Japan Gaming Guide

Missile Dancer 2 is an upcoming game from Japanese indie developer Terarin Games. There’s a new demo on Steam, which we took a look at.

The game plays like a combination of Afterburner and Space Harrier, with the emphasis on the former. You’re flying a combat aircraft into the screen and have missiles, which lock on to multiple targets, and a cannon, which shoots close range targets and enemy missiles.

As well as enemy planes to fight, there are also giant robots and other weird enemies more akin to Space Harrier. There are also obstacles to dodge, which we didn’t quite get the hang of in our brief playthrough.

Based on our first impressions the game will lead towards the tough side. It’s a lot busier and pressured  than the aforementioned Super Scaler games, and feels like a bullet hell game at times with so much going on. There are three difficulty levels, so you can keep things manageable, or make things even harder, if that’s your thing.

Missile Dancer 2 has bright, chunky graphics and gorgeous retro sound. Gamers of a certain age will love it. The demo includes a tutorial, and a 3-minute score attack mode, though the demo doesn’t include any of the arcade mode.

The final game promises 16 levels of arcade action on top of what you can try in the demo, and we can’t wait to check it out. Check out the demo now on Steam. Take a look at Terarin’s site for more info.

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TALES OF VESPERIA: DEFINITIVE EDITION REVIEW

Tales of Vesperia is an epic JRPG from Namco-Bandai. Originally released on the XBox 360, it was then expanded for the PS3 where it gained two extra playable characters along with new sidequests, items and abilities. More recently, a remastered version, the ‘definitive edition’, appeared on PC and consoles, giving players the chance to experience it again. That’s what we’re looking at today. It’s not the first time we’ve looked at it, we had a brief look at the original XBox 360 version demo many years ago.

A Long and Winding Road

Like many JRPGs, Tales of Vesperia is a sprawling tale that sees your band of heroes fighting for the existence of the world itself. But it is also a tale of friendship, with your team of loners and misfits gradually overcoming their personal demons as they try to figure out how to do the right thing in a confusing, morally ambiguous world.

There’s an environmental subtext to the story too, with humanity’s overuse of resources leaving the world imbalanced, causing an ever greater flood of monsters to besiege them.

Like most JRPGs, it is a long game. The story meanders, twists and turns, and you’d be forgiven for wondering exactly what is going on at certain points. The characters keep the game fun, however, and things do eventually gel.

The characters bond gradually through the game, and their interactions subtly change to reflect this. Some characters also have skills that complement each other, such as getting stat boosts when particular members are in the active team.

Aside from the story, there’s plenty to think about with side quests and various types of collectable to hunt down. There are costumes, titles, skills and combat moves to find, along with a monster book and item book to fill out.

The game doesn’t have a proper side quest tracker, and many of them are just a case of being in the right place at the right time. That means you’ll stumble across scenes hotch potch style as you revisit older areas. That makes keep of tracking things very tough, but does keep things interesting as you often get a surprise cutscene when heading back to a town, or resting at an inn.

There are all kinds of playable sub-games however, ranging from poker to snowboarding, to a kind of warehouse sokoban. A lot of the wider content is quite hard to stumble across on first playthrough. If you don’t consult a guide, you can easily miss a lot of what’s there. It doesn’t help that much of the additional content doesn’t become available until the endgame approaches.

That can make the game feel a lot more linear than it is. But once you start to figure out the various sidequests available to you, you’ll soon find yourself with far more to do than you have time for.

Finding everything is quite the task though, especially given the length of a single playthrough. It’s unlikely you’ll do everything without a guide, but you can carry quite a lot over from game to game. Tales games are designed for multiple playthroughs, and this is no exception. Most collectibles can be carried over. There’s plenty of replay value to be had working through the game again to get what you missed, and as you can carry powerful items through, your subsequent playthroughs get much quicker.

The Sights and Sounds of Terca Lumireis

Tales of Vesperia’s graphics are occasionally gorgeous, but do look a little flat sometimes. Character designs are great and there are a huge number of combat moves, many of which are spectacular, particularly the spells.

The remastered PC version allows you to play at 60 FPS, and has filters improving the game’s overall appeal. Unfortunately, it isn’t very well optimized, with microstutter appearing regularly to interrupt the game’s flow. It isn’t a deal breaker however.

Sound is pleasant enough. The music is mostly jaunty and pleasant but lacks the emotional punch of a good Final Fantasy, or the drama of Zelda. Character dialogue is excellent, and varied with the cast constantly bickering and bantering as they explore.

Stronger and Stronger

Combat is in real time with you taking control of one (or two, with a friend) of your team of four. You have a wide range of moves, which include basic attacks, artes and spells. Artes and spells use magic points, so these have to be managed.

You also learn new attacks as the game progresses. Some of these happen as you level up, some are taught during the story or in side quests. Others are learnt through skills, and these can be learned permanently if you do them repeatedly. In best RPG tradition once you get into the game you’ll be just as concerned with growing your abilities as you are about slaughtering the beasts in front of you.

You assign moves to controls yourself. Since the moveset evolves, and many of them are best in particular situations, you may find that you change them so fast, you never really know for sure which controls do what. Since you tend to gravitate towards using a few at a time you’ll probably end up with a set of favorites that you use a lot of the time, swapping others in and out as the situation demands.

You learn skills from weapons and characters will regularly learn these after battles, so much of your time is spent juggling weapons to ensure everyone is always learning something. When you face tougher monsters, you’ll want to prioritize your best gear over learning of course.

You have a limited amount of skill points to assign, and there’s plenty to choose from, ranging from various kinds of stat boosts to more subtle skills letting you chain different types of attack together. Learn to exploit these systems and you’ll be doing far more damage than would otherwise be possible, and will be much harder to knock down.

There are also special attacks, such as burst artes and mystic artes that become available later on. These use your limit gauge, which increases as you give and receive damage. Naturally, these are extra spectacular and best saved for tricky moments, or when you’re heavily outnumbered.

Your team members are very vocal during combat, and are a vital source of information. They’ll alert you to enemy weaknesses, status problems and poor health. There’s also a cooking system letting you make meals after each battle, giving various bonuses for the next fight if done successfully.

There’s a lot of depth in the combat system. With so many attacks and skills to think about, and them changing all the time, there’s plenty of room for experimentation. On standard difficulty, you’ll rarely die at the hands of standard enemies, though your magic points will tick down as your work your way between save points giving combat the attritional feel common to JRPGs.

Bosses are an exception, particularly the rare giga-monsters dotted around the world. These beasts give the game a bit of extra post-game interest, demanding the most from your team. Beyond these guys there are a few nasty surprises hidden away, but I’ll leave you to discover those yourself.

That’s Our Guild

The characterization in the game is great, and the cast all have their own interesting character arcs and side stories, with the banter between them evolving as you play.

Skits are unlocked as you move around the world and these provide a welcome interlude to combat. Many of them are attached to milestones or achievements, such as the first time you use a special attack in combat, or when a character cooks a particular dish.

The post combat dialogue also shines. It’s mostly throwaway lines and brief skits, but they evolve subtly, providing a further element of character growth alongside your stats and skills. For example, Rita, the game’s nerdy one, won’t want to participate in anything at first, but will eventually open up and join in enthusiastically with everyone else.

A Standout Tales Game

Tales of Vesperia is a long, epic adventure that still stands up well today. It meanders a little, but will suck you in, and its combat and late game challenges will keep you playing long after the credits roll.

Its broad cast of characters also shines, making the whole experience more enjoyable. Their trials and tribulations lend a human side that contrasts with the grandiose main storyline. You’ll watch your gang evolve into a finely honed fighting unit, capable of saving the world, and delivering a few snappy one liners while they do so.

Tales of Vesperia FAQ:

Publisher: Namco Bandai Games
Series: Tales
Release Date: August 7th 2008 (XBox 360), January 11th 2019 (Definitive Edition)
Platforms: XBox 360/One/Series X/S, PS3/4/5, PC, Switch, PS4,
Where to Buy: Steam, Amazon, Console Stores, Play Asia
Goods: Try this Tales site.
Standard Price: $49.99 on Steam
Estimated Sale Price: $9.99
Alternatives: Tales of Arise, Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest
Length: 70 Hours. How long to beat says 45 but that’s optimistic in our opinion.

The lastest Nintendo Direct saw a host of new announcements, including Splatoon 3, a remastered version of Zelda: Skyward Sword, and a new Mario Golf game. We’ll also see new Super Smash Brothers characters – Pyra and Mythra from Xenoblade Chronicles 2.

The Splatoon 3 announcement was a welcome surprise. The second game wasn’t too far away from a Switch remaster of the first, so we’re hoping to see the third in the series innovate a bit more. The teaser didn’t tell us much, but we saw a few character creation options, a funny looking fish side character and an upturned Eiffel tower sticking out of the desert sand. Will there be some open world exploration in this game? We’ll have to wait for more details. The game will launch in 2022, so there’s a while to wait yet.

Zelda fans hoping for some big news in the series’ 35th anniversary year got a couple of announcements. A new version of Skyward Sword is coming in July, along with custom JoyCons. No news of Breath of the Wild 2, though.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is getting a set of Mario items, including warp pipes to let you travel around your island.

The Switch is also getting versions of the Outer Wilds, Fall Guys, Hades, Stubbs the Zombie, Saga Frontier and Miitopia.

No shortage of games then, even if some big hitters are absent. Take a look below:

Top Five Super Mario Games

Mario has been jumping on heads, climbing down pipes and launching systems for several decades. The moustachioed plumber has been around since 1981. Beginning his career by taking on the mighty Donkey Kong, Mario soon turned his attentions to defeating the plans of the evil Bowser, but has appeared in over 200 games over the years.

We’ve sifted through the many adventures and picked out the best, our favourites in one of the top series in gaming, so here are our top five super Mario games.

Our list features the main entries in the series, maybe we’ll look at the spin offs another time.

Mario 64

As one of the Nintendo 64 console’s only two launch titles, Super Mario 64 had the double tasks of selling a new system, as well as making the platform formula work in 3D. It wasn’t the first 3D platform game, but was such a successful translation of Mario’s formula that it showed beyond any doubt how well 3D could work and was arguably the best game of its generation.

Set in Peach’s castle, the game’s setting is a puzzle in itself. Cleverly, levels are accessed by jumping into paintings on the castle walls, with stars acquired in the levels opening up new areas and giving you access to more of the game. Of course, there are secrets galore, and plenty to do after Bowser has been defeated.

The first 3D Mario game set the format for those that follow. Finishing the regular game is fairly straightforward, an easy challenge for the kids, but finding all the stars is a daunting mission that will test older players to the limit.

As well as being a great game in its own right, Mario 64 was an early benchmark that showed how well 2D games could work in 3D. N64 games had a more solid feel to their Playstation and Saturn competitors and seeing Mario’s cartoon world rendered in solid 3D felt spectacular. It’s difficult to imaging looking at it now, but this game was a technical marvel on release and had many a Playstation owner casting an envious glance at Nintendo’s new machine.

If Mario 64 hadn’t been a hit, the series may have petered  out, but Mario nailed 3D on his first try and is still going strong over twenty years later.

Format: Nintendo 64

Year: 1996

Best place to play now: A Switch remake is on the way. Until then, Super Mario Odyssey has some interesting secrets to find.

Super Mario Galaxy 2

Super Mario Galaxy 2 was the second Mario game on the Wii and, as its name suggests, sees you gallivanting about the stars, in a spaceship. Levels are made up of spherical planets, which you can run round and jump between, leading to some fabulously original level design and allowing Nintendo’s designers to go crazy.

We weren’t the biggest fans of the first Super Mario Galaxy, finding it meandered a bit. That might be down to playing it in Japanese before we’d learned the language, but we also found it unbalanced, with long easy stretches broken up by sudden difficulty spikes.

The second Super Mario Galaxy game was a triumphant return to form, however. Nintendo’s endless ability to innovate sees them introducing ideas faster than you’d think possible in a series with this much history, it’s designers always coming up with a new twist or way to make the game interesting.

Though finishing the game isn’t too difficult, its later secret levels include some fearsome challenges, and the final one is the hardest we’ve encountered in a Mario Game.

This game also makes use of the Wii’s motion controls, letting you fire collectable star bits at the screen. What really makes the game though is its sense of fun and ability to continually throw different things at you without feeling gimmicky or dull. It is one of the most consistent games in terms of quality, despite its variety.

Format: Wii

Year: 2010

Best place to play now: A Wii or Wii U

Super Mario Odyssey

Super Mario Odyssey is the most recent entry in the main Super Mario series, and it’s a cracker. It feels like a more modern game than its Wii predecessors, with its huge levels full of things to find and do.

It is also a return to form after the Wii U’s Super Mario 3D World, which felt enjoyable but had a by the numbers feel to it at times.

It successfully introduces online features, with Luigi’s balloon popping game, speed runs against Koopas and leaderboards for in-game challenges fitting in seamlessly with the rest of the game.

It is also a game that knows its history, with nods throughout to Mario’s former incarnations, particularly the first NES outing and Mario 64. Series veterans will find plenty to smile at, but the game is welcoming to newcomers, with its many challenges offering plenty for players of all levels to enjoy.

With its marriage of old and new it feels almost like the quintessential Mario game and the question we have to ask is where can the series go next after such a celebration of everything in its history?

We should get an answer to that soon as a rumour has it a new game is on the way, though it may not be out for a while.

Format: Switch

Year: 2017

Best place to play now: Switch

Super Mario World

Super Mario World is the first 16-bit incarnation of Mario and the shift to the Super Famicom saw a leap in graphical quality, booming bass sound, and, crucially, the ability to save your progress.

That meant the game could be bigger and more packed with secrets than ever and Mario World was the first to introduce the idea that the game was only really complete when you had discovered every level hidden on its map, a challenge achieved long after consigning Bowser to the dust.

It also developed many of Mario 3’s ideas, with a minigame to play if you collect stars at the end of each level, as well as our favourite ever power up, the cape feather, which turns you into a super hero and lets you fly to the top of the screen, where of course plenty of secrets are hidden.

There are the mysterious ghost houses, that make you think carefully about how to get through them, along with the bosses, who take advantage of the Super Famicom’s mode-7 effects, which were hugely spectacular at the time.

If you’re signed up to Nintendo’s online service for Switch, you can find Super Mario World included on the Super Famicom app, along with many other classics. The game is also included on the SNES mini, along with its sequel, Yoshi’s Island.

Format: Super Famicom / SNES

Year: 1990

Best place to play now: Switch Super Famicom app. SNES Mini.

Super Mario Land

The latest Mario games have hardly stagnated, but they all stick closely to series tropes. Going back to revisit Mario on the gameboy and it is surprising just how weird the game can be.

The Gameboy version of Mario has aged a little, but is still worth playing. It is good, but doesn’t outstay its welcome. It’s one of the shortest games in the series.

Mario Land, along with Tetris really helped put games back at the heart of popular culture, after the 8-bit days. It even spawned a hip-hop track in the UK and its sound effects and music are some of the most iconic in gaming, perhaps because a generation of schoolkids grew up hearing them in the classroom whenever the teachers were out of earshot.

Format: GameBoy

Year: 1989

Best place to play now: Nintendo 3DS

Near Misses

The Mario series is unique in that it has gone on for over 30 years without ever having a bad entry. The closest thing to a low point would be Mario 2, originally a conversion of a completely different game, but even that isn’t exactly a bad game, though it hasn’t aged well. Super Mario Sunshine wasn’t particularly well received but is a good game in hindsight and took flak for not being as ground breaking as Mario 64, as well as deviating too far from people’s expectations. The 3D World entries don’t really push the series forward, but are still spectacular, shiny playthings that blow most other platform games out of the park.

The ones that narrowly missed out on the top 5 are 6 Golden Coins, a brilliant game on the tiny Gameboy, which had the same sense of adventure and strong world building that Mario 3 started off with. Yoshi’s Island 2 is a fantastically weird game, with tons of replayability across its surprisingly challenging levels. The original Super Mario Bros still holds up well today, as does Mario 3, which is many people’s favourite, though we’ve always preferred the secrets of Mario World.

In Conclusion

Those are our favorite games in one of the most consistent series out there. It was hard to pick the best, any of the top four could really have taken it, but Mario 64 is a worthy winner, and still a terrific game today.

We’re looking forward to see what happens in the next game, and how it builds on Odyssey, which has an end of an era feel to it.

That concludes our list. If you feel differently or have a favourite of your own, let us know in the comments.

Let’s step back in time to the Super Famicom era now. In this Pop’n TwinBee review, we’re looking at the classic SNES shoot em up. The game is about to get a new audience when it comes to the Switch, free for online subscribers.

Pop’n TwinBee is a vertical shooter released for the Nintendo Super Famicom way back in 1993. It was the sixth entry in the long running TwinBee series, published by Konami. The most recent entry came out for mobile a few years ago, so check it out when you’re on the train next.

Graphics and Sound

It’s much cuter than most shooters, with a fluffy, cartoony aesthetic. You are attacked by all kinds of cuddly things. It’s almost a shame to blow them up. You don’t have much choice though, as if you let the enemy count build up, you’ll soon be overwhelmed by their firepower.

Some of these cute looking games are brutally tough, but unusually for a Japanese shooter, Pop’n TwinBee is as gentle as it looks, making it perfect for those that usually avoid this style of game.

Pop’n TwinBee’s  friendlier approach also extends to the sound. A cheerful tune plays throughout, though it’s fair to say the music isn’t the game’s strongest point. There are a few hurried speech samples for power ups though, letting you know what goodies you’ve picked up.

Gameplay

You have a couple of basic weapons at your disposal, which can be swapped with power ups. You can also launch bombs at ground based enemies, which occasionally drop health. There are shields, drones and smart bomb pick-ups too.

The power up system is unusual. Baddies drop bells, which you need to shoot a few times to turn them into something more interesting than the points bonus they start as. Once you do, it can be tricky to pick them up without shooting them again. Juggling and managing these is a key part of the game, as is knowing when to use each type of weapon. You also have to be careful not to power up your speed too much, or you’ll be slowed down again.

The game works best in two player mode with Twinbee and Winbee, the two player controlled aircraft fighting together against the various colorful enemies. It still works well as a single player game, though.

Pop’n TwinBee is not an especially challenging game, but does have a tough final boss. In fact we breezed through the entire game on our first go, only to be thwarted at the last hurdle several times, so the challenge isn’t exactly balanced. There are variable difficulty settings though, so you can tune the challenge up or down according to your preference.

Overall it is a nice diversion and a good introduction to the shooter genre for those that mostly find them too hard, or prefer games that don’t take themselves too seriously.

Where to find it

Pop’n TwinBee comes to the Switch on February 19th. Until now, it hasn’t been re-released on Nintendo systems, but did see the light of day on the Playstation Portable. Side scrolling spin off Rainbow Bell Adventures was released on Virtual Console though, and the NES original, Twinbee is also available there and on the Switch.

Much as we love the bullet hell shooters of the world, we don’t want every game we play to beat us in the face with its difficulty and Pop’n TwinBee is a nice easy way to spend a couple of hours blasting up the screen.

Its gentle challenge and sense of fun are welcome alternatives in a genre that has become a little too niche. It remains an interesting example of the 90s shooter and a good example of what Japanese developers could do with a 16-bit system. If you want a retro shooter that won’t take an age to master, this is a great pick.

We’re taking a look at an older Switch game today, in this Lumines Remastered review. Lumines is a puzzle game from the brilliant mind of Tetsuya Mizuguchi, creator of Rez, Space Channel 5 and the more recent Tetris Effect.

The original version debuted back in 2004. Since then it has been released on every platform under the sun. This new release features improved visuals and support for higher resolution screens, making the game look better than ever. We’re looking at the Switch version, but Lumines Remastered is also available for PC, PS4 and Xbox One.

The game, like the best puzzlers, is simple in concept but hard to master. Blocks of four squares fall from the top of the screen to the bottom. Squares come in two colours, and if you can create areas of four small squares made up of a single colour, they dissapear.

Getting into it takes a little more time than Tetris or Puyo Puyo, but after a few goes you’ll be figuring out patterns and building your skill so you can cope with the game at faster and faster speeds. That’s the key to making it to the end of the challenge mode, the main single player game.

There’s plenty else on offer, with other game modes and rewards offered for completing its various stages. Rewards take the form of avatars and skins. Skins combine a music track with a graphical style. You’ll come to recognize these and love or hate them as you encounter them in the challenge mode. The changes in speed and tone that each introduce take time to deal with.

The challenge mode is the standard game, which has you trying to survive 100 increasingly tough levels. The pace increases as you progress, putting you under more and more pressure to build patterns before the play area fills up.

Away from the challenge mode there is a puzzle mode, which sets you different tasks, such as building a particular shape. The vs CPU mode see you trying to expand your territory, with an ever shifting line dividing the play area between you and your opponent. There’s also the skins mode, where you can set up playlists from the tracks you’ve unlocked.

This is a game where your memories of playing it will be forever tied up with its tunes. From the opening “mondo grosso” track to the relief when the game slows down two thirds of the way through, to the gradual ramping up of pressure until the end of the challenge mode, the game and its music are inseparable.

Mizuguchi san is known for his interest in synesthesia, making the sounds and visuals work in tandem to pull the player in, creating an almost trance like state when playing the game. Get sucked into Lumines and you’ll begin to understand just what that means.

The biggest downside is it takes a long time to play. Once you get good at the challenge mode it can take upwards of an hour for a single game.

That makes it perfect for switch however, as the system’s portability makes it easy to start and stop games in mid-play. While it looks great on the big screen it is also a perfect game to play on the go.

Overall, this is a brilliant puzzler, sure to pull you in and stretch your brain in all sorts of weird and wonderful directions. We’d recommend it to all puzzler fans and gamers in general.

A new Nintendo store will open in Tokyo this year, the first of its kind in Japan. Nintendo already have a store in New York. As well as selling consoles, games and accessories the store will be used for events and promotions. The new store will take up a floor of a Shibuya department store. If you’re a Nintendo fan it will be an essential place to visit.

As Switch sales begin to slow down, we’re interested in seeing what direction Nintendo go in next. There are rumours of a new, portable only Switch coming out this year, but also murmers Nintendo are going to focus more on mobile, or e-sports. Regardless, the shop sounds like a fun place to visit when you’re tired of Akihabara.

We’re taking a look at Mario’s latest, greatest adventure today, in this Super Mario Odyssey review. Yes, we know. It’s been out a while, but we’ve just gotten around to playing it through. We’re very glad we did, as it is a stonking return to form for the little plumber after a couple of good, but not that good outings on Wii U.

The headline feature, of course, is the hats and the ability to body swap with various creatures. There is a surprising range of these. Right from the start you’ll be inhabiting frogs, dinosaurs and chain chomps and as the game progresses the feature is used extensively.

Soon, it will be second nature to take over your enemies and exploit their unique abilities to overcome the game’s many challenges. Seasoned players may well find themselves banging their heads against a brick wall trying to reach a hidden item, only to find it can be acquired easily by taking over the appropriate creature.

There are all sorts of hidden things scattered around as you’d expect. 2D murals of old Mario games are painted on walls and in a lovely touch you can jump into them and start playing retro style. This feature is used to climb walls and hide a few cunning secrets, too.

It does look slightly technically dated in places, with limited textures and occasional frame rate drops, even when docked. At first it gives you a sense that Nintendo aren’t quite as perfect as usual.

Artistically though, the graphics are phenomenal, and that’s what matters. Insects flit about here and there, rainbows shimmer in the spray from waterfalls. Flying from place to place in the Odyssey is a joy too. Nintendo have packed the game’s worlds with little details and added a sense of spectacle, with grand vistas and epic sights appearing regularly.

Mario’s new move set can feel a bit clunky at first, but soon starts to gel. The different play styles have been exploited in full by Nintendo and allow the designers to mix up the gameplay. Odyssey feels like more of a departure from the formula than recent entries, the quirkiest game since Mario Sunshine in some respects, though it deviates from the formula more successfully.

The gameplay of course, is second to none. There are plenty of surprises which we’d love to talk about, but feel they’re best left for the player to discover themselves. At times it recalls Sonic Adventure, Majora’s mask and Mario 2. Ideas old and new are packed side by side and cast into a huge range of challenges. Mario games are never short of things to do, but this one is more crammed than ever with hundreds of moons to collect.

There are some surprises in tone, not least of which is the presence of other human beings. Curiously, these look, well, like normal people in contrast to Mario. When you arrive at New Donk City, you’ll find it full of suited citizens going about their business. It feels unusual but is more interesting than weird and makes a nice change to the mushroom kingdom we’re so familiar with.

As well as people you’ll also travel to a level that looks like Dark Souls, a food themed area and many other weird and wonderful locations. The game feels more experimental than the last few entries in the series but the weird diversions never undermine the solidity of Mario’s universe.

The game offers a decent amount of challenge too. Recent Mario games have seen Bowser fall very easily with the challenge for older players coming from unearthing the game’s well hidden secrets. It may be old age creeping in, but we found ourselves dying a few times, even in the game’s early sections – a welcome change from the overly easy opening levels of Mario Galaxy and Super Mario 3D World.

Post game there’s plenty to do too, but again, we’ll leave you to discover that for yourselves.

The game also has a rather nice snapshot feature, which enables you to position the camera independently of the game and apply a range of impressive filters. Cleverly, these include a few based on old Nintendo consoles, so if you want to see how the game would look using the Gameboy’s colour palette, you’re covered.

The map is presented as a travel guide, with the Dark Souls like area’s entry reading like an affectionate satire of From’s epic series.

The levels contain a number of hidden moons, which you collect to power your ship and allow it to reach the next stage. Moons are easier to come by than the stars and shines of Mario’s previous adventures, but there are more of them to collect.

There are two currencies in the game, which allow you to purchase extra health and a moon for each level, as well as a selection of clothing. Some puzzles need to be wearing the appropriate outfit so these aren’t just cosmetic. Each level contains a shop for standard coins and one for the purple collectable coins unique to each area. There are a fixed number of these, and you’ll need to find them all if you want to buy everything.

There are no lives in the game. Fall to your doom and you simply lose 10 coins. This is the first time we can remember this happening in a Mario game, but it makes more sense than lives, which end up being fairly meaningless in long form games, where you rack up dozens of them fairly early.

Adding further variety are the skill challenges, with online leaderboards. These include jump rope, speed running and others. As well as being able to see your world ranking, you can win power moons by hitting particular times.

There is also the balloon hiding minigame, which has you hiding balloons round the level for other players to find and hunting the balloons hidden by other players. Coins are awarded generously for completing these challenges, giving you added motivation to play.

If you’re playing with a friend, then the second player takes control of your hat, making you a real team. This isn’t quite as effective as the multiplayer in Super Mario 3D World and is perhaps the only area where Odyssey is weaker. It’s still good fun though, but player two can feel like a passenger at times.

Control wise, the joycons, which we tested, work well, despite the disconnection issue occasionally rearing its head. One minor frustration is that in portable mode the game’s motion control features aren’t available. These can be seriously useful, especially in the game’s tighter moments, so losing out on them can be annoying. It isn’t a game breaker though.

Portable mode also looks fantastic, with the graphics looking more or less perfect on the small screen. This is by far Mario’s most visually impressive portable incarnation yet.

Is Odyssey Mario’s finest moment? It’s certainly up there. It can never be the game changer Mario 64 was, but it certainly feels like the most different Mario in a long time and Nintendo have drawn all their experience to produce this game that combines the epic with an eye for detail that few outside Kyoto’s finest posses.

A real Odyssey then, and a must buy for Switch owners.

10/10

Mario Odyssey is available to buy and download and is currently 6458 yen on the Japanese Nintendo e-shop.

Switch owners will soon get their chance to explore Alefgard as Dragon Quest Builders arrives on the console.

The Switch version will have a few additions and tweaks. As well as extra blocks there will be a new companion to help you build. There will be a rideable panther to help you get to those hard to reach areas.

Early buyers will also be getting some slime decals to spread around the worlds they create.

The game will launch on February 9th, with the Japanese version coming out a few weeks later on March 1st. There will also be a trial version launching on February 1st for the Japanese version.

Link (Japanese)

Those of you that have ever dreamed of setting foot in the mushroom kingdom will soon be getting their wish. Universal Studios Japan have commenced work on Super Nintendo World, a new themed area set to feature characters and rides from Nintendo’s most popular games. We’re expecting an official real life Mario Kart, Nintendo parades and who knows what else? There’s a while to wait as the new zone will be opening in 2020. Until then, why not take a look at the trailer: