Latest Interviews
December2022
Noir goes lucid
One of the biggest surprises and standouts during the 13th September Nintendo Direct was the reveal of Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE, a brand new mystery game from Kazutaka Kodaka, the creator of the Danganronpa series. Set in a rainy city full of bright lights, and embracing a more dark fantasy style compared to the pink...
Feature "Unfinished Business" - Why Gilbert & Grossman Returned To Monkey Island
Working with Disney, Devolver, and fans
Does Guybrush Threepwood still want to be a pirate? This, after all, was the Monkey Island protagonist’s very first proclamation 32 years ago: “My name is Guybrush Threepwood, and I want to be a pirate!” But given the fact that he’s only set sail in five previous Monkey Island adventures sprinkled...
Feature An Interview With ZANE_ROCKS_36, The Cool Dude Behind DOOM-Style Shooter 'Slayers X'
The real Hypnospace Outlaw
Erm, so... Have you played Hypnospace Outlaw? If so, great; if not, here's a quick primer: Hypnospace Outlaw is a simulation game made by Jay Tholen, Corey Cochran, and Xalavier Nelson Jr. in which you play an enforcer of rules on "Hypnospace", a '90s-style version of the internet that happens while you sleep. In your...
Feature Artist Larry Achiampong's Life Of Nintendo, Creativity And Inspiration
"That’s the beauty of video games, it’s our way of life"
While there are often discussions around the merits of gaming as an artform, we perhaps talk less about examples of games helping to inspire other contemporary art. Yet as years pass it's an inevitability, as the role of games in the lives of millions has transformed since the mid- to...
Feature The Story Of Affordable Space Adventures, The Wii U eShop's Best Exclusive
"I don’t know why, but Nicklas was hanging around in the office!"
When Nintendo confirmed the upcoming closure of the Wii U eShop (and the 3DS store, too), thoughts immediately turned to exclusives that'll be lost. The most prominent of these on the system, we'd suggest, is Affordable Space Adventures, a unique game only on Wii U and destined to...
Feature "Shovel Knight Feels Like Our 'Mario', But We Kept Wondering What Our 'Zelda' Might Be"
Yacht Club Games discusses the creative process for Mina the Hollower
Yacht Club Games is a company that needs little introduction, particularly thanks to the huge success and acclaim for Shovel Knight, a title that had multiple major expansions and campaigns over a number of years. The company has been busy beyond that too; last year it published...
Full server shutdowns could be coming sooner than you think, too
Over the holidays we're republishing some choice features from the last 12 months. A mix of talking points, interviews, opinion pieces and more from NL staff and contributors, you'll find our usual blend of thoughtfulness, expertise, frivolity, retro nostalgia, and — of course —...
Feature WayForward On Expanding The 'River City Girls' Universe, And Future Plans
"Hopefully players are interested in us expanding this further"
The Kunio-kun spin-off River City Girls returned earlier this month with the release of River City Girls 2, and Nintendo Life was lucky enough to catch up recently with game director Bannon Rudis as well as WayForward's director of business development, Adam Tierney. Before we dive in,...
Feature Yuji Horii And Tachi Inuzuka - Making A Dragon Quest That Can Be "Enjoyed Casually"
Lifting the lid on Dragon Quest Treasures
The chest has been opened, and Dragon Quest Treasures has finally launched on the Switch today, 9th December. Originally proposed as an entry in the spin-off series Dragon Quest Monsters, Treasures sees fan-favourite character from Dragon Quest XI — Erik — and his little sister Mia embark on an...
Feature Cuphead Creators On The Perfect Physical Edition, Animation, And Working With Netflix
"Partnering with the team at iam8bit was right for us"
It's kind of amazing to think that, before this month, Cuphead had never had a physical launch. This seminal run-and-gun indie, visually inspired by the rubber hose animation from the 1930s and the Jazz age, made a huge splash in 2017 on Xbox and Windows, and with a Switch port finally...
November2022
Feature "We Received Many Requests To Bring Back The Puzzle Bobble Series"
Puzzle Bobble Everybubble's director on Bub and Bob's upcoming return
We're big fans of Taito's Bubble Bobble spin-off series Puzzle Bobble around these parts. We used to know it as Bust-A-Move in the West, and news that a new entry in the series was coming to Switch next year courtesy of publisher ININ got us rather excited. Puzzle Bobble...
Feature From 'Retro Bowl' To 'Retro Goal' - How New Star Games Returned To Its Grass Roots
"it’s not just a quick and simple port over from mobile"
Earlier this year we became enamoured by Retro Bowl, a simple, addictive American football game inspired by '90s arcade classics from the team behind the hugely popular 'New Star' mobile series. While it may have been New Star Soccer which brought the team at New Star Games to our attention...
Exclusive "There's Always A New Mess!" - Turning Real Life (And A Real Cat) Into A Tidying Up Game
An interview with developers Max Inferno
It's not often we get to do in-person interviews these days. It's even less frequent that we get to travel to a game studio to do them. But this might be a first, because for this interview, we actually got to go to a developer's house. It turns out that Max Inferno, the two-person studio making upcoming...
Feature "We Had A Lot To Learn" - Sloclap Talks Bringing 'Sifu' To Switch
"There’s always doubt regarding the reception of a game"
Having launched earlier this year on a couple of non-Switch platforms (yeah, apparently they exist!), Sloclap's Sifu has garnered much praise in the months since. A punishing 3D beat 'em up with roguelike elements and other genre ingredients, it struck a chord with PC and PlayStation-owning...
Ah, but did that stop Joker?
Crashing onto the scene back in 2017, NieR:Automata was a breakthrough moment for Yoko Taro. Though the director gained infamy for the Drakengard series — including the original NieR on PS3 and Xbox 360 — and his unusual interviews, Automata is the game that truly put him and his team on the m
Feature It Takes Two Devs "Confident" The Switch Port Will Exceed Expectations
"At the time when we signed on, it wasn’t a GOTY title"
When developer Hazelight Studios launched It Takes Two back in March 2021 in partnership with Electronic Arts, it's safe to say that the co-op action-adventure title took everybody by surprise. By combining split-screen gameplay with a narrative that's both hilarious and poignant in equal...
October2022
Feature Meet Sea Power, The Talent Behind Disco Elysium's Exquisite Music
"We recorded and engineered the whole project ourselves"
A quick note before we begin: The following interview was conducted prior to the news that lead designer Robert Kurvitz, artist Aleksander Rostov, and writer Helen Hindpere had all departed from developer ZA/UM, apparently under involuntary circumstances. This feature is focused entirely on...
Random Hideki Kamiya Echoes Every Nintendo Fan's Wishes For The Switch Successor
We feel you, Kamiya
The wait for Bayonetta 3 is once again bringing PlatinumGames to the forefront of our minds, and a recent VGC interview with some of the studio's lead board members (including Takao Yamane, Atsushi Inaba and Hideki Kamiya) is showing that even the top-dogs of game design have got their hopes for the next Nintendo console. In a...
September2022
Feature We Take The Fan-Created 'Super Mario Bros. 5' For A Spin
Spoilers: It's a blast
Although Nintendo seems to have largely forgotten about it, Super Mario Maker 2 still has its fans. Indeed, so it should; it's a remarkably accessible creative tool for users to turn the Mario levels of their dreams into a reality with an incredibly intuitive UI and toolkit that built on the foundation of the remarkable Wii U...
Exclusive When Is 'Shovel Knight Dig' Set? Here's The Official Shovel Knight Timeline
Let's start at the very beginning
Since the initial launch of Shovel Knight back in 2014, Yacht Club Games' 2D adventure title has since blossomed into a bonafide franchise thanks to the inclusion of spin-off titles Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon and Shovel Knight Dig. The latter is the latest release from the franchise and is available now on the...
August2022
Making worlds, characters, and memories in 'I Was a Teenage Exocolonist'
Revealed for Switch back in July, publisher Finji is bringing Northway Games' I Was a Teenage Exocolonist to Nintendo's console (and others) on 25th August. A narrative RPG with card-based battles, it sees you growing up in an off-world colony, with all the hardship that brings...
Lamb do the slaughter
Devolver Digital's latest game in their stables of gory, bizarre, and irreverent releases is Massive Monster's Cult of the Lamb, a game so perfectly-pitched to the Devolver crowd that it's hard to believe it wasn't an in-house project. It's a cult simulator, but with cute li'l woodland animals instead of bloodthirsty...
Feature Mega Man, Crash Bandicoot, And Gex - The '90s Inspirations Behind 'Frogun'
We'll tell you what we want, what we really really want
Why is that '90s and 2000s fashion coming back as a new trend is so utterly distressing to those of us that were there, but '90s and '00s video game aesthetics resurfacing is a good thing? We don't have answers for you, but we do have Frogun, a charmingly goofy action-platformer game that...
July2022
Feature Dynamax Ain’t That Bad - Pokemon’s Recent Battle Mechanics Ranked
VGC pro Wolfe Glick talks Mega Evolutions, Z-Moves, and Dynamax
From Generation III onward, Game Freak has altered Pokémon’s core battle mechanics in some way or another. Double Battles and the Physical/Special move split fundamentally changed the way people play Pokémon both casually and competitively, but it’s the latter three — Mega...
Exclusive "The Farming Genre Is A Bit Tired" - How SunnySide Aims To Refresh The Farm Sim
"In order to have a Sunny Side, there has to be a dark side…"
It is a truth, universally acknowledged, that farming games all have a lot in common. Crops, livestock, and dateable townsfolk are the staples of the genre, and if you've played one, you've likely experienced what a lot of them have to offer — and that's not even necessarily a bad...
Feature "A Story Without Antagonism Or Violence" - How Blanc Tells The Story Of Two Unlikely Friends
A chat with Casus Ludi
During June's Nintendo Direct Mini, you may have seen a game that looked a little bit like heartbreaking Disney flick The Fox And The Hound — except instead of a fox, it's a wolf, and instead of a hound, it's a deer. This was Blanc, a gorgeous, monochrome, hand-drawn game from French studio Casus Ludi, coming to the Switch...
Feature Is Pokémon Unite Ready For Its Moment At The Pokémon World Championships?
The Pokémon MOBA showcases its competitive chops in August
Before last year, a Pokémon spin-off in the style of League Of Legends felt like an obscure offshoot, even for a franchise that’s pitched Pikachu as a coffee-swilling detective. In many ways, a Pokémon MOBA makes considerable sense – as a world filled with hundreds of unique monsters...
Exclusive Dogs, Death, And Fantasy Life - An Interview With The Creators Of Potion Permit
(Yes, you can pet the dog. No, the dog doesn't die)
There's a slew of charming life sim-type games on the slate for the Nintendo Switch in 2022 and 2023, and Potion Permit is one of the ones we're most intrigued about. Published by PQube, with a release date of September 22nd, 2022, Potion Permit is all about tending to the ailments to the people...
Feature What It Takes To Be A Zelda: Breath Of The Wild World Record Speedrunner
BOTW's best 'runners talk tricks and clips
It’s 1 AM and you have just spent the past 12 hours replaying the same segment of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. In your mind, there is no stopping until perfection is achieved – or the more likely option – you pass out from sleep deprivation. For the next few weeks, you continue to hone...
June2022
Feature Mario + Rabbids Producer Talks Free Movement And Fusing Lumas, Rabbids, And Composers
"It was a kid's dream to do that"
As revealed in Nintendo's June 2022 Direct Mini: Partner Showcase, Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope is launching on Switch on 20th October. This afternoon, Ubisoft's dedicated showcase,
Feature Spidersaurs Lands On Switch In July, WayForward Talks Saturday Cartoons And Contra
Everybody walk the spidersaur
Over the past 30 years, WayForward, makers of the Shantae series, has made a name for itself by crafting retro-flavoured gems that combine the best of modern gaming with an unashamedly old-school aesthetic and game feel. Whether it's baked into their own projects (such as the Mighty series or the aforementioned Shantae...
Feature Takashi Iizuka, Head Of Sonic Team, Speaks About Sonic Origins, Sprites, And Future Plans
"Sonic Adventure will always remain very dear to me"
Sonic the Hedgehog fans have had plenty to talk about of late. The staggered gameplay reveals and initial reactions to Sonic Frontiers have been one of the big talking points throughout this not-E3 2022 period, but we've also had the impending release of Sonic Origins to look forward to. While the...
Exclusive Zelda-Meets-Stardew In 'Moonstone Island', The Game That Has It All
Farming, Fighting, And Fishbo
Disclosure notice: In the time since the publication of this article, Nintendo Life staffer Kate Gray has contributed writing to Moonstone Island. She has had no involvement in our coverage since joining the project, and we won't be reviewing the game. Moonstone Island is one of the games we're most excited about this...
Feature Temtem Dev On The Difficulties Of Bringing The Pokémon Rival To Switch
"There were a lot of sacrifices and a lot of difficulties"
First announced back in 2018 before dropping onto Steam Early Access in 2020 and later PS5, Temtem garnered a lot of well-deserved attention as a worthy challenger to Pokémon’s tried-and-true formula, with a focus on developing the online social and competitive elements of Game Freak's...
Feature Inclusivity, Frogs, And Petting Dogs - Wholesome Games On What It Means To Be "Wholesome"
Ahead of June 11th's Wholesome Direct
Wholesome. It's a word that gets tossed around a lot these days when it comes to games. If there's a game with a cat, a tea minigame, a pastel palette, and/or some kind of farming mechanic, you bet your buns it'll be called "wholesome" at least once. Wholesome Direct, a showcase of indie games presented by the...
Feature How 'Wayward Strand' Fights Misconceptions To Give Elderly Characters Agency And Dignity
"They have rich interior worlds"
Wayward Strand is a game set in a hospital — specifically, an aged care ward, where many of the patients are struggling with age-related health issues, like dementia. Ahead of the game's July 21st release, we spoke to the game's narrative co-director, Georgia Symons, about what it's like to write about a sensitive...
Feature How The Quintessential Essence Of Pokémon Games Inspires Gen After Gen
Insight from Pokémon World Champions and Temtem’s Director
In 1998 my Canadian elementary school banned everything to do with Pokémon. The games, the trading cards, and discussions about the anime – all of it was off-limits as Pocket Monster fever swept through North America like a swarm of Rattata, distracting us from our in-class reading of...
Feature Zero Escape Creator Discusses The Cast Of 'AI: The Somnium Files - nirvanA Initiative'
A deeper look at new and returning characters with Kotaro Uchkoshi
We're just a little under a month away from the unexpected murder mystery, AI: The Somnium Files - nirvanA Initiative. This sequel to Spike Chunsoft's 2019 original, AI: The Somnium Files, sees the return of everyone's favourite pipe-wielding badass Mizuki, now an ABIS special agent...
May2022
Feature 'Spirittea' Is A Heady Brew Of Stardew Valley And Spirited Away, Coming To Switch Soon
Char-vest Moon
Who would have thought that a chance encounter between leaves and hot water would lead to one of the most popular hot drinks in the world? Tea is a necessity for many of us to survive, mostly because the Nintendo Life team is 90% British, but also because it serves as a soothing, relaxing ritual that starts our day. This article?...
Hands On Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge - The Ultimate 'Retro Throwback'?
We chat to Dotemu and Tribute Games about the road from 1987 to 2022
It feels like an age ago now, but when Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge was announced it triggered excitement among gamers of all ages. For sure, some of the reaction came from players of a certain vintage that remember the original show and the TMNT arcade game,...
Feature Save Me, Mr. Tako! Dev On Japan, 'Franglais', And Parting Ways With Nicalis
"Since it was delisted and not transferred, I can’t legally use the original version"
It's a year to the day since Save Me Mr Tako: Definitive Edition arrived on Switch eShop, and with an anniversary update and physical version now available to pre-order, we thought it was a great time to revisit this interview with the game's creator. Enjoy! In...
April2022
News Reggie Fils-Aimé Talks Re-Evaluating His Life After Iwata's Death
Watch the full SXSW talk here
Reggie Fils-Aimé - the famed ex-President of Nintendo of America - is currently working to promote his upcoming book, Disrupting the Game: From the Bronx to the Top of Nintendo. Last month, Reggie took to the stage at South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas to discuss his upbringing, his time at Nintendo, and the...
Feature 'AI: The Somnium Files - nirvanA Initiative' Director Talks New Gameplay Features
We delve into the Somnium of Akira Okada
As we approach the summer release of AI: The Somnium Files - nirvanA Initiative, we've been introduced to a new protagonist, new gameplay elements, and a brand new mystery. The blend of character interaction and unusual detective elements from the predecessor look like they'll be amped up to eleven in the...
Feature How Limited Run's New Engine Respects The Legacy Of Classic Games
"If we’re going to make a change that sweeping, the original needs to be there as well"
The world of physical media in brick-and-mortar stores has dwindled in recent years due to the proliferation of digital storefronts readily and conveniently available on modern platforms. While some would never think to pay the same (or more) on a digital game...
March2022
Exclusive 'Imp Of The Sun', An Action Platformer With Ori Vibes, Revealed For Switch
Update: Launches on Thursday!
Update [Tue 22nd Mar, 2022 13:20 GMT]: Fireshine has revealed the release date for Imp of the Sun, and it's coming very soon indeed — this Thursday, 24th March! More details in our original exclusive story below... Original Story [Mon 21st Mar, 2022 06:00 GMT]: Fireshine Games has announced that action platformer...
Feature How Audio Description Can Make Trailers And Video Gaming More Accessible
We chatted to AD experts, Descriptive Video Works
Accessibility in games is an important topic that has been receiving a lot more well-deserved attention over the past few years, in large part thanks to accessibility advocates and large companies taking up the mantle. But we still have a long way to go — as recent discussions over the difficulty...
Feature We Talked To The Godzilla-Obsessed Devs Of Kaiju Co-Op Beat-'Em-up, Dawn Of The Monsters
Like a Mothra to a flame
Do you hate kaiju? Yeah! So do we. Godzilla needs to be taken down a peg or two, if you ask us, which you didn't. Well, now you can live the kaiju-fighting punch-a-thon of your dreams in Dawn of the Monsters, the latest game from Runbow developers 13AM and publisher WayForward, who themselves made Contra 4 and River City...
Feature So, One Horse-Sized Duck Or Ten Duck-Sized Horses? Yoko Taro Answers The Big Question
Voice of Cards: The Forsaken Maiden devs answer some quick Qs
Game development these days regularly involves multiple dozens of people — sometimes hundreds or thousands — and typically games take many years of gestation before arriving. Even smaller releases from indie studios might be years in the making, which is just one of the things that...
"I guess architecture and cave paintings win this race"
While many of us treasure the broad range of games that modern gaming brings us through download stores, we're regularly reminded that these platforms — and the creations they host — are finite. That came into focus recently when Nintendo announced the timeline for closing both the Wii U...
February2022
Feature "I Think Studio Saizensen And I Will Make A Second Cotton Rock 'N' Roll”
Cotton Fantasy devs on building a new entry for the iconic cute-’em-up series
Over the decades Success Corporation has crafted a great many shmups that are distinct and captivating in equal measure. Games like the sublime Psyvariar, with its remarkable bullet grazing system and adaptive difficulty, or the curious, vibrant-yet-gritty...
Feature From Zelda Fangames To The Real Deal, We Talk To The Ocean's Heart Developer
"I’ve always viewed Zelda: Minish Cap as the height of pixel art"
The list of games overtly inspired by Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda franchise isn't small, but it's nevertheless impressive to see what some of the smallest development teams, in particular, can achieve. Ocean's Heart is a recent example on the Switch eShop, a game that's been...
Feature Kit & Krysta: "We Both Consider Ourselves To Be Disciples Of Reggie"
Kit & Krysta on post-Nintendo plans, bickering, and Nintendo execs
News that Nintendo Minute hosts Kit and Krysta were leaving Nintendo signalled the end of an era for many fans who have followed their careers with the company through years of the fun video series. However, the pair soon revealed plans for their own podcast and it seems they'll be...
Feature Brownies President Talks 'Egglia Rebirth' And Working On 'Mother 3'
"Itoi-san replaced all the placeholder text... and it just completely changed the tone"
Assembled by a team of former Mana series veterans at Brownies and released on 10th February, Egglia Rebirth is a cracking good RPG on Switch that began life on mobile devices. Egglia, in its initial incarnation, was one of the company's first projects after...
Feature Switch Hidden Gem 'In Other Waters' Is Diving Into The World Of Tabletop RPGs
Like Dungeons and Dragons, but underwater and in space
In Other Waters is a surprising little gem of a game that came to the Switch back in 2020, telling the story of an alien ocean through little more than a three-colour dashboard, full of knobs and switches. You experience the story, and the world, through the descriptions of biologist Dr Ellery...
Feature Atelier Series Producer On Popularity Polls, Seamless Battles, And Returning To Sophie
"We looked over the reactions we received on social media"
2022 is the 25th anniversary year of Koei Tecmo and Gust Co.'s Atelier RPG series. It debuted in 1997 back on PlayStation with Atelier Marie: The Alchemist of Salburg, and Switch owners have several entries in its library to choose from, including the very successful Atelier Ryza and
Feature Infernax Devs Discuss Gross-Out Pixel Gore And Calling It A 'Zeldavania'
"many of the [Metroidvania] elements are mostly inspired by the second Zelda"
If you're into modern games with retro style, you've got no shortage of options on Switch. For years now talented younger developers have been channelling nostalgia and affection for the games of their youth into new titles that update classic mechanics and genres with...
Feature "Switch Is More Than Capable" - 'Lumote' Devs On Porting The Beautiful Puzzler
"Porting to Switch has been pretty fun and interesting"
We have plenty of beautiful platformers, narrative experiences and Metroidvania titles on Switch, but a genre that always needs more representation is dynamic puzzlers. Games that allow you to both explore and soak in a beautiful atmosphere while keeping your grey cells busy - Lumote: The...
Feature The Last Worker Promises To Be "Memorable, Heartfelt" And "Chunkiest" On Switch
"I adore the Switch"
The Last Worker is a title that, with each passing month, is attracting more attention and curiosity. It's a project led by Jörg Tittel, whose career has seen him work across the arts in TV, film and games. Revealed last year with an enigmatic trailer, it also achieved the notable landmark of being showcased at the 78th Venice...
January2022
Feature Zero Escape Creator Talks 'AI: The Somnium Files - nirvanA Initiative'
Kotaro Uchikoshi discusses the upcoming sequel
Detective adventure AI: The Somnium Files released on Switch back in September 2019, one of a wave of excellent adventure games and visual novels to come to the system over the last few years. Written and directed by Kotaro Uchikoshi, creator of the excellent Zero Escape series, the game put you to work...
Feature These Incredible Game Boy Mods Are All By The Same Guy
He is the 'Game Boy' Boy
Some people are blessed with all the talent, and one of those people is Andy Sexton, who's not only content with being the Creative Director at Hi-Rez Studios (Smite, Paladins) — he's also a very good Game Boy modder in his free time. We can't be too mad, though, because he also takes wonderful photos of those mods and...
Feature The Man Making Brand New NES Games In 2021
Alastair Low explains 8-bit love and how he's making games more dyslexia-friendly
Alastair Low hadn’t even been born when the NES was originally released in the UK. But he spent much of his childhood joyously playing on Nintendo’s 8-bit wonder machine after picking one up for a pittance at a car boot sale in the mid-1990s. “I remember getting...
Feature "The eShop Is Just Way Too Slow" - Deku Deals Creator On Nintendo's Switch Storefront
The best way to search for Switch deals sure ain't on Switch
Most fans would agree that Nintendo’s current eShop for Switch could use some work. Sure, it serves its purpose well from a purely transactional standpoint, but there are some glaring issues at the heart of it. The layout makes it difficult to just casually browse and find interesting...
December2021
Feature Where Does Competitive Pokémon Go From Here?
Aaron “Cybertron” Zheng on what the future holds
Two years have passed since Pokémon Sword and Shield inaugurated the eighth generation of Pokémon games. With it came indignation from some fans, though most agreed Sword and Shield didn’t flounder when it came to its competitive scene. Pokémon tournaments are played under the Video Game...
Feature Steven Spohn On Strides In Accessibility For Gaming, And Nintendo's Room For Improvement
"Back in the day Nintendo was at the forefront of accessibility, at some point they just stopped"
Earlier this year Steven Spohn hit an incredible fundraising landmark prior to his 40th Birthday; in forming alliances with a lot of creators and gamers globally, along with some welcome support from influential figures, he raised over one million...
"I think what they're gonna see is a nice live-feeling and chaotic show"
Listen, Rob's not messing around here. He knows his games As we reported just a few days ago, Scottish comedian, writer, poet and self-professed "God of Games" Robert Florence has been announced as host of the upcoming reboot of Channel 4's iconic GamesMaster. Alongside...
Feature What Is The Zelda 'Formula'? We Break Down The Secret Recipe
12 ingredients that make a game feel like Zelda
Have you ever played a game and thought, “This feels a bit like Zelda?” Only the other week, we described the excellent Eastward as “quite a bit like a 2D Zelda game”, and the PC/Xbox game Death's Door — a title that our sister site Pure Xbox called "a 2021 GOTY contender" when awarding it a...
Lena Raine talks Chrono Trigger and wanting to write "a really rowdy anime opening"
Lena Raine's meteoric rise over the past few years has taken her from working in Quality Assurance at ArenaNet, all the way to being nominated for a BAFTA and an award for Best Music at The Game Awards — pretty impressive for someone who's technically only nine...
"Leave it to the big companies to overwhelm the players... let's do what only we can do!"
Here at Nintendo Life we're huge fans of Ancient, the company set up by composer Yuzo Koshiro and his family which has worked on some absolute brilliant games over the last three decades — including Mega Drive classics Streets of Rage 2 and Beyond Oasis, and...
Feature Artist Kamui Fujiwara Talks Terranigma Amid Drive To Resurrect Classic SNES RPG
"It means the quest is not over, right?"
Terranigma is a SNES title that holds a special place in the heart of many an RPG fan, which is remarkable when you consider that it was only released in Japan and Europe, and bypassed North America entirely. Part of Quintet's loose RPG trilogy (which also includes Soul Blazer and Illusion of Gaia),...
"Switch would, indeed, be a very good fit for them"
Charles Cecil needs no introduction to lovers of adventure games. The veteran designer co-founded Revolution Software in 1990 and produced a series of classic graphic adventure games including Lure of the Temptress and the Broken Sword series. His most recent project, Beyond a Steel Sky, released...
Quick Beats Streets Of Rage Composer On Musical Heroes And The Series He'd Love To Work On
10 rapid-fire questions for VGM legend Yuzo Koshiro
Throughout the Nintendo Life Video Game Music Festival we're speaking to a range of composers and musicians for a mixture of in-depth interviews and shorter, sharper (and perhaps a little goofier) Q&As where we ask just ten rapid-fire personal questions; we're calling these shorter features...
Quick Beats Grant Kirkhope On How Batman Inspired Banjo-Kazooie
"I’ve used [those chords] a gazillion times, it’s in everything I write"
Throughout the Nintendo Life Video Game Music Festival we're speaking to a range of composers and musicians for a mixture of in-depth interviews and shorter, sharper (and perhaps a little goofier) Q&As where we ask just ten rapid-fire personal questions; we're calling...
Feature Tee Lopes Talks Sonic, Streets Of Rage, And Making Music On A PS1
"Video games were a portal that allowed me to discover music"
Fans of certain beloved Sega franchises should be very familiar with this composer's name by now. Tee Lopes started out on the VGM scene releasing remixed and reimagined versions of some of gaming's most beloved music, with a special focus on one blue hedgehog in particular, and his...
Feature Doki Doki Literature Club Creator On Revisiting The Club Members In 'Plus'
"The characters stick with you because they feel like friends"
It's not every day that a visual novel has the chance to shock and awe the world like Doki Doki Literature Club did on PC back in 2017. The game proved to be a hit, but console gamers were left waiting for some way to experience the tale this anime dating sim tells. Flash forward to the...
Feature Ex-Nintendo Employee On 'Holy Grails', Meeting Heroes, And Preserving A $10K Kirby Card
"As a fan, I was mortified at the thought of destroying any of it"
Over the holidays we're republishing some of our best features, interviews, opinion pieces and talking points from the previous 12 months from staff and contributors alike — articles that we feel represent our best of 2021. In them you'll find our usual mix of thoughtfulness,...