Developer: Nintendo

Publisher: Nintendo

Platform: Nintendo Switch

ESRB Rating: E

Release Date: April 28, 2017

MRSP: $59.99

Mario Kart 8 was one of the first must have games on Wii U during the first half of the systems’ life cycle but there was always something missing that Mario Kart 8 Deluxe manages to fill with the revamped Battle Mode. Content additions weren’t the only focus of the game as Mario Kart Deluxe features native 1080p visuals at 60 frames per second for a sharper experience that feels good to play. From Joycons on their side to the preferred pro controller, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe offers one of the most diverse control schemes in any multiplayer game out there. This is, of course, on top of being one of the best racing game or party game experiences out there.
As always, the track design is outstanding and offers so many hidden details that add a sense of world building making the experience feel like a racing game set in the Mario World, rather than a racing game with Mario characters and some guests from other Nintendo franchises. Due to the appearance of Link, Isabelle, and the Inklings from Splatoon it almost feels like the game is trying to step away from the “Mario Kart” branding; but I doubt many would object if other characters manage to make their way into the franchise for the sake of variety.

The original release contained thirty-six playable characters, but seven of those characters were the Koopalings and that made the roster feel padded out compared to other entries where characters such as Diddy Kong and Petey Piranha were playable. In Deluxe there are over forty-two playable characters (unless you count Bowser Junior as a Koopaling,) making the roster will feel much more varied. The addition of King Boo in particular was the favorable choice due to how different he looks compared to the rest of the cast.

Battle Mode is the biggest addition to the remaster. In the Balloon Battle mode, two to twelve players battle it out in arena to score the most points and achieve victory under the allotted time given. There are many returning modes such as “Shine Thief,” where players have to try to hold onto the shine sprite until the time runs out to achieve victory; “Coin Runners” where players collect and steal coins from each other to achieve victory; and “Bob-omb Blast,” where there are explosions everywhere. There is a brand new mode in the form of “Renegade Runners,” which is essentially cops and robbers with Piranha Plants. The cops send the opponents to jail and the opponents can try to break free until no one remains. This new mode was probably the highlight of this new battle mode due to the excitement that can be had with a group friends.

All modes including the races can be played online with a very good experience. Every match tested was lag free and may just be one of the best online experiences Nintendo has ever created. Even with subtle changes such as allowing characters and kart changing between matches makes it a much smoother experience than the 2014 release. However, on the flip side, as a modern game it lacks various features such as voice chat and messaging making it too simple of an interface. This is a problem with the Nintendo Switch in general and, unfortunately, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is bogged down by this.

For those that played Mario Kart 8 back in 2014, maybe this may not be a reason to pick up a Switch or once again pay full price for this product. The package feels much more complete, and will be a satisfying purchase for those that have not played Mario Kart 8 before.

9.5/10

Pros:

+Beautiful visuals
+Great Track Design
+Frantic Battle mode
+A much more diverse character roster
+A control scheme for everyone

Cons:

-Online interface issues have not been addressed

Developer:Magnetic Relams

Publisher:XSEED

Platforms:Wii U, PS4, Vita

Release Date:10/25/2016

Thank you XSEED for providing a review copy of this game.

Exile’s End is a Metroidvania developed by Magnetic Realms released on PC, Wii U, VITA and PS4. Does it capture the feeling of an exploration focused side scroller while being cinematic? Read to find out.

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More impressive Zelda footage has been revealed at the Video Game Awards 2016. We see an look at an area not shown an the E3 2016 show floor.

This lush jungle looks dangerous, doesn’t it?

Check out the gameplay on Gamexplain’s channel!

One of the most exciting announcements this week was that The Legend Breath of the Wild was making an appearance at the Video Games Award Pre-Show.

What they showed just happened to show story details! Towns are indeed present so Hyrule will indeed have a community to interact with. A mysterious blonde girl is also present (totally Zelda)

Check out the trailer on Gamexplain’s channel.

Steins;Gate 0

Platform(s):PlayStation 4/PlayStation Vita

Developer:5pb

Publisher:PQCube

ESRB Rating:M

MSRP: $59.99/$49.99

Thank You PQCube for Providing a Review Copy of this Game.

Steins;Gate 0 is the sequel to the marvelous visual novel “Steins;Gate” for PS3, PSVITA, PS4, and PC. Due to the nature of a visual novel the story is integral to the main experience, thus this will be spoiler free. However, to fully appreciate the game, knowing the events of the original Steins;Gate is necessary to the experience. This review will be talking about the true ending of the original game when it comes to the story summary.

Read the rest of this entry →

During their latest financial call CEO of Nvidia Jen-Hsun Huang has made some more comments about the Nintendo Switch, specifically in regards to porting games from the PS4, XBOX ONE and PC.

He stated that thanks to the Tegra Processor, which is similar to what is found in those consoles and most PCs, developers should be easy when porting over games to the Nintendo switch.

Here is what Huang had to say:

“The quality of games has grown significantly. And one of the factors of production value of games that has been possible is because the PC and the two game consoles, Xbox and PlayStation, and — in the near-future — the Nintendo Switch, all of these architectures are common in the sense that they all use modern GPUs, they all use programmable shading, and they all have basically similar features.”

“As a result of that, game developers can target a much larger installed base with one common code base and, as a result, they can increase the production quality, production value of the games,” Huang Added.

This is good news as one of the many complaints of the Wii U is that porting was not very easy. It’s nice to see that Nintendo addressed this.

What do you guys think?

Toys R Us Canada has listed the Nintendo Switch at $329.99 on their website. For our United States readers that is roughly $244 USD.

Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima has previously stated before that the Nintendo Switch will be “affordable” to consumers and that it also wont be sold at a loss, but will be listening to what consumers expect from the pricing.

As a consumer is this ideal for you?