Nintendo Switch, Acquire/ Nintendo The moustachioed plumber brothers have a sun-kissed comic adventure in this breezy island-hopping RPG filled with puzzles, sand sharks and talking acorns If there was ever a series that reminds me of being on holiday, it was the Mario and Luigi role-playing games. I fondly remember squinting at the Game Boy Advance’s screen in 2003, commanding my plumbers through thrillingly dynamic battles from a sun lounger. Brothership is the first new game in the series in almost a decade, and it brings a jaunty, seafaring adventure to the mercifully better lit screen of the Nintendo Switch. In a classic Mario plot device, our heroes are whisked away from the Mushroom Kingdom via a giant portal, and groggily awaken marooned in the oceanic world of Concordia. This place is utterly gorgeous. As you leap around the first of many vibrant, cel-shaded islands, you can practically taste the sea breeze. A stunning Wind Waker HD-esque bloom lighting effect lends this bright and breezy adventure a washed-out, sun-kissed feel. Continue reading...

Museum features consoles from 1983’s Famicom to 2017’s Switch, as well as honouring Nintendo’s pre-video-game era Traditionally, visitors to Kyoto in October come for momijigari, the turning of the autumn leaves in the city’s picturesque parks. This autumn, however, there is a new draw: a Nintendo museum. The new attraction, which opens on Wednesday, is best described as a chapel of video game nostalgia. Upstairs, Nintendo’s many video game consoles, from 1983’s Famicom through 1996’s Nintendo 64 to 2017’s Switch, are displayed reverently alongside their most famous games. On the back wall, visitors can also peer at toys, playing cards and other artefacts from the Japanese company’s pre-video-game history, stretching back to its founding as a hanafuda playing card manufacturer in 1889. Downstairs, there are interactive exhibits with comically gigantic controllers and floor-projected playing cards. Continue reading...

An 80s vision of NFL that you can take on bathroom breaks with your phone – that’s what I call building back better What a year 1983 was, eh? The release of the Nintendo Entertainment System heralded the Third Generation of Gaming – arguably the zenith of game design - and we had the first Super Bowl broadcast on Channel 4. Both rocked my world as a teenager. Nintendo had Super Mario. Channel 4 had Super Gario AKA Gary Imlach who is one of the greatest sports broadcasters ever. They also had Mick Luckhurst. Who isn’t. Now that is what I call variety! Both worlds are gloriously represented in my latest gaming addiction NFL Retro Bowl ’25. Continue reading...