Yeah, they initially wanted to release it together with modern systems. But since they can’t patch it once it’s out, they decided to take some time to make sure it’s in a good state to release it. I think the last I read was on Retro Gamer magazine where they said there’s plans to release the cartridge in 2026.
Yeah, I played the demo on Steam and it looks really good and it’s fun. I think I’ll get this physical release.
I’m really looking forward to playing Earthion. I’m waiting for its physical release on the Mega Drive to get it! (hopefully comes out this year… )
It has some issues, but I enjoyed it. I think a new game would be done from scratch by Retro, whereas in this case they inherited a half baked thing from Namco and had to build on top of that. Thay would probably make it a much better game. If they take in the feedback from 4 on top of that, it’d be amazing.
Yeah, I don’t think I’ll be getting this, but I think the assist mode will be great for lots of people.
Yeah, lot of the old guard are getting to (and past) retirement age. But that doesn’t mean Nintendo will stop making these games. They’re just going to train new people. If the game sells, they’ll want to make another one eventually.
Nice to see Metroid Prime 4 in the top 10! Hopefully it did well enough to consider a sequel.
Yeah, it’s a weird choice. But Nintendo is really pushing Donkey Kong, there’s probably a movie in development or to be developed eventually. So from the marketing side maybe it makes sense 🤷
I played 499 hours of Switch/Switch 2 in 2025, almost twice as much as 2024 🫣
My most played games were Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity and Cyberpunk 2077. Some other top games for different months: Donkey Kong Bananza, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake, Super Mario Galaxy and Metroid Prime 4 Beyond.
Pokopia looked interesting, but it’s a game key card, so I’m definitely not going to consider it. Yoshi looks really cool, I might consider it if the reviews are really good. But I haven’t really played/enjoyed much of the Yoshi games since the SNES.
There’s nothing on the list that I’m really looking forward to. I might try out the Super Mario Bros. Wonder update, but that’s it for first parties. This is mostly good news, it means I can go through my backlog and catch up!
That said, there’ll probably be a Direct in January/February to announce new games coming out in 2026 and maybe even some shadow drop…
Do you think Metroid Prime 4 is a good Metroid game?
Absolutely! It has its issues, but it’s still a good game.
I am still hoping for Prime 2 and 3 coming to Switch, but it’s looking doubtful now.
Me too! Now that they’re done with MP4, maybe they’ll get on to that. I assume it’d take less time than a Metroid Prime 5! But it’s not looking good…
As I said, I didn’t play a lot of Absolum. But the graphics are amazing, like SoR 4, and it feels like a beat 'em up with rogue(like|lite) elements. It doesn’t lean on it as much as Double Dragon Gaiden I think, but I need to play a bit more to have a proper opinion.
I think most of the issues with the game are probably consequence of its long and convoluted development.
What on earth were they thinking? I truly wonder if they created the desert first and added the motocycle to make it less painful, or if they added the desert as an excuse for the motorcycle. It’s so bland that if it didn’t exist at all, it wouldn’t feel like anything is missing.
Driving the bike was fun, they did a good job with the controllers. But they didn’t use it in any interesting way! Even the enemies in the desert are not interesting at all. I wouldn’t mind if they kept the bike for future games, but using it in a more creative, fun way. The desert seems to be a clash between making it more “Breath of the Wild-y” and a Metroid game. They sort of acknowledged it was messy.
Now, for the other characters in the game: I kinda like them. They get annoying when they’re with you and comment on everything you do (the first guy in particular) but I have no problem with them existing in the game. What I hate is Samus’ general apathy towards them. No matter what happens, she just stares at them. I know developers are deathly afraid of making her talk at this point, but a word of affirmation every now and then would work wonders. I didn’t believe for a second that Samus cares at all about any of them false-sacrificing themselves in the Mines. Or for real at the end. If that even is the real ending, I feel like I got the bad ending for pushing the button, but I genuinely don’t care.
I thought the same with the characters. They’re just badly written, particularly the first guy “Jar Jar Binks”. But like you, I don’t think it’s bad that they’re in the game. And yeah, when Samus doesn’t even acknowledge or gesture back when people talk to her, it just feels awkward. They really got burnt with Other M I guess 😅
Happy New Year!
I finished the main story in Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, I played a bit more after that to get some extra items and crystals (I copied the save file right before the point of no return, what a weird decision to do this with the completed save file). It’s a good game, but given the time it was in development and how long since the last one, it could never live up to the expectations. It’s still great and looks stunning, hopefully it’ll be the beginning of a new trilogy. It made me want to play Dread and finish Prime 2 on my Game Cube.
Speaking of GameCube, I recently got a rather good price on a copy of The Simpsons: Hit & Run. I had Road Rage, which I really enjoyed, so my Simpsons GameCube collection is now complete. It’s a very fun game, lots of dialogue from the original cast. I have a backlog for GameCube now on top of the Switch/Switch 2 backlog 😬
I have been playing and really enjoying Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection on Switch 2. I already went through all the documentary stuff, which I loved! And I’ve been playing the games. I think my favourite is still MK II because it’s the one I played the most back then on my SNES. But I’m starting to like UMK III more the more I play it. These games are so fun, can’t wait to play with more people and laugh trying to pull off Fatalities and such.
I got Absolum for the Switch. I’ve only played a little bit so far, but it’s really good. Also a game I’ll really enjoy playing co-op soon.
But I do ask that you don’t have the opposite of faith. Like, try not to be determined that we’re going to do the wrong thing here.
Well, they’ve been consistently doing the wrong thing for a long time now, so it’s not like it’s baseless.
I do feel bad for some of the developers in Firefox. I imagine lots of them, maybe even the one who answered here, joined because they believed in Mozilla or Firefox. And they might be trying to steer things back, but there’s only so much they can do against the direction of the company. And the company has been trying so hard to lose loyal Firefox users…
I hope we can (re)gain your trust here.
I’m afraid it’s too late for that. The only way I can imagine that happening is Firefox gets moved away from the Mozilla Corporation into a new thing that just focuses on making a decent privacy oriented web browser.
Some gameplay, finally: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIy3PwqGYOs
I had a ton of fun with this game and it left me wanting more
I haven’t finished it yet, but I had the thought while playing that it’ll be cool to see what they do on Metroid Prime 5 (if it ever comes out). It still feels like Metroid Prime in essence, and the flaws are not that big. I thought the bike was a cool addittion, they just didn’t make it too interesting (at least not yet for me). The tutorial for the bike felt so disconnected, why am I playing F-Zero in Metroid now? And the desert is kind of monotonous. But there’s some potential! And great that they’re trying new stuff.
Most of the original people who worked on the initial trilogy are probably gone from Retro. My understanding is Prime Remastered was a way to get the new folks on the team up to date with development for Prime 4. So now that they have the talent and skill, a new title would hopefully take less than 8 years, and they could build up on what the did for Prime 4 and learn from the feedback. Just wishful thinking! (And please, don’t make another Jar Jar Binks type NPC for the next one).
The 8bit games were known for being difficult and sometimes frustrating. The Legacy Collection on Switch has a rewind feature to help with the hard parts.
My favourite Mega Man ever is the first Mega Man X, originally for the Super Nintendo. It built up on everything that came in the 8bit era and is easier to handle/more forgiving. I’d recommend that one as a start, I love it and still play it every now and then. The first stage is a master piece in design, teaching you how to play as you go.
Yeah, an official Capcom press release called it the 12th entry in the main series, so they’re not shying away from that. But it’s interesting to see. The graphics still look pretty similar to the style of Mega Man 11.
Good thing about having terrible memory is I can watch the trailer and by the time I watch the movie I will have forgotten absolutely everything 😅