New Super Smash Bros. Ultimate! Super Mario Party! Fortnite out now! Watch me react to the full Nintendo Direct from E3 2018!
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nintendo switch
Mario Tennis Aces Demo Impressions
Back in the 90s, I had a torrid love affair with Mario Tennis on the Nintendo 64. Finding a brilliant balance between realism and arcade action, I played this a boatload with family and friends. However, I jumped off the bandwagon not long after the criminally-overlooked Game Boy game, which featured a brilliant blend of sports with RPG mechanics. From the Gamecube version and beyond, Nintendo expanded the wacky factor by giving players special shots that undermine the balance of gameplay in favour of the player who has the power shot handy.
At first, I thought the new special shot system in Mario Tennis Aces would be the most egregious yet, as players gain access to a highly-targeted shot that’s controlled from a fist-person perspective. Having played the demo, this new shot, along with the other improvements made to the game, make it the most intriguing entry in the franchise yet.
Brothers Battle in BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle!
My brother came over to the house to throw down in BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle!
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Out Now – BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle
This one came out of nowhere for me.
Giving this one little attention up until a few weeks ago, I was wowed by the BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle beta for finding a seemingly warm balance between depth and accessibility. Granted, it doesn’t look nearly as good as Dragon Ball FighterZ or have the name brand roster like other heavy hitters in the genre, but that gameplay was so enjoyable that I poured many hours into the demo’s training mode alone just to squeeze out every last bit of fun I could from it.
Won’t be able to play any of it tonight, as I’ll be heading over to a concert right after work. However, for sure I’ll be playing it this week and you should be able to watch me play later this week on Twitch! Stay tuned!
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Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon Review
My fandom for Castlevania is a relatively recent phenomenon. Despite having played a few games in the series over the course of my lifetime, none of them really clicked with me until I spent an extended period of time with the original game on the NES Classic. While this epiphany occurred well after the Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night Kickstarter ended, I jumped in just in time for Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon.
Out Now: Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection
Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection is here! Available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch, you can 12 versions of the iconic series on a modern platform. If you pre-ordered the PlayStation 4 or Xbox One versions, you’ll also get a download code for Ultra Street Fighter IV, essentially giving you the entire series save for the latest game. Switch owners sadly won’t get Ultra Street Fighter IV, but they will get an exclusive tournament mode that could be cool with friends and extra consoles.
BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle threw a monkey wrench in my plans to grab this on day 1, but I do plan on grabbing this sooner rather than later!
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Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon Live Stream
Castlevania fans need to check out Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon! It’s a throwback to those old games with some modern improvements in terms of graphics and gameplay!
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Early Nintendo Labo Variety Kit Impressions
Sometimes, wacky Nintendo is the best Nintendo. From the Wario Ware series, to Elite Beat Agents, to the world-shifting Wii Sports, their free-thinking approach can blaze the trail for others to follow. On the other side of that same coin are duds like Wii Music, the Wii U, or the e-Reader;Â ideas that couldn’t overcome their own insanity. By virtue of including cardboard into the mix, the Nintendo Labo put itself on the fast track to one of those two extremes.
Having now made and played with three of the five Toy-Cons in the Variety Kit, I think I have a better idea of where it fits on that scale.
Nintendo of Japan is Now Selling a Dockless Switch Bundle
The Nintendo Switch, praised for its ability to function equally well as a home console connected to a TV and as a standalone portable, now has a bundle in Japan that cuts out the home console part. At a discounted price of 24,980-yen ($226 USD), you’re getting a Nintendo Switch minus the dock, adapter, HDMI cable, and Joy-Con Grip. This is a savings of 5,000 yen ($45 USD) compared to the current base package.
BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle Beta Impressions for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch
Up until the release of Dragon Ball FighterZ, Arc System Works was the fighting game developer I wanted to love more than I actually did. Experts at making visually-luscious and mechanically-complex fighters, the former has gotten me to buy a number of their games, while the latter has caused me to push them away in short order. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a place in this world for fighters with their level of depth, but it’s a bridge too far for me.
Maybe it was just the developer trying to cater to the Dragon Ball audience, but Dragon Ball FighterZ shows what Arc System Works can do when they attempt to tone down their core formula for something more accessible. While I think it went a smidgen too far with accessibility to the point where the game feels a bit too limiting in ways, it was the first of their games that I could really sink my teeth into and love on a deeper level.
It may be too much to assume that the impact of FighterZ influenced the development of BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle, but based on my time with the beta on PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch, accessibility continues to be a focal point for the developer. At this pre-release juncture, I’m greatly enjoying what I’m seeing.
In Third Person 