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Session: Skate Sim review

System: Switch
Release date: March 9, 2023
Developer: Crea-ture Studios
Publisher: Nacon


For a lapsed real-world skateboarder like myself, Session: Skate Sim is a sobering reality check. Back in 2020, Activision’s Tony Hawk’s remake momentarily convinced me that I had the skills to recommit to the sport – that within a few weeks I’d be busting out Tre Flips with the best of them. If only I had been given access to Session: Skate Sim back then, so that I could be brought back down to earth and reminded of just how achingly difficult skateboarding really is. Upon casting your eye over Session for the first time, you may be fooled into thinking that it follows in the footsteps of EA’s Skate franchise. In reality this game is to Skate what actually going outside and skateboarding is to sitting on the couch and thinking about it. It’s incredibly hard. Session: Skate Sim comes to us Switch owners at the end of a long Early Access run on other platforms. Following years of iterative patches and improvements, the game has now reached its version 1.0 milestone. Unfortunately, the game we’ve been landed with feels anything but finished.

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Wave 4 of the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass was just released, so Sam and I got together to do a tier list to see if the new tracks stand up to scrutiny.

The Wave 4 DLC included two cups – the Fruit Cup and Boomerang Cup. The former featured four tracks: Amsterdam Drift from Mario Kart Tour, Riverside Park from Mario Kart Super Circuit, DK Summit from Mario Kart Wii, and the brand new course, Yoshi’s Island. The Boomerang Cup also includes four tracks: Bangkok Rush from Mario Kart Tour, Waluigi Stadium from Mario Kart Double Dash, Mario Circuit from Mario Kart DS, and Singapore Speedway from Mario Kart Tour. Birdo returned alongside the new cups, the first roster addition we’ve seen from the Booster Course Pass.

Capcom Spotlight live stream

With the Capcom Spotlight presentation happening shortly, we’ve set up a dedicated post for the live stream. The fun begins at 2:30 PM PT / 5:30 PM ET / 10:30 PM in the UK / 11:30 PM in Europe.

This event will focus on Capcom’s lineup for 2023. A few Switch games are expected here, including Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection, Ghost Trick, and Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak:

Level-5 Vision 2023 live stream

With the Level-5 Vision 2023 happening in just a short while, we’ve set up a post containing the official live stream. The event kicks off at 3 AM PT / 6 AM ET / 11 AM in the UK / 12 PM in Europe. Level-5 has not said how long it will be.

Several Switch games will be featured in the event. Level-5 will be sharing the latest on Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road, Decapolice, Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time, Megaton Musashi, and Professor Layton and the New World of Steam.

Here’s where you can watch the Level-5 Vision 2023 live stream:

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet may still be in rough technical shape for some players, but that didn’t stop Game Freak from announcing a wave of new expansions last week for these controversial (but still widely loved) games. In this week’s episode of Nintendo Everything Refresh, your hosts Nick and Nicolas will chat about the announcements from the recent Pokémon Presents showcase, including a new Poké Ball-style accessory that you are seriously supposed to sleep with, and a freshly announced Pokémon TV series. We’ll also discuss the upcoming Wave 4 of tracks for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, the launch of Metroid Fusion on Switch Online, and much more!

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Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe review

System: Switch
Release Date: February 24, 2023
Developer: HAL Laboratory
Publisher: Nintendo


The original Wii launch of Kirby’s Return to Dream Land has always felt like a particularly important game for the franchise; at the time it released, it had been in development in some form for over a decade, after multiple attempts at creating a new mainline Kirby game never reached fruition. That’s a big part of the reason why Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe, a remaster of the 2011 original, feels like such a fitting way to wrap up the pink puffball’s 30th anniversary celebrations – it’s a testament to just how much the franchise has grown and evolved since then. But how well does this classic Kirby game hold up after all these years, and is the new content added into this remaster strong enough to justify a full-price rerelease?

Pokemon Day happened this week, and alongside that a new Pokemon Presents presentation was delivered. It contained a few announcements and a bunch of news about the franchise as a whole.

Probably the biggest reveal – which has been expected – is that Pokemon Scarlet and Pokemon Violet are getting new DLC. We don’t actually know too much currently, but it’ll be split into two parts. New Pokemon and a ton of returning creatures are coming. The first part has players going on a fieldtrip to Kitakami while the second features an adventure at Blueberry Academy as an exchange student.

The February 2023 Pokemon Presents did have other news as well, such as the return of Pokemon Sleep, Pokemon Concierge show from Netflix, and more. You can read the full recap here.

So what’d you think of the February 2023 Pokemon Presents? What are your initial thoughts on the Pokemon Scarlet / Violet DLC? Let us know in the comments.

Virtuos Switch ports

There are a few go-to studios for Switch ports these days, including Virtuos. The company has been around since the console released with new versions of games like L.A. Noire, and has continued to support the console since then. Some of its recent work, including Dying Light and NieR: Automata, are said to be among the more impressive ports on Switch.

Virtuos CEO Gilles Langourieux opened up about the team’s approach to Switch ports in a recent issue of Famitsu. Here’s what was shared on that subject:

While March may not feature any major Nintendo first-party releases, there are still quite a few Switch games to look forward to.

In a new video we’ve put together, Sam highlights six great looking games that are coming to Switch this month. Things are looking a bit quieter in March, but there are still notable releases with Atelier Ryza 3, Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse, Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania, and more.

Here’s the full video:

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It’s a big week for Switch releases! On this week’s episode of Nintendo Everything Refresh, we’ll be sharing our hands-on impressions of two MAJOR games, Kirby’s Return to Dreamland Deluxe and Octopath Traveller 2. We’ll also dive deep into the major stories from last week, including Call of Duty’s (confirmed) return to Nintendo platforms, insight from Miyamoto on his philosophy on narratives in games, and more!

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