Also announced today was another couple of Pokémon titles headed to the Nintendo Virtual Console. The second titles in the Pokémon series, Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver, will be making their way to the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console.
Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver were released in Japan on November 21st, 1999, as the second set of titles in the Pokémon series. These games, which debuted as Game Boy Color-titles in Japan, are being recreated into Virtual Console versions such that their screens appear just as they did on the Game Boy Color.
During Pokémon Direct, we got to see footage from the newest titles in the Pokémon series, Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon. Two new Pokémon forms were shown resembling that of the Legendary Pokémon Solgaleo and Lunala.
Take on the role of a Pokémon Trainer and uncover new tales, and unravel the mystery behind the two forms reminiscent of the Legendary Pokémon.
New Pokémon forms have been discovered in the Aloha region in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon. In this expanded adventure, you’ll get to explore more of the Alola region, catch more Pokémon, and battle more formidable foes. The games have been powered up with new additions to the story and features from Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon.
Farming Simulator 18 – Develop and expand your very own farm… wherever you go! Become a modern farmer in Farming Simulator 18! Plant, harvest, and trade in crops, including for the first time sunflowers. Diversify your activity with animal husbandry and forestry. Develop and expand your very own farm… wherever you go! More than 50 farming vehicles including AGCO brands Breed and transport animals: cows, sheep, and for the first time, pigs Plant crops, sell the product of your labor, and invest your profits! Develop your farm in a new American environment
Season Pass ($44.99, twenty-two pieces of content): The Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia Season Pass includes all five DLC packs as they release. By purchasing the Season Pass, fans who want to receive all DLC will save more than 30 percent compared to purchasing all 22 pieces of content individually.
Rise of the Deliverance Pack ($12.99, four pieces of content): Discover the previously untold history of Valentia in this Prologue pack. Complete with new story content and additional voice acting that details the rise of the Deliverance in Zofia, this collection of challenging maps includes new support conversations between selected heroes, as well as the ability to take command of a character players won’t be able to control in the main game.
Disgaea 5 Complete – In the Disgaea 5 Complete game, lead Killia and his tenacious army of rebels on their dark and dangerous path to vengeance. This strategy RPG offers hundreds of hours of over-the-top, award-winning gameplay, and marks the first time the core game is available on the go. The game includes all eight bonus scenarios, four fan-favorite characters and three character classes that were originally only available as DLC. For people who want to try before they buy, a free demo for the game is also available in Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch.
Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers – The newest iteration of Street Fighter II in 10 years, the Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers game is now available for the Nintendo Switch console. The fighting game features the full Street Fighter II roster, plus two new roster additions – Evil Ryu and Violent Ken – as well as a host of new single- and multiplayer features. Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers will be available on May 26.
Also New this Week
Astro Duel Deluxe (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available May 30
Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia – On a continent that was torn asunder by warring gods, guide two armies through brutal tactical battles, as this reimagined RPG epic invades the West for the first time. Uncover the intertwining stories of Alm and Celica, engage foes, fend off dragons and explore 3D dungeons. Your prowess will grow as you master this melding of modern and legacy Fire Emblem gameplay. The Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia game is available May 19.
Season Pass ($44.99, twenty-two pieces of content): The Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia Season Pass includes all five DLC packs as they release. By purchasing the Season Pass, fans who want to receive all DLC will save more than 30 percent compared to purchasing all 22 pieces of content individually.
DLC Pack #1 – Fledgling Warriors Pack ($7.99, three pieces of content): Ideal for early- to mid-game adventurers, this pack includes a new dungeon (The Astral Temple) and two new maps, great for gaining more items, in-game currency and experience points.
I’ll admit that I have a soft spot for the Mario spinoff games. No players gaming experience would be complete with a spin around the racetrack of Mario Kart for example, but I’m talking about the sport titles. From golf to soccer, baseball to 3-on-3 basketball, the Mario crew has done it all. The latest Mario spinoff title for the Nintendo 3DS brings five sports together in one package, and does all of these sports justice.
Mario Sports Superstars features five full-on sports and features Soccer, Tennis, Golf, Baseball, and Horse Racing. This game is what you get if you took four of the previous full sports games Nintendo has given the Mushroom Kingdom treatment to, streamlined the presentation, trimmed some of the fat, added a new sport, and released it as a fresh title.
Let’s look at the sports individually.
I spent the bulk of my time playing between two sports – soccer and baseball. Both of these sports get a lot more airtime in the real world and I’m more familiar with them.
Baseball has a lot of depth in Mario Sports Superstars. In the team sport you can choose two of the mainline characters to captain and co-captain your team. You then fill out the rest of your team with a selection of minor characters consisting of toads, hammer bros, koopas, and more. You can select between multiple colours and styles of the characters, each with their own unique stats and pitching styles. You can put any character in any position and set up the batting order to your liking.
The sport of Baseball in the game has a lot of depth and detail, all of which you would expect from a baseball simulation game but wouldn’t expect necessarily from a Mario title. In addition to customizing your batting order and positions, you can also control the depth of your infield and outfield, attempt to pick off base runners, bunt, and more. There is also the option to let the game control your outfield or do so manually.
The other great team sport is of course Soccer. Now there isn’t much new that you can really do with the game because soccer is soccer, but there are a few nice Mario twists to the game. Like with some previous soccer titles, and the bulk of the sports games, there are special moves you can perform. As you play the game you charge up a power meter which can be discharged for a super shot. The type of shot differs depending on which character is taking the shot, but the powered up move can be the difference maker in a close game.
The special shots can be turned off though if you’re looking for a more pure soccer experience. You can also optimize some of the settings and decide if you want to have penalty kicks or extra time turned on or off. The total match length can also be modified, however you can’t choose to play a full time 90 minute match. The minimum game length is five minutes with fifteen being the maximum. Settings can’t be modified in the tournament mode however.
amiibo cards scanned in the game can also be played in this mode letting you play with slightly boosted stats for scanned characters.
Tennis and Golf also have the special Mario play styles which can be disabled if you prefer to play without the trick shots and special moves. These special flavours of moves are a staple of the series, but it’s nice to be able to play without them if you crave a simple match. The addition of horse racing is also a nice simple addition. While it’s not as fast and furious as the Mario Kart racing series, it is fun to play. The game also has a pretty comprehensive stable mode which allows you to raise, dress, and take care of your steed.
While the sports aren’t as fully fleshed out as they are in the single sport games there is more than enough packaged in this game to make it worthwhile. Mario Sports Superstars is definitely a home run Mario sports title.
The list of Pokémon able to mega evolve with mega stones is growing. The Pokémon Company has just released a password that can be entered into the game to get four more mega stone.
When you enter the following password in your game, you’ll receive Pidgeotite, Steelixite, Heracronite, and Houndoominite Mega Stones, the items needed for Pidgeot, Steelix, Heracross, and Houndoom to Mega Evolve during battle.
These Pokémon aren’t available in the wild in Pokémon Sun or Pokémon Moon, but you can bring them into Pokémon Bank via Poké Transporter from earlier games. The Pokémon you transfer will lose their items in the process, however, so this distribution is currently the only way to get these Mega Stones in Pokémon Sun or Pokémon Moon.
Minecraft: Nintendo Switch Edition – Explore randomly generated worlds and build amazing things from the simplest of homes to the grandest of castles. Play in Creative Mode with unlimited resources or mine deep into the world in Survival Mode, crafting weapons and armor to fend off dangerous mobs. Share the experience with four-player split screen or up to eight players online*. Several fan-favorite add-on packs, including the Super Mario Mash-Up pack, are included in the Minecraft: Nintendo Switch Edition game, available at 6 p.m. PT on May 11 in Nintendo eShop.
Just on the heels of announcing the first DLC for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Nintendo has announced the details of the planned DLC for upcoming Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, which will be released for the Nintendo 3DS on May 19th.
The upcoming game promises to be a massive game filled to the brim with content, but for players who want to extend their adventure even further, five major DLC packs are coming to the game starting on May 19, adding more maps, dungeons, characters and items. Read More
Nintendo dropped a surprise little annoumcment on Thursday night – a new iteration of the Nintendo 2DS.
The Nintendo 3DS family of systems will soon be adding a new member. On July 28th, New Nintendo 2DS XL makes its debut in North America at a suggested retail price of $149.99 USD – $199.99 in Canada. The New Nintendo 2DS XL system gives consumers a third choice of hand-held systems, one that offers pricing and features that fit between the Nintendo 2DS and New Nintendo 3DS XL systems.
New Nintendo 2DS XL will launch on the same day as two new games for the Nintendo 3DS family of systems: Hey! PIKMIN and Miitopia.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – The Mario Kart 8 Deluxe game races to the Nintendo Switch console with more characters, karts and tracks unlocked from the start than any other game in Mario Kart history. The anti-gravity racing game is the definitive version of Mario Kart 8 and includes a revamped Battle Mode that players of all ages can enjoy together.* Mario Kart 8 Deluxe will be available on April 28.
Puyo Puyo Tetris – Two puzzle game juggernauts collide as Tetris, one of the best-selling and most-recognized brands in gaming history, and Puyo Puyo from SEGA have combined to create a fun-to-play, fast-paced, competitive party game like no other. The game offers tons of game-play styles – from single-player Adventure and Challenge modes to ferocious competition with Arcade modes up to four players** – for tons of Tetris/Puyo Puyo variety. A free demo for the game is also available in Nintendo eShop
Also New this Week
TumbleSeed (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available May 2
Pic-a-Pix Color is an interesting twist on the genre and creates an entirely new way to look at the logic puzzles.
Note that these impressions are from the demo of the game. The full version of the game is also available in the eShop.
Pic-a-Pix are logic puzzles that form pixel-art pictures when solved. Pic-a-Pix are sometimes known by other names, such as Picross. Nintendo has released quite a few Picross games, including a free Pokémon Picross game as well as My Nintendo Picross: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.
The Alola region shines on Pokémon Shuffle and Pokémon Shuffle Mobile with new stages and more Pokémon.
The new Pokémon come to both the game for the Nintendo 3DS and the mobile game with new stages featuring Pokémon from the Alola region.
Plus, for a limited time, special stages will provide the chance to get Alola’s first partner Pokémon. Gamers can play Litten’s special stage right now until May 9th, Popplio’s special stage from May 9th through May 23rd, and Rowlet’s special stage from May 23rd through June 6th and try to capture these new Pokémon.
Urban Trial Freestyle 2 for the Nintendo 3DS eShop is actually a pretty fun game. The follow-up to the original released in the 3DS eShop back in 2013, this sequel feels like a solid game packed with fun gameplay and some humour along the way.
Note that these impressions are from the demo of the game, which was released alongside the full game.
The game comes with numerous new levels in five locations, one of which is available in the demo. Each location is packed with multiple stages to ride through, all of which look fantastic and are full of life. The levels have fully detailed and deep backgrounds, which makes it at times feel like this is a fully 3D bike game where you can ride into the background and almost forget that this is purely a 2D game.
Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap – The cult classic returns with a unique blend of exploration, action, and adventure! Boasting beautiful, hand-drawn animations and a re-orchestrated soundtrack, the cult classic returns with a unique blend of exploration, action, and adventure!
Cursed into a half-human, half-lizard monstrosity by the Meka-Dragon, you are in search for a cure! The only way you can return to human form is to find the Salamander Cross, a magical item with the power to remove curses…
With each dragon slain, the curse intensifies, transforming you into different animals! Explore large, interconnected locations populated with grumpy monsters and exotic dragons!
Play as the game’s classic character, Hu-Man, or as his brand-new, long-awaited co-star Hu-Girl. You can also inhabit Lizard-Man, Mouse-Man, Piranha-Man, Lion-Man, and Hawk-Man, and use their unique abilities to uncover the land’s deepest secrets.
Enjoy 3 difficulty levels catering to players of all types, and switch from modern graphics and sound to 8-bit graphics/audio at any time – even during gameplay!
