Originally published on Switch Weekly

Issue #330

April 30, 2023

The Zelda previews are in

Hello , issue #330 of Switch Weekly here with your round-up on the week in Nintendo. Hope you’re well.

We are now less than two weeks away from Tears of the Kingdom . As such, previews for the game have started landing. They all seem to be based on a limited two hour play session that was fairly restricted in terms of what folks could do and where they could go. A good thing of course, as it means we’re still non the wiser on any story beats. All the previews I’ve read or watched so far seem super positive, and note just how much creative freedom Link’s new abilities open up. It does seem like you’ll be able to approach situations in a multitude of new ways. One downside that I’ve seen expressed is around the control scheme and how it can feel a bit busy in places. Anyway, I’ve linked up a preview in the issue below for you to check out. 12 days to go — I hope you’re as hyped as I am! You’ve pre-ordered , right?

I shared the State of Switch survey results for 2023 last week (you can catch it here if you mised it ). A big thanks to all of those who reached out with comments, thoughts, etc. The response has been great so far, with thousands of folks turning up to read the report. I was a guest on the Nintendo Noise podcast (pictured above) this week to discuss it — the chat is well worth a watch .

Anyway, next week sees 20 games coming to the Switch, including ‘Super Dungeon Maker’ which offers up a Zelda-style flavour of the Mario Maker experience. Full list of all upcoming titles is in the issue below for you as ever.

Finally, a quick note to end on: This week I’ve been playing the Advance Wars remake, and I’m loving it, but boy, I forgot how tough it gets in places. 😅

Catch you next week

Cheers ,
Chris ✌️

🎮 Currently Playing : Advance Wars 1+2 Re-Boot Camp

PREVIEW Two hours with The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – a world of possibilities — ” I have played enough to be certain that its creative potential is enormous “.

Keza MacDonald // The Guardian

▶ Nintendo Noise: State of Switch Survey Results — I joined Pete from the Flipscreen Games gang to talk all about the results from this year’s State of Switch survey. I really enjoyed this casual podcast chat going through all of the key takeaways. Go show them some love by hitting like and subbing.

Flipscreen Games // YouTube

ICYMI The State of Switch 2023 — For those of you didn’t see last week’s newsletter the results from this year’s survey are out now. Six years in, here’s what folks think of Nintendo’s hybrid.

Chris Brandrick // Switch Weekly

REVIEW The definitive review of Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed

Jack Longman // Miketendo 64

Nintendo Switch is not “technically capable” of running Call of Duty according to the UKs CMA — So who had the UK government wading into the ‘Switch is underpowered’ debate? 😅

Ule Lopez // WCCF Tech

REVIEW ‘Final Fantasy I-VI Pixel Remasters’: diamonds made rough — ” While suitably freshened up for modern consoles, the Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters still find themselves victim to some easily avoidable pitfalls “.

Alex Branagan // NME

The 6-year Joy-Con fiasco has tarnished Nintendo’s reputation

Jack Peachey // Dual Shockers

Nintendo’s copyright strikes push away its biggest fans

Will Bedingfield // Wired

It’s time for a Zelda 1 remake, please

Gavin Lane // Nintendo Life

REVIEW Nuclear Blaze — ” a solid bit of fun for Metroidvania fans or anyone who just enjoys a 2D adventure that isn’t destined to go on forever “.

Connor Christie // Pocket Tactics

REVIEW Desta: The Memories Between — ” manages to land a clever and touching concept ”

Roland Ingram // Nintendo Life

REVIEW Teslagrad 2 — ” undeniably a great follow-up to the original ”

Brett Posner-Ferdman // Nintendo Life

Collecting Korok seeds turned Breath of the Wild into a gorgeous hike

Ana Diaz // Polygon

Why Capcom is the king of remakes — Not really Nintendo focused, but a good watch all the same on the “age of the remake”.

Game Maker’s Tool Kit // YouTube

🎮 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

Pixel Paint 2 — Cute pixel-based colouring book.
Toziuha Night: Dracula’s Revenge — Retro style 2D ‘vania adventure in Transylvania.

Wed

Color Pals — Budget single-screen puzzle platformer challenges.
Invercity — Puzzle platformer that has an invererted gravity mechanic at its core.
⭐️ Super Dungeon Maker — Mario Maker, but for Zelda? This is pretty close.
Weeping Willow — Detective visual novel. M for mature.

Thu

Fortress S — Artillery shooter that started life an online game in the 2000s.
Gruta — A narrative-driven platformer game with a unique lo-fi look.
Japanese Escape Games: The Prison Underground — Mystery escape room in a ‘secret military basement’.
Jigsaw Puzzle Fever — With 75 puzzles total.
Menseki: Area Maze Search — Japanese logic/maths puzzle.
Mia and the Dragon Princess — Live-action interactive buddy-action movie featuring Paul McGann (former Doctor Who). M for mature.
No Place Like Home — 3D apocalyptic farming sim.
Pathfinders: Memories — A memory puzzle game.
Space Gladiators — 2D hand-drawn roguelite platformer with a visual style not too far from Binding of Isaac.
Terra Flame — A horizontal shmup inspired by the 90’s.
Urbek City Builder — No money, only natural resources in this city builder.

Fri

Swordbreaker: Origins — A comic text quest adventure. M for mature.
Tiny Dragon Story — 1-bit 2D adventure.

Sat

Scrap Bolts — Arcade platformer featuring a unicycle robot.

⚡️ Quick Links

Nintendo is gonna be at this year’s Gamescom in August.
The Mario movie has now made over a cool billion.
Capcom’s latest serving of nostalgia is a hit : The Mega Man Battle Network remasters have sold a million copies in just two weeks.
The entire Mario movie keeps getting posted to Twitter .
This cartoon recapping the Mario movie in 5 mins is very good.
Neill Blomkamp (of District 9) would be interested in making a Metroid movie.
‘The Lara Croft Collection’ for Switch has been rated by the ESRB.
Nintendo history site ‘Forest of Illusion’ has shut down .
Here’s a look at how the Salmon Run music is recorded for Splatoon 3.
ICYMI: GameBook is a love letter coffee table book to all things Game Boy that’s currently seeking funding.
What if the first gen Pokemon games got the HD 2D treatment ?
I dunno if this is coming to Switch yet, but anyone for a Stardew Valley-like where one of the villagers is a murderer…

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The Zelda previews are in

🎮 Upcoming Releases

⚡️ Quick Links

Nintendo’s financial results reveal Switch 2 hits 10 million units sold

Former Nintendo employees reveal what it took to launch the NES in America

The NESBOOK is a Nintendo Entertainment System Companion Coffee Book