RedShell

Classic! You just described many of my weekends back in the day too, ah the memories... Remember when people would gather around the machine to watch fights? I used to draw some pretty big crowds in my arcade. Always made playing that much more exciting due to the added pressure of knowing everyone was watching your game. Man, I really miss the arcade scene, but am also thankful that I got to experience it during the peak. Great times. Awesome write-up, H-o-T. Cheers.

I'm so sorry Pikachu... Please forgive me... Eww. And man, that was so not worth it. Still can't beat the damn stage.

OK, what's with this malarkey where people can Zone shot directly from their serve!? Have seen it multiple times already and it's very annoying. Anyone else encounter this? Anyway, final stats: @Emerald Emblem, ending on 64 matches virtual high five! Despite a few issues I am still very much looking forward to the full game, and of course some N-E match-ups.

Yeah, have been doing that since getting hold of the share stones. Will be interesting to see how long it takes me to beat the game without any purchases, or if I even manage to do it. Did you make any of the legendary Pokémon BTW? Oh- and what about shiny Pokémon, how many of those did you end up with?

Nice. I take it you picked up some of the paid content then? I’m still stuck at area 9. Got a team of 3 psychic types going on, but even so they just can’t beat the latest stage in that set.

Interesting. Wasn’t aware of any Switch games being downsampled from 1080p in handheld mode before, and am pretty surprised that’s what seems to be case with this particular game. I wonder if they will attempt to change it via a patch. Not that I have any intention of revisiting the game on Switch anyway. I also wonder if Mario Tennis Aces is also being downsampled in handheld mode, as I did notice that it looks especially crisp on the Switch’s screen, more so than anything else I’ve played on the system so far at least.

Yeah, having played a bit more I have to say that Chain Chomp is completely and utterly broken. Had pretty much exactly the same experience as you just now, where my opponent (playing as Chain Chomp) was able to return 99% of my shots! I think his character model is simply too big resulting in him having a stupid amount of reach. Another character that could do with a substantial nerf is Spike, who’s return speed is just insane! It’s like every single one is a special shot! Hopefully a big part of this online test will be sorting out the balance of the game, otherwise I fear for the longevity of the online mode going forward. Anyway, here be my records from the demo: Do they get transferred to the retail version?

Nope. I probably would've if it weren't for the pricing BS you mentioned (plus the fact I think it's somewhat overpriced to begin with). As it stands though I'm happy to wait for it to go on sale.

And the shiny Pokémon just keep coming! In addition to my shiny Diglett and Nidoran ♂, today I got a shiny Onix and Rhyhorn! Currently at the boss of area 8. Recommended power is 12,900 though! *EDIT* Area 8 complete! That was another tough battle. Was pretty underpowered, so had to make good tactical use of the scatter button.

IN! How dare you! Who’s the other legend that chose Mario then? At least you all had good taste when it came to vehicle choice, I was worried we’d end up with a bike but not only did we get a kart, it’s also the best kart in the game. Well done everyone. Everyone but Glen-i that is.

This game is soooo crisp in portable mode, looks amazing. Great HD rumble too, that heartbeat during critical points! Very cool effects when you activate a Special shot as well. Try playing a match with the sound off and listen closely to the Joy-Con.

Huh? *tries again* Indeed you can. Woohoo! Not sure what the hell was going on earlier when I was trying that then, but I’m very pleased to find out that it does work, thanks.

This is pretty great, have won a couple of tournaments so far and unlocked all the characters. Some things are annoying me though... l keep triggering and then instantly hitting zone shots accidentally. A few times this has been advantageous (I mean if I wasn’t expecting it, my opponent sure as hell wasn’t! ) but more often than not the lack of aiming means the ball either goes out or straight into the net. I’m also missing the old-school button combo way of doing drop shots and lobs, don’t like having to hold up/down on the stick and then pressing X. The little power-up taunt you do when receiving seems really laggy in this, as does the ball toss. Other than those issues though, I think this is looking to be the best Mario Tennis in a long time.

Same here. But yeah, count me in too if it’s possible.

Oh yeah, of course. I need another coffee...

Oh great, that’s gonna be one of those can’t unsee things, like James Bond’s really wide mouth on the Goldeneye box art. I see. Wonder what effect they have on cooking then.

So far I’ve expanded the item box once and recharged the battery once or twice. Will probably save ‘em now though for either more box expansions or something expensive, yeah. Probably that 2x Pokémon decoration.

I got 2 Pokémon from a single recipe last night! There’s a decoration that increases the chance of that happening, but it’s cool to know it can still occur without it, especially as I’m likely to be stuck with a single cooking pot throughout the game.

162 here. I’ve been spending them though, oh and Nintendo still owe me 1000 or so, you know... from that time they changed the value and ripped off their most loyal customers.

Don’t think you need to keep ZL held down the entire time, just when selecting a player.

Nice! My highest so far from the pot was a Lv. 46 Zubat. Have you collected any of the rainbow ingredient that’s on the second row yet? It’s the only type that I don’t seem to be able to get.

Cheers for the games. Same time next week? First time trying the spectator mode tonight, very cool. Shows just how amazing Splatoon 2’s engine is.

Can you cancel it by pressing 'B'? There’s an Everstone switch on each Pokémon (located in the screen where you attach stones) I have it set to ON for my Pikachu so he’s still Pika! Pika! i.e. cute but weak. Anyway, after a bit of team optimisation/leveling I’ve managed to scrape through to area 7, last boss battle I just did was super close! Literally down to my last Pokémon with like 1 HP remaining. Have also unlocked the silver cooking pot.