nekunando

It doesn't feel like something which is going to hold my interest for very long but I'll have a few more races tomorrow to see if it grows on me. Having to pull the phone out for a translation of each achievement probably isn't going to help 😅

Given that mine is the Japanese version and I haven't tried it yet, what do you do in City Trial? I was already a little disappointed to find that there's no real Grand Prix mode and that races are just in an individual basis and I'm not sure if I saw anything to suggest that one is 'cleared' once you win it 😅

Correct on all counts 😄 I already have the freeloader and memory card for Winning Eleven so thought I'd get Air Ride when I saw it on eBay last year for a decent price. I'd never pay the price of the PAL version, especially for a game I wasn't convinced I'd really enjoy anyway, but I wanted to try it and, as you say, there isn't much text to worry about! It's probably taken a few races to get to grips with it but it's definitely one of those games that would be a welcome addition to any potential future GC NSO!

I won't be near the next one and hope they don't waste too much of the big Switch 2 Direct talking about it 😅 I've only played New Leaf and New Horizons and I spent about 40 hours in each thinking that maybe the effort of cycling through the boring and tedious tasks would eventually lead to some enjoyment down the line.. but lesson learned! I think they'd have to take the series well beyond the current formula to make it interesting but maybe the fans want a significant change too..?

Crazy money, especially when you can download them all digitally for free 😳

That's where I worry I'll end up with it too! I LOVED the game on DS and would have said it was one of my favourite games on the system after I beat it. Even my wife played through it and thought it was great too! I obviously grabbed it on the Switch eShop too as I've always fancied playing it again and enough time had passed that I don't remember exactly what happens or what I need to do in each chapter. I've only played through the first couple of stages but I haven't quite been able to get into it again. I'm hoping that the magic will return when the time is right but I definitely came away from a couple of sessions wondering if I'll enjoy it this time at all of if I'll end up frustrated by not figuring out puzzles that I obviously have done before 😅 That's definitely worrying because I absolutely hated the first couple of levels in Perfect Dark. In fact, I keep finding myself lost for whatever reason and that has happened way too often already. I've left it in Area 51 for now. I'm sure I'll return but the excitement isn't there at the moment!

Maybe it'll come. I forgot that I got it on GB at some point over the years but never really felt like playing it on the dim old GBA 🥲 I'd certainly try it if it came to NSO and I wouldn't mind seeing Metal Gear Solid too as I never played the Gameboy version of that either! I'm not sure if I'll go back to finish Perfect Dark again or not. The stage design and lack of clarity with some of the missions is proving to be a bit of a nightmare at times 😕

I wouldn't want to get rid of any of my older consoles but I also just wish more stuff was available on modern hardware, both for convenience and picture quality. Things have come along quite well in that regard on Switch but there is still a long way to go and, ultimately, we'll never have EVERYTHING 🥲 With another child on the way, it looks like my gaming room is on borrowed time (for a good while, at least) so access to my older consoles is going to be even less convenient than it is now. I loved having Super Soccer on Switch so much but that disappearing means going back to the original SNES version is now the only option again. Such a shame but I have no interest in messing about with non-official means! Glad I was able to say goodbye for now, at least.

Likewise with Ocarina of Time. The last time I played it was on 3DS a long time ago and I'm not sure whether to play it there again or go with the NSO version for convenience 😅 I'm just at a stage, and have been for a while, where I've just reached saturation point with the amount of games I own, want to play or would like to revisit. I look at something like Super Mario Odyssey and can barely believe it has been closed to 8 years since it came out and was played through to completion. I'd love to play it again but have never just found the right time yet I'm sure too much of those 8 years has been spent finishing off games that I probably didn't even really enjoy or just didn't deserve the time (much like the one I'm endeavouring to finish right now 😖) I keep striving to do better but I can never quite find the right balance between playing form fun and playing something to beat it whether I enjoy it or not. As much as I'd love to clear up significant portions of the backlog, I'm certainly way more reluctant now to add to it unless I'm buying something I'm certain I will enjoy. I've only purchased Donkey Kong Country Returns HD in 2025 and while I did pick up Super Monkey Ball: Banana Rumble to play too, I sold it pretty quickly after without a loss so it barely even counts 😅 Switch 2 will be a welcome spark this year but I envisage a much tighter library of new games than I had with Switch..

Ocarina of Time and Metal Gear Solid are both in my top 20 games of all time (if not top 10 😀) and the original Banjo-Kazooie is in that category too 🔥 As I enter the last few chapters of Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 on Switch, the feeling that I'd prefer to go back to play the games I love rather than dig into the backlog. I quite enjoyed the first Ninja Gaiden Sigma but this one has just been a bit of a slog. It hasn't provided the same challenge and I've kinda just been going through the motions and mashing my way to victory. Little satisfaction, sadly, but I'll finish it 😕 I should probably have finally started Pikmin 4 but I'll get there eventually. I'm increasingly craving the loving embrace of old favourites above new and unplayed experiences and while I'm definitely excited for what is to come with Switch 2 I also hope that we keep getting loads of remakes, remasters and NSO stuff to bring more old games I love to the convenience of the Switch family!

I still feel like I was generous with my 6/10 review but do sometimes think that the time may come to go back and re-evaluate things. Outside of Mario, it's difficult to find a modern 3D platformer that resonates with me. I'd say Astro Bot might but I won't be picking up a PS5 just for that 😅 Banjo-Kazooie was wonderful to play again on NSO but Tooie doesn't have the same draw..

I'm so excited for this and it is coming around much quicker than it ever seemed like it would when we originally got the date 😀 If I must bring my usual blend or pessimism and derision to the table, though.. just imagine if the Direct is awful! Switch 2 only had to tick a few boxes to be an absolute winner for me and yet it could still so easily tick a different set of boxes which, while probably delighting many fans, will destroy my own personal hype! It's kinda scary 😅

I can't recall ever playing any more than perhaps the first one or two levels of Croc on PS1. When you've had the freedom of movement found in Super Mario 64 and the move set found in Banjo-Kazooie then it's always going to be more of a struggle to find the joy in Croc. Interested to see how this is received in April but always happy to see things brought to modern hardware whether they interest me or not!

I definitely didn't enjoy The Lost Legacy as much as the previous Uncharted games and I think part of that was probably making some of it more open. I did pick up The Nathan Drake Collection on PS4 a few years ago with the intention of playing through the first 3 games again but that never looks like happening. The same is sadly true of a lot of PS4 games I purchased at the beginning of the decade 🥲