based on an Anime that inspired Metroid.]

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TalkBack / Space Adventure Cobra: The Awakening (Switch) Review

« on: August 25, 2025, 04:00:00 AM »

An a game with plenty of Metroid inspiration based on an Anime that inspired Metroid.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/72200/space-adventure-cobra-the-awakening-switch-review

Space Adventure Cobra: The Awakening is a 2D action platformer based on the manga Cobra from the late 70’s. Specifically its television anime adaptation Space Cobra. Confusingly it does not directly pull from the 1982 anime film adaptation Space Adventure Cobra despite sharing its name. You play as the titular Cobra, a space pirate who erased his own memory and altered his appearance in order to escape the pursuit of the Space Pirate Guild several years ago. After awakening to his identity, Cobra is quickly pulled into his old life of planet hopping and treasure hunting. But it doesn’t take long for the Space Pirate Guild to pick up his trail and reignite their old feud.

Space Adventure Cobra: The Awakening pulls its cutscenes directly from the anime series. Likewise levels are built to blend as seamlessly as possible with bookends provided by the anime. It is overall highly successful, though there is a somewhat unavoidable shock moving between the modern, real-time 3D rendered environments and the 80’s anime. But the way the game and the anime are so lovingly intertwined speaks to a true adoration for the source material.

Gameplay would be easy to initially mistake for a metroid-like, despite the game being a level-based, linear action-platformer. A lot of that comes from what are very clearly some strong influences from Mercury Steam’s Metroid Dread. Cobra’s basic move set and much of his animation feels directly lifted from Metroid Dread. I don’t mean that in a bad way. Cobra feels great to control. You run and aim with the left stick. By holding down the L button you can lock in place and freely aim in any direction. Cobra grabs ledges and smoothly mantles over low obstacles. By pressing A he can slide through small gaps or even between the legs of enemies. Y offers a melee attack though the otherwise close similarity to Metroid caused me to wish for a proper melee counter. The fact that this game takes such strong influence from modern 2D Metroid carries with it plenty of irony as Metroid itself was heavily inspired by Space Cobra as has been documented by historian Kate Willært. But that doesn’t mean that everything is pulled from Metroid. Cobra’s iconic psycho-gun is perhaps the game's most interesting and original mechanic. When fired, time freezes as you guide its firing path freely through the environment. This can be used to take out multiple enemies in a chain of destruction, or curve around corners to hit otherwise unreachable targets.

Levels themselves are nicely varied both aesthetically and in terms of actual gameplay. As you progress you unlock new weapons and abilities which are accompanied by new enemy types and challenges. And despite not being a Metroid-like, you can revisit old levels with these abilities to find hidden collectibles that were not accessible on your initial visit. I did notice that even on the standard difficulty, enemies tend to be extremely spongy. Even if you’re watching for gun upgrades, you’ll be sinking quite a few shots into some enemies. This leads to a somewhat inflated sense of difficulty that usually stems from simply spawning a whole bunch of enemies that all take a few too many hits to kill. Luckily the game's checkpoint system is extremely generous and there is no arbitrary lives system so if you die, you simply try again usually from directly before that encounter.

Borrowing heavily from the source anime, Space Adventure Cobra: The Awakening also inherits its soundtrack. When mixed with remixed and original music the auditory vibes are outstanding. The anime sequences also feature a new dub in order to match their audio quality and voicework to that of the in game dialogue. It's overall very good. Though I spotted a few times where subtitles were mislabeled. It wasn’t a huge issue but there were some instances where I was playing handheld with the sound off and got briefly confused.

Switch and Switch 2 performance is good in terms of frame rate, though handheld mode leaves something to be desired in terms of image quality. Docked the games looks quite serviceable both on Switch and running in backwards compatibility on Switch 2. But in handheld mode the clean cell shade anime aesthetic is dulled somewhat by a very low resolution. It doesn’t affect actual playability but it certainly hurts the art design.

In a world where seemingly the vast majority of classic anime adaptations boil down to arena brawler after arena brawler, it has been wonderful to see Cobra get a more in-depth approach. What results is an enjoyable game that conveys the anime’s story not only in its cutscenes but throughout its level design as well. It is clearly a game made by a team with legitimate admiration for their source material. It has some small issues with enemy balance and a few minor presentational blunders, but it's hard to ignore the charm and passion that exudes from Space Adventure Cobra: The Awakening.

[It may not be the GOAT but there are several goats.]

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TalkBack / Herdling (Switch) Review

« on: August 21, 2025, 05:00:00 AM »

It may not be the GOAT but there are several goats.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/72113/herdling-switch-review

I’ve played a lot of games that in theory should be similar to Herdling. I’ve played plenty of narrative adventure games built around atmosphere and environmental storytelling. I’ve played games where I’ve managed multiple characters at once. But somehow Herdling still winds up feeling very unique. Because while it has elements of games like Abzu, Rime, or even Lemmings, ultimately Herdling is a shepherding-sim.

You play as a young boy who comes across a wandering Calicorn. Calicorn are furry goat-like creatures that come in a variety of sizes. Using a stick you find lying on the ground, you quickly learn to shepherd the lonely Calicorn. As you begin wandering alongside it, you’ll come upon another Calicorn and soon your duo will become a herd. The story and motivation for what you’re doing is borderline non-existent, and you find yourself guiding the Calicorns forward largely because this is a video game and that's what you do. Herdling has no dialogue so you’re relying entirely on environmental storytelling and natural moments to form attachments to its world and characters. Over time you’ll get a general sense for where you’re going but never any real reason why or a deeper understanding of the world itself. Now and then the music will swell and you’ll get a nice setpiece moment, but with no attachment to the herd of similar looking Calicorns, it is tough to be too invested in their progress or safety. That being said, it's a very compelling world to be in. It's an odd combination of ancient and more modern decay. It would be nice to learn more about either of those elements.  

Your control over your herd is straightforward. At any point you can press ZR to send the herd moving directly away from you. They’ll always move as a unit so you don’t need to worry about scattering them if you’re not quite standing in the right spot. Holding ZR in open areas allows you to charge up a stampede that can be quite satisfying after navigating treacherous terrain. You can also hold A to slow down your herd or double tap it to call for a quick stop. Most of the time you’ll just be moving through the world, but now and then you’ll also need to carefully navigate hazards. Though, the danger is generally just limited to your Calicorns losing the energy they need for the stampede charge. I should also mention that the camera is a little awkward; it seems to hesitate between being totally free and heavily scripted and can wind up in some awkward positions now and then.

The music, sound design, and overall presentation are quite good. I played primarily on a Switch 2 where performance was smooth for the most part. The original Switch can stutter a bit more, but of the sections I tested it was never too bad. Distant landscapes are noticeably low-poly but the immediate environment, your character, and the Calicorns all look good. The music is extremely restrained, but when it does come in it's always a highlight. I noticed that during some big moments the music even intelligently lowers the volume of other sounds giving the score more room to shine. This is definitely a soundtrack I’d happily listen to independent of the game itself.

Herdling has most of the pieces of a strong and unique narrative adventure, but comes up a little short where it matters. It rarely gives you moments to form any specific attachments to its characters. The world certainly has some cool setpieces accompanied by a soaring soundtrack, but at the end of the day I struggled to care. There is still a well crafted world and some interesting mechanics at play, but the storytelling causes it to fall short of the genre greats.

[A move the game's creator describes as "unfortunate".]

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TalkBack / Kirby Air Riders Now Twice as Complicated with Addition of Second Button

« on: August 19, 2025, 06:08:51 AM »

A move the game's creator describes as "unfortunate".

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/72106/kirby-air-riders-now-twice-as-complicated-with-addition-of-second-button

In a Nintendo Direct focused purely on the upcoming Kirby Air Riders for Nintendo Switch 2, creator Masahiro Sakurai revealed that the sequel to the Gamecube original would feature a second button function. In addition to the B button which is used for the game's drift mechanic (similarly to A in the original Kirby Air Ride), Y now allows you to use a new charge ability.

The original Kirby Air Ride, released in 2003, famously only made use of a single button. The player vehicle would move forward automatically while A could be used to brake and drift. During the direct Masahiro Sakurai jokingly stated, "We've added a second button, unfortunately".

[And how does it hold up against the N64 port?]

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TalkBack / Heretic + Hexen (Switch) Review

« on: August 11, 2025, 05:02:00 AM »

And how does it hold up against the N64 port?

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/72016/heretic--hexen-switch-review

After three decades, Heretic has made its debut on consoles alongside its sequel Hexen which hasn’t seen a home console release since its original launch. The last time Hexen was playable on home consoles it was on Playstation, Saturn, and Nintendo 64. This re-released, dubbed Heretic + Hexen makes its way to Switch from Nightdive studios, who’s experience updating games of this era is hard not to be familiar with at this point. There is a lot to unpack in this release with both original games, Hexen’s Deathkings of the Dark Citadel expansion, a brand new expansion for both Heretic and Hexen, and a good amount of bonus content.

Heretic, the first game in the series, is a fairly straightforward follow-up to the Doom formula but in a swords and sorcery setting. And I don’t mean that to be demeaning. Heretic, though saddled with a lot of the same technical limitations as the first two Doom titles, exhibits an overall more impressive use of the engine in its level layouts. That being said, it's also very easy to draw 1:1 comparisons between Heretic’s weapons and enemies and counterparts in Doom.

But if Heretic is more or less medieval Doom, Hexen is a complete reinvention of how these early first-person shooters could work. Hexen asks the player to choose between three different classes, each of which have different weapons, abilities, and stats. Mix this with level design that is significantly more non-linear and focuses more on exploration and puzzle solving, and Hexen at times has as much in common with a Zelda or a Metroid as it does with Doom.

Beyond the two base games are three expansions. One for Heretic and two for Hexen. The first of Hexen’s expansions was originally released in 1996 while its second, along with the expansion for Heretic, are brand new to this release. The new Heretic expansion, Faith Renewed, is very well done and pushes the engine even further than the original game. Both Hexen expansions are solid, and I actually think I prefer the new Vestiges and Grandeur over the 1996 Deathkings of the Dark Citadel, but I don’t think either quite capture the magic of the original game. Still, they’re both very good.

The only actual hurdle I faced as I jumped between what essentially operate as five unique games, is that all five for some reason share the same save system. Worse, they all share a single quicksave slot. At multiple times I’d forget that I was using the quicksave slot for Hexen, only to then use it in Heretic and have to fall back to an earlier save in Hexen. Even just finding the correct save to load up becomes a hassle when you’re sorting through saves for every game. Keep in mind that this is after you’ve already booted a specific game, your saves are not filtered for that game.

As for visual options, Nightdive has played it pretty straight on this one. By default, the game runs in high definition (keep in mind this is a Switch release not Switch 2, so resolution is capped at 1080p). From the options menu you can drop it to its “original” resolution or several scaling factors in between. You can also toggle between 16:9 and 4:3 aspect ratios, choose from a couple different HUD options, customize your crosshair, and pick from remastered or original soundtrack options.  I did notice when using the full screen HUD option (which aligns with the Nintendo 64 version of Hexen I have nostalgia for) that the sky boxes don’t scale quite right. Meaning that if you look all the way up you can actually see them tile back to the bottom. Given that the N64 version makes use of this same HUD setup I was curious to see if the same happened there, but the issue is not present in that version. I don’t have the original PC release so I’m honestly not sure if this was an existing issue or if it is unique to this re-release.

But speaking of the Nintendo 64 version, that port was generally considered the best home console version of Hexen up to this point. It was based on the original floppy disc version of Hexen so it lacks the pre-rendered cutscenes, but is otherwise significantly better than the Playstation and Saturn versions in terms of accuracy and performance. Playing these back-to-back, I’m impressed by how spot on the Nintendo 64 version truly was. But I have to admit, it did make me wish I could filter the textures on this updated version. I think the sprites themselves definitely look better unfiltered, but in HD the raw unfiltered textures really create a lot of visual noise. Probably an unpopular take but let me filter those or add a CRT filter.

Heretic + Hexen is a fantastic collection of one very good game and one absolutely incredible game. The added content both new and old only serves to strengthen these two titles. That being said the clumsy save system and somewhat limited options for how these games are presented on a modern TV do lightly mar the experience. Even a CRT filter would do wonders for translating the visuals at a higher definition. But given that the previous best way to play this on a home console was to dig out a Nintendo 64 or put up with compromised versions on Playstation or Saturn, this is still certainly an improvement overall. Hopefully down the road we can get the rest of the Heretic/Hexen series as well.

[It's a great well but the water is getting a littl low.]

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TalkBack / Toree Saturn (Switch) Review

« on: August 07, 2025, 06:07:20 AM »

It's a great well but the water is getting a littl low.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/reviewmini/71995/toree-saturn-switch-review

Toree is a long running series of inexpensive micro platformers. Small 3D platforming challenges jammed into a bitesized adventure. Toree Saturn continues this trend, but as the fourth release, the Toree formula is getting a little stale.

You play as a small yellow bird named Toree in a series of levels that feel strongly reminiscent of early 3D Sonic the Hedgehog titles. Much of this ties into a new homing move which allows you to zip to certain targets within the environment. Levels are short, linear, fast paced, and each feature a few hard to reach collectibles which add some replay value. It is a game heavily structured around the concept of doing levels as quickly as possible while collecting as much as possible. Toree himself still feels excellent to control. While the game isn’t particularly rich in content, what is there is well designed. The entire game can easily be completed in under an hour. However if you quit midway through, you’ll need to start over from the beginning before you can proceed. You can replay levels you’ve already completed but there is no continue option.

The game looks and runs great on both Switch 1 and Switch 2. That being said, I did encounter some oddly long loading screens at one point. I was not able to recreate these later so it may have been a one off bug. The clean late 90’s art style lends itself well to being able to quickly read levels and spot collectibles in the midst of chaos. Likewise the soundtrack is quite catchy and fits the overall aesthetic nicely.

Like its predecessors, Toree Saturn plays great. But at this point I’m ready for more from this little bird. It's clear that the developer skill is there to do more with these games but they seem to be stuck retreading the same ground. It is well executed, but if you’ve played other games in the series, you know exactly what you’re getting here.

[Won't exactly fill your stomach.]

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TalkBack / Tales of the Shire (Switch) Review

« on: July 29, 2025, 08:19:42 AM »

Won't exactly fill your stomach.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/71879/tales-of-the-shire-switch-review

Few things in existing fiction personify the modern cozy genre quite like Tolkien's iconic Hobbits. A fantasy species built around keeping a clean home, warm community, and a good meal, Hobbits are coziness incarnate. Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings Game is, despite its awkward mouthful of a title, starting from a strong position. Unfortunately while the recipe may be delicious in theory, the end result comes out more than a little undercooked.

Tales of the Shire takes place in the years between the events of The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings. While the game opens with a brief encounter with Gandalf, Tolkien fans will spot other things here and there that reference back to the books. You play as your own custom hobbit who has freshly arrived in the small settlement of Bywater. After briefly settling into a recently vacated hobbit hole you’ll quickly become caught up in the local effort to get Bywater formally recognized as an official village of Hobbiton. To do this you’ll engage in quests for different hobbits that generally amount to running around Bywater talking to highlighted characters until inevitably someone asks you to cook something for them. Bywater isn’t huge but it is quite labyrinthian and you’ll be going back and forth across it constantly. That being said, I did generally remain compelled to finish a quest once started, as the writing is overall quite charming.

A huge focus of Tales of the Shire is in its cooking mechanics. From growing things in your garden to foraging for wild plants, it all comes back to cooking. I actually really like this as the focus for a game about hobbits. It does mean however that general gameplay variety is somewhat limited. Every questline will eventually funnel into inviting specific characters over for a meal, making something that aligns with their tastes, and then watching the same cutscene play out as they react excitedly to their food. There is nothing wrong with the mechanic, it just doesn’t have enough depth to carry the game the way it needs to. The whole game suffers from this general lack of depth, as there just isn’t much to it. While you’ll be cooking a lot, your character doesn’t actually ever get hungry which is distinctly un-hobbit-like. On the other hand, even for a theoretically laid back genre, you can make the argument that Tales of the Shire is among the most laid back games of its kind. Nothing ever goes wrong or asks particularly much of the player.

The game operates on a day system, similar to plenty of other farming life sims. You’ll have a certain amount of time each day to cook, farm, fish, forage, shop, and talk to other characters. Each of these characters have their own schedule and several of them run shops that are open during certain parts of the day. Once it is late enough you’ll be able to go to bed. If you stay up too late, you’ll wake up a little later the next day, but there is no other real punishment for doing so. I did find, especially early on, that I would often run out of things to do before the day was over and couldn’t find any way to fast forward. So I’d wind up aimlessly fishing just waiting for the day to end.

While Tales of the Shire is releasing for the Nintendo Switch, it is of course also compatible with the Switch 2. I played fairly equally across both Switch 1 and 2. Image quality holds up reasonably on both platforms, though the graphics themselves I don’t find particularly appealing. The world itself looks fine, if uninspired, but there is something quite offputting about the designs of the hobbit characters. Though they do get credit for having a fully bearded dwarf woman. Frame rate has some real issues on Switch 1 and surprisingly the Switch 2 doesn’t completely iron them out. They appear to be tied to asset streaming, as running across the world incurs regular prolonged dips on Switch 1. On Switch 2 these are less aggressive though still noticeable as a brief lurch. I did also encounter one bug while playing on Switch 2 in which the entire sky became red for a few minutes. I wasn’t able to recreate this bug on Switch 1 so it's possible this is a compatibility issue, but I can’t be sure. But the biggest issue here comes in stability. On average I’d say Tales of the Shire crashed every 20 minutes or so. The crashes happened equally between both the Switch 1 and Switch 2, to the point that I started manually saving before and after any significant action. I was constantly battling not to lose progress and in multiple instances I put the game down for the night after a crash set me back to the start of a quest.

Tales of the Shire is a really solid idea. It should work. There are great ideas here and some solid writing. This feels like the early access version of what could eventually be a very good game. But right now, it isn’t. Instead it is a shallow glimpse at what could be. When you factor in significant performance issues that even the Switch 2 can’t seem to brute force, and constant stability problems, it becomes very hard to recommend this game. I really want to like Tales of the Shire. I think there is a reality in which it could potentially get better in time, but it just isn’t there yet.

[We only ever said "oh banana" and never "why banana?"]

23

TalkBack / Donkey Kong Bananza (Switch 2) Review

« on: July 24, 2025, 05:12:37 AM »

We only ever said "oh banana" and never "why banana?"

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/71796/donkey-kong-bananza-switch-2-review

It is an odd feeling, playing through Donkey Kong Bananza. On the one hand it is a very direct followup to what this same team achieved in Super Mario Odyssey. It embraces the feel and elements of the structure from that game, while attempting to address some weak points. On the other hand, it is also clear that Nintendo isn't starting fresh with Donkey Kong. In fact Donkey Kong Bananza is perhaps more aware of its own gameplay and narrative lineage than most titles within the greater Marioverse.

When an evil banana stealing conglomerate (Konglomerate?) called VoidCo steals all of the giant banandium gems from the mines where Donkey Kong is working, destruction sends DK tumbling into the dark below. Here he’ll encounter a mysterious young girl named Pauline who seems to have some role to play in VoidCo’s plot. Together they set off to reach the core of the world, where legend tells of a power that can grant their greatest wishes, be it infinite bananas or simply returning home.

Donkey Kong Bananza plays out as a mostly linear series of levels. There is one point at which you’ll be able to choose which order in which to play through a couple areas, but it's an oddly one off scenario and then it's back to a single course. While each level constitutes a layer of the planet’s crust, the scale of each layer varies wildly. Some are short one off environments while others contain multiple sublayers and biomes. This does at times feed into an uneven feeling in the game’s pacing. You may spend hours in one layer only to plow through the next one in ten minutes. It almost felt like the team had a large list of level ideas, but was only permitted time to invest fully in half of them. That being said, each layer generally presents its own unique gameplay and hazards.

Uniting each layer is DK’s ability to punch his way through almost everything. Layers are made up of unique materials that all have specific qualities in terms of how they interact with DK and each other. For example, concrete is particularly difficult to destroy, often requiring some extra force from a more explosive material. While sand or dirt may actually stick to other surfaces allowing you to create structures with it. There are of course some metal surfaces that can’t be destroyed. But most surfaces you’ll encounter can be dug through, smashed, or picked up and hurled across the level. DK’s moveset in general has a fantastic feeling of momentum to it. He can attack forward, up, or down, in addition to climbing, ripping material out of the ground or wall, jumping, rolling, swimming, and even surfing on chunks of the environment. It is something this team achieved extremely well in Super Mario Odyssey and they have clearly brought that fluid and chainable movement system to Donkey Kong Bananza.

Adding to DK’s moveset are the slowly unlocked Bananza transformations. These are earned from the larger layers by helping the various animal elders. Each one has specific traits. For example the first one, a larger guerilla form, gives DK a super powered punch that can blast through all but the absolute toughest material. A little later you’ll get one that will allow you to glide, or one that lets you move faster. These forms have to be charged up by collecting gold but gold is so plentiful I generally had a charge ready to go by the time one ran out.

Exploring layers yields banandium gems (Interchangeably just called bananas). These can be found lying around, earned by helping NPCs, or won in challenge stages. Challenge stages are presented as hidden ruin chambers and constitute both the best and worst of what Donkey Kong Bananza has to offer. Sometimes you’ll enter a ruin and be presented with a fun and original platforming challenge or puzzle to solve. Often-times this will test your mastery of understanding how the different materials within the ground interact with each other. A few even recreate environments from prior Donkey Kong titles offering some 2D nostalgia alongside the challenge. Unfortunately, just as often you’ll simply be asked to fight a few enemies. Enemy variety gets better as the game goes, but at no point is it a strength, so you’ll fight the same club wielding rock monsters a lot. These areas remind me of the shrines in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and its sequel Tears of the Kingdom. Like in those titles, the challenges built around using your knowledge of the game are excellent, but those that simply ask you to fight the same enemy repeatedly are a disappointment every time they pop up.

Bananas earned gradually feed into skill points. Skill points are then used to upgrade DK’s abilities. It is worth highlighting that unlike 3D Mario or even Donkey Kong’s previous 3D platforming excursion in Donkey Kong 64, these primary collectibles do not gate progression. In fact by the late game as I had my skill tree largely filled out, my desire to delve into challenge stages to earn extra bananas started to wane and by the end I was knowingly walking past them. To be honest, the skill tree system feels like a justification for having giant bananas to collect, rather than a natural and necessary game mechanic. Nothing would be lost by simply allowing DK to get stronger via progression through the game other than the absence of an opportunity to say “Oh Banana!” every few minutes to prove that we all remember Donkey Kong 64.

Beyond bananas you’ll also earn banandium chips (small chunks of banana), gold, and fossils (of three rarities, each of which is unique to every layer). The chips can be combined into a single banana, fossils unlock outfits for DK and Pauline that have various boons, and gold unlocks things like rest points and barrel cannons. With the exception of fossils which are legitimately hidden throughout each level, you will have more gold and chips then you know what to do with within an hour of starting the game. The fact that chips in particular can be traded in for bananas further obfuscates the drive to collect bananas. It feels like two or more of these currencies could have been combined to increase demand on them and thus make them a more legitimate progress gate. As is, by the first time I was asked for 100 gold, I had already accrued more than 10,000 of it. Now, those nitpicks aside, did I joyously wander through piles of dirt looking for bananas? Yes I did. Because while the actual collectible system can be critiqued at a game design level, the simple joy of engaging with it is hard to ignore. Even in the few areas where it awkwardly stumbles, this is an incredibly endearing game.

While at a glance, Donkey Kong Bananza presents a similar looking set of worlds to Super Mario Odyssey, the technical feature-set on offer is indeed a generational leap ahead. The fact that this was ever even considered as a Switch 1 title is remarkable given the scale of what they’re doing. I have seen other games build destructible environments out of voxels, but never with the density, flexibility, variability, and material diversity of Donkey Kong Bananza. While the game does occasionally drop from its target of 60 frames per second, I could always clearly see why. Particularly in the late game the level of absolute chaos during some boss fights is unlike anything I’ve seen before. I do wonder if a lower resolution mode or a 120hz 40 frames-per-second mode could alleviate some of these bottlenecks.

As a follow up to Super Mario Odyssey, Donkey Kong Bananza is a fascinating experiment. It attempts to solve that game’s progression issues by making the primary collectible unrelated to actual progression. It arguably creates new issues in the process but is, if nothing else, an acknowledgement that there is room to improve the formula. And all of that so quickly falls aside as you flow through these richly crafted worlds. On the other hand if we take as a basis for comparison Donkey Kong 64, then Donkey Kong Bananza is a monumental improvement. The relationship between DK and Pauline develops into something pretty heartwarming by the end, and the story goes places I wouldn’t have dreamed. I don’t want to spoil anything here, but the phrase “oh hell yes” was shouted multiple times by me during the final hours before rolling credits. Donkey Kong Bananza tries a lot of new ideas, and the vast majority of them not only work, but revolutionize the idea of a 3D platformer. There are definitely problems along the way, and it is a long way from perfect, but I can’t argue with how much pure fun there is to be had in playing Donkey Kong Bananza.

[A dated but ambitious first-person classic.]

24

TalkBack / System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster (Switch) Review

« on: July 10, 2025, 04:00:00 AM »

A dated but ambitious first-person classic.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/reviewmini/71674/system-shock-2-25th-anniversary-remaster-switch-review

Reviewing a title like System Shock 2 is always difficult. The original game, as released on PC in 1999 is extremely influential. It would serve as a gameplay predecessor to designer Ken Levine’s followup, Bioshock in 2007. All that being said, it is also an extremely ambitious first-person survival horror meets role-playing game from 1999, and plenty about it has aged. It is also a game that definitely wasn’t designed with controllers in mind. But with Nightdive studios at the helm, I was excited to give this remaster a go.

System Shock 2 technically follows up the original System Shock, though it is largely designed to be a self contained experience. You’ll start the game by going through basic training, and then making a series of character choices that will affect your starting stats. This includes what branch of the military you choose to join, and what assignments you take on in your first few years with them. After this brief tutorial, you awaken on a ship that has clearly been through some sort of disaster. Strange zombie-like creatures roam the halls, bodies litter the floor, and damage is evident everywhere. By picking up audio logs and exploring the ship, you’ll slowly piece together exactly what happened. There is a degree of freedom in how you explore and deal with enemies. A lot can change based on how you develop your character in terms of what abilities you have and what actions you’ll have access to.

This is a very complex game, featuring mechanics smashed together from a variety of genres. It was of course originally intended to be played with a mouse and keyboard. Mapping it to a controller for this remaster is an ambitious goal. Anytime you interact with something or access your inventory, an overlay appears on screen for you to interact with. This then removes your ability to look around, but not necessarily to move. Navigating these often-times multilayered menus is handled via an analogue stick and the d-pad. They’re awkward, clunky, and the game continues unpaused in the background. With a mouse this interface is quick and simple but with a controller it just doesn’t work particularly well.

The remaster itself comes off as relatively light touch, especially compared to the all out remake of the original System Shock. Texture resolution has been improved, some models have improved polygon counts, and on Switch you’ll have the option of activating ambient occlusion which has a mild but pleasant effect on lighting. You also get optional gyro controls. It all runs very well, especially if you’re playing on Switch 2. Like the original game this remaster does not feature any autosave feature. Unfortunately it also doesn’t have a way to map a quicksave to the controller, making saving regularly a tedious trudge through menus.

This is a very straightforward HD release of System Shock 2. This remaster does little to modernize actual gameplay, and playing with a controller is simply not ideal. On a technical level it does exactly what it sets out to do and does it very well. The game itself remains an important release that would lead directly into iconic titles like Bioshock and thus makes for a fascinating historical curiosity. But it is important that you approach System Shock 2 from the right perspective, keeping in mind its ambition at the time of its original release.

[A delightfully chibi platformer.]

25

TalkBack / Misc. A Tiny Tale (Switch & Switch 2) Review

« on: July 15, 2025, 05:02:29 AM »

A delightfully chibi platformer.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/71730/misc-a-tiny-tale-switch-n-switch-2-review

Misc. A Tiny Tale has been consistently pitched as a Chibi-Robo-like. It isn’t hard to spot that inspiration. You play as a tiny robot who goes around cleaning up trash and helping the characters he meets. But if we’re going to put Misc up against Chibi-Robo, I find myself compelled to say that if Chibi-Robo had been as consistently charming, fun, and well designed as Misc, we’d probably still be playing Chibi-Robo games.

You play as Buddy, who sets off on an adventure with his friend Bag Boy (another little robot) to investigate an explosion that sent Golden Cogs flying all over their world. Along the way you’ll make friends, solve problems, and do a whole lot of cleaning. The game is broken up into distinct levels that fuse Chibi-Robo’s cleaning gameplay with that of a traditional 3D platformer/collectathon. Progression is built on collecting Golden Cogs to unlock a door that leads to the next stage. Within each stage there are ten Golden Cogs to find and plenty of trash to clean up. While cleaning trash doesn’t directly get you Golden Cogs, the trash you collect can be traded in for currency that may be required to purchase quest items. You also have a quest log to keep track of the needs of the various characters inhabiting each stage. While you don’t need to do everything before you move on to the next level, I found myself compelled to find and do everything I could. I ultimately wound up somewhat unintentionally 100%ing the game simply because I was having a good time. I should also note (since it's somewhat expected given the comparisons to Chibi-Robo) that Misc doesn’t have any sort of time limit mechanic, so you’re free to leisurely explore each area.

Levels are varied, and all have some narrative hook or gameplay mechanic that makes them unique. For example, one level had a strong focus on gardening and required things such as finding seeds to plant and cutting down weeds. Now and then a couple stages seemed a bit too large for their own good, but for the most part each one was excellently constructed. Each stage also has a hidden platforming challenge. These are separated from the main stage and present the hardest gameplay challenges Misc has to offer. They do, however, also draw out one of my few complaints, which is the handling of Buddy's jumps. His jump itself is extremely floaty making it hard to get used to. But the real issue is in telling where you’re going to land. When you jump a simple circular shadow is projected on the ground below you, but because Buddy emits a bit of light, the shadow fades out as you approach a surface. This makes lining up precise landings in some of the later challenges more awkward than likely intended.

What shocked me most about Misc was the direction it took its story. I’m not going to spoil anything here but what I expected to be straightforward and cozy, wound up being much more impactful and at times, dark. The story is handled excellently but be warned it may get a little heavier than you’re expecting. By the end I was deeply attached to the main cast and couldn’t put it down for the last few levels.

While I primarily played via a Switch 2, the Switch version of Misc performs fairly well. Textures take a moment to load on occasion and the dynamic resolution can take a dip now and then, but it is ultimately a solid version of the game. While there is no official Switch 2 patch for Misc at this point, the game benefits significantly from the inherent boost in horsepower. The pop-in seen on Switch 1 is entirely cleared up and the game now runs at a perfect 60 frames-per-second. Resolution also maxes out the dynamic resolution scale and winds up looking pretty good both docked and handheld. It would be neat to see a formal Switch 2 patch down the road but the Switch version avails itself quite well of the Switch 2’s power.

I thought I knew what I was getting into with Misc when it was pitched to me as a Chibi-Robo-like. In reality that deeply undersells what the game has to offer. The focus on shifting that design to something that more closely resembles a Mario 64-style 3D platformer is a match made in heaven. The constantly changing level variety and natural drive to 100% each area had me absolutely hooked. Now and then the platforming or level design would slow things down, but never enough to prevent me from pushing through to see what was next. Misc. A Tiny Tale is an easy early pick for my personal indie of the year lineup.