Glen-i

So far, all of the Mega Evolutions that have shown up here have been for Pokémon that were already considered good, at least. These Pokémon are pretty good examples of Pokémon that likely got a Mega Evolution not because they needed it, but because they were popular. Not this next example, though. This one was rubbish before it got a Mega. Then it became far too good for the Singles meta. These are the kind of Megas that convince me that the mechanic has merit, and no gimmick since has come close. Because if everyone can use the power-up mechanic, what's the point of using bad Pokémon? As well as being exceptionally good, Mega Sableye also happens to be one of my favourite designs a Mega Pokémon has, it's very clever. No, everyone has already made the Zelda jokes, you aren't slick. Those stats are good, but not amazing. The low HP stat undermines the impressive bulk it has. However, Sableye's typing, Dark/Ghost, is arguably the best type combination in the series. It has one resistance (Poison), one weakness (The newly introduced Fairy type), and three immunities (Normal, Fighting, and Psychic)! This was usually let down by the only two Pokémon with this typing, Sableye and Spiritomb, being not very good. But Mega Sableye was just the shot in the arm it needed, because as well as having good stats, it also has a close-to-perfect ability for it. Magic Bounce: Reflects non-attacking moves used on the Pokémon back to the opponent. The Singles meta on Smogon features a lot of hazard setting moves. Moves such as Spikes or Stealth Rock that set up some kind of debuff that punishes any Pokémon that switches into battle for the rest of the fight. These count as non-attacking moves, so Mega Sableye will bounce those moves right back. This shuts down a lot of lead Pokémon. It's also a good example of how different the Doubles format can be. Because you don't have to target Mega Sableye in Doubles, Magic Bounce can be worked around. There's also a lot less switching mid-battle, because maintaining momentum is so important. As well as stopping status moves, Mega Sableye's main usage comes from destroying physical attackers. It does this through Will-o-Wisp (Inflicts Burn on the opponent), and Foul Play, a 95 power Dark move that uses the opponents Attack stat instead of your own, so Sableye's middling Attack stat doesn't matter. This also takes into account any moves the opponent used to boost their Attack stat, like Swords Dance, so you can't do the typical strategy of using a more passive, defensive Pokémon to boost the stats of your own Pokémon and punch through the defensive wall your opponent has sent out. This made it so that breaking down a stalling team became remarkably difficult, as Mega Sableye hard counters the two biggest threats to that kind of team. You need a very specific kind of Pokémon to deal with this, a Special Attacker that doesn't have to rely on status effects. Despite this, Mega Sableye would continue to run rampant in OU throughout the majority of the time it was available in Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire, it wasn't until the next generation (Sun/Moon) started that Smogon would finally ban the item that allowed Sableye to Mega Evolve to Ubers only. Naturally, Sableye fell back into irrelevancy once the Switch titles came out and dropped Mega Evolution. It'll be interesting to see if Mega Sableye can keep up with the kinda insane power creep that the latest generation has introduced once it returns in Pokémon Champions. Well, if it returns. It might not. Does that mean it's good in casual play? Not really? Defensive Pokémon tend to be more resource intensive on a casual playthrough, due to their more passive strategies. You're normally better off using a more offensive Pokémon, especially with Mega Evolutions.

I'm not buying it.

I mean, yeah. That's why it's in the £7.99 tier.

I might be misremembering, but was this only if you didn't have a copy of Sonic Advance? Because I know for a fact that I kept a Chao on my GBA for lengthy amount of times.

It wasn't even just in the West, Japan also got that version (Subtitled "For the Sequel"). It makes me wonder if there'll be any teases for Bravely Second in this? A few extra cutscenes, some tweaks to certain jobs (For example, Freelancer had a passive that reduced the rate of encounters, but was changed to Poison Immunity, because the 0% encounter option was added), an optional superboss, and even the Bravely Second mechanic itself was added to it. I know for a fact that the mechanic is gone, because it wasn't in the demo at the Switch 2 Experience.

Room opens at 7:45pm. Races start at 8.

For some mad reason, this seems to be based on the original Japanese release, which didn't have a 0% option.

Engage has an excellent soundtrack! Only second to Echoes according to my very expert Fire Emblem (4 games finished) experience.

I prefer this one to the previous GBA title. Shut up! It's not because you can grind! It totally is. Also, there's a lovely glitch that lets the Manakete of this game have infinite attacks.

I take my gorilla faces very seriously.

Newer advert is better. "Lisa, get down from there!" Real shame that Nintendo of Europe can't follow suit with a UK ad...

Not the same Zelda from BotW/TotK. But Ganondorf is always the same person. I take my Zelda lore very seriously.

Got some ridiculously good 1V1 finishes tonight. But yeah, @Ike has to have the best one with his Zero Suit Samus VS my Mario. Amazing comeback! Absolutely deserved!

Huh, yeah. I kinda forgot that there was an option to make SD's take away 2 points, likely because it's kinda pointless these days, like you said.

I kinda prefer the way they do it now. In Melee, it's all too easy to just throw yourself off the stage when you're at high damage to deny an opponent a point. Modern games give the point to whoever landed the last hit if you try that.

PEGI rating for Assasin's Creed: Shadows has updated to include Switch 2. Nice to see them putting some effort in this time.

I think he tried to balance on the game case, but then he fell off because it's relatively small.

Episode 2 now available on iPlayer. Spoilers for "Lux".

I definitely owned this one at some point. I think my parents might have remembered me playing the N64 one a lot, but that was because when I first got an N64, it was either Extreme G, or Turok. Either that, or it was a bundle deal for the GameCube I got. It's... fine. Not the biggest fan of high speed futuristic games, clearly. Luckily, my parents also got me Luigi's Mansion at the same time, so 12 year old me was happy.

Another big Direct, another opportunity for me to not actually think up a theme! Directly to Switch 2! Every character here is showing up in some game that is coming to Switch 2. For the sake of not having too much bloat, I'm not counting GameCube games, games that are already on Switch 1, and Switch 2 Editions of Switch 1 games. Except Metroid Prime 4, and Pokémon Legends Z-A, as those games aren't even out yet. Yes, I am making a couple of assumptions. I'm assuming Pichu is in Legends Z-A because Pikachu is there, and I think it's prettty safe to say Ganondorf will show up in the new Hyrule Warriors at some point, given when it takes place. If you pick Pokémon Trainer, you are only allowed to use Charizard. There is a costume restriction as well. Bowser Jr. - No Koopalings allowed Stages and items match up with the series the characters are from. Had to expand the scope there, otherwise we'd only be playing on Midgar and Lumiose City. Format - 3 Stock, 10 Minutes FS Meter - Off See you at 7:30 for the usual half hour custom stage stuff.

He meant top right.

I wonder it that's because Dragon Quest has a generally more light-hearted tone, so that when the darker, or more somber moments hit, it feels more impactful. It's probably why PMD has such better plots then mainline Pokémon, it follows a similar tone. Final Fantasy, since XII, funnily enough, have steadily distanced themselves away from the sillier aspects. I like XII's story, but it doesn't feel like Final Fantasy, and it only gets worse from there. That said, I quite liked XV's plot. Granted, I played the pocket edition, which cuts a lot of the bloat. Still a bit too serious, mind.

@Dcubed said this is basically the same as Game Boy Colour hybrid cartridges (Link's Awakening DX, etc), and yeah, that's pretty much spot on.

I believe this was before Nintendo decided to get away from mobile games, with the Switch being a huge success. Mobile Nintendo games were definitely a product of the WiiU flopping, and a bit of desperation, glad it didn't pan out. Wish Pokémon spin-offs got the memo.