Dreadful emulation, Sora in Smash, and OLED envy

REVIEW Metroid Dread - A sublime return for a Nintendo icon — "A stylish, visually sumptuous return for 2D Metroid, and an adventure that proudly sits alongside the series' best".

Martin Robinson // Eurogamer

▶ What the critics think of Metroid Dread — I collected a few choice quotes from the early reviews of Metroid Dread to get an overview of what the opinion on this new Samus adventure is. Please do take a look, leave a comment saying hey, and maybe sub if you aren't already. 🙂

Switch Weekly // YouTube

Metroid Dread is already running on Switch emulators — Kotaku rightly came under a lot of fire this weekend for this ill-judged story highlighting how the latest Metroid release can be played using an emulator. The game came out just two days ago, and the tone of this article was essentially nudge-nudge wink-winking at readers at how to go about playing it illegally. The story has since been edited, and I note they've also tweaked the headline. Emulators have a place sure, particularly when it comes to preservation, but this is not what this story was about – this piece, as it originally read, was about straight-up piracy. Chris Scullion posted an excellent rebuttal of some common retorts in defense of such pirating. The game is excellent, you should get it.

Zack Zwiezen // Kotaku

▶ REVIEW Nintendo Switch OLED model: A brilliant display upgrade - but is that enough? — The usual excellent technical analysis we've come to expect from the always great Digital Foundry. The screen on the new OLED model does look superb — I totally don't have OLED envy right now. 😅 Here's a review round-up if you want some other takes to read through.

Digital Foundry // YouTube

Nintendo says it has "improved" Joy-Con analogue sticks, but wear is unavoidable

Tom Phillips // Eurogamer

The best Switch OLED model games to play on the new console

Nathan Ellingsworth // Pocket Tactics

▶  Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – Battling with Sora — Masahiro Sakurai presents the final DLC character for Smash Ultimate in this 40-minute video. For those unaware, Sora from the Kingdom Hearts series is the final pick — a hugely popular and oft-requested character that I can only imagine was a rights nightmare to get added because... Disney. The Kingdom Hearts games will be coming to Switch, as Cloud versions — more on that in the link below. The Smash roster is an absolute triumph and a wild celebration of all things videogaming. Now let's hope Sakurai gets some rest.

Nintendo // YouTube

▶  We need to talk about Kingdom Hearts and Nintendo Switch Cloud Games.... — Curious as to why Kingdom Hearts for Switch are Cloud versions, rather than ports? This video does a good job of digging into why that may be.

Modern Vintage Gamer // YouTube

Animal Crossing: New Horizons Direct broadcasts on Friday 15th October

Alex Seedhouse // Nintendo Insider

Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto Trilogy finally official, launching later this year —Any excuse to replay GTA III and I am in.

Matt Wales // Eurogamer

REVIEW Tetris Effect: Connected — "It takes a stroke of genius to make a game as codified in the collective unconsciousness as Tetris unique again, and yet here we are".

Ricky Berg // Nintendo Wire

REVIEW Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl — "a solid platform fighter with an awful lot of hidden depth, and also an unfortunate lack of polish outside the fighting".

Alex Olney // Nintendo Life

REVIEW Rainbow Billy: The Curse of the Leviathan — "a lovely, family-friendly adventure".

Jaz Sagoo // COG Connected

REVIEW No Longer Home — "a semi-autobiographical adventure with a great deal of emotional depth".

James Law // NME

Pokémon Legends: Arceus is clearly not going to be open-world

Mike Fahey // Kotaku

Steven Spohn on strides in accessibility for gaming, and Nintendo's room for improvement

Thomas Whitehead // Nintendo Life

PREVIEW Oxenfree II — "a promising evolution of everything people enjoyed about the original, from the walkie-talking expanding dialogue to the time tears expanding exploration and puzzle-solving".

John Friscia // Nintendo Enthusiast

🎮 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

⚡️ Quick Links:

• Sakurai has thanked fans now that the DLC for Smash Ultimate has wrapped.
• PSA: Don’t peel off the protective cover on your OLED Switch.
• This '3D Owl' AirPods Pro case sure looks like Blathers. 😉
• I like the look of this recently announced 'dimension-shifting comedic adventure'.
• Well today I learned there's a limit to how many players you can block on the Switch.
• Here's a solid overview of the N64 titles coming to the NSO 'Expansion Pack' at launch.
• Konami is inviting indie devs to make new games based on some of its classic series.
• Paper Mario: The Origami King is down to 39 dollars boxed on Amazon US right now. 

Curated by Chris Brandrick | Support Switch Weekly on Patreon

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