How Nintendo could fix Mario & Luigi: Brothership
Posted on 4 days ago by Ethan in Features, Switch | 0 comments
November 2024 marked the grand return of the Mario & Luigi series after almost ten whole years without a new game. As someone who’s 100 percent completed the game (and spent well over 60 hours doing so), this is an incredibly polarizing RPG. On one hand, the visual style is excellent – the characters are expressive, the core gameplay of the series remains mostly intact, and the story, while nothing groundbreaking, is solid. On the other hand, Brothership is held back by its awful pacing, disappointing technical performance, and a large amount of filler content between its main story beats.
Fifteen years down the line, I’m not sure that Nintendo could actually fix any of Mario & Luigi: Brothership’s biggest problems via a traditional remake. Many of its greatest issues are baked into its story and presentation in such a way that it would require significant retooling of plot points and gameplay. But today, we’re going to go over a list of changes that would help cement Mario & Luigi: Brothership as the best entry in the series. We’re not banking on these changes ever being implemented, but it’s fun nonetheless. Do keep in mind that we’ll be discussing spoilers, so you might want to bookmark this post and come back later if you’re still trying to avoid them.
More: Acquire, highlight, Mario & Luigi: Brothership, top
[Let’s Talk] What are you playing? – August 2025
Posted on 4 days ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Let's Talk | 0 comments
A new month started up not too long ago. Now that we’re in August, we want to know what you’ve been playing.
Have you been giving Drag x Drive a chance on Nintendo Switch 2? Maybe you’re playing through the shadowdrops from the recent Indie World Showcase? No matter the case, let us know in the comments.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown review for Nintendo Switch
Posted on 4 days ago by Richard in Reviews, Switch eShop | 0 comments
System: Switch
Release date: August 14, 2025
Developer: Strange Scaffold
Publisher: Strange Scaffold
The heroes in a half-shell have a storied history in gaming, and are back on that scene once more. This time, they are going through a bit of family turmoil and in a new genre for the ninja boys. Tactical Takedown is a strategic turn-based, board game-like beat ’em up where the goal is to get your mutant teen to the end of the stage with three lives and a loadout of different abilities to help you knock out the foot clan as you traverse the rooftops, sewers, and streets of NYC. Everyone has come across the TMNT at some point in their lives, either through their cartoons, movies, video games or comics, so what does this Turtles adventure do to stand up against some of its franchise peers?
Examining Nintendo Switch 2’s launch two months later
Posted on 5 days ago by Ethan in Features, Switch 2 | 0 comments
A little while ago, we talked about the pros and cons of Mario Kart World two months after its original release. That’s not the only thing we’re looking at two months later, though – today, we’re remembering and evaluating the Nintendo Switch 2’s launch period (even though it hasn’t been all that long just yet).
Needless to say, it’s been a very long time since all-new Nintendo hardware has launched. Sure, we’ve seen things like Alarmo, but Nintendo Switch 2 was the first major hardware the company had released in eight years. And as you probably remember very well, the lead-up to release was crazy, to say the least. In 2024, it was pretty clear that Nintendo was going light to prepare resources for the new console. A big chunk of the new games were remasters or remakes – Mario vs. Donkey Kong, Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD, and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door are a few notable examples.
This is what the future of amiibo could look like
Posted on 5 days ago by Ethan in Features, Switch 2 | 0 comments
Recently, we received the rather unfortunate news that the newest wave of amiibo has received a price increase. At the time of writing, the new Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom amiibo cost $30 each, while the Street Fighter figures (which are slightly larger than your average amiibo) are a whopping $40 each. On top of that, there have been general increases for legacy figures and two-packs as part of Nintendo’s general pricing increases, of which you can see the full list here.
This is almost certainly due to the tariffs that have been placed on China, which have gone up and down. If these tariffs remain, we could see amiibo take on a completely different form in the coming years. Take a look at the Tears of the Kingdom amiibo, for example – the figurines themselves look nice, but in-game, all they do is unlock an exclusive Paraglider skin – otherwise, they drop random items once per day. That’s certainly not worth $30 to most players, and we could see that reflected in how well they sell.
Why we still need Zelda: The Wind Waker HD on Nintendo Switch 2
Posted on 1 week ago by Ethan in Features, Switch 2 | 0 comments
For a game that isn’t officially playable on the standard Nintendo Switch in any way, there’s a lot to say about Zelda: The Wind Waker. For years, almost every time a fake Nintendo Direct leak popped up, you’d see The Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess HD as shoo-in titles. They were both long rumored to come to Nintendo Switch to fill the gap between new Zelda games, but in the end, that didn’t happen. Interestingly enough, though, Nintendo opted to bring the original version of the game to Switch Online exclusively on Switch 2. Even more interesting is that according to a Nintendo representative, this supposedly does not prevent The Wind Waker HD from coming to Switch 2 someday.
With that in mind, I recently played through and 100 percent completed the GameCube version of The Wind Waker recently. Though many of its mechanics are frustrating to work with, the game as a whole has aged remarkably well considering it’s over twenty years old at this point. If you haven’t played either version of the game, it’s not a bad idea to play through the GameCube version. The Nintendo Switch Online port even has save states, which makes it much easier to pick up and play however you like.
[Let’s Talk] August 2025 Indie World Showcase reactions
Posted on 1 week ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Let's Talk, Switch, Switch 2 | 0 comments
Yet another Nintendo presentation happened this week with the August 2025 Indie World Showcase. Across fifteen or so minutes, a ton of different titles were highlighted for Nintendo Switch 2 and Switch.
One of the big announcements was UFO 50 for Nintendo Switch, which launched that same day. Mina the Hollower, Neverway, OPUS: Prism Peak, Ultimate Sheep Raccoon, and Content Warning were just a few of the titles shown. We have a rundown of everything that was included here.
Did you want this week’s Indie World Showcase? Do you have a personal highlight? Let us know in the comments.
JSAUX Split Protective Case review for Nintendo Switch 2
Posted on 1 week ago by Ethan in Reviews, Switch 2 | 0 comments
We’ve tested out yet another console grip for Nintendo Switch 2, and this time it’s the JSAUX Split Protective Case. Compared to some of the other options on the market, this case is on the cheaper side – but only in terms of price and not necessarily in terms of design.
From what we’ve seen, the JSAUX grip is one of the more popular ones, alongside the Savage Raven lineup. Unlike the Savage Raven products, however, you can actually remove the Joy-Cons from the Switch 2 console without taking the whole case apart.
Looking at the pros and cons of Mario Kart World, two months later
Posted on 1 week ago by Ethan in Features, Switch 2 | 0 comments
Mario Kart World was the Nintendo Switch 2’s big headlining launch title, and it’s already enjoyed a great deal of financial success so far. Up until now, it’s sold somewhere around 5,630,000 copies – a tremendous number for an all-new console. Things haven’t been smooth sailing for Mario Kart World the whole way through, however – it’s received some criticism and backlash thanks to a couple of odd decisions from Nintendo, and now a good chunk of players have moved on from the game. In other words, Mario Kart World’s “new toy syndrome” has worn off – which has left some players a bit more critical of the game than when it first released.
So today, we’re taking another look at Mario Kart World two months later. How does it hold up? What stands out as its current strengths and weaknesses? We also invite you to share your thoughts with us in the comments down below.
More: highlight, Mario Kart World, top
[Let’s Talk] July 2025 Nintendo Direct: Partner Showcase reactions
Posted on 2 weeks ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Let's Talk, Switch, Switch 2 | 0 comments
The July 2025 Nintendo Direct: Partner Showcase aired earlier this week, and following the event, we’re interested in hearing about what you thought of the show.
This wasn’t a general Nintendo Direct, meaning the Big N itself wasn’t really present here. We did get to see Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, but that was all. Third-parties did show up with their own announcements – Monster Hunter Stories 3, Octopath Traveler, The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales, Persona 3 Reload, Pac-Man World Re-Pac 2, and Once Upon A Katamari were shown. You can catch up on everything that was featured here.
So what’d you think of the July 2025 Nintendo Direct: Partner Showcase? What were your highlights? Let us know in the comments.
