Timeline
Tuesday24th Dec 2024
Feature Game Of The Year 2024 - Nintendo Life Staff Awards
Our personal picks for the best Switch games of 2024
As we head into the final week of 2024, it's time to slay the GOTY monster that devours the Decembers of many a gamer. While Nintendo itself has been in wind-down mode, with most internal resources focused on the next console and a software lineup to kickstart it, Switch itself has had a pretty...
Back Page 'DO NOT MENTION SWITCH 2' - We Infiltrate Nintendo And Sneak A Peek At Its 2024 Calendar
Stealth mission
In the magazine business, the Back Page is where you'd find all the weird goofs that we couldn't fit in anywhere else. Some may call it "filler"; we prefer "a whole page to make terrible jokes that are tangentially related to the content of the mag". We don't have pages on the internet, but we still love terrible jokes — so welcome...
News New Fire Emblem: Three Houses Good Smile Figure Announced, Pre-Orders Live
Edelgard arrives 2026
The Good Smile Company has already released all sorts of stunning Fire Emblem figures and the latest reveal is Edelgard from Fire Emblem: Three Houses. Pre-orders for this figure are already live and will set you back $210.99 (or your regional equivalent) and is estimated to ship in Q2, 2026. Here's a bit about this figure and...
News Sonic Movie Writers Talk About Two Requested Characters For Live-Action
There's still hope with a fourth movie confirmed
Sonic the Hedgehog's third movie outing is now in cinemas and while there are some new faces in this latest live-action entry like Shadow, a few other fan favourites have missed out (again). This includes (spoiler alert) Big the Cat and Rouge the Bat. According to the writers Pat Casey and Josh...
News Multiple Cartoon Network Games Have Been Removed From The Switch eShop
Merry Christmas!
Following Sega's removal of certain digital titles earlier this month, multiple Cartoon Network Games under the Warner Bros. Discovery label have now been delisted from digital stores including Nintendo's Switch eShop. There's no word if they'll ever return but according to reports, "at least five games" under the Warner Bros...
News 'Nintendo Music' Adds Super Mario 64 Soundtrack, Here's Every Song Included
"Let's-a go!"
Nintendo has just rolled out its latest update for the 'Nintendo Music' app and this week it's added the soundtrack from Super Mario 64. All up, it contains 36 tracks with a runtime of 49 minutes. You can enjoy the famous title theme music, Peach's Castle, a nice jingle with Cool, Cool Mountain, and even Piranha Plant's Lullaby (Piano...
News Dragon Quest Creator Yuji Horii Says He's "Never Thought About Retirement"
"I'll continue to make games for a long time"
Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii has dedicated much of his life to the legendary role-playing series and it doesn't seem like he wants to slow down any time soon. Speaking to Famitsu recently, the 70-year-old mentioned how he intends to continue making games. Here's a translation of what he had to say,...
Monday23rd Dec 2024
Review DoDonPachi SaiDaiOuJou (Switch) - Cave's Vicious Shooter Is Close To The Series' Best
Elemental rage
Holding the Guinness World Record for "Most prolific developer of danmaku shooters” — a tenuous plaudit seemingly concocted entirely for their receipt — Cave’s five DonPachi entries form bullet points in the company’s evolution, from Toaplan-esque beginnings to a full-blown, bullet hell renaissance. SaiDaiOuJou, the...
News Star Fox 64 Finally Barrel Rolls Onto PC Thanks To An Unofficial Port
Bring on the mods!
Fan team Harbour Masters has swapped Hylian adventures for high-flying action in its new 'Starlight' project — a Star Fox 64 PC port which is available right now (thanks, VGC). This isn't the team's first rodeo — having previously brought Ocarina of Time
Reminder Rate Your Favourite Switch Games Of The Year 2024
Bring out your GOTYs!
It's that time of year for reflection, to sit down and take stock of all the wonderful games that released in 2024. A time to stare into the middle distance with a despairing expression wondering how you managed to not play so many great new games this year because the Vampire Survivors DLC continued to suck your free time up...
Opinion It's Not My GOTY, But This Nintendo Game Was A Standout 2024 Memory
How Nintendo World Championships helped me ‘git gud’
I’ll admit, I’ve never been fond of speedrunning. The thought of shaving milliseconds off a time in a video game while playing the same sequence over and over sounds, in theory, more frustrating than fun. Sure, as a spectator, there is definitely joy in appreciating the wizardry of players...
Video Here Are Alex's Top 5 Nintendo Switch Games Of 2024
Merry Alex-mas, ya filthy animal
Third time's a charm, as they say. Yes, we're back with our third and final look at our video team's top five Switch games of 2024. It's worth repeating here that these aren't necessarily games that launched in 2024, but are merely games that the video chaps played in 2024. You'll see why we felt the need to...
News Don't Expect Any More Miniature Consoles From Sega
The 'Dreamcast Mini' dream is dead
If you're a fan of miniature consoles and the novel convenience they bring, then unfortunately you might want to just keep ahold of your current collection, because it doesn't sound like Sega is particularly keen on making any more. In an interview with The Guardian (thanks, Time Extension), Shuji Utsumi, the CEO...
UK Charts Nintendo Can Be Proud Of Its Last Christmas Before 'Switch 2'
Top 40 is chock full of Switch games
Well folks, in what is presumably the last Christmas period before Nintendo unleashes its next major hardware, Switch games have performed admirably as folks look to fill those stockings come Wednesday morning. In fact, let's look at the numbers here: 8 games in the top 10 are either Switch exclusive or can be...
Sunday22nd Dec 2024
Review Antonblast (Switch) - Channels Wario Land’s Madcap Energy To Great Effect
A genuine blast
Since this review was originally published patches have addressed or improved one or more of the issues cited. While we unfortunately cannot revisit games on an individual basis, it should still be noted that the updated game may offer an improved experience over the one detailed below. A few months ago, the Switch finally received...
PSA Switch 2 Is Getting Revealed In The Next 100 Days
Set your Alarmos
We've been waiting for that sweet Nintendo Switch 2 announcement for what feels like years now — hold on, it has been years — but, as of today, we are finally on the home straight. That is if your 'home straight' consists of 100 days to go. We know that an announcement is coming "this fiscal year", and if you take today (22nd...
Video Here Are Zion's Top 5 Nintendo Switch Games Of 2024
Zi-on the first day of Christmas ♫
Well folks, we're back with another look at some of the best best games that we (that is, our video team) played in 2024. This time, it's Zion's turn to reveal the goods, and what a selection of games. There are some truly excellent titles here; a couple of smaller, more niche curios (one for my fellow horror...
Poll Box Art Brawl - Duel: Breath Of Fire II
I'm your fire, at your desire
Ahoy folks, and welcome back to another edition of Box Art Brawl! Last time, we looked at the Wii classic Okami in light of the recent sequel announcement from The Game Awards (woohoo!). Honestly, it wasn't a particularly close battle: Japan, with its beautiful use of colour and composition, won the day with 74% of the...
News Super Mario Run Celebrates Super Mario Party Jamboree In New Crossover Event
Get this party started
To celebrate the recent arrival of Super Mario Party Jamboree, Nintendo's mobile runner game Super Mario Run is hosting a special limited-time event. This includes three types of missions to participate in - including Rainbow Galleria Missions, Goomba Lagoon Missions, and King Bowser's Keep Missions. If you complete these...
News Nintendo Announces The Final Tetris 99 Maximus Cup For 2024
Update: The Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom event is now underway
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom has been one of the major highlights for the Switch this year, and to send 2024 out with a bang, Tetris 99's final Maximus Cup of the year will be all about this game! The 44th Maximus Cup will take place between 19th December and 23rd December, and if...
News The HD-2D Series 'Octopath Traveler' Hits Another Sales Milestone
Here's some new artwork to celebrate
Square Enix's RPG series Octopath Traveler has reached another sales milestone - with the Japanese company announcing total global shipments and digital sales have now surpassed the five million mark. The first game featuring the HD-2D aesthetic was originally released as a Switch exclusive in 2018 and was...
Saturday21st Dec 2024
Video Here Are Felix's Top 5 Nintendo Switch Games Of 2024
Felix Navidad
It might not feel like Nintendo itself has been particularly busy this year, but goodness, there's still been an awful lot of new games in 2024. Some great ones, even! Since we're now fast approaching the end of the year, it seems only right that the lovely chaps on our video team share their personal top five games of 2024. Now, it's...
News Sega Is "Evaluating" Its Own Netflix-Style Subscription Service
Shuji Utsumi thinks the model is "very interesting"
Sega's Western boss has revealed that the company is internally discussing the idea of creating its own subscription-based game service. Speaking to the BBC about subscription services such as Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus, Shuji Utsumi said that such services are "very interesting" and that...
Guide Best Tetris Games, Ranked - Switch And Nintendo Systems
*whispers* Go for a Tetris
Few video games can lay claim to having such enormous influence on both gamers and the industry at large as Tetris. All who played Alexey Pajitnov's block-falling puzzler fell for its elegant design and Nintendo in particular harnessed its addictiveness to great effect as a pack-in title that made 'Game Boy' an essential...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (Christmas 2024 Edition)
Holly *and* Jolly? In this economy?
Christmas is right around the corner and we're feeling sufficiently merry and bright, so it's time for another edition of What Are You Playing! This week on Nintendo Life, we all questioned our sanity as we checked out our Nintendo Switch Year in Review, a new Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket expansion ha
News Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants Unleashed Updated, Here Are The Full Patch Notes
Download it now
Following its release in October, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants Unleashed has received a new update. It adds a new colour blind mode with three options and also "responds to fan demand" for increased gameplay difficulty and other quality-of-life improvements. Here's the full rundown, courtesy of the PR: "With the new patch...
News 'Ys vs. Trails In The Sky: Alternative Saga' Announced For Switch, Coming 2025
The crossover fighter returns
Well, here's a surprise - Falcom and refint/games have announced they're reviving the crossover fighting game bringing together Ys. and Trails in the Sky. Ys vs. Trails in the Sky: Alternative Saga will be coming to the Switch and multiple other platforms worldwide in 2025. This game was originally released on the...
News Terminator 2D: No Fate Has Been Rated For Nintendo Switch
"I'll be back"
Pictured: Terminator: Resistance The Switch is home to all sorts of franchises but one series Nintendo fans haven't got their hands on this generation is Terminator. It seems this could all be set to change with the discovery a game called Terminator 2D: No Fate has been rated by the Australian Classification Board for the Nintendo...
Friday20th Dec 2024
News 'Tetris Forever' Adds Curious Sequel 'Welltris' Via A Free Update
Plus a couple of welcome improvements
Digital Eclipse has announced that the curious Tetris sequel Welltris will be added to the excellent compilation title Tetris Forever via a free update on Switch. The game, originally release in 1989, takes the same basic gameplay of Tetris, but adds in an extra dimension, essentially turning the gameplay area...
Opinion The Biggest Question Of The Generation: Er, Why Isn’t Nintendogs On Switch?
All bark and no mic
If there were a trophy for missing open goals, Nintendo would have a fair few in the cabinet. For example, why didn't we get a new Donkey Kong game back when the Super Mario Bros. movie launched last year? Why wasn't the Wii U called 'Wii 2'? And why, for the love of god, is there no Nintendogs game on Switch? There was a part...
Random 'Monkey Kong' On Switch Reminds Us Of Nintendo's '83 Legal Battle
Monkey see, monkey do
Nintendo’s been involved in its fair share of legal battles over the years, but we have a feeling it might be thinking twice before taking on publisher Pix Arts over the recent release of Monkey Kong In New-York on the Nintendo Switch. Granted, Nintendo can do whatever it likes, and if it thinks there’s even the slightest...
Random Balatro Fans Start The Ultimate Debate: Is That Jimbo's Clown Ruff Or Tiny Body?
We fold
If a glance at most of our Nintendo Switch Year in Review stats is anything to go by, then more than a few of us have spent a good bit of time with Balatro this year. We've spent so long with it, in fact, that its iconography is pretty much burned into our minds by this point. It sure would be a shame if one joke tweet made us see the whole...
News New Switch Golf Game Will Have Nintendo's Repair Team Sweating
Don't let go!
A new golf game for the Nintendo Switch – simply titled Mini Golf Simulator – has caught our attention thanks to the bizarre way in which it utilises the Switch's Joy-Con controllers. Out now on the eShop, the Takahiro Miyazawa-developed game requires you to connect the wrist strap attachments in a way that allows one of the...
News Sorry, But There Are "Currently No Plans" For A Unicorn Overlord Sequel Or DLC
But there's still hope...
Vanillaware's tactical RPG Unicorn Overlord is one of the Switch highlights this year, and if you're hoping for more adventures in the form a sequel or even DLC, you might want to read on... Sadly, it won't be happening (at least right now). Speaking to GamesRadar+, the game's director Taka
Random Mario Galaxy Returns Next Year In "The Biggest Super Mario Odyssey Mod Yet"
Mario's Wii adventure is back
Modders are always evolving games in new ways and the latest effort is touted as the "biggest" Super Mario Odyssey mod yet. If you haven't already seen it, it's called Super Mario Odyssey - A Galaxy Story and is a "mod by Slycer and many more". It brings the universe of Super Mario Galaxy to Mario's 2017 Switch...
News King Of Fighters XIII Global Match Scores A "Limited Edition" Collectors Release
Just 330 copies are available
SNK and Pix'n Love Games have today announced a physical Switch collector's edition release of King of Fighters XIII Global Match as part of the series' ongoing 30th anniversary celebrations. This release is region-free, limited to just 330 copies and will set you back 89,90€ or your regional equivalent - with...
News Nintendo Veteran Don James To Receive Lifetime Achievement Award
"My career has truly been a wild and fun ride"
While it's common to associate Nintendo with big names such as Satoru Iwata, Shigeru Miyamoto and Reggie Fils-Aimé, there are plenty of other important people who helped make the company and brand what it is today. As part of this legacy, Nintendo veteran and industry visionary Don James - who joined...
News Catly Developer Says Game Does Not Use Generative AI, Blockchain Tech, Or NFTs
Update: SuperAuthenti releases gameplay trailer
If you love cats (and there are plenty of us here at Nintendo Life who do), then you might be interested in checking out this upcoming open-world title known as Catly. There's no release date just yet, but during The Game Awards this year it was confirmed for the Nintendo Switch and multiple other...
Thursday19th Dec 2024
News Cult RPG Hit 'OFF' Makes Its Way To The Switch In 2025
With a physical edition to boot
If you're a fan of Undertale, then chances are you may have heard of OFF, even if you've yet to actually play it. Creator Toby Fox often cites the RPG as a huge influence on Undertale, and now the 2008 cult hit is making its way to the Switch. Arriving in 2025, the new port boasts official translations into multiple...
News No Gravity Games Is Giving Away 11 Free Switch Games This Month (North America)
Ho ho holy moly
Today is the grand finale of the No Gravity Games 'Switchmas Giveaway', with Creepy Tale 2 rounding out the freebies. You'll find all the information about the event and every free game included in the original post below. Christmas is upon us once again, which means that No Gravity Games is back with another generous offer of free...
Nintendo Download 19th December (North America)
Star Trek: Legends! Pine: A Story of Loss! Quilts and Cats of Calico!
The latest Nintendo Download update for North America has arrived, and it's bringing new games galore to the eShop in your region. It's a pretty light week for new releases, but, as always, be sure to drop a vote in our poll and comment down below with your potential picks for...
Japanese Charts Super Mario Party Jamboree Is On A Roll
You Got A(nother) Star!
Sigh. Another week, another Jamboree win. Yes, the latest look at the physical software charts from Japan is in (thanks, Famitsu), and Super Mario Party Jamboree has rolled yet another winner, putting an additional 95,817 sales on top of its already impressive total. Overall, things look very same-y this week, with the...
Feature Nintendo Switch Year In Review 2024 - Our Most Played Games
But what are yours?
We've all mulled over our music habits, got to grips with our PlayStation and Xbox recaps, and now, with Nintendo fashionably late to the party, it's time to check out our Switch playtime thanks to Nintendo's Year in Review 2024. The Switch 'wrapped' site is now available, meaning you can see your gaming highlights from the past...
News Ex-Capcom Devs Swap Zombies For Curry In Studio's Upcoming Switch Game
Go gold in 2025
We'll let you in on a little secret. Here at Nintendo Life, and indeed the wider Hookshot family, we often wish one another a happy 'Curry Friday' at the end of the working week. Y'see, we bloomin' love curry. Do we love it enough to play a game in which you catch spices falling from the sky in order to cook up our own delectable...
News Gorgeous Platformer 'Neva' Lands Accessibility Update, Here Are The Full Patch Notes
Well I Neva
Neva, the poetic platformer from GRIS developer Nomada Studio, has landed a "major" accessibility update that adds a boatload of new features to spread the game's appeal even further. Naturally, accessibility appears to be the key focus here, with Nomada tweaking some platforming sections, making the game's three chase sequences...
News Bullet-Hell Shmup Dodonpachi Saidaioujou Launches Today On Switch
Will you take on the challenge?
Publisher Live Wire has announced that DODONPACHI SAIDAIOUJOU will be available on the Nintendo Switch eShop from today. The game is available now via the North American eShop for $34.99, though at the time of writing, it’s not yet visible via the EU eShop, and Live Wire has not confirmed a release within Europe at...
News Legend Of Heroes: Trails In The Sky Remake Lands On Switch Fall 2025
Check out the new trailer
It has been quite a while since the tentatively titled 'The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 1st' made a blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearance at the June 2024 Direct, but today Nihon Falcom and GungHo have given the upcoming remake a new trailer, a new title, and a release window of Fall 2025. Now officially known as...
News Crush 40 Musician Is Suing Sega Over Sonic Adventure 2 Theme, 'Live And Learn'
Never too late, eh?
Johnny Gioeli, the Crush 40 musician and singer behind the iconic Sonic Adventure 2 track 'Live and Learn', is suing SEGA of America over breach of contract for the song's repeated use throughout the Sonic series (thanks, Polygon). According to Gioeli's lawsuit (via Polygon), filed to the District Court of S
News Atlus Lead Explains Why Persona Protagonists Are High School Males
But adults and female protags may still feature
It's no secret why the Persona series is so darn popular amongst RPG fans. Mixing a ridiculously sharp sense of style with engaging mechanics, likeable characters, and recognisable settings have made Atlus' franchise into one of the most revered of all time. One thing you might definitely will have...
News Toby Fox Shares Another Development Update On Deltarune Chapter 3, 4 & 5
"Progress has still been steady"
Undertale creator Toby Fox has rolled out his "holiday newsletter" for 2024 and it's got some "progress updates" in it about Deltarune Chapter 3, 4, and 5. Chapter 3 has recently been tested by a "professional team on PC" and it's "pretty solid now". According to Fox, "only console-related aspects remain". He's even...
