Originally published on Switch Weekly

Issue #359

November 5, 2025

The Mario RPG remains ‘endearingly unfiltered’, plus a new Indie World

Hello , I’m back with another round-up of the best Nintendo reads you need to see this week. It’s issue #359 of Switch Weekly. Let’s get to it.

Confession: I’ve never played Super Mario RPG – the SNES original was never released here in Europe, so it’s remained a gap in my Nintendo knowledge ever since. I’d love to hear from you if you have fond memories of it, and whether you’ll be picking it up (or have already grabbed it) — just hit reply to this email. I have a bit of a backlog to get to before I grab this one I think.

This launch Mario RPG marks Nintendo’s last major release of 2023, not a bad year I’d say for a console that’s six years in. Another Code: Recollection kicks things off again in mid January.

Next week sees just over 30 games coming to the Switch, including a notable number of games featuring trains, a game about ASMR kinetic sand (?!), a game about a frog eating other animals, and a lot of budget, sub-five bucks releases. Mixed bag!

As ever, thanks for reading.

Cheers ,
Chris ✌️

REVIEW Super Mario RPG is a lovingly crafted update of an all-time classic — Andy notes that this refresh of the 90s RPG has a few dated moments which could have done with a refresh, but broadly this ” love letter to the original game ” will delight fans of the original thanks to the care that’s gone into it. For everyone else it ” remains a charming RPG adventure well worth discovering “. Oli Welsh, writing for Polygon said: ” this is Super Mario RPG with its barmy, clumsy, endearingly unfiltered soul intact “.

Andy Robinson // VGC

Nintendo really didn’t want us to know who developed the Super Mario RPG remake

Rebekah Valentine // IGN

▶ Super Mario RPG: The Digital Foundry Tech Review – The SNES classic shines on Switch

Digital Foundry // YouTube

▶ Indie World Showcase November 2023 — A rougly 20-minute presentation highlighting upcoming indie titles to the Switch, including a lost Shantae game, an anniversary edition of the excellent Braid, and more. If you were wondering — no Silksong. Here’s a list of everything announced if you’d rather skim.

Nintendo // YouTube

Nintendo still isn’t giving indie games the attention they deserve

Robin Bea // Inverse

REVIEW Persona 5 Tactica can’t sustain the revolution

Diego Nicolás Argüello // Polygon

Persona 5 Tactica proves it’s time to retire the Phantom Thieves

Hayes Madsen // Inverse

▶ Nintendo’s talent is changing — Thoughts on Nintendo’s tentpole employees, and the transitional shift that’s underway.

Good Vibes Gaming // YouTube

Bandai Namco formally announces Studio 2 & Studio S, its Nintendo collaboration studio — This team (of 152) has formerly worked with Nintendo on the likes of Smash and Mario Kart. This cheatsheet of which studios Nintendo works with and on what games is handy!

Chris Scullion // VGC

Nintendo is a “haven for geniuses” but “hell for an average person”, former worker says — That’s me never getting a job at Nintendo then…

Liv Ngan // Eurogamer

If Miyamoto never said his most famous quote, who did? — A curious bit of internet-detective spelunking here.

Kate Willaert // A Critical Hit

REVIEW Spirittea – it’ll spirit you away

Tilly Lawton // Pocket Tactics

REVIEW Bluey The Videogame: “an excellent adaptation of the TV show”

Daniel Vuckovic // Vooks

KarmaZoo proves online gaming doesn’t need to be toxic

Robin Bea // Inverse

Classic Zelda has never felt as big as the Oracle games

Joshua Rivera // Polygon

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PC, CapnGoat, SB, FrozenTrout, JR, MindFad, Greg, Michael Fairley, Chris D, Andrew E, Pobble, TomNinetyTwo, and others — why not join them ?

🎮 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

Mon

20

Euro Truck Driver Simulator — A realistic trucking sim set across Europe. (Nov 21 in U.S.)
⭐️ In Stars and Time — A black and white time looping turn-based RPG adventure.
Swim Sacabambaspis! — An arcade game about helping a fish that can’t swim very well. (Nov 21 in U.S.)
Train Driver Simulator — Another sim game, no points for guessing what this one is about.

Tue

21

📦🎮 Dyschronia: Chronos Alternate – Definitive Edition — This game started life as a VR title, but is now getting a Switch release bringing together the three-part murder mystery adventure. ( Physical release )
Furniture Flipper Simulator 2023 — Restore pieces and give them a new life in this sim.
⭐️📦 Jurassic Park Classic Games Collection — Seven dinosaur games from the 8-bit and 16bit era. ( Physical release via Limited Run — it’s sold out right now though )
Worldless — A 2D adventure platformer with turn-based combat and a ‘mind-bending’ narrative.

Wed

22

Settris — A more chill take on the ‘arrange blocks’ puzzler.

Thu

23

Alina of the Arena — A deckbuilding tactics roguelike, with a female protagonist. The name sure roles of the tongue huh?
Charrua Soccer: Pro Edition — Arcade football with a chibi-look.
Colored Effects — A 2D puzzle platformer with a color switching mechanic.
Deleted — Twin-stick drone shooter roguelite.
Evil Diary — Fierce heroine Eve takes on enemies in this 2D post-apocalyptic action game.
Starlight Drifter — You’re the captain of a starship in this sci-fi RPG meets visual novel. M for mature .
Super Solitaire — The classic card game.
Tallowmere 2: Curse of the Kittens — First released a few years ago, this action roguelike / 2D platformer is now on Switch. M for mature .
⭐️ Train Valley 2: Community Edition — I quite like the look of this train-tycoon management sim.
Witchtastic — A 2-4 player co-op game about brewing magic potions. (Nov 22 in U.S.)

Fri

24

Final Shot — Top down shooter, kinda Hotline Miami vibes.
Frogvival — A quirky looking survival game in which you’re a frog who can devour other animals and mutate. Remember Cubivore ?
📦 Guns and Spurs 2 — A wild west action adventure. ( Physical release )
Nora: The Wannabe Alchemist — A point and click adventure featuring magical gardens and witches aplenty.
🎮 Snakebird Complete — A bundle of two puzzle games. Colourful!
Train Traffic Manager — Sure is a lot of train games this week. Strategy puzzler with over 80 levels.

Sat

25

ASMR Slicing — Kinetic sand ASMR cutting…without any of the mess.
Astro Miner — A budget action game about mining minerals in space with a vacuum. Has two player support.
Criss Cross — Japanese visual novel.
Drawing Carnival — It’s a drawing app with lots of different art styles to play with.
Tricky Taps — Roll the ball in this 2D puzzle game.
Zombies Rising xXx — Another Plants V Zombies alike.

⚡️ Quick Links

How lovely is this TotK Zelda and Link statue ?
After 78 months, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has dropped out of the US Top 20 .
Pokemon Concierge, coming soon to Netflix, looks really darn lovely .
Rowan is back with another custom manual, this time for Super Mario Wonder .
Tears of Kingdom director says they tried to make the NPCs feel “alive” .
Wonder introduces some great new baddies to the Mario roster.
Someone had a go at ranking all 96 of the tracks now in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

The Mario RPG remains ‘endearingly unfiltered’, plus a new Indie World

🎮 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