News and Reviews

Update [Thu 4th Dec 2025, 4:15am]: Splatter World is now playable in English, thanks to the efforts of the fan translation community. "Splatterworld is several things," says Aeon Genesis, the entity behind the translation. "First, it is a cutesy RPG spinoff of Namco's Splatterhouse property. It's a sequel to the Splatterhouse Wanpaku Graffiti cutesy platformer on the Famicom, which was never released outside of Japan. It's a parody of horror films and loves to poke fun at them. It's also a prototype. The game was never commercially released, and was only made available online on Halloween night this year (2025). Naturally, I jumped right on it." Images: Aeon Genesis Ae…

Fans have been crying out for a new Banjo-Kazooie game ever since Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts was released in 2008. But apart from a strange audience-controlled interactive demo at SXSW in 2015, the occasional merch drop, and a playable cameo in Smash back in 2019, there hasn't really been much to look forward to when it comes to official news regarding the bird and the bear. Instead, it has mostly fallen to the Banjo fan community to keep the series's legacy alive, with developers creating spiritual successors, ROM hacks, and fan games to offer players that classic platforming experience that they've been so desperately missing. With that in mind, we wanted to tell y…

An interesting datapoint from Circana analyst Mat Piscatella reveals the PS5 was outsold by an unexpected US-based rival in the run up to Black Friday last week. While the Switch 2 being top-selling hardware SKU for the week ending 22nd November won’t come as a massive surprise, the NEX Playground Interactive Gaming System coming second is a bit of a shock. If you’ve never heard of this product, it’s effectively a standalone reimagining of the Kinect – or the EyeToy, if you remember the classic PS2 peripheral. Primarily aimed at families and kids, the NEX Playground allows you to enjoy a variety of minigames on your TV using your body as the controller. Options include a …

Every game is getting in its final update of the year before the holiday period gets underway, and Sega has today rolled out a major patch for Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds. On the Nintendo front, this marks the arrival of the Switch 2 Edition as well as the Upgrade Pack for existing Switch owners. Apart from this, there's a lot of new content in this update. This includes new gadgets, an increase to the world match rating, additional friend settings, anti-cheat measure improvements and much more. Here's the full rundown of patch Ver 1.2.0, according to Sega's official website: Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds - Ver.1.2.0 (3rd December 2025)Thank you all for playing Sonic Racing: Cr…

If you're looking for a reason to jump back into Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, Sega has this week released the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition of the game digitally. It's available for $69.99 or your regional equivalent, and will be released in physical form on this platform in "early 2026". If you're an existing owner of the Switch release and don't want to miss out, there's the Switch 2 Edition Upgrade Pack, which is also available. It's normally priced at $10.00 but you'll get an introductory discount (bringing it down to just $5.00) if you purchase it by 11th December 2025. Sega also notes how the Werehog DLC Pack is available to download for free for the first two weeks of t…

If you keep up with the Nintendo Music app's release schedule, you probably noticed Nintendo didn't update the app at the regular time earlier this week. Unsurprisingly, it's all linked to the release of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, with Nintendo announcing it's added seven tracks from the new game as a special release. This adds up to 48 minutes of music and will give you a nice sample of the game's "main theme", environments and more. Here's the full tracklist and you can hear some of them in Nintendo's official sample below: Metroid Prime 4: Beyond - Nintendo Music Special ReleaseMetroid Prime 4 Main Theme Fury Green The Sacred Tree Vi-O-La Ice Belt Power On Carvex Volt Fo…

Monster Hunter Wilds has had numerous ups and downs since it launched earlier in the year, to the point where it has, arguably, become one of 2025's most divisive games. On release, the action RPG was met with super strong review scores and positive player feedback; the finished product sported dramatic improvements over the somewhat disappointing beta tests that had taken place in the months prior. But as hunters made their way through the main story and eventually stumbled into endgame hunts, the cracks started to show. Wilds was quite roundly criticised for its claustrophobic campaign, a general lack of challenge, and poor optimisation (especially on PC). From there, o…

Just like September's interesting analysis of Star Wars Outlaws on Switch 2 and Series S, Digital Foundry returns with a fresh look at another Ubisoft title that's been ported over to the Nintendo system this week - and once again, this one uses the Xbox Series S version as its jumping off point. Yes, in its latest tech review on Assassin's Creed Shadows, DF notes that "this ambitious port succeeds by starting from the cut-down Xbox Series S" version, pulling back a little further than the Microsoft machine to achieve these results on Switch 2. It's an intriguing comparison that once again sheds some light on how these two systems stack up. The team goes on to mention mo…

Summitsphere is giving Antonblast fans one last hurrah, one year after the game first launched on PC. And it's a content-filled update befittingly titled 'THE END'. On 18th December 2025, The End is bringing four brand new bosses, a boss rush, multiple new game modes (including Hard Mode), new music, and new spray cans, among lots of other little additions coming to the 2024 platformer, which is heavily inspired by the Wario Land series. Let's have a look at the specifics coming with The End in just a few weeks, courtesy of Antonblast's Steam page: That's a lot for an ending, isn't it? Any excuse to go back to Antonblast, which we loved back when it launched on Switch la…

Sony's latest push into mobile territory is MLB The Show Mobile, just announced and soft launched in the Philippines. Developed in-house at San Diego Studio — developer of the main MLB The Show series — you can get a sense of the free-to-play game in the below trailer: The official website describes MLB The Show Mobile as "a new standalone experience built from the ground up to deliver realistic baseball gameplay on mobile devices". Built for both iOS and Android, the game is currently only available in the Philippines, but it'll come to more territories in future. The game will feature current and legacy players, as well as all real stadiums. You'll be able to bat, pitch…

We're still a week away from the last major gaming showcase of 2025 in the form of The Game Awards, but this Thursday's PC Gaming Show sounds well worth watching - even from an Xbox perspective. The PC Gaming Show: Most Wanted showcase is said to be "powered by Xbox Game Pass", which basically means Game Pass is the big partner here. The focus of the event is to highlight the 25 most wanted games of the moment, but we also know we're getting "new trailers, announcements and behind the scenes looks at over 50 games". Here's a list of stuff that's already been confirmed for the showcase: A new trailer from Team 17 for the soon the be released 4-player co-op shooter, Rogue P…

We were delighted to see Ustwo Games' gorgeous mobile puzzler, Monument Valley 3, make the jump to Switch earlier this year, and today the dev has given us even more story chapters to sink our teeth into — for free! The 'Garden of Life' expansion is now available on Switch, bolting four additional chapters onto the end of the main game, packed with even more of the series' signature perspective-bending puzzles. There are even some hidden optional puzzles to find in the bonus levels, for those after even more. The expansion drop accompanies the news that MV3 is now back on mobile, so you can check out all the extra content wherever you please. If the above trailer didn't d…

Tomba! 2: The Evil Swine Return Special Edition now has a confirmed release date on PS5 — and it's soon! Publisher Limited Run Games announced this one all the way back in June of last year, so it's nice to see that it hasn't somehow been forgotten. It launches in just a couple of weeks, on the 15th December. This is obviously a follow up to Tomba! Special Edition, which dropped for PS5 and PS4 in August 2024. However, we should note that the PS4 version of Tomba! 2's Special Edition has been cancelled. Much like its enhanced predecessor, the sequel will feature modern quality of life features, like the ability to save anywhere and a rewind function. It'll also boast a mu…

The latest Xbox Game Studios title making the leap to PS5 is Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, a highly acclaimed aviation sim landing on the console on 8th December, 2025. Aspiring pilots may be interested to know what's expected of them with regards to Trophies, and fortunately, the list has made its way online prior to release. Over on PSNProfiles, the full rundown of digital trinkets is available for your perusal, and it looks like a fairly manageable to-do list, albeit time-consuming. One Trophy requires that you spend 50 cumulative hours in the air, for example, which sounds like a lot, but it's probably quite achievable if you partake in all the game's missions and …

Some very brief — but new — clips from Resident Evil Requiem have been made public by way of a Japanese television show about the series. In the footage, we see protagonist Grace shooting a zombie on a staircase, only for it to attack her and reveal there is a second undead man nearby. Based on the decor, this scene looks to be taken from the hotel location that shall play an important part in the campaign. Catch the new gameplay below: The footage falls in line with virtually everything else we've seen of Resident Evil Requiem up until now, which is to say not a lot. The game is out for PS5 on 27th February 2026, meaning it's already only three months away. In a surprisi…

In the absence of Dino Crisis, TeamKill Media's upcoming shooter Code Violet looks set to fill the void. The PS5 exclusive sci-fi action horror title has been on the radar all year, and was expected to launch back in November. Unfortunately, it hasn't hit its launch plans, and has been delayed to 10th January 2026. However, with this delay comes some good news: Code Violet has now gone gold, meaning the game is effectively finished, and the remaining time will presumably be spent squashing last-minute bugs. All this news comes via a lengthy statement posted on the studio's social accounts: In a nutshell, the team ran into some issues relating to "unlocking entitlements" f…

Back in the summer, Xbox developer Obsidian reassured fans that Avowed's Fall 2025 update was still on track - but plans have since changed, and this update has now morphed into a bigger content drop set to arrive in February 2026. To mark the game's one-year anniversary next Feb., Obsidian says that it's delivering "our biggest update yet" for Avowed - featuring "everything originally planned for fall, plus additional features". We'll throw the team's updated roadmap down below: As you can see in the above image, this 2026 anniversary update will bring New Game+, photo mode, a new weapon type, new character presets and more - and that list is set to grow now that the te…

How on earth is it that time of year again already? It feels as though we can still sense the tight elastic of our tiny Kirby swimming trunks digging into our fresh summer sunburn, and yet here comes Rolling Stone with its Best of 2025 list, because it's nearly Christmas. Brace for impact! Yes, Rolling Stone has dropped its 25 favourite gaming experiences of the year and, whilst the number one spot is absolutely no surprise (congratulations to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33), we've been tickled pink to see that good old Donkey Kong has managed to secure a number three spot via all that wrecking shop he did in Bananza. The big man has smashed his way onto a prestigious podium…

Eight years on from its big reveal, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond finally arrives on Switch 1 & 2 tomorrow. To make sure that things are in tip-top condition, Nintendo has today released the launch day update, boosting things up to ver. 1.1.0 and adding a bunch of day-one features to boot. This update adds in amiibo functionality, some sweet cinematic controller rumble, an easily accessible upgrade path to the Switch 2 Edition in the opening menu, some gallery tweaks, and then the usual adjustments and fixes. At the time of writing, the patch notes have only been shared on the Japanese Nintendo Support website. We have included those below (via Google Translate), and we wil…

11th March 2025 marked the 30th anniversary of Chrono Trigger. Square Enix marked the occasion by announcing that "various projects" would be coming our way over the next year, but so far, those projects have been limited to character popularity polls and planned orchestral concerts. Importantly, that's not the remake that we all want to see and have been chatting about for years. But we're still not ready to completely throw out all hope just yet. You see, in the latest episode of the 'KosoKoso Hōsō Kyoku' talk show livestream (translated by Automaton), Dragon Quest creator and Chrono Trigger supervisor Yuji Horii attempted to keep his lips sealed about where the series …

Believe it or not, the holiday season is almost upon us. Of course, many stores have been setting up the Christmas cheer for months now (this writer was seeing bedecked trees in shop windows back in October), but, as of today, the Nintendo Museum is finally following suit. As shared in a post on the museum's official X account, the lights will be on every night from 4pm JST until close (7pm), and they'll be sticking around in the grounds until the not particularly festive date of 27th April 2026. While it is far from the kind of display we might expect from Disney Land — or, perhaps more accurately, Super Nintendo World — there's enough Mushroom Kingdom flair here that ou…

Mario Kart World is this week racing ahead with a brand new update, bumping this latest entry in the series up to Version 1.4.0. This new update for the Switch 2 exclusive adds a bunch of general changes. This includes the addition of "Custom Items" in the item rules, some music-related improvements, online updates, course changes for certain modes, and more. Along with this are fixes addressing various aspects of the game such as online play, problems related to courses and even items. So, here's the full rundown courtesy of Nintendo's official support page: Mario Kart World - Version 1.4.0 (2nd December 2025)General Added "Custom Items" to the item rules. This is a feat…

Chinese dev Seed Lab has officially announced that its upcoming cosy life sim, Starsand Island, is getting a Switch 2 version alongside the Switch 1 release when it launches next year. Scheduled for release in the nebulous "early 2026" and coming to all the usual platforms, that list also now includes Nintendo's latest console, where the devs will be offering two modes depending on your preference: Quality Mode, "targeting 45FPS in 1080p", and Performance Mode, delivering "60FPS in 1080p" in both docked and handheld modes. The Switch 2 version will also support mouse controls and GameChat during online multiplayer. You can check out the reveal trailer below if this one's …

After ongoing requests from players, NieR:Automata The End of YoRHa Edition finally got a compatibility update for the Switch 2 in November. With this game now functioning as it should on Nintendo's new hardware, another Square Enix title has now received a compatibility update. This time it's for the role-playing game Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition, which was originally released on the Switch eShop in 2022. While it might not be the best remaster in Square Enix's library, there are still fans out there who have been wanting to experience this title on the Switch 2 without any problems. The good news is the issues associated with this game on Nintendo's hybrid…

For all the money it earns through GTA Online, you'd think Rockstar would put at least a little bit more effort into the re-releases of its past games. Apparently not, though, as the new PS5 version of Red Dead Redemption is probably about as barebones as you can get. Just like the older PS4 re-release from a few years ago, you get the single player campaign of Red Dead Redemption along with the Undead Nightmare expansion in this package. There's a free upgrade for current PS4 owners, and it's also available via PS Plus Extra and GTA+. Buying the game outside of any upgrade or subscription will knock you back £49.99 / $49.99, or there's a 10-day offer to utilise on the PS…