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PlayStation Plus Collection Adds PS4 Essentials To Your PS5 Library At No Extra Cost To Subscribers

During today’s PlayStation 5 Showcase, Sony introduced the PlayStation Plus Collection. This new feature for subscribers to PlayStation Plus delivers several of the biggest hits from PlayStation 4 to PlayStation 5 players as an added benefit to their subscription.

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Games shown in the reveal trailer include:

  • Batman: Arkham Knight
  • Battlefield 1
  • Bloodborne
  • Days Gone
  • Detroit: Become Human
  • Fallout 4
  • Final Fantasy XV
  • God of War
  • Infamous: Second Son
  • The Last Guardian
  • The Last of Us Remastered
  • Monster Hunter: World
  • Mortal Kombat X
  • Persona 5
  • Ratchet & Clank
  • Resident Evil VII: Biohazard
  • Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
  • Until Dawn

According to the trailer, subscribers just need to download the games to start playing. No word on if the feature will be available at PS5 launch on November 12, or if more titles will be added in the future, but this is sure to be a crowd-pleasing perk for fans of backwards compatibility.

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Super Mario 3D All-Stars Is A Great Collection Of Remasters That Doesn’t Quite Go Far Enough

Super Mario 3D All-Stars

Super Mario 3D All-Stars gathers three of the most classic titles Nintendo has ever put out in one must-have collection for Mario fans. Super Mario 64 is a blast to play nearly two and a half decades after release, Super Mario Sunshine, while the most divisive title in the bundle, is a fun and whimsical departure from the typical 3D Mario formula, and Super Mario Galaxy looks right at home in HD in 2020. I relished the opportunity to relive my favorite Mario memories from elementary school, high school, and college with these games. Also, as a die-hard fan of the Mario music, I love having the ability to listen to my favorite tracks from these three soundtracks, but I wouldn’t have hated receiving a voucher to add the music to my phone since carrying my Switch as I walk around my neighborhood isn’t something I typically do.

Having these games readily available in higher resolution for my TV or on the go is a revelation; no longer do I have to worry about keeping a Wii U or Wii plugged in to play these classics, and when my parents were visiting this past weekend, it was awesome to be able to stroll around Peach’s castle from my upstairs couch while they finished getting ready for the day. In no way do I want to downplay just how excited I am to have some of my favorite Mario games of all time available on a system as relevant and versatile as the Switch, but I can’t help but view the collection as a bit of a missed opportunity. 

Super Mario 3D All-Stars

Super Mario 64

When Super Mario All-Stars released on Super NES in 1993, it featured the four original Super Mario Bros. games from the NES era (Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 2 (USA), Super Mario Bros. 2 (Japan), and Super Mario Bros. 3) remade in 16-bit graphics that only the SNES could handle at the time. This celebration laid out the blueprint for how to effectively remake games for a new generation of console technology, while bringing together some of the most beloved video games of all time under one awesome collection. As the centerpiece of Nintendo’s 35th anniversary celebration of the Super Mario franchise, Super Mario 3D All-Stars borrows the name of that original SNES collection, but aside from gathering three terrific games, it falls short of the accomplishment of its namesake.

Super Mario 3D All-Stars

Super Mario Galaxy

For starters, while Galaxy looks good by modern standards, Sunshine and 64 show a bit more age. As I mentioned before, the remade graphics of the original Super Mario All-Stars were awesome, but that’s not the only time Nintendo has upgraded the visuals of its classic titles; the Zelda franchise has received two substantial visual upgrades in the form of the Ocarina of Time 3D and Majora’s Mask 3D for 3DS. While I don’t deny that upgrading 3D visuals is more work than overhauling a sprite-based game, seeing this collection release so close to the stunning remakes of the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater games really sets up a disadvantageous (and admittedly unfair) contrast.

However, the most obvious missed opportunity is the absence of Super Mario Galaxy 2. Considered by many to be even better than the all-time classic Super Mario Galaxy, Super Mario Galaxy 2 is sorely missed in this collection. Unless Nintendo has bigger plans for Galaxy 2 (perhaps something along the lines of what’s happening with Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury, where you get the HD remaster plus additional content and online play), it’s a strange, all-too-obvious missing piece for Super Mario 3D All-Stars.

Super Mario 3D All-Stars

Super Mario Sunshine

Regardless of its shortcomings, this still serves as a great way to play these three games on modern, portable technology. Super Mario 3D All-Stars is a must-have for all die-hard fans of Nintendo’s flagship franchise, but it’s unfortunate to have it outshone not only by the collection’s contemporaries, but also by the collection it was essentially modeled after nearly three decades ago. If you’re on the fence about Super Mario 3D All-Stars, you can’t go wrong with these three classic adventures in one neat package. However, you’ll want to grab these before they disappear forever; Nintendo currently plans on pulling the sale of Super Mario 3D All-Stars at the end of March 2021.


For more on the Super Mario series, check out our ranking of every entry in the mainline franchise. For our piece on the history of the franchise’s first 30 years, head here.

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Donkey Kong Country 2 Coming To Nintendo Switch Online Alongside Three Other Titles

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest

Hot off the surprise addition of Super Mario All-Stars to the Super NES library of Nintendo Switch Online earlier this month, Nintendo has announced the full lineup of September additions to its subscription catalog. In addition to the already-released Super Mario All-Stars, the Super NES library will receive three new additions, while the NES library will see one new game.

The headliner this month is undoubtedly Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest (pictured above). The follow up to the iconic SNES platformer sees Diddy and Dixie Kong taking the spotlight in an adventure to save Donkey Kong from the clutches of King K. Rool. In addition, Nintendo Switch Online subscribers can look forward to adding puzzle game Mario’s Super Picross and action title The Peace Keepers on the SNES side, while NES enthusiasts have S.C.A.T.: Special Cybernetic Attack Team coming at them.

Mario’s Super Picross

In order to access the ever-growing library of classic games available on Switch, which includes titles like The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Super Mario World, Super Metroid, and Super Mario Kart, you must be a subscriber to Nintendo Switch Online. The service, which also grants you access to Switch games’ online features, also gives you the ability to play downloadable titles like Tetris 99 and the upcoming Super Mario Bros. 35 at no additional cost.

These new Nintendo Switch Online additions arrive on September 23.

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Sega Details Upcoming Sonic 30th Anniversary Merchandise

The Sonic the Hedgehog franchise turns 30 years old next year and Sega is ready to celebrate with a full line of merchandise. Whether you’re looking for clothes or collectibles, Sega has you covered. In addition to these licensing deals, Sega will also reveal additional plans for Sonic’s 30th anniversary, “in the coming months.”

Books and Comics

It starts with the Sonic Encyclo-speed-ia, a full-color hardcover retrospective encyclopedia that features nearly every video game in the franchise. If you’d rather go on a new adventure with Sonic and pals, the folks at IDW Publishing will release its first Classic Sonic adventure through a new special. IDW will also release a new miniseries.

Not final art.

Collectibles

The team at Funko will be delivering a new line of Funko Pops including Classic Sonic, Tails, Silver, and more. Jakks Pacific will also deliver a new collection of toys and plushies.

Wearables

If you like showing your love for the Blue Blur in the flashiest way possible, King Ice has created an official jewelry collection for the Sonic franchise, featuring hand-set stones to merge the Sonic brand with hip-hop influence. Graph Gaming is launching a new line of apparel and accessories in spring 2021. Meanwhile, Figpin is launching a line of unique collectible enamel pins featuring several Sonic characters beginning this winter.

G FUEL (AirHorn.wav)

G Fuel will be releasing a sugar-free peach-infused energy drink called Sonic’s Peach Rings as a part of the brand’s recently announced partnership with the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. The flavor will re-launch under this branding in a special 30th anniversary collector’s box in 2021.

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Spelunky 2 Review – Enthralling Entropy

Spelunky 2

Developer: Mossmouth, BlitWorks
Release:


(PlayStation 4),
(PC)

Rating: Teen
Reviewed on: PC
Also on:
PlayStation 4

“This is the run where I make real progress,” I tell myself. “Last time I got careless, but this time will be different.” With that self-assurance, I descend into the caves of Spelunky 2 for the umpteenth time. Masterfully dodging booby traps and whipping bats, spiders, and snakes before they can steal my health, I make it through the first level with ease. My confidence rises as I pick up a crossbow from the shopkeep. Everything is going according to plan, when suddenly a horned lizard rolls into me, knocking me back and setting off a glorious chain reaction featuring skeletons, arrow traps, and eventually, a spike pit that triggers my demise. I’m frustrated my best-laid plans fell apart so fast, but as soon as the option to start a new appears, I can’t select it fast enough.

Despite the many times I’ve yelled as my character’s body bounces around like a pinball from scenarios such as that, Spelunky 2 is unceasingly fun. Maintaining the same formula as its predecessor, the engaging roguelike action-platformer drops you into a procedurally generated cave system and dares you to get further than you did last time. The engrossing difficulty and randomization of the world effectively combines with that very desire to do better, providing the drive to take on another round. As you dig deeper into the caverns, you uncover new biomes, like an aquatic-themed area with killer fish and octopuses that are all too willing to end your run. While starting over at level 1-1 can make the experience tedious, multiple visits to the deeper areas grants you the ability to start your run at that point instead. The procedural generation provides nearly endless levels to play through, and the distinct worlds introduce new elements and challenges to keep the experience fresh as you progress deeper into the caves.

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This time around, you can chart your path depending on the challenges you want to encounter. After completing the first area of the cave, do you venture into a lush jungle flooded with monkeys and man-eating plants? Or do you want to brave the volcanic foundry full of explosive robots and fire-spewing ladybugs? I love getting to decide which world to tackle as I reach these new areas, and I’m continually impressed at how different each biome feels from the others.

In addition to being able to choose your path through the caves, Spelunky 2 adds new secret areas you can duck into for treasures, challenges, and even new characters to rescue and add to your community back at base. It’s fun seeing the people you save appear at your camp, but too often these passageways lead to nowhere, causing me to sometimes disregard them since they’re usually wastes of time. This further highlights the main pitfall of procedural generation: While skill clearly plays a large role in your overall success, luck is also a factor as some runs are significantly easier than others. Still, no run is impossible, as Spelunky 2 ensures there’s a clear path to each level’s exit, so I tried to make sure I took advantage of the times fortune favored me.

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While descending into the caves alone is a blast, you can enlist help in the form of NPCs, who are often so aggressive that the best you can hope for is they’ll take down a few enemies en route to causing their own demise. You can also discover helpful mounts like a turkey that can headbutt enemies and glide, a fire-breathing dog, or a lizard that spits bubbles. However, the better company to keep comes from multiplayer, which can now be played locally or online. As you might expect, chaos reigns supreme as you add more players into the mix; don’t expect to make better progress with your friends, but it sure is fun.

Spelunky 2 is as addictive an experience as I’ve played this year. Two-minute-long runs stack to turn into consecutive hours of gameplay, and “just one more try” easily turns into an afternoon of exploring, dying, and trying again. Spelunky 2 is at once captivating, stressful, and exciting, and even now, I can’t wait to once again test my mettle within the cave’s ever-shifting walls.


Note: This review is based on a pre-release build in which online multiplayer was unavailable.

Score: 9

Summary: Spelunky 2 is an addictive and chaotic experience that builds on the already exciting formula of the original.

Concept: Dive back into the shifting cave system of Spelunky, this time with branching paths, new enemies, and mounts to ride

Graphics: Beautiful environments are a treat to behold, and improved physics make water and lava look great as they slip through holes and cracks in the world

Sound: Helpful audio cues hint at nearby side-objectives, while a solid soundtrack accompanies the on-screen chaos

Playability: Despite its high degree of difficulty, Spelunky 2 is easy to pick up and play thanks to simple and tight controls

Entertainment: No matter how many times I yelled in frustration, I couldn’t wait to jump right back into the ever-shifting caves

Replay: High

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No More Heroes 3 Delayed To 2021

No More Heroes 3, which was unveiled at E3 last year, has been delayed to 2021. The Switch-exclusive title was originally planned for a 2020 release, but developer Grasshopper Manufacture has announced a delay to the anticipated action title due to complications surrounding the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

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While the delay is unfortunate for those who were hoping to go on another adventure with Travis Touchdown before the end of the year, the good news is that the studio claims to have gotten back to where it needs to be from a development capacity perspective. The decision to delay was made with the prioritization of quality in mind. 

You can read the full statement from director Suda51 below.

In addition to the news of the delay, the team announced that comic artist Darick Robertson, who has worked on such series as The BoysTransmetropolitanSpider-ManDeadpool, and X-Men, is joining the team to create illustrations for No More Heroes 3. 

For more on No More Heroes 3, check out our interview with Suda51. For more on the impact COVID-19 has had on development, read about how EA Sports was affected, and how the industry as a whole has been affected.

[Source: Grasshopper Manufacture on Twitter]

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The Kena: Bridge Of Spirits Digital Issue Is Now Live

….Content…SANITIZED …WzZzzZZzzZzaAapppPPp!!!! 🙂

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Check Out The New Pokémon Trading Card Game Battle Academy Set

With more than 80 expansions and increasingly complex mechanics, the Pokémon Trading Card Game can be difficult to fully grasp for those who haven’t played a CCG before. While it’s certainly one of the more approachable card games, the Pokémon Company wanted to make sure people who have never even thought about battling with cards could do so with Pokémon Trading Card Game Battle Academy.

This set comes packaged like a board game and includes everything you need to learn how to play the Pokémon Trading Card Game and get through a match in under 30 minutes. The box includes three decks, the game board, tutorial guides, and a rulebook, as well as a special large coin featuring the stars of the included decks: Pikachu, Mewtwo, and Charizard. You also get damage counters and a code card for Pokémon Trading Card Game Online.

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Pokémon Trading Card Game Battle Academy is available now. For more on the Pokémon Trading Card Game, check out our big galleries for many of the most recent expansions.

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Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 And 2 Review – Once Again Nailing The Trick

Publisher: Activision
Developer: Vicarious Visions
Release:

Rating: Teen
Reviewed on: PlayStation 4
Also on:
Xbox One, PC

Forget the weird peripherals, bad sequels, and questionable ports that defined Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater in the series’ later years. Instead, remember the glory days of the late ‘90s and early ‘00s, because that’s where you’re going with Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 and 2. By returning to the first two games in the franchise and modernizing them with changes large and small, developer Vicarious Visions reminds us why we fell in love with this series in the first place.

The overall structure remains completely intact: You select levels based on various locations around the globe, then hop on your skateboard to complete objectives like getting the high score before the time limit expires, collecting letters to spell out “skate,” and doing tricks over specific areas. Vicarious Visions keeps the best parts of the game largely intact, but various enhancements, including a larger arsenal of tricks, lifts these classics to new heights. Stringing together tricks feels amazing thanks to smoother controls, and the modern visuals look great in motion.

While these games are fun independent of nostalgia, as a fan of the original games, I loved how this release gives continual nods to the classic versions. Featuring every single real-life skater from those first two games, an enhanced create-a-skater mode, and nearly every song from the classic soundtracks, this is a crowd-pleasing remaster bundle. Stepping back into the shoes of Tony Hawk and crushing a halfpipe as Goldfinger’s “Superman” comes over my speakers brought a smile to my face. However, this bundle also adds several current-day skaters and a huge selection of new songs. By masterfully blending old with new, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 and 2 lands on a sweet spot.

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All the levels from the original games are also available, complete with beautiful makeovers for the current technology. I was continually impressed by how gorgeous these new environments look. The stages feel faithful to the versions you played 20 years ago, while simultaneously featuring the look of new creations. Perhaps most surprising is how well the levels hold up today; skating through the streets of San Francisco and New York still feels great, and the timeless designs of Warehouse, Hangar, and the Chicago Skatepark have me returning time and again. The levels feature fun paths on which you can chain together massive combos, as well as enormous ramps to launch off, countless rails and edges to grind on, and plenty of objects to smash through. The only downside to these stages is that some of the objects you’re supposed to destroy, like the school’s bells or the “No Skating” signs in Minneapolis can be more difficult to spot since there’s a lot more going on with the visuals now.

If you’re looking for new places to skate, you can design the park of your dreams. With a massive set of elements choose from, including smart objects you can curve at multiple articulation points, the intuitive creation tools make it easier than ever to transpose the park from your mind to the screen. Once you finish, you can upload your creation to share with other players. I loved exploring the community feature; my favorite created parks ended up being the zany ideas, like an automated rollercoaster for you to grind along, rather than the more traditional skateparks. Unfortunately, I sometimes got stuck inside of objects in created parks as the pieces don’t fit together as perfectly as they do in the developer-created levels.

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Outside of sharing your parks, you can also jump into online matches. In the frantic and fun online sessions, you compete in a randomized objective playlist of quick-hit matches where eight players vie for the top spot. These objectives are as simple as getting the best score within the time limit or landing the best single combo, or as off-the-wall as graffiti mode, where you try to tag as many of the objects as possible by performing tricks on them. I love how you’re essentially into the next match as soon as you finish the one before it, with players able to seamlessly join and drop out without everyone else needing to return to a lobby. While I enjoy the structure of the online play, the experience wears thin fast due to repetitive objectives and an inability to play some of the local multiplayer offerings like H-O-R-S-E- and Tag online. Despite earning cash to spend on cosmetics in the skate shop, I didn’t feel motivated to stick around for more than a few rounds at a time.

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 and 2 makes the experience of playing through these games again feel fresh and current. With contemporary visuals, smooth gameplay, and the iconic soundtrack you remember, the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater franchise may once again have a bright future thanks to this terrific blast from the past.

Score: 8.75

Summary: This bundle of two of the most beloved skateboarding games of all time effectively recaptures the magic of the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater franchise.

Concept: Serve up modern versions of the first two Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater games, complete with new and returning skaters, the full suite of levels, and online multiplayer

Graphics: With overhauled visuals, these 20-year-old games look right at home on current consoles

Sound: Skating to these iconic soundtracks again feels great. The huge selection of new songs fit right in with the established vibe

Playability: Stringing together flip tricks, grabs, grinds, and manuals has never felt better thanks to tweaks that make the gameplay smoother

Entertainment: Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 and 2 is the best way to experience these two classic titles

Replay: High

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What We’d Want From A Zelda 35th Anniversary Celebration

Yesterday, Nintendo surprised everyone with a Direct announcing several things related to the 35th anniversary of the Super Mario series. These announcements include a collection of 3D Mario remasters, Super Mario All-Stars coming to Nintendo Switch Online, an enhanced port of Super Mario 3D World, a Super Mario Bros. battle royale, a mixed-reality Mario Kart product, and other in-game celebrations. The onslaught of news and games to look forward to got me thinking about what I’d love to see when my favorite Nintendo series, The Legend of Zelda, turns 35 years old early next year.

While my suggestions are loosely modeled after the announcements made during the Super Mario Direct, I did take some liberties in other places. Check out what I’d love to see from a Zelda 35th anniversary and chime in with your own suggestions in the comments!

Zelda Anniversary Collection

Alright, let’s get the obvious one out of the way first. A Legend of Zelda anniversary collection for Switch is a no-brainer when it comes to celebrating 35 years since Link first ventured into Hyrule. We already have The Legend of Zelda, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, and A Link to the Past through Nintendo Switch Online, as well as a great remake of Link’s Awakening, so I would love to see this collection follow Mario’s lead and focus on the 3D entries. We received excellent remasters of Wind Waker and Twilight Princess in HD on Wii U, so bringing them forward would be the first step, but why stop there? 3DS players enjoyed enhanced remasters of Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask, complete with redone visuals. I’d love to see that visual style applied in HD and brought onto Switch as well. If Nintendo released a Zelda anniversary collection with HD versions of Ocarina of Time 3D, Majora’s Mask 3D, Wind Waker HD, and Twilight Princess HD, the Switch would become unrivaled in its capabilities as a Zelda machine.

Ports of A Link Between Worlds and Skyward Sword

While a 3DS port might a bit more complicated than Nintendo porting Super Mario 3D World from Wii U to Switch, A Link Between Worlds is a game that deserves a refreshed lease on life. As one of the best 2D Zelda games to date, it’s a shame to have it stranded on a device that many have replaced as their daily gaming companion. Additionally, while series producer Eiji Aonuma outright told me that a Skyward Sword port without motion controls would be, “close to impossible,” I would still love to see that art style shine in HD, even if I still had to use motion controls.

Massive Info Dump on the Breath of the Wild sequel

It’s been over a year since we’ve heard anyone at Nintendo talk about the Breath of the Wild sequel that was revealed at E3 2019. While we know some of the reasons it’s getting a sequel, as well as the fact that the Breath of the Wild director is returning for the follow up, we don’t know much else. What better reason could Nintendo have to spill more details than the series celebrating a milestone anniversary. I want first gameplay, some details on how it differs from the first Breath of the Wild, and, if Nintendo is feeling extra saucy, a release date.

In-Game Events and Content

Just like Nintendo did with Super Mario’s 35th, it would be great to see the Zelda anniversary branch out to the company’s other popular games. Give me the ability to craft Majora’s Mask and the Master Sword and hang them on my wall in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, or let me add some Zelda enemies to my Super Mario Maker 2 courses (you can already play as Link!). Splatoon 2 could do a Splatfest asking players whether they prefer Ganon or Ganondorf, and I’d love to see Super Smash Bros. Ultimate go all out for the series’ original swordsman with special Spirit Board events and maybe even a new character from the series (Impa would be an awesome addition alongside another Zelda stage).

First 4 Figures’ Breath of the Wild statue

Physical Rewards from My Nintendo

Back in the Club Nintendo days, the publisher would reward its most loyal customers with physical rewards ranging from cartridge cases and posters to game soundtracks and statues. With the announcement of the Super Mario 35th anniversary, My Nintendo, the almost-exclusively digital loyalty program, opened up a way for members to earn a pin set featuring art from Mario’s most classic games. Give us something similar for the Legend of Zelda. While pins are fine, I’d love for Nintendo to return to the days of offering amazing statues as exclusive rewards for those who have demonstrated they’re dedicated fans of the franchise.


What’s on your wishlist for a Legend of Zelda 35th anniversary celebration?

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Nintendo Announces Cat Mario And Cat Peach Amiibo Figures

Today brought an onslaught of news surrounding the Super Mario series. While the biggest news was Super Mario 3D All-Stars for Switch, fans were delighted to see the announcement of Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury. In addition to that announcement, Nintendo revealed the first new Amiibo figures in a long time: Cat Mario and Cat Peach from Super Mario 3D World.

Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury is set to launch for Switch on February 12. The Amiibo figures will release at the same time.

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EA Sports Opens Up About The Challenges Of Developing During COVID

To say that 2020 hasn’t gone as any of us expected would be an understatement. With the COVID-19 global pandemic serving as a backdrop, everyone has been asked to change their way of life over the course of this year. Perhaps the place most impacted is how we work on a day-to-day basis. Businesses have been severely affected by the pandemic, and the recommended safety measures by experts and state officials have led to a major shift to working from home where possible. In a survey published by GDC in July, 70 percent of responding video game developers said they moved from an in-office setting to a work-from-home setting due to the pandemic, with only 3 percent saying they continued working in an office at the time of response.

As one of the largest game publishers in the industry, Electronic Arts is among the companies affected by the pandemic and the transition to working remotely. Fortunately for EA, the company had been exploring how to enable employees to work from home over the last several years. The publisher began putting technology in place to allow its team members to work on any game from any location while maintaining IP security. The timing for the company could not have been more fortuitous, as the global events forced the gaming giant’s plan into action.

“A lot of the stuff, from an infrastructure standpoint, we had in place and we had been testing; we’ve been having those discussions for years,” says Daryl Holt, vice president and general manager of Madden NFL 21 developer EA Tiburon. “When the stay-at-home order was put in place in mid-March, as a company, we made the decision, and pretty much overnight, people started working from home. I remember it was a Friday in Orlando and we were sending out the message kind of late at night, ‘Hey, Monday we’re all going to be working from home, so come in Monday, we’ll talk about what you need to take with you and what you’ll leave at the studio and how we’ll work.’ It seemed probably hectic in the moment if I look back on it, but at the same time, it was a quiet confidence of knowing some of the stuff we can go do. The infrastructure was the easy part.”

That ability to have its team members up and running in short order proved crucial for the team at EA Tiburon, which was in the thick of development on Madden NFL 21 at the time. However, there was still much to learn for the studio. “The real hard work became, ‘Well, what does this mean?’ How does it change making a game? How does it change finishing a game? Is it as simple as it used to be? What’s different? What are we going to have to come up with new ways for? That became the conversation,” Holt says.

For the team behind EA Sports UFC 4 at EA Vancouver, a program was already being discussed that would allow for more flexible work-from-home situations. UFC 4 executive producer Sean Ramjagsingh had been wanting to run a test pilot allowing employees to work from home one day a week to see how it affected efficiency, but due to the speed of development on the title, the test kept getting delayed. “We just couldn’t execute against that plan, so we didn’t get to test it,” Ramjagsingh says. “Then, sure enough, COVID hits, and within 24 or 36 hours, we are executing the plan and it’s on a one-day trial.”

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The timing of the pandemic uniquely hit the Madden development team due to the timeline of events: The Super Bowl had happened just a month prior to the COVID-19-imposed lockdown of the United States, so the studio was firing on all cylinders with Madden NFL 21 development as the pandemic hit the U.S. “We are in full production, making the game and working on a lot of creative problems to solve and work through, and then moving into finalizing the game,” Holt says. “The good news is that EA Sports, because of the timeline we operate on – releasing Madden every year – we have lots of data and we have lots of processes. Our development directors and project managers are really, really strong, so we can look at data and make informed decisions and choices to understand things. It’s the creative aspect that becomes really difficult as you’re trying to finalize a game. Everything is harder; getting content in the game, dealing with audio, we’ve still got some mocap pickups to do, or face-scans to do, commentary that we’re finishing up … there’s so much of that where, because of not having a long lead-in [to the work-from-home situation] and it was just to flip the switch and go, everything was different. Everything was harder.”

The UFC 4 team benefited from a longer development cycle, with the game having been in development for two or more years, versus the annualized release cycle of the Madden franchise. While this meant a greater percentage of in-office development time compared to EA Tiburon’s Madden NFL 21, the UFC 4 team did hold concerns about making sure the game came together in the home stretch. “So much of the magic happens in finalizing the game,” Ramjagsingh says. “The features are there, but they’re not balanced, they’re not tuned, we’re finding all the bugs, and we’re really trying to find the fun. That’s the piece that candidly scared me the most: How are we going to find the fun? It was scary, I’ll be honest, but the team got creative and they adapted.”

A member of EA Tiburon observes a remote commentary recording session

While UFC 4 was fortunate with much of its timing due to a longer development cycle, it was still affected to the point that the game was briefly delayed before it was even revealed. According to Ramjagsingh, the team was targeting a release the weekend of July 11 to coincide with the UFC’s annual International Fight Week event. While the team made a smooth transition to working from home, that date just wasn’t possible. “Very quickly, once we were set up from home, we realized that date was not going to be achievable,” he says. “We went through multiple iterations, multiple different scenarios about when we think we can launch the game with a bunch of different assumptions baked into that – not knowing the duration we’ll be working from home – then once we started to settle in to working from home, understanding what our efficiency was going to look like, we could have more informed decisions or conversations around what we think we can launch the game.”

While Madden NFL 21 didn’t miss its release date, it did have to change course on multiple things, including how some of the cutscenes were done in its Face of the Franchise career mode. Longtime sports personality and journalist Rich Eisen had to self-shoot his scenes, while other components were changed or outright cut. “We had different storyboards and different approaches,” Holt says. “Our producers and designers had to change a little bit about how they approached things. Certain things got cut, certain things got shifted, but with Rich, it was something we really wanted to make sure still made the story, so he was a trooper, willing to pivot and adapt as well.”

One of the Beam robots used during Madden NFL 21’s remote motion-capture sessions

Ordinary game-development situations, like being able to order pizza and spend an evening playtesting the game, became impossible, so the team had to find new solutions. Instead of getting together in a somewhat social setting and calling out things they do and don’t like, the Madden team had to playtest as isolated individuals.

Another hurdle for Madden involved finishing up motion-capture. Since having large groups in the studio was inadvisable, Electronic Arts distributed motion-capture equipment to the talent, and the development team used Beam robots, wheeled devices with a screen and camera, so the developer could interact and direct the talent. “We initially were looking out for the health and welfare of our people as much as we were trying to make a game; first and foremost, it’s making sure our teams are safe,” Holt says. “So we’d say, ‘Okay, we can’t do a mocap shoot. We can’t bring talent in because we don’t want to expose the people, so we just delay.’ But you start looking at things and we can’t delay forever, so we had to look at different creative ways to do this.”

Click here to watch embedded media

Despite the Madden team’s best efforts to make it as normal as possible during motion-capture sessions, having a robot with a face and voice telling the mocap talent what to do is hardly typical. The result was some sessions were more laborious in getting the creative content the team needed. However, the communication changes were hardly contained to the motion-capture sessions.

The developers had to adapt and pivot when it came to communication as a whole. From using different techniques and timing to having life distractions such as family or internet issues at home disrupt the normal flow of work, EA Sports had to be nimble in how it approached keeping the lines of communication open. The studios used asynchronous communication methods like prerecorded messages team members could watch on-demand, and it relied more on applications like Slack for text communication and Zoom for live video communication. The UFC 4 team at EA Vancouver even began doing virtual build reviews over Zoom. These types of communication have typically been avoided by EA over leak concerns, but it became the norm in order to ensure teammate connectivity and safety.

“You have to over-communicate no matter what; in a situation like this, you have to make sure the communication is coming fast and furious,” Holt says. “We have to do it in different ways for different people. We definitely adapted that, and we went to shorter meetings to make sure people had time to work. We made sure there were documents that we were sharing and all collaborating on at the same time. It’s just a creative process, amped up.”

Former UFC champion Daniel Cormier joining the EA Vancouver team on a Zoom call

For EA Vancouver, the team operated on a policy of flexibility to enable its employees to take care of any responsibilities they had. “We said, ‘Everyone’s got a unique situation they need to deal with at home. You tell us what you think you can do. If you need to adjust your hours and be with your kids in the daytime, then work at nighttime, then let’s have that conversation and we’ll figure it out,'” Ramjagsingh says. “Those first couple weeks, we were just kind of figuring it out together, understanding everyone’s unique situation. From there, starting to build a plan of how we continue moving forward as best we possibly can, understanding some limitations we’re gonna have.”

However, regardless of how many plans you put into place, life sometimes gets in the way; schools being closed or extra precautions needing to be taken for previously simple tasks such as grocery shopping led to additional stressors that could make working difficult at times. “We had to make sure people knew it was okay,” Holt says. “At the same time, we had to then use what data we were seeing. As we start to deal with the human element and make sure it’s supported, then we need to interpret that and what it means for the project and the team.”

Because of the human element, EA Sports had to consider work/life balance in a way it didn’t have to before the pandemic. The teams began scheduling virtual pizza parties and giving out gift cards to help support time spent in meetings and playtesting. The UFC 4 team even worked to make certain Zoom meetings “must-see TV,” by bringing in celebrity guests like former UFC champion Daniel Cormier to chat with the developers or hosting Zoom costume contests. 

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As the games approach launch, the marketing teams also had to think outside the box. Massive in-person cover-reveal events and over-the-top video shoots with hundreds of people present weren’t possible, so once again, creativity and nimbleness played a key role. EA Tiburon worked closely with Lamar Jackson, cover athlete of Madden NFL 21, to let him shoot and direct his own cover reveal. EA Sports shipped Jackson camera kits and helped with direction remotely so that the Ravens quarterback could tell his story. This approach carried into the title’s TV ads, with remote shoots including multiple athletes and celebrities, and the marketing beats that typically include events like EA Play and the NFL Draft, both of which were drastically different this year.

“For the covers of the game, we normally do photoshoots and have tons of assets, and have these assets early,” Holt says. “All of sudden, we can’t do that. So even the cover of Madden, which was a departure from our past approaches, becomes a creative outlet and a new way of looking at it.”

Click here to watch embedded media

The UFC 4 team once again benefited from fortunate timing and was able to gather its two cover athletes, Israel Adesanya and Jorge Masvidal, together in Las Vegas for a protected, sanitized photoshoot around March 20. “I think we benefited from that shoot being so soon after they moved to working from home that nobody knew what the future was going to hold,” Ramjagsingh says. “I think if that shoot was scheduled a week later or two weeks later, it probably doesn’t happen.”

As the teams move into the future, all of the lessons learned and processes developed for this situation will not be for naught when the world returns to relative normalcy and ordinary professional life is restored. 

Click here to watch embedded media

“We’ve always had an ‘adapt, improvise, overcome’ mentality on the team; I think it’s just the nature of creative people in creative endeavors,” Holt says. “It’s getting tight up front on some of the things that we know we’re going to have to be realistic on, while at the same time, not being so risk-averse that you don’t swing for the fences, or you don’t think about what your community is telling you or the improvements we still want to make. There’s a long list of things we want to do in Madden, and that’s not going to change. It’s continued learning, and I think we will work better. When we come together, there will be work-from-home as part of our future, there will be remote creative solutions that we’ve come up and lean into and do better. More importantly, I think all the things that we do so much better and so much easier together, will feel like an amplifier. I would expect that we’ll probably see an uplift from that as we start to come together in, hopefully, a world around the corner where things do return to some sense of normalcy.”

Ramjagsingh thinks working from home will almost be an expectation rather than an exception. “I feel like as the next generation of the workforce starts to come through, they’re going to want more flexibility and have different expectations of how they work and where they work,” he says. “I’m really interested to see, once we get back to a bit of normalcy, how we change our processes to enable people to work from home more. I think if you were to ask people in the past when people worked from home, it was usually a bit of a lighter day, and I think expectations around people that are working from home have changed through the process as well. There’s an expectation that you’re available, that you’re working, you’re accessible throughout the day. I think once we get back to normalcy, that’s the exciting part for me: seeing how we adapt to enable people to work from home more and be more flexible with where and when they work.”


For a broader view on how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected game development, read our summary of GDC’s State of the Game Industry 2020 survey here.

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Ranking Every Game In The Super Mario Series

With the Super Mario series celebrating its 35th anniversary, Nintendo has been particularly nostalgic, announcing Super Mario 3D All-Stars, as well as other Super Mario-related announcements and merchandise to help ring in the major milestone for its flagship franchise.

In the first 35 years of the Super Mario series, Mario and his friends appeared in hundreds of titles, but in the core “Super Mario” series, the plumber was present in just under 20 titles. Since Super Mario Maker and Super Mario Maker 2 are such a unique experiences that are more along the lines of a creation toolset than an actual game, we decided to leave them off of the list.

Even so, the Super Mario series doesn’t have a bad entry to date, so this list proved difficult to put together in an order we all felt comfortable with. In 2018, we ranked the top 300 games of all time in our 300th issue. While that list was more about ranking games in terms of quality, importance to the industry, and cultural relevance, this list is just about our favorite games. So check out our rankings of the first 19 Super Mario games below!

New Super Mario Bros. 2

19. New Super Mario Bros. 2 (3DS, 2012)

Despite the name, New Super Mario Bros. 2 on 3DS was actually the third entry in Mario’s return to his 2D roots. While the game relied on the tried-and-true mechanics and introduced a fun side mission of collecting as many coins over the course of multiple playthroughs as possible, the level design doesn’t quite stand up to that of the series’ stronger titles.

18. Super Mario Bros. 2: The Lost Levels (SNES, 1993)

Following the success of the original Super Mario Bros. in both North America and Japan, Nintendo opted to rebrand a Japanese game called Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic as Super Mario Bros. 2 in the United States. The Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2 eventually made its way to North American stores with enhanced graphics through the Super Mario All-Stars package on SNES (pictured), but aside from an increased challenge from the original, it does little to elevate itself over the game that came before it.

17. Super Mario Land (Game Boy, 1989)

The first handheld Mario adventure was a strong experience, but due to the technology of the Game Boy, it ended up being an extremely short romp through an unfamiliar world. The graphics aren’t anywhere near as good as Mario’s console releases, but Super Mario Land more than makes up for that with its portability and uniqueness. Still, it was an important step for the series, as well as the Game Boy handheld itself.

16. Super Mario 3D Land (3DS, 2011)

Sure, DS owners could play an enhanced version of Super Mario 64, but Super Mario 3D Land served as the first original 3D adventure for Mario on handhelds. The game paid homage to several games in the past – most notably Super Mario Bros. 3 – through its level design, musical cues, and power-ups. In addition, Super Mario 3D Land leveraged the glasses-free 3D capabilities of the 3DS to deliver some very cool depth-of-vision puzzles that wouldn’t be possible anywhere else.

15. New Super Mario Bros. U (Wii U, 2012)

As a launch title of the Wii U, New Super Mario Bros. U quickly became one of the faces of the fledgling console. New Super Mario Bros. U brought back all of the awesome cooperative play of its Wii predecessor, but didn’t differentiate itself enough to fly higher than New Super Mario Bros. Wii. The DLC (which features Luigi) is a blast to play through, and the re-release on Switch adds the ability to play as Toadette, as well as the Super Crown power-up to transform her into Peachette.

14. Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (Game Boy, 1992)

The follow-up to Mario’s original handheld release upped the ante in many ways. In addition to being exponentially larger than Super Mario Land, 6 Golden Coins introduced the world to Wario, who would eventually become a mainstay of the spin-off franchises like Mario Kart, Super Smash Bros., and Mario Party. Wario proved so popular that he was given the spotlight for the Super Mario Land 2 sequel, subtitled Wario Land, which acted as the starting point for his own series.

13. Super Mario Sunshine (GameCube, 2002)

After Super Mario 64 introduced Mario to the 3D platforming genre in such grand fashion, it was a tall order for Nintendo to live up to that release. While Super Mario Sunshine on GameCube was imaginative, colorful, and cleverly designed, many rejected the F.L.U.D.D. mechanics as too different from what fans want from the Super Mario series. Because of this, Super Mario Sunshine might be the most divisive entry in series history.

12. New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii, 2009)

New Super Mario Bros. was seen as a big success when it launched on the DS in 2006, so when the sub-series made the leap to consoles with New Super Mario Bros. Wii in 2009, it was also a smash hit. With new power-ups and the introduction of co-op play, New Super Mario Bros. Wii gave fans of the series a new and exciting way to enjoy the classic style of gameplay.

11. Super Mario 3D World (Wii U, 2013)

Following the success of Super Mario 3D Land on 3DS, Nintendo released a more ambitious game using similar mechanics, more power-ups, and enhanced level design for the Wii U. Super Mario 3D World also carried over the cooperative gameplay of the console releases of the New Super Mario Bros. series, making it the first 3D Mario to feature true co-op. To this day, Super Mario 3D World remains one of the strongest releases in the Wii U’s library. The Switch version not only adds online play to the fan-favorite adventure, but also an entirely new game called Bowser’s Fury.

10. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island (SNES 1995)

Super Mario World was a tremendous success for the Super NES when it released in 1991, so nobody expected its sequel to change things up so much. Yoshi’s Island puts players in control of Yoshi as he escorts Baby Mario in order to save Baby Luigi from Baby Bowser. The game capitalized on the sudden popularity of new character Yoshi, and acted as a launching point for Yoshi’s own spin-off series.

9. New Super Mario Bros. (DS, 2006)

Following two successful 3D games in the series in Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine, Nintendo returned the franchise to its 2D roots. The result was New Super Mario Bros., the first 2D entry in the series since 1995’s Yoshi’s Island, and the first original handheld adventure since 1992’s Super Mario Land 2. In addition to bringing the excellent level design of past 2D games, New Super Mario Bros. also implemented cool new power-ups including the mega mushroom, which allows Mario to grow to unprecedented sizes and destroy everything in his path without breaking a sweat.

8. Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES, 1988)

Rather than bringing the original Super Mario Bros. sequel to the NES in the United States, Nintendo opted to modify a Japanese game called Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic and rebrand it as a Super Mario Bros. game. Super Mario Bros. 2 was vastly different from its predecessor, but thanks to the catchy music, fun levels, and interesting new mechanics, it was another hit for Nintendo. The game also marked the first time that Princess Toadstool and Toad were playable in the series, and introduced multiple new characters that would go on to become series mainstays including Shy Guy and Bob-omb. 

7. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii, 2010)

The second 3D adventure on the Wii, Super Mario Galaxy 2 carried on all of the amazing successes of Super Mario Galaxy while continuing to improve upon the level design. While it isn’t as original or groundbreaking as the original Super Mario Galaxy, Super Mario Galaxy 2 is noteworthy for bringing Yoshi into the equation and delivering some of the most clever 3D platforming levels of all time.

6. Super Mario 64 (Nintendo 64, 1996)

The leap ahead to the Nintendo 64 dawned a new age for the Super Mario franchise. Super Mario 64 was a turning point as it kicked off the plumber’s 3D lineage. Not only did Nintendo nail its first 3D attempt with the series, but it set forth a blueprint that most 3D games would follow for years to come. Open-ended stages, a revolutionary camera system, and tight gameplay that make Mario a blast to control (add Luigi, Wario, and Yoshi to that last part for the DS version) are just the beginning of what makes Super Mario 64 so special. With pulse-pounding boss battles that pay homage to King Koopa battles of past games, the impossible-to-ignore desire to collect all 120 stars, and absolutely stunning graphics for the time, Super Mario 64 was groundbreaking not only for the Super Mario series, but for the industry as a whole.

5. Super Mario Odyssey (Switch, 2017)

As Nintendo began charting a new direction for itself, so too did its mascot. Super Mario Odyssey took much of the familiar formula of Super Mario 64 and expanded on it in fun and unique ways. The addition of Cappy, a special hat Mario can throw to control enemies and inanimate objects, added distinct layers and myriad new ways to play within this long-running franchise. Mario’s debut on Switch was a resounding success, delivering delight after delight as we discovered new and exciting secrets every time we jumped into the vast worlds of Super Mario Odyssey.

4. Super Mario Bros. (NES, 1985)

The one that started it all remains one of the strongest entries. A small team led by Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka created what remains one of the gold standards the video game industry. The game was spawned from a desire the two directors had to create a game that featured a larger hero that traveled through colorful environments in land, sky, and sea settings. The idea resonated with video game fans, and the most iconic franchise in the industry was born. More than that, Super Mario Bros. played a large role in solidifying the video game industry as more than just a passing fad following the North American industry crash in the early 1980s.

3. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii, 2007)

Inspired by a GameCube tech demo from 2000, Super Mario Galaxy took Mario and friends to outer space, implementing interesting new mechanics like gravitational pull as well as some of the greatest level design the series has ever seen. Though the Wii relied heavily on motion controls, Nintendo opted to keep them at a minimum when it came to the core Super Mario series. That proved fruitful, as Super Mario Galaxy controlled even better than Super Mario 64 and didn’t detract from the core gameplay with shoehorned motion controls. Super Mario Galaxy also introduced us to Rosalina, who has since made appearances in Mario Kart, Super Smash Bros., and other spin-off series.

2. Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES, 1990)

The best-selling non-bundled game in the history of the NES achieved that title with good reason. The adventure expanded what it meant to be a Super Mario game in nearly every way from its two predecessors. Super Mario Bros. 3 introduced a huge number of fun and unique power-ups that changed the way the game played. Whether you were a fan of the traditional fire flower, you preferred to take to the skies using the new raccoon tail, or you were just glad Nintendo finally threw us a life raft in underwater levels with the frog suit, the team was extremely creative with its approach to empowering the players. And players needed that empowerment, as the later levels could be more difficult than what was seen in the series to that point. Super Mario Bros. 3 also introduced the overworld style map, which is still used in most games in the series to this day.

1. Super Mario World (SNES, 1991)

Following up Super Mario Bros. 3 with a worthy successor may have seemed like an impossible task, but Nintendo somehow managed to do that and more. Continuing to use the overworld style map, Nintendo introduced more branching opportunities than ever before, encouraging players to explore each stage for hidden exits that unlock hidden areas. Players could also finally save their progress, encouraging them to take their time with finding every secret in the massive adventure.

With a pared down list of power-ups this time around, Nintendo instead decided to focus on fine-tuning the flight mechanics by replacing the raccoon tail with the better-handling super cape. Super Mario World was also where we all met Yoshi, Mario’s dino friend who gave him several awesome abilities in addition to granting him the ability to absorb an extra hit, blurring the line between power-ups and support characters. Epic boss battles, some of the greatest music in video game history, and improved graphics made this one of the most memorable games released on any platform. Even in a series that is known for its longevity and consistent level of quality, it is a gem that should be played by everyone who has ever held a controller.


If you’d like to learn more about the history of the Super Mario series, check out our Making Mario feature, where we talk to those responsible for the creation of the franchise. Do you agree with our rankings, or are we way off? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

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Super Mario’s 35th Anniversary Celebration Will Spill Into Other Nintendo Games

This year marks the 35th anniversary of the Super Mario Bros. series, and while Nintendo has remained fairly quiet to this point, it pulled out all the stops this morning, announcing Super Mario 3D All-Stars, Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury, Super Mario Bros. 35, and more to help usher in its flagship franchise’s major milestone. However, the fun won’t stop with those announcements, as Nintendo has several in-game events planned across many of its most beloved titles.

To celebrate, various games ranging from Super Mario Maker 2 and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate to Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Splatoon 2 will feature in-game events centered around Super Mario. You can check out the list of announced in-game events below.

  • Animal Crossing: New Horizons will begin offering Super Mario-themed furniture in March 2021.
  • Mario Kart Tour will host a Super Mario Kart Tour event featuring special appearances by SNES versions of Mario and Donkey Kong Jr. from the original Super Mario Kart game. This event will run from September 8 to September 22.
  • A special Splatfest themed around the Super Mario franchise will happen in Splatoon 2 in January 2021. The Splatfest will ask players which Super Mario power-up they prefer between the Super Mushroom and the Super Star.
  • Super Mario Maker 2 is adding special 35th anniversary Ninji Speedruns in November.
  • Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is holding an in-game tournament featuring Super Mario series fighters, stages, and items later this year.

In addition to these in-game events, Nintendo is also offering various real-world merchandise, including historical Super Mario items for sale at its Nintendo New York store and store.nintendo.com in November, the Puma RS-Dreamer Super Mario 64 basketball shoes launching tomorrow, a new line from Black Milk Clothing available on October 5, and other toy and board-game products, including the previously announced Monopoly Super Mario Celebration, Jenga Super Mario, and the Lego Super Mario collection. Special Super Mario missions are now available on My Nintendo, allowing fans earn rewards, including a special pin set, through March 31, 2021.

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Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit Lets You Play Mario Kart In Real Life

The Mario Kart franchise has been a fan favorite since its beginnings on the SNES. Since that initial entry, we’ve seen advanced console and handheld entries, a mobile edition, and even an arcade version. However, independent developer Velan Studios is delivering it in a way we’ve never seen before: mixed reality.

Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit puts you in control of a physical kart as you race through your surroundings in real life using your Nintendo Switch. The physical kart responds to the action on screen, with boosts giving it a burst of speed, while getting hit with an item causes it to slam on the brakes. Players use gates that are included with the bundle to lay out a track for the kart in their home. You can race against the Koopalings in single-player, or take on others in four-player local multiplayer. 

Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit is set to launch on Switch on October 16 for $99.99.

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Super Mario All-Stars Joins Nintendo Switch Online SNES Library Today

Super Mario All-Stars is the latest addition to Nintendo Switch Online’s SNES catalog. The compilation, which was originally released for SNES in 1993, gathers Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 2, and Super Mario Bros. 3 with new 16-bit visuals. On top of those three classic titles, this compilation also served as the introduction of the Japanese version of Super Mario Bros. 2 to the North American audience, known in this compilation as Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels.

Super Mario All-Stars joins the catalogs of Nintendo Switch Online subscribers later today. This addition joins other classics from the SNES and NES like Super Metroid, Super Mario Kart, Kirby’s Adventure, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Ninja Gaiden, and Donkey Kong Country.

If 3D Mario games are more your thing, don’t worry because Nintendo also announced Super Mario 3D All-Stars for Switch, which you can learn about here.

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Super Mario 3D All-Stars Brings Mario 64, Sunshine, And Galaxy To Switch Later This Month

Nintendo has announced Super Mario 3D All-Stars, a compilation of 3D Mario classics for Switch. The collection gathers optimized versions of Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario Galaxy. Perhaps the best news of all? We’ll get to add it to our Switch libraries later this month.

The three games all feature higher resolution graphics, as well as optimized gameplay. This compilation also includes an in-game music player, which can also be used when the Switch screen is off, to hear music from all three games.

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Super Mario 3D All-Stars launches for Switch on September 18. Nintendo warns it will be a limited production run that will only be available until approximately March 31, 2021.

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Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury Coming To Switch In February

Super Mario 3D World is coming to Nintendo Switch at long last. The game, which can be played in co-op, has long seemed like a perfect fit for the system thanks to the ease of multiplayer gaming with the Joy-Cons, and now players have that chance through Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury.

Players can enjoy this 3D platformer in single-player, local co-op, or online co-op. In addition to the base game, players will also be able to go through something called “Bowser’s Fury.” Nintendo promises additional reveals of bonus content prior to launch.

Bowser’s Fury

Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury comes to Switch on February 12. For our review of the Wii U game, head here. Nintendo will also be releasing Amiibos for Cat Mario and Cat Peach alongside Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury.

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Where’s Our Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 Review?

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 And 2

You’re likely seeing several Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 reviews right now, but I’m not quite ready to deliver my final verdict. Before publishing our scored review, I want to spend a bit more time in the shoes of the legendary skater in these remakes.

While I’m not ready to finalize my review just yet, I’m very much enjoying this stroll (skate?) down memory lane. The overhauled visuals look good in action, and the gameplay feels smooth and intuitive; it’s just as easy to pick up and play today as it was in 1999. I was pleasantly surprised how several of the park designs from the first two Tony Hawk games still hold up to this day. I also like the online multiplayer suite, even if it’s a bit bare-bones, and being able to play created parks from other players around the world is awesome.

Be sure to return to GameInformer.com for our review in the coming days!

Every Playable Character In Marvel’s Avengers

If we’ve learned anything from Marvel’s comics and cinematic universe, it’s that the world is always expanding. New villains are always emerging and new heroes are always swooping in to stop them. Crystal Dynamics is taking this same approach with its game starring Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Marvel’s Avengers launched with six playable characters, but that’s far from all the heroes we’ll be able to take control of when it’s all said and done. Crystal Dynamics has said that all playable characters will be added at no additional cost, but additional upgrades for those characters could cost money.

Check out all the characters you can play as in Marvel’s Avengers, as well as all the heroes still to come.


Ms. Marvel

Following a disaster in the opening of the game, Kamala Khan discovers new powers that allow her to grow and stretch her body in ways that help her fend off enemies and traverse the environment in unique ways. As the main character of Marvel’s Avengers, her goal is to reassemble the outlawed hero team to once again save the world.

Captain America

The leader of the Avengers, Captain America is killed during the opening sequence. His loss is felt throughout the story as the Avengers work to come together and make his sacrifice meaningful.

Iron Man

The billionaire tech genius in the metal suit has a full arsenal of gadgets and weapons to use against the forces of evil.

Black Widow

The former SHIELD super spy is a martial arts and weapons expert, and has the gadgets to support her skills.

Thor

The mighty god of thunder wields his legendary hammer Mjolnir, along with powerful command of lightning.

Hulk

The mild-mannered Bruce Banner transforms into the giant, green rage-monster to rampage through enemies and environments with ease.

Marvel's Avengers

Hawkeye (Kate Bishop) – December 8, 2020

Clint Barton’s protégé joins as the first post-launch hero. An expert archer trained by Clint, Kate has similar abilities to him, but features her own distinct moveset and gear, which include razor arrows, scattershot arrows, explosive arrows, and smokescreen arrows. She can also teleport around the battlefield using warp arrows, spawn holograms, and apply quantum energy to her attacks. She joins as a part of Operation: Taking AIM, with a story focused on searching for Clint Barton with the Super Adaptoid standing in her way as a new Omega-level antagonist with all the abilities of the Avengers.

Hawkeye (Clint Barton) – March 18, 2021

Missing since the events of A-Day, Clint Barton re-emerges as a part of Operation: Future Imperfect. Taking place in a future where the world has been devastated by the Kree and nuclear war, Operation: Future Imperfect pits Hawkeye against a deranged Maestro, a transformed version of Hulk that combines Banner’s intelligence with Hulk’s might. Maestro has killed all superheroes and supervillains in this theoretical future, and it’s up to Hawkeye to put an end to his reign.

Marvel's Avengers

Black Panther – August 17, 2021

Black Panther joined the Avengers for the first post-launch content drop large enough to be deemed an expansion. The War for Wakanda expansion follows King T’Challa and Earth’s Mightiest Heroes as they fight off invading mercenaries led by Klaw and Crossbones.


Upcoming Heroes 

Spider-Man – 2021
(PlayStation Exclusive)

Crystal Dynamics has announced the webslinger is coming to the PlayStation versions of Marvel’s Avengers in 2021, but it will be a distinct version from what we saw in Insomniac Games’ Spider-Man. According to the studio, Spidey will get his own story and cutscenes when he joins the fight later this year.


Marvel's Avengers

Villains

Of course, with so many superpowered heroes on the roster, Marvel’s Avengers needs a stable of villainous threats worthy of the team’s attention. Just like with its hero roster, Marvel’s Avengers has been steadily increasing its villain roster. Here are the characters you can expect to fight as you play through the base game and its various post-launch content drops.

Base Game Villains

  • Taskmaster
  • Abomination
  • MODOK
  • Scientist Supreme

Post-Launch Villains

  • Super-Adaptoid – (Added 12/8/2020 in Operation: Taking AIM)
  • Maestro – (Added 3/18/2021 in Operation: Future Imperfect)
  • Crossbones – (Added 8/17/2021 in War for Wakanda)
  • Klaw – (Added 8/17/2021 in War for Wakanda)

Be sure to bookmark this page and come back regularly to see the latest additions to Marvel’s Avengers as they are announced and added.

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Madden NFL 21 Review – Playing It Safe

Publisher: EA Sports
Developer: EA Tiburon
Release:


(PlayStation 4,
Xbox One,
PC), TBA (PlayStation 5,
Xbox Series X,
Stadia)

Rating: Everyone
Reviewed on: Xbox One
Also on:
PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, PlayStation 4, Stadia, PC

Each year, every team must take a look at what it currently has and compare that with what it needs in order to achieve its goals. This year, EA Tiburon used its offseason to fine-tune gameplay, add a new arcade-style experience, and upgrade its career mode. But much like a middling football team, Madden NFL 21 isn’t quite ready to make a run at postseason glory.

Stepping onto the field with your teammates, calling plays, and working together to come out on top remain exciting. The on-field action, which was largely solid last year, has only been improved upon. I love the new Skill Stick for pass rushing, allowing you to be more fluid with your attempts to blow past the offensive linemen. While it’s not as revolutionary for ball carriers, the Skill Stick gives you more control over the moves you pull off when you’re evading would-be tacklers. Defenders are more aware and precise in getting you to the ground in this iteration, and my offensive players were more likely to outstretch their arms to reach a close first down, adding realism and alleviating some frustration from previous years. These improvements are small, but they go a long way to making play across all modes more enjoyable.

The cinematic career mode, Face of the Franchise, returns with an expanded pre-NFL experience, but the longer high school and college preamble just delays you reaching the main event of making the NFL. The story and presentation are woefully unaware of what’s going on; it was laughable that even when I was blowing out every team by 50 or more points there was still a battle for the starting job. On the narrative side, the story is full of unlikeable characters, ranging from your snippy friend and rival to your terrible-at-pep-talks college coach, and the faces in the cutscenes are definitely meant to be covered by football helmets.

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Once you make it into the NFL, the mode thankfully picks up. Rather than playing every game, Face of the Franchise puts you in three or four pivotal games per season that play a significant role in determining your legacy. These important moments are presented through narrative story arcs. I loved navigating these arcs, which range from leading a stacked team of star players to the Super Bowl to dealing with a performance-hindering injury, but I was often annoyed by how little my performance actually contributed to my team’s season. These arcs present you with fun scenarios off the field, such as trash-talking your rival to get a stat boost (but also firing up a key defender), or answering a question in a press conference about a teammate to affect their morale. However, even in the NFL, the narrative struggles to acknowledge what happens on the field; my all-time great run with the Ravens ended abruptly when the team decided to replace me with an awful backup.

While Face of the Franchise received myriad changes, the series’ standard franchise mode has been largely neglected. Taking command of a team in hopes of creating the next great dynasty remains thrilling, but I’m disappointed by the lack of upgrades. This is often my go-to mode in Madden, but it feels nearly identical to the offerings last year.

You can create an online league to take franchise mode into the multiplayer realm or immerse yourself in the card-based Ultimate Team mode with options like seasons and MUT Squads, but Madden NFL 21’s online suite remains largely focused on quick one-off competitions. From standard head-to-head multiplayer to the rapid-fire, 5-minute Superstar K.O. mode, you can certainly still step into the online suite with the mindset of getting your fix and moving on without any long-term commitment.

Madden NFL 21 also introduces The Yard, a mode inspired by backyard football, where it’s 6v6, modified rules, and all players play both sides of the ball. I enjoy the callbacks to the style of football I played with family and friends as a kid. Since there’s no offensive line, the quarterback can’t scramble unless a defender blitzes, with the defense operating on a “One-Mississippi” rule for crossing the line of scrimmage. Toss other elements not found in the NFL, like trick plays with multiple passes, directly snapping the ball to any player on your team, and stylish behind-the-back throws and between-the-legs catches, and The Yard aptly differentiates itself from the action on the NFL gridiron. While the mode delivers unique offline challenges to complete and fun head-to-head online play, the customizable nature of the players’ outfits often makes it difficult to differentiate the two teams.

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Each time you jump into a game, you select a prototype, which essentially acts as a loadout for your player in that game. These prototypes are modeled after some of the NFL’s biggest stars like Lamar Jackson and Odell Beckham Jr., and level up as you use them. I loved adding additional skills to my favorite prototypes, but the drip-feed of unlocks and the ambiguity of what I was actually earning – both with prototypes and the mode’s cosmetics – made it less rewarding.

Sadly, several immersion-breaking visual glitches occur across all modes, including invisible players on sidelines, players teleporting before your very eyes to snap into a touchdown celebration, and players constantly walking into and clipping through each other post-play. These hiccups aren’t confined to the field, however, as even the cutscenes and menus feature flickering text, repeated dialogue, and my Face of the Franchise player having the wrong college listed on his profile despite the lengthy college-focused portion of that mode.

Those looking for a huge step forward in the EA Sports’ football franchise won’t find it with Madden NFL 21. However, despite its lack of major upgrades, Madden NFL 21 is still a mechanically sound and fun football game.

Score: 7.75

Summary: Though the lack of meaningful new content is disappointing, Madden NFL 21 still brings a solid experience once you step onto the field.

Concept: Send essentially the same team as last year (with a few minor upgrades) back on the field for another season

Graphics: Madden NFL 21 looks good on the field, but visual glitches on the sidelines and in the endzone celebrations rip you right out of the experience

Sound: The commentary is mostly solid, but has a tendency to meander and completely ignore context

Playability: The new Skill Stick gives you more control than ever before, and the small-but-noticeable gameplay upgrades across the board improve the experience

Entertainment: Despite meager upgrades this year, Madden NFL 21 still delivers solid on-the-field action for football fans

Replay: Moderately high

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Fall Guys Goes Medieval For Season 2

As one of the most popular games of 2020, Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout has garnered more than 7 million downloads on Steam, while also becoming the most downloaded PlayStation Plus of all time. With such a massive player base, the game’s global player base has been eagerly awaiting new content, and today, Mediatonic gave us a sneak peek of what to expect with Fall Guys Season 2.

The second season of Fall Guys is taking a medieval theme, adding drawbridges, swinging axes, and more elements in the courses, while players can outfit their competitive beans like dragons, warriors, wizards, and more. You can see the trailer of Season 2 below.

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Doom Eternal’s The Ancient Gods, Part One Expansion Hits This October

Doom Eternal is one of the most frantic games of 2020, and if you’ve blasted, slashed, and ripped your way through Hell in the base game, developer id Software is ready to deliver more.

We’ve known that the first expansion is called The Ancient Gods, Part One, but now we have an official trailer as well as a release date. Doom Eternal: The Ancient Gods, Part One is set to launch on October 20.

You can get a look at the official trailer below.

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Netflix Reveals First Official Details Of Live-Action Resident Evil Series

Resident Evil has had a pretty strong run as of late, with Resident Evil 7: Biohazard and Resident Evil Village pushing the franchise forward, while remakes like Resident Evil 2 and 3 bring the past to life in electrifying ways. Now, Netflix is ready to further expand the reach of Capcom’s popular gaming franchise with a new live-action series.

The official reveal comes more than a year and a half after an initial report surfaced that the project was in the works. Then, earlier this year, a description of what the series could focus on leaked. This morning, Netflix tweeted out a very brief synopsis, as well as a photo of the script of the first episode, titled “Welcome to New Raccoon City.”

The first season will feature eight one-hour episodes, with Supernatural writer Andrew Dabb running the show. Bronwen Hughes, whose directorial credits include single episodes of Breaking BadBurn Notice, and Better Call Saul, will direct the first two episodes.

There is currently no information on when the series might begin streaming on Netflix’s service.

[Source: NX on Twitter]

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Cadence Of Hyrule’s Second DLC Pack Adds 39 Songs And Is Out Now

The second downloadable pack for Cadence of Hyrule – Crypt of the Necrodancer Featuring the Legend of Zelda is available now. This pack adds 39 new tracks to do battle with, including all new songs and remixes.

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The Melody Pack is available now $5.99. The Character Pack, which adds Shadow Link, Shadow Zelda, and new modes, is also currently available for $5.99. DLC Pack 3, titled Symphony of the Mask, is still to come. That upcoming DLC pack adds a new story and mode featuring Skull Kid. All of these are available as a part of Cadence of Hyrule’s Season Pass, which is priced at $14.99.

Cadence of Hyrule – Crypt of the Necrodancer Featuring the Legend of Zelda launched on Switch in 2019. For our thoughts on the base game, check out our review.

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Marvel Heroes And Villains Unite In Fortnite Chapter 2 Season 4: Nexus War

Epic Games has pulled back the curtain on Fortnite Chapter 2 Season 4, revealing Nexus War. This Marvel-focused season injects several heroes and villains into Fortnite with an overarching story of stopping Galactus, a cosmic entity known for devouring worlds.

Thor, the god of thunder, uses the Bifrost to bring together characters like Storm, Wolverine, Mystique, Doctor Doom, Groot, She-Hulk, and Iron Man to stop Galactus from devouring the world of Fortnite. The description on the official Fortnite website mentions being able to use super powers like Doctor Doom’s gauntlets, Groot’s bramble shield, Silver Surfer’s board, and more arriving as the season progresses.

In addition to the characters of Marvel arriving, several locations have as well, including Doom’s Domain, Sentinel Island, and a helicarrier. Iron Man’s arrival also signals a new Stark Industries energy rival for players to use, as well as Stark Supply Drones you can shoot down for a delivery of weapons and hero abilities. 

Fortnite Chapter 2 Season 4: Nexus War runs now through November 30. You can see the two trailers for this season below.

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Platform:

PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC, Mac, iOS

Release Date:

July 25, 2017 (PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC, Mac, iOS), 2020 (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X)

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