Switch Weekly - The State of Switch Survey 2023

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Issue #‍321 | February 26, 2023 · Kirby's Fresh Coat of Paint

Hey, Chris here with a issue #321 of Switch Weekly — your Nintendo round-up.

Last week saw the release of the latest Kirby game – a remake of the 2011 Wii game. I didn't play it first time round, but it seems like it may be a good option for playing with my young son.

Big news: The State of Switch survey for 2023 is now LIVE, and you can fill it out right here.

As for games — there's just short of 30 titles coming to the Switch over the next week, and a fair few looks somewhat interesting. The full list is below as ever. Oh, and a quick reminder - the physical version of Metroid Prime gets its release in Europe and Japan on March 3rd.

Cheers,
Chris ✌️

🎮 Currently Playing: Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins

The State of Switch Survey 2023 — My annual survey on all things Switch returns for the sixth year - please do take the time to fill it out, share your thoughts, tell a friend, and share on social.

Chris Brandrick // Switch Weekly

REVIEW Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe is another excellent Nintendo remaster — "this remaster offers enough content to keep both newcomers and veterans busy for a while. As a Kirby game it's fairly typical and doesn't do anything particularly revolutionary, but what it does offer is strong, entertaining platforming". Polygon's review calls it a "faithful update" that "also plays things safe".

Chris Scullion // VGC

▶ A Legacy in 3D: The Story of Star Fox — This is a superb, near hour-long documentary about the Star Fox series as it marks its 30th anniversary.

John Rairdin - Nintendo World Report // YouTube

Microsoft make it official, sign ten-year Call of Duty deal with Nintendo — What was once a mere pledge is now a defined, binding legal agreement for full featured Call of Duty games on Nintendo platforms, with content parity. Microsoft's Brad Smith later noted that the games will run "exactly the way people would expect" on each platform – take from that what you will.

Chris Brandrick // overkill

In theory: can the full Call of Duty experience transition to a Nintendo console?

Richard Leadbetter // Digital Foundry - Eurogamer

INTERVIEW Shigeru Miyamoto opens up about Super Nintendo World and Nintendo's future

Kat Bailey // IGN

REVIEW Clive 'N' Wrench — "This game is just the biggest swing and it’s a shame that it is mostly a miss". Nintendo Life also didn't love it, stating it "stands out for all the wrong reasons" and scoring it a 3 out of 10.

Willem Hilhorst // Nintendo World Report

REVIEW Digimon World: Next Order — "too much of a grind to recommend".

Trent Cannon // Nintendo Life

REVIEW Planet Cube: Edge — "a charming but padded experience".

Jordan Rudek // Nintendo World Report

REVIEW Nadir: A Grimdark Deck Builder

Chelsea Beardsmore // Switch Player

REVIEW Ten Dates

Ted Hazell // Pure Nintendo

How can games engage with the complex realities of mental health?

Eli Cugini // Eurogamer

Why are so many remasters sub-par at launch?

Alana Hagues // Nintendo Life

How Nintendo’s stayed the most innovative tech company of our time

Keza MacDonald // The Guardian

Did the UK government just accidentally leak Nintendo’s Switch successor?

Kyle Orland // Ars Technica

🎮 Upcoming Releases

All releases are digital, Europe & U.S. unless otherwise stated.
Release data sourced in collaboration with Switch Scores.

⭐️ = Ones to Watch · 📦 = Physical release · 🎮 = Demo available

Tue

28

Afterthought — A 'dream-like' 2D arthouse platformer.
⭐️ Brok the InvestiGator — Private detective gator 'punch and click' adventure set in a 'light cyberpunk' world.
Choice of Life: Middle Ages 2 — 2D non-linear card game adventure.
⭐️ Lucy Dreaming — A mind-bending British point & click comedy adventure.
⭐️ Rytmos — A relaxing puzzle game, where you create music by solving maze puzzles. Looks pretty cool.

Wed

1

A Fox and His Robot — 2D action-platformer.
Dream Park Story — Another Kairosoft sim, this time for a theme park.
🎮 Fitness Boxing: Fist of the North Star — Exercise with Fist of the North Star characters.
Green Soldiers Heroes — A beginner friendly third-person shooter.
⭐️ Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth — A visual novel adventure based on the book. Set in 12th century England. M for mature.

Thu

2

Aery: Calm Mind 3 — Relax and fly through various landscapes.
Chess Pills — Budget chess game.
⭐️ Gunman Tales — Cowboy action adventure with nice pixel art - and it's priced low enough that you may want to take a punt on it.
Hike Valley — A 3D open world relaxing walking simulator.
Live Factory — Explore an underground factory in this 3D action-adventure platformer.
Meg's Monster — A short, story-driven JRPG with a big twist and GBA-style visuals.
Pretty Girls Breakers! Plus — Brick breaking arcade game.
Railway Islands - Puzzle — Looks like another take on what Dorfromantik so successfully did.
The Smile Alchemist — Alchemist simulator.
Vanaris Tactics — Short narrative tactical isometric RPG about refugees fleeing their occupied motherland.

Fri

3

Disaster Detective Saiga: An Indescribable Mystery — A 'comical occult' horror cthulu adventure.
Notes + Stickers — Yep, a notes app for the Switch.
Ruku's Heart Balloon — Cute flower-based puzzle game.
The Atla Archives — 3D adventure game with a cyclical catastrophe to avoid.
Void Scrappers — Arcade space shoot-em up.
🎮📦 void* tRrLM2(); // Void Terrarium 2 — Move into a new terrarium and grow plants.

Sat

4

Rô — Budget platformer featuring a man in overalls with a moustache....

⚡️ Quick Links

It's Pokemon Day tomorrow - as such there is a Pokemon Presents taking place over on the official YouTube channel.
A Mario Movie Nintendo Direct is slated for March 9th.
Nintendo will not be at E3 this year.
Layton fans take note — A Level-5 livestream is planned for March 9th.
Starting a Metroid Prime playthrough? Here's 13 things you may want to know.
The dates for the Mario movie have been shifted around a bit in some regions.
Fur Squadron is a Starfox-inspired space shooter coming to Switch next month.
Thousands of fans have ranked all the main Final Fantasy games.
This Mega Man X DLC for Minecraft looks kinda insane.
The Bowser's Fury speedrun is kinda interesting.
LTTP on this but: A Jane Austen 8-bit adventure is in development...for the NES.

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Curated by Chris Brandrick

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Switch Weekly - The State of Switch Survey 2023

🎮 Upcoming Releases

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