Nintendo needs to bring back this budget-friendly franchise
Posted on 1 month ago by Ethan Gnau in 3DS eShop, Features, General Nintendo | 0 comments
In many ways, the Switch era marked a new beginning for several of Nintendo’s publishing partners. Nowadays, Intelligent Systems pretty much does three things: Fire Emblem, Paper Mario, WarioWare, and little else. And it makes sense – these are all big sellers. It’s actually been ten years since Intelligent Systems has worked on any other IP, which also means it’s been ten years since we’ve received a new Pushmo game.
When you talk about dormant Nintendo franchises, you usually bring up something like Wario Land, Kid Icarus, Punch-Out, or Star Fox. Pushmo doesn’t often enter the conversation, and perhaps this is because it received many titles over the course of the Nintendo 3DS’ life. The franchise has unfortunately been completely silent on Nintendo Switch, and there aren’t any signs that it will ever come back.
All of Pokemon’s DLC ranked, from best to worst
Posted on 1 month ago by Ethan Gnau in Features, Switch, Switch 2 | 0 comments
Believe it or not, things used to be much worse from Pokemon fans. You’d buy a copy of Pokemon Diamond or Pearl, only for Platinum to come out at full price later on. Not only did you have to spend $40 all over again, but you had to play the entire game over again. That warrants the incredibly tedious process of trading over all your Pokemon, one-by-one. And while many of the third version titles are the definitive versions of their respective regions – Emerald, Platinum, and Black 2 and White 2 – it never feels good having to restart your adventure from scratch. Thankfully, it seems this trend is just about over and done with. Since 2019, Pokemon has opted to develop and release DLC for its main series titles instead. With this system, you can continue your adventure in a new sub-region without having to start over. And today, we’re ranking every single Pokemon DLC to see which one comes out on top.
Mario & Luigi: Brothership has one of Mario’s best villains, and here’s why
Posted on 1 month ago by Ethan Gnau in Features, Switch | 0 comments
I’ve talked a lot about Mario & Luigi: Brothership here, and today, we’re continuing that trend with a write-up on one of its best characters. By now, we all know the game suffers from a dire flaw in the form of its horrendously slow pacing, and for me personally, that’s going to prevent me from going back to the game in the future. That’s on top of the fact that its technical performance is severely lacking on the original Nintendo Switch, which becomes especially prevalent during the endgame.
From the way I talk about Brothership, you probably get the impression that I don’t like it very much. So then, why am I still talking about it over a year later? For all of its flaws, I feel like Brothership’s ideas and themes come together in a notably cohesive way at the end of the game – and it makes it extremely memorable, even though the rest of the story runs at a snail’s pace. Part of the reason Brothership’s ending remains so memorable is because of its new villain. Major spoilers within, so be warned!
More: Acquire, highlight, Mario & Luigi: Brothership, top
Animal Crossing: New Horizons still has a major flaw, even after the 3.0 update
Posted on 1 month ago by Ethan Gnau in Features, Switch, Switch 2 | 0 comments
Not too long ago, Nintendo released a fairly large new update for Animal Crossing: New Horizons – the first in almost four years. It adds all sorts of new features, from Splatoon and Zelda items to a brand-new resort hotel to classic games you can play within your town. It also makes some really helpful quality-of-life changes: you can access crafting materials from your storage no matter where on your island you are, and you can craft multiple items all at once. Between these changes and the ability to access your storage anywhere via the storage sheds, it’s so much easier to fully decorate your island now than it was when the game first launched almost six years ago. That being said, Animal Crossing: New Horizons still has one major flaw that may well never be fixed – tool durability.
Pokemon Presents predictions for Pokemon Day 2026
Posted on 1 month ago by Ethan Gnau in Features, Switch, Switch 2 | 0 comments
At the time of writing, an official Pokemon Presents hasn’t been officially announced – but there’s no way it won’t be, right? The Pokemon Company has held a Pokemon Day broadcast every single year for as long as we can remember, and 2026 will be no exception. Be sure to clear your calendar, because the presentation is generally held at around 9 AM EST on February 27 each year. Each broadcast follows a similar format, which makes predicting them fairly straightforward. This year, we fully expect the tenth generation of Pokemon to be revealed for Nintendo Switch 2 – it’s been four years since Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, and it seems Pokemon Legends: Z-A is done getting updates and new content now that the Mega Dimension DLC has released. So here are our (very safe) predictions and wishes for Pokemon Day, the Pokemon Presents, and the tenth generation of Pokemon. It’ll be interesting to see how much of this comes true!
More: Game Freak, highlight, Pokemon Day, top
Breaking down Splatoon 3’s new 11.0.0 update and why you should care
Posted on 2 months ago by Ethan Gnau in Features, Switch, Switch 2 | 0 comments
Recently, Nintendo released an update for Splatoon 3, a title which originally released over three years ago. At the time of writing, the developers are still re-running old events, but the game is in the latter half of its lifespan – it isn’t receiving any “true” new content. Or so we thought! For whatever reason, Splatoon 3’s 11.0.0 update makes all sorts of changes that will affect players both casual and competitive.
More: highlight, Splatoon 3, top
These Pokemon look better as 2D sprites and could use a 3D upgrade
Posted on 2 months ago by Ethan Gnau in 3DS, Features | 0 comments
At the time of writing, it’s been well over ten years since every single Pokemon received its first main series 3D model. As the first 3D game in the series, Pokemon X and Y fully converted every single one of its creatures to three dimensions, and some of them translated better than others. So today, we’re looking at Pokemon who looked better as 2D sprites, and how you could fix their 3D models to give them more personality and charm. In many cases, it’s actually the animations that need to be improved – the base 3D models are generally fine, with a few small exceptions here and there.
More: Game Freak, highlight, Pokemon, Pokemon X and Y, top
Ranking the Xenoblade Chronicles games, from best to worst
Posted on 2 months ago by Ethan Gnau in Features, Switch | 0 comments
We’ve ranked plenty of Nintendo franchises in the past, but today we’re ranking a particularly difficult one: Xenoblade Chronicles. Just about all of its games are of top-notch quality, and even the lowest-ranking titles in the franchise are still well worth your time. So today, we’re taking on the difficult challenge of ranking every single game in the Xenoblade Chronicles series from “least best” to best.
If you’ve got your own personal rankings of each game, we’d also encourage you to share that with us in the comments down below. We’ll be mentioning some light spoilers here and there, so keep that in mind in case you’re trying to avoid spoilers for any of the Xenoblade games. We’re also only going to rank the definitive version of each game, which means Xenoblade Chronicles 3D and the original Xenoblade Chronicles X won’t be on the list.
Looking back on and celebrating Super Smash Bros. for Wii U 11 years later
Posted on 2 months ago by Ethan Gnau in Features, Wii U | 0 comments
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U recently celebrated its 11th anniversary on November 21, 2025. Along with the game itself released the first-ever wave of amiibo figures, which included twelve new characters priced at $12.99 each. If you look at lists or rankings of the best Super Smash Bros. games, Wii U is almost always near or at the bottom – in other words, it’s often regarded as the “worst” entry in the series. Which isn’t saying much, because each Smash Bros. game is great in its own way, which is a testament to how well they’re made. So today, we’re focusing on Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and celebrating its anniversary by discussing what it did right and what it did wrong, eleven years later.
More: highlight, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, top
Why 2025 was the year of one of Nintendo’s best villains
Posted on 2 months ago by Ethan Gnau in Features, Switch 2 | 0 comments
2025 was a big year for Nintendo in many ways, but it was also arguably the biggest year yet for King K. Rool, one of the company’s most beloved villains. You could argue that 2018 was the king’s best year, given the announcement of his inclusion in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as a new fighter. 2025 was at least a close second, then – thanks to King K. Rool’s appearances in games and even on the Nintendo Today app, it seems his future could be brighter than ever. Note that there will be spoilers in this post.
