The entire Mario & Luigi series, ranked
Posted on 5 months ago by Ethan in Features, General Nintendo | 0 comments
For the most part, the Mario & Luigi series fell dormant after the release of Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam. Sure, we got remakes of Superstar Saga and eventually Bowser’s Inside Story on Nintendo 3DS – but for the longest time, there were no new entries at all. Then AlphaDream closed its doors after the somewhat expected failure of the Bowser’s Inside Story remake, which seemingly sealed the deal on the fate of this franchise. To everyone’s surprise, however, Mario & Luigi: Brothership was revealed at this year’s summer Nintendo Direct, and it’s developed by Acquire, the team behind Octopath Traveler. And with this new game on the horizon, we figure it’s as good a time as any to take a look at the rest of the Mario & Luigi series and how each of them holds up today.
More: Acquire, AlphaDream, highlight, Mario & Luigi: Brothership, top
[Let’s Talk] What’s on your gaming holiday wish list this year?
Posted on 5 months ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Let's Talk | 0 comments
The holidays are quickly approaching, and it’s usually around this time that people start thinking about gifts they’d like to give and receive. Also, when it comes to gaming, November is one of the best times for deals. Black Friday tends to provide discounts galore, though these days there are lots of sales throughout the entire month.
Is there something in the gaming realm you’re eying as a potential gift? Maybe you’ve already snagged a good deal already? Let us know in the comments below.
Celebrating ten years of amiibo, Nintendo’s most successful experiment
Posted on 5 months ago by Ethan in Features, General Nintendo | 0 comments
This Thursday, November 21, marked a momentous occasion – the ten-year anniversary of amiibo, Nintendo’s beloved lineup of figurines and cards. Over the years, Nintendo has released over 200 unique figures and – if you count all the Animal Crossing cards – well over 800 amiibo in total. Given the recent news that the Nintendo Switch successor will include backwards compatibility with Switch software (and therefore amiibo functionality), it seems Nintendo is keen to continue increasing this number as the years go by. So today, we’re looking at the past, present, and future of amiibo figures, starting from its very beginning on this day ten years ago.
[Let’s Talk] Which Mario RPG series do you prefer?
Posted on 5 months ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Let's Talk | 0 comments
The Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi franchises have both been around for a long time. Various games have been released across different generations of Nintendo hardware. Paper Mario has mostly seen a fairly consistent lineup of games, but it was the future of Mario & Luigi that was in doubt after developer AlphaDream shuttered several years back. Now development duties of the series have shifted to Acquire, the company who worked on the Octopath Traveler titles.
Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi are often compared (we’re not forgetting Mario RPG, but there’s just one game for that IP). Some fans prefer one of these series over the other. With Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door came to Switch earlier this year and Mario & Luigi: Brothership having just released, we wanted to ask where you stand. If you had to choose, are you Team Paper Mario or Team Mario & Luigi? Let us know in the comments.
This is the best Nintendo 3DS console to play on in 2024
Posted on 5 months ago by Ethan in 3DS, Features | 0 comments
Throughout its lifespan, Nintendo released a lot of different 3DS models. You had the original 3DS, 3DS XL, New 3DS, New 3DS XL, the standard 2DS, and New 2DS XL – and that’s not even counting all the special editions of each individual console. With Nintendo’s next hardware on the horizon, we figure today is as good a day as any to go over all of the major 3DS revisions and determine which one is the best.
The Switch is certainly Nintendo’s most popular console, but the 3DS has seen something of a small resurgence lately. This is in spite of its online play shutting down earlier this year – indeed, a fair number of players are either discovering the 3DS’ library for the first time, or reliving their nostalgia from over ten years ago.
Mario & Luigi: Brothership review for Nintendo Switch
Posted on 5 months ago by Edan(@@Virtualboi92) in Reviews, Switch | 0 comments
System: Switch
Release date: November 8, 2024
Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Acquire / Nintendo
The last year or so has been a remarkable year for RPGs, especially ones with “Mario” in the title. We’ve already been graced with lavishly produced remakes of both Super Mario RPG and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door – and now, Nintendo is closing out the year with a brand new, wholly original RPG in the form of Mario & Luigi: Brothership. The Mario & Luigi series was originally helmed by Alphadream before their unfortunate closure in 2019, for Brothership, Nintendo has tapped Way of the Samurai and Tenchu developer Acquire to carry the torch forward. While the franchise’s new stewards have done an admirable job adhering to the series’ identity, some considerable missteps prevent the latest Mario & Luigi entry from reaching the lofty heights of its predecessors.
More: Acquire, highlight, Mario & Luigi: Brothership, top
Tetris Forever review for Nintendo Switch
Posted on 5 months ago by Nicholas Serpa in Reviews, Switch | 0 comments
System: Switch
Release date: November 12, 2024
Developer: Digital Eclipse
Publisher: Digital Eclipse
It’s easy to take Tetris for granted. Tetris games have been released on, apparently, over 65 different devices. Many have described it as the perfect puzzle game. Very smart scientists have even performed psychological studies about how Tetris affects the human brain. It has, incredibly, been about 40 years since the release of the very first Tetris title. To help celebrate such a monumental anniversary, the historians at developer and publisher Digital Eclipse are releasing Tetris Forever, a package that’s as much a digital museum as it is a compilation of retro Tetris games. While it’s hard to argue with the core quality of the experiences available in the package, overall I found the focus of Tetris Forever to be narrower than I had hoped – not just in terms of the history being shared, but the games themselves. It’s a good glimpse into the origins of this massive franchise, but not quite the definitive Tetris package it could have been.
More: Digital Eclipse, highlight, Tetris Forever, top
Mario Kart 9 needs these crucial features
Posted on 5 months ago by Ethan in Features, Switch 2 | 0 comments
Mario Kart 8 was originally released for the Wii U in 2014. That’s over ten years ago! Since then, the game has received a host of refinements, updates, and new content. This includes everything from characters to courses to balance changes and everything in between. Then we got Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, a renewed version of the game on Nintendo Switch – and it sold so incredibly well that Nintendo never got around to making an all-new entry on the console. It’s easy to see why, but with rumors of the Switch 2 swirling around as usual, it might be time for the Mario Kart franchise to look to the future. We think a hypothetical Mario Kart entry on Switch 2 needs a couple of key features to succeed – here’s everything we’d like to see in the next game.
More: highlight, Mario Kart, top
Complete history of the Nintendo 3DS Ambassador Program
Posted on 5 months ago by Ethan in 3DS, Features | 0 comments
There are few situations in Nintendo’s history as interesting as the launch period for the Nintendo 3DS, which in modern times, is one of its more popular systems. This beloved little machine first launched in March 2011 at a price point of $249.99, and it boasted fully 3D gameplay for the first time on a Nintendo console (we choose to forget the Virtual Boy). Unfortunately, the Nintendo 3DS had something of a rocky start, to say the least. Things went downhill for the console rather quickly, and Nintendo had do something to get things back on the upswing – that’s where the 3DS Ambassador Program came in.
Today, we’re going over the history of the Nintendo 3DS’ launch, the 3DS Ambassador Program, and the games that were made available as part of the program.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Legends of the Zone Trilogy Nintendo Switch review
Posted on 5 months ago by Edan(@@Virtualboi92) in Reviews, Switch | 0 comments
System: Switch
Release date: October 31, 2024
Developer: GSC Game World / Mataboo
Publisher: GSC Game World
As a platform, the Switch has treated us to some serious wildcard franchise appearances over the last seven years. Few would have bet in 2017 that the hybrid console’s library would eventually be bolstered by almost every Saints Row, Sniper Elite, Metal Gear Solid, and Resident Evil game – to name but a few. However, here we are, being machine-gunned with ports and re-releases that continuously cement the Switch’s status as a Nintendo all-timer. As if our collective Switch-port bingo cards weren’t already full to the brim, GSC Gameworks have emerged forth, bringing the entire S.T.A.L.K.E.R trilogy lovingly nestled under their arm. Hang on – what?
