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General Gaming / Re: Backlaugust 2025 - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition

« on: August 05, 2025, 03:12:41 PM »

It is great to see some folks joining in the fun again this year!

I just rolled credits on Sonic CD for the first time. I played this on the Sega Genesis Mini 2. Normally I read through the manual before playing a retro game like this and really should have. There is a rather ambitious mechanic where you can shift to "future" and "past" versions of a level that I still don't quite understand. I think I get the bonus levels, needing 50 rings at the end of the level and then jump in the big ring, but that only happened once for me and did not lead to a chaos emerald. Hats off to anyone that can 100% complete this game.

The audio and visual quality is quite nice here, overshadowing the genesis games, but the level design still suffers from the usual issues. I think this is the first appearance of Amy and Metal Sonic in the games. Definitely recommended for fans of 2D Sonic.

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TalkBack / Re: Indie World Presentation To Air August 7

« on: August 05, 2025, 12:00:01 PM »

Why wasn't this just combined with the partner showcase? 

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General Gaming / Re: Backlaugust 2025 - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition

« on: August 02, 2025, 07:02:56 AM »

I rolled credits on Half-Life 2: Episode One yesterday. I played the game on Playstation 3 as part of the Orange Box compilation. Part sequel and part DLC, the game feels like the next 5-10 hours that would follow Half-Life 2. It is interesting the approach taken by Valve in putting out these episodes to extend the story of the second game. It has been a while since playing the second game and I have yet to play the first. I would have preferred more puzzle solving with the gravity gun and less combat, but overall I would recommend this to those that enjoyed the previous entries in the series. There are no trophies or collectibles here so beaten is equivalent with completed from what I can surmise.
Side note, I peeked at Team Fortress 2 and it won't start up at all since the servers are shut down. This means I just have Half-Life 2: Episode Two and The Orange Box will be complete. Still, I think I will save that for another day.

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TalkBack / Re: Nintendo Switch Pricing In United States To Be Adjusted Starting Sunday As Canadian Increases St

« on: August 01, 2025, 06:06:05 PM »

So did Switch 2 MSRP not change?

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General Gaming / Backlaugust 2025 - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition

« on: July 31, 2025, 04:14:13 PM »

It's August already and time to chip away at those inexorable backlogs forum fans.

If you are new to the site, welcome, and just post about the games you are playing, beating, and completing in this month of August 2025. While we are still waiting on a final count from last year  , I am sure whatever it was we can top that this year. After all, the Switch 2 is out and if your like me you already have a backlog game for it 

So whether you are playing a Switch 2 game, wrapping up something else to get to a switch 2 game, or still firing all cylinders on that Switch 1 backlog, this is the place to be.

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TalkBack / Re: Sonic Racing CrossWorlds Switch 2 Upgrade Process Announced

« on: July 16, 2025, 01:41:42 PM »

Glad to see the cartridge is not a key and has the game on it.

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TalkBack / Re: Nintendo Downloads - July 17, 2025

« on: July 15, 2025, 02:22:02 PM »

I am just seeing the game titled as "Shadow Labyrinth". Is "Pac-Man: Shadow Labyrinth" correct?

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Nintendo Switch 2

« on: July 10, 2025, 02:00:59 PM »

The only Switch 2 game I currently have is Mario Kart World. I don't want to write a big, long thing (yet?) so I'll only say that it's mostly fun albeit sometimes frustrating, and I appreciate Nintendo at least trying to break up the formula and introduce something new to the series. The intermission races are kind of corny. And there are tons of instances in which the game doesn't respect the player's time (notably when retrying or the lack of that option in Grand Prix/Knockout Tour). Getting Mario Kart'd in first place is still a thing.

A "Restart" option would be most welcome in those modes. I get having to start from the first race again, but repicking the same driver, kart, cup, and difficulty gets tiresome.

I have sort of changed my strategy in this game since 8 deluxe. There I just went for first place and tried to get as much of a lead as I could. The usual blue shell wouldn't stop me from first. I found that wasn't working so I have been staying in second place and then taking the lead when the inevitable blue shell takes out an NPC. Seems to be working (better) so far.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Nintendo Switch 2

« on: July 06, 2025, 01:42:35 PM »

I am wondering how folks are using and enjoying their Switch 2?

Personally, I still have my Switch hooked up and running and have only been using Switch 2 for exclusive games. I have played Welcome Tour and Mario Kart World and enjoyed both. I bought the pro controller and overall like it, though those GL/R buttons still feel weird. I pre-ordered Donkey Kong Bonanza and will be getting Metroid Prime 4 later this year.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Nintendo Switch 2

« on: June 05, 2025, 12:56:20 PM »

I ended up waiting in line, twice! My local Gamestop had 35 consoles in addition to pre-orders that they were selling at 3:00 PM for pick up at 10:00 PM (midnight on east coast). I showed up around 2:15 and was #30 in line. I was in line for about an hour. Then I came back at 10:00 and waited in line for about another hour to get the console. I unboxed it this morning but am waiting on the screen protector to get it set up.

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TalkBack / Re: Nintendo Downloads - June 5, 2025

« on: June 03, 2025, 02:13:06 PM »

I know it has minor improvements, but it still blows my mind charging $80 (plus tax) for an 8-year-old game

Which game are you referring to? 

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Nintendo Switch 2

« on: June 02, 2025, 04:07:54 PM »

I was actually thinking of dropping by the local gamestop and best buy on my way home and get the details in these midnight launches. I may end up waiting in line on the evening of the fourth. Best of luck to anyone else still trying to secure a switch 2 on day 1.

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TalkBack / Re: Nintendo’s second bite at the Wii U apple.

« on: May 25, 2025, 07:59:12 AM »

Since Valve is determined to keep the Steam Deck as niche as possible, the Switch has literally no competition. 

I don't know much about the steam deck, what do you mean by this?

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General Gaming / Re: 5th Annual NWR Four on Four

« on: May 01, 2025, 08:59:32 AM »

I was able to wrap up the fourth game during April, the aforementioned WarioWare: Smooth Moves on Wii.  This was only my second WarioWare game, having previously played Touched on DS. As you might expect, this title is a collection of microgames that make use of the Wii Remote controller, though this pre-dates the MotionPlus version. Overall I had a good time with this game and was able to roll credits after less than 2 hours and 100% complete the game in about 8 hours.

I did like the use of the different forms (i.e. ways of holding the remote) as they provided variety to the games and added challenge to switching between them. I always have some trouble with the accuracy of these controllers as my position to the sensor bar needs to be relatively centered for it to work. It reminds my of the stereoscopic 3d on the launch 3DS, before the improvements of the new 3DS. The cutscenes that prefaced each characters levels were a highlight and despite not being HD resolution, looked really good.
I have heard that this game was quite popular in Japan and the Switch game Move It! is a sequel to this. I did pick that one up and look forward to playing it eventually.
Feel free to still post about your games played in April and thanks to those who did chime in.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Will you be willing to buy Virtual Game Cards, or would go all digital instead?

« on: May 01, 2025, 08:45:27 AM »

I found the following site explaining the process for the US:
https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/68415/~/nintendo-switch%26nbsp%3B2-game-key-card-overview
Here is what the banner looks like on US game cases:

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Will you be willing to buy Virtual Game Cards, or would go all digital instead?

« on: April 29, 2025, 07:42:42 PM »

So how do you tell if physical game is a game key card vs. game stored on the cartridge? What is the labeling like?

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General Gaming / Re: 5th Annual NWR Four on Four

« on: April 28, 2025, 12:09:29 PM »

Funny you should bring up Mega Man 4, because it's my favorite of the classic series, being the one I actually owned. I only rented the others. I probably beat that game every day after school back in the day. I still don't understand why people **** on it, especially since IMO MM3 isn't all that great given all the re-used content it has and MM2 has some severe game design issues. Like, it's very easy to **** yourself over in Wily's Castle in MM2 if you blow up the wrong walls with the Crash Bombs.

Mega Man 2 is the one we had the cartridge for growing up so I know it the best and can easily run through it in an hour and a half, but Mega Man 4 is my second favorite and I like the designs of the levels/bosses as well as the music and powers just as much. I don't like to have to rank them and so think of them both as my favorites.

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General Gaming / Re: 5th Annual NWR Four on Four

« on: April 26, 2025, 02:41:34 PM »

I've tried to get into the X games, but the only one I've ever really enjoyed was the first one. Every game in the series since has had some sort of timer put on it where you have to do stages in a very particular order (without dying too much) in order to complete certain time-sensitive objectives and obtain the best ending.

I would agree that the first one is the best. I am not sure I will go back and replay the other ones even. Definitely some questionable design decisions.

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General Gaming / Re: 5th Annual NWR Four on Four

« on: April 25, 2025, 12:56:40 PM »

Alright, rounding the bend with three on three. I defeated Sigma (again) in the fight for everlasting peace with Mega Man X6 on Switch. This was played via the Mega Man X Legacy Collection 2 and the game initially came out on Playstation.

Overall I had some fun with this game and while it has some challenging boss fights the checkpoints and saves are quite generous. In all the other Mega Man games I can remember, respawning does not refill your weapon gauges and continuing (after running out of lives) puts you back at the level select. Here you essentially have infinite lives since deaths and continues seem to do the same thing. The one difference is a continue screen gives you the chance to exit the level.

With the challenging boss fights I did rely on techniques from videos online and the armor suits. I think playing this without the special armor or online help would have just been frustrating. When looking up hints online I found a lot of people thinking the game had problems and even saying it was the worst entry in the series. While I liked X4 and X5 more, I might still rank this over X2 or X3, but it has been a while since I played those.  Also, I still haven't played X7 or X8 yet.

I have already rolled credits on WarioWare, but I will see if I can 100% complete it by the end of the month and report back either way.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Nintendo Switch 2

« on: April 24, 2025, 09:05:30 PM »

Based on what I have read, the demand for switch 2 pre-orders has far exceeded the supply. I remember hearing that the initial launch was delayed so that enough stock could be built up to avoid this issue. Do we think that those rumors were not true, or has that delay allowed the demand to build up just as much?

I struck out with the normal retailers, but I am in the MyNintendo store lottery so fingers crossed.

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General Gaming / Re: 5th Annual NWR Four on Four

« on: April 24, 2025, 10:25:23 AM »

I felt the same way about Balatro from the sidelines, knowing it was just a card game and wondering why it was being considered GOTY. It is little comforting to hear at least one person concur with that sentiment that has played the game. I guess it really depends on if you hooked by that gameplay loop.

For Okami, this was the Okami HD version right?

That was my first playthrough and I think it did still have framerate issues. It is a really slow start and much longer than it needed to be. Also, the celestial brush is a great idea, but was poorly executed. I thought the variety of sigils to actually draw was small and not diverse enough. Of course, adding more would have caused more problems with the recognition, but having them be more varied would have alleviated that issue to some degree. I am also on a wait and see position with the sequel.

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TalkBack / Re: Switch 2 Preorders To Open April 24 With System Prices Remaining As Announced

« on: April 24, 2025, 10:13:54 AM »

Well I struck out last night. Was anyone else successful with securing a pre-order?

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General Gaming / Re: 5th Annual NWR Four on Four

« on: April 20, 2025, 01:17:32 PM »

I finally wrapped up with Stray on PS5 yesterday. I played the game a while back casually but wanted to go back and get all the remaining trophies. This actually led to playing it almost three more times. I did my first replay to get all the memories, badges, etc. This made me really appreciate all the secrets and details in the game. The developers did such a good job and showing emotion through the feline protagonist and the robots.

The last trophy to get was to speedrun the game, specifically, less than 2 hours. Now, you can save the game, but you cannot copy saves or revert back to past saves so this can be a little tricky. To handle this I would play a couple chapters as a rehearsal, then replay them immediately in another save spot for the faster run. I am glad I did as my rehearsal run came in just over two hours and my proper speedrun was 1:34. This marks my 12th platinum trophy and second game for the month. I have made good progress on the next game but it might still be close this month to getting all four. Just think, next year I can play one game on Switch and another on Switch 2!

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Nintendo Switch 2

« on: April 19, 2025, 02:11:31 PM »

I know that only a few first part games have been announced but I feel like there are quite a few that we are all assuming will be released. Here are some of the series where I am expecting a new game for Switch 2 in the next year or two:

• Splatoon
• Animal Crossing
• Fire Emblem
• 3D Mario
• Yoshi
• Mario Sports
• Mario Party
• Xenoblade
• Mario Maker
• Smash Bros.

Now we do know about a Switch 2 upgrade for Mario Party so I would not expect that the first year, but maybe the second. Also, with the new Donkey Kong being a 3D platformer, a new 3D Mario might also be further away.

So do you think we will get new entries in these games on Switch 2 anytime soon?
Any other series you are expecting to be returning?

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TalkBack / Re: Switch 2 Preorders To Open April 24 With System Prices Remaining As Announced

« on: April 19, 2025, 02:02:23 PM »

What places are even doing preorders?

That depends on your region. In the US I am seeing pre-order information for Best Buy.

While they do mention picking up the pre-orders at 12:01 AM on 6/5/25, there is no time of day specifics for 4/24.