Going into TRON: Catalyst I was totally blind. It turns out it’s the sequel to TRON: Identity, which I never played.

But with my new Switch 2 I was chomping at the bit for games to play, so thought I would give it a try.

The good news is if like me you haven’t played TRON: Identity, don't stress, you can just jump into this one.

The story follows Exo who is a courier program Exo gets himself mixed up in a conspiracy where the server they live on is going to get a hard reset. It turns out the server they are on has a big power struggle between Core, and people that want more freedom. As far as a story goes, it’s fine. It’s interesting at times.

The story is mostly told through scenes where it shows still of characters as they speak. This is a perfectly fine way of telling the story, and it has decent voice acting. It just has that vibe of an OK story being told via a decent way, which just results in it being decent. Never amazing, just decent.

The game itself is an isometric action game. You run around exploring and throwing your TRON spin discy thing at people. The combat is more than competent, and it’s fun for the most part. Dodging at the right time, slashing an enemy, then firing your disc to nail another is satisfying as hell. The biggest issue is it just gets a bit repetitive.

Fun, but repetitive.

The biggest thing that the game has going for it is the art style. The neon TRON style has been beautifully crafted in the game to always look stunning on the screen. The art style of the characters in the dialogue scenes also look cool. But really when exploring the world I was always loving the look and style the game had to offer.

On the whole, TRON: Catalyst is just a decent game.

Fun gameplay, a decent story, and stunning art design makes the game a perfectly fine way to spend a day. At no point was I blown away by the game, but I had a great time. The isometric gameplay does make it perfect for picking up and jamming on the Switch 2.

The post TRON: Catalyst (Switch 2) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

I remember the original Bravely Default launch being something special.

Final Fantasy 13 and 13-2 had shown the direction that the iconic JRPG series was going and some of us craved that classic JRPG turn based action. Bravely Default demonstrated to us that Square Enix was able to evolve Final Fantasy and give us something old at the same time with its launch on the 3DS.

Now thirteen years later  Square Enix has released the 3DS port Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD Remaster to Switch 2.

If you haven’t played Bravely Default before, it’s a banger.

The story follows the warriors of light who need to restore the 4 elemental crystals who have fallen into darkness. Sounds pretty Final Fantasy like right?

Well, the four heroes are all really interesting. Tiz is the sole survivor of a village that got destroyed by one of the corrupted crystals, Ringabel is an amnesiac trying to figure out what’s going on, Edea left an army that was trying to capture Agnes, and Agnes use to live in service to one of the crystals before it became corrupt. In many ways we have four JRPG tropes mashed into one game, and in other ways the mashing together makes it unique.

Anyway, they all need to work together to uncorrupt the crystals. Their journey takes them across the country as the story has some great twists and turns. It is all very classic JRPG and if that is what you are craving, then it is exceptional at it. The gameplay is pretty standard turn based JRPG action, with attacks and magic on your character’s turn. What is fun is that you get BP that allows the characters to do multiple actions in a turn until they run out of BP, you can go into negatives but have to recover if you do that.

This remaster brings a whole lot of upgrades. The whole game has been tidied up to look way better on Switch and the TV. It still retains it’s janky edged look, but with the games upscaling it looks way more stylised. The cut scenes have been given a much bigger upgrade and looks properly good.

This version comes with some fun new features like the game corner. There is a couple of brand new mini games here that use joy cons that can reward you with some stuff. There is a rhythm game and an airship simulator. The games were perfectly fine, but at least add a nice break to the gameplay to do something different. Doing so can earn you some amazing rewards like being able to increase or decrease the random encounters.

Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD Remaster is one of the best cases for a remaster.

The base game is there and still shines, it looks a whole lot nicer, and there are some new features there to make it worth playing for fans of the original. This is a cracker of a release for the Switch 2 and is well worth checking out for JRPG fans.

The post Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD Remaster (Switch 2) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Nintendo updates its top-selling Switch console with a new version, imaginatively called the Nintendo Switch 2.

In the box, you’ll find everything you need to get going. There’s the Switch 2 device, two magnetic Joy-Con controllers, two Joy-Con 2 straps, a Joy-Con 2 grip frame, the Switch 2 dock, an HDMI cable, a USB Type-C to Type-A cable and a USB power plug.

Following on from Sony and Microsoft, with their PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S consoles, the Switch 2 doesn’t discard what’s gone before, and instead is more of an update. This means instead of a new console that’ll make your old games obsolete, like in the days of old, most of your OG Switch games will run fine on it, or even better.

This is excellent news, as not only is the console a rather breathtaking AUD $700, but the games, as well, are now over 100 bucks a piece. You may do well to play a few of your old games, albeit in a higher resolution and faster framerate, whilst you save up for some of the new Switch 2 exclusives.

It’s also a bit crafty, as the new console already has a vast day-one library if you count the OG Switch games. Handy, as there are not really that many new Switch 2 games available for launch.

I’ll be open and honest about this. Whilst I’ve found portable gaming systems to be fun, it’s not since the PlayStation Portable that I’ve really got on with them. The PSP blew my mind in that I could play proper FIFA on the go, but it’s been downhill from there.

Perhaps it’s the older I get, the more self-conscious I become. And that, when I’m in a position for a bit of gaming on the go, I feel a grown man with grey hair pulling out a console looks a bit odd.

It could also be that the performance difference between a portable version of a game and a regular console (or PC) is just too great. So, unless I’m a captive audience on a plane or something, I’ll be playing the best version of a game on the most powerful machine (which isn’t going to be a Switch, let’s be honest).

Either way, in spite of trying, I’ve a difficult relationship with portable gaming. Made even more troublesome with the likes of the ROG Ally bringing PC gaming to a portable platform.

Of course, Nintendo brings its exclusives to the table. I bought a GameCube just so I could play The Legend of Zelda: Windwalker. And that was pretty much the same story with the Switch and Breath of the Wild.

The biggest draw for Nintendo’s Switch 2 is the games. With the day one launch of Mario Kart World, as well as updated versions of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, joining all those backward compatible Switch games (some of which you can pick up for pennies from the online store), Switch 2 early adopters are laughing.

The Switch 2 feels a lot more robust and grown-up than its predecessor. It seems a lot less like a toy and more like a prestigious, high-end device. It’s not as plasticky as the OG Switch, with slightly more weight.

The way the Joy-Con 2s clip into place with magnets as opposed to sliding on rails adds to that first-class experience. And good news: you can put the Joy-Con 2s on the Switch 2 back to front and upside down. Whilst they still won’t work, unlike their predecessors doing so will not get them stuck in place.

The Joy-Con 2’s straps also just clip into the controllers. Not only do the straps stop you from hurling the Joy-Cons at your TV, but they also become the base that turns the controllers into mice. And you don’t even need a mouse mat to use them as such; they work anywhere, even on your lap.

The button layout of the Joy-Con 2s is identical to that of the original Switch. The shoulder buttons are a bit bigger, and there’s an extra ‘C’ button for the new inclusion of built-in game chat. The Switch 2 also supports Amiibos, which are activated on the right Joy-Con.

Whilst it’s not an OLED screen, which is surprising, considering the cost of the console, it is a very nice and bright LED 1080p HDR display. The 7.9-inch screen is capable of refresh rates up to 120Hz. Compared to the OG Switch’s 6.2-inch 720p SDR screen running up to 60Hz, you can see why it looks an order of magnitude better.

The screen is virtually indestructible. But it’s easy to scratch, though, as there’s a fragile layer of plastic film covering the glass screen. Apparently, this film is to stop the glass screen, if broken, from creating thousands of sharp little shards of glass. If you pick up the Nintendo carry case, you will get a plastic screen protector, but you are better off buying a proper screen protector like the Tempered glass one from amFilm.

The Switch 2 comes with 256GB of UFS 3.1 onboard storage (compared with the OG Switch’s 32GB) and 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM (compared to 4GB LPDDR4). The Switch 2’s storage can be expanded with a microSD Express card. These are not the same as the microSD card for the original or OLED Switch.

The Switch utilises a custom Nvidia Tegra T239 system-on-chip processor featuring an octa-core ARM Cortex-A78C CPU and a 12 SM Ampere GPU. The Nvidia GPU brings with it DLSS upscaling, real-time ray-tracing and variable refresh rates (VRR) using Nvidia’s G-Sync capabilities, just like the company’s PC desktop graphics cards. When docked, the Switch 2 becomes even more powerful, cranking up the processor timings to support 4K HDR with VRR up to 120Hz.

In every way the Switch 2 is an improvement over its predecessor, except that the screen is not OLED. The Joy-Con 2 still having digital triggers instead of analogue is also a bit weird.

Another cool thing about the Switch 2 is that you can use your OG Switch Pro controllers with it. You can also use 3rd-party controllers, like the Gulikit KK3 Max.

The Nintendo Online service +Expansions not only give you access to online saves, but also the free Switch 2 upgrades for the two Zelda games, Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. Membership also gives you access to various emulators with loads of old games, including the GameCube emulator with Soul Caliber 2 and The Legend of Zelda: The Windwalker. These libraries are ever-expanding.  Nintendo’s online service is a lot cheaper than other console online subscriptions, and there’s a family option as well that makes it pretty good value.

Both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom look great on the Switch 2 screen. On the TV, the visuals are crisp and not smudged like they are on the OG Switch. The Wipeout-inspired futuristic racing game, Fast Fusion, is a great budget title that is not only a great game but also shows off the console’s visual prowess.

The Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is another cheap game that’s worth a look. It should really have been a freebie, but still, it appeals to the nerd in me. The game is an interactive intro to the Switch 2’s technology via demos and mini games. There are quizzes as well as stamps to collect as you discover what’s under the portable console’s hood.

The Switch 2 still lags behind its contemporary consoles in performance. However, Nintendo is not pitching the Switch 2 against either the PlayStation 5 or the Xbox Series X|S. It’s a machine that’s a breed apart, and a significant step up from its predecessor.

If you have already invested in the Nintendo ecosystem with the OG, Lite or OLED Switch, picking up a Switch 2 should be a serious consideration. It’s not cheap, though, especially for a brand that tends to appeal to a younger demographic. You are unlikely, however, to find such a high-quality and versatile portable gaming device with such a unique library at a comparable cost to the Switch 2.

The post Nintendo Switch 2 Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

In 2015 an excellent JRPG dropped on the Wii U called Xenoblade Chronicles X.

Unfortunately, that console was not well received. As such many fans were doomed to never experience the glory. Fortunately, it wasn’t doomed, thanks to the latest Switch release Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition!

Xenoblade Chronicles X kicks off with an intense cinematic.

Aliens are at war with each other and Earth is in the middle of it. Earth’s people attempt to leave in some massive ships called arks. Most of these arks are destroyed in the crossfire, but a handful make it out.  We follow one that has lifepods scattered on a planet called Mira.

Here you get to create your own character.

This character wakes up from their pod by a woman called ELMA who takes you through the fundamentals of moving and takes you to the city New Los Angeles.

Your character suffers good old fashioned amnesia, so you follow her and become a member of BLADE. BLADE is a group that is hunting for more pods and survivors. This sends you off on missions, and in one of them you discover that you are a robot. Whaaaaat? Aren’t you supposed to be one of the remaining humans? The plot get’s thick. You are going to be playing this game for many, many, many hours, so there has to be more to it than that right? Yup, Mira has heaps of other races, and some of them don’t like humans. The plot keeps thickening. It’s actually a really interesting and well crafted world and story.

The gameplay initially is very Xenoblade Chronicles. It is initially the usual auto battle combat which is super fun and engaging. But it ramps up when you get your hands on the mechs called Skells. You encounter them early, but you don’t get to pilot one until you have progressed the story enough. At this point travelling around and battles ramp up to be even more fun. But you don’t want to rush to that. There are so many side missions that help you get allies in your team that are worth doing from a gameplay perspective, but even better for the world building.

The game runs shockingly well. When there is too much chaos going on it can jitter a little bit, but I have seen smaller games run much worse. It is a massive game and I am perfectly happy with some minor performance dips for the game to be this good on the go.

There are added characters and missions to the game as well. Unfortunately I have only played this version so can only speak to this as a contained experience, but there is something there for Wii U returning players.

Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition is a cracking good game.  I am so grateful that this rerelease means more people get to play and enjoy this gem of a JRPG!  If you like JRPGs or the Xenoblade series, this is a must play.

The post Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition (Switch) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

There have been two Mario & Luigi games on Switch, with the remakes of Bowser’s Inside story and Superstar Saga bringing great old games to a new audience.

These were great, but it was about time for a brand new journey, well we got one now with Mario & Luigi: Brothership.

Mario & Luigi: Brothership kicks off with Mario and Luigi doing there thing when they get sucked into a vortex.  Luigi falls out a bit early and Mario finds himself alone on a strange island. Don’t worry, Mario is only solo for the glorified tutorial. He quickly finds his brother where they discover a lot about the weird world they are in.

It turns out they are on an island that is also a ship.

The ship has a big tree in the middle with a lightbulb… You know, normal things. Well it turns out a bunch of other islands used to be tethered to this tree but after a big disaster the tethers broke.

To save the day, the brothers need to be rocketed out of a canon to these islands to reconnect them. Again, totally normal stuff. It’s a silly weird story, with some funny interactions as each islands inhabitants are shocked to see new people after they have been isolated. The story, while silly, is fun. And that’s what I am after in a Mario games story.

If you are new to the series, it’s a turned based JRPG of sorts. Mario and Luigi stand on one side of the battle screen with the foes on the other. You choose your action when it’s your turn, such as jumping on your opponent. One thing it does is that when your character attacks, you can press a button at the right time to cause a second attack. For the most part, it’s a very simple turned based battle system, but this forces you to stay engage which is nice.

For the most part, playing the game is simple, but fun. You can jump in at this game as it does hold your hand for a while. The only part of the game that is rough is the sea map. The island boat navigates around set tracks, and you can choose to pop it on different tracks, you then use this to get close to an island to be sent to. It’s an idea that’s intriguing, but it does get tedious at times.

The thing I love most is the animation style. They have given them a nice cell shaded 3D style which makes cutscenes look beautiful. Running around the world would also be up there, if it didn’t struggle to perform. The animations get stuttery which is really jarring when compared against the absolutely gorgeous character and world design.

For the most part Mario & Luigi: Brothership is a fun game and a great new romp for fans of the series to go on. I just wish the sea map was less boring, and it ran a little better. It really must be about time for the Switch 2, though the Zelda games were stunning and ran fine.

So buggered if I know, maybe a patch or two to clean it up?

The post Mario & Luigi: Brothership (Switch) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

There are too many Nintendo series that don’t have enough entries on Switch… I am looking at you Mario Kart.

Well, Mario Party isn’t one of them. With Super Mario Party and Mario Party Superstars already making their way to the Switch the question is, is there space for a third one?

Nintendo seem to think so and has just released Super Mario Party Jamboree, and yea, there is justification for a third.

If you haven’t played a Mario Party game before, the main way to play is via a board game.

Each player rolls a dice and moves a bunch of spaces around the board. Your goal is to collect the stars that scatter the board. But it can’t be that simple right? Of course not, you don’t just have to be first to the star, you also have to have enough stars to claim it. So how do you get stars I hear you ask?  Well there are a few ways, but the main way is to win mini-games.

And this is the main point of the whole game. The mini-games are all kinds of silliness, but are consistently fun.  You may be slicing up pieces of meat to get the closest to a 50/50 split or you may have to deal with sandwiches that are falling and have to platform on the landed sandwiches before you get squashed. But they aren’t all food based. Maybe you have to navigate along a winding path without being pushed off the edge by a bunch of moving logs.

Now I am not going to go through every mini-game, because there are over 100 of them, but these simple albeit fun mini-games are what makes Super Mario Party Jamboree worth playing.  They utilize the joycons to make it an essential Switch experience.

There are heaps of ways to play if you aren’t feeling the board game.

You can visit themed islands or there are modes which have you smashing a handful of games to beat 20 players to get the most coins. Here you also go up against an imposter Bowser, because why not. There is even an 8 player mode where you have to take down this giant imposter Bowser. You can play single player, including a single player mode which is a glorified tutorial, or any modes against bots. If other people are your jam there is a very competent online mode as well.

But the best way to play any Mario Party is on the couch with your friends or family. Super Mario Jamboree is no exception here. Whether it’s you and a few friends with some beers, or soda if you’re under 18, or with your family, it’s so much fun to play. Watching your family navigate the challenges of motion controls while you try to do the same to claim that important star is just pure fun.

Super Mario Party Jamboree is an excellent Mario Party game. Heaps of mini-games new and old, heaps of boards to play on, and heaps of fun. Whether you’re a long time fan, or new to the series, there is heaps of awesome to enjoy here.

The post Super Mario Party Jamboree (Switch) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

After Breath of the Wild gave us an incredible Zelda that seemed like a badass who could be the lead in her own action game.

Then Tears of the Kingdom gave us another glimpse at a Zelda who deserved to be the character we played as. Well finally The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom lets us take the role of the legendary princess, and it’s not quite what I was expecting.

The game kicks off with us playing as Link who is in the midst of saving Zelda, as per usual.

Link falls into a mysterious rift. Well it turns out those rifts are popping up everywhere.

Zelda returns to Hyrule Castle where the King is initially stoked to see her.  The King then finds himself in the rift, and comes out looking all evil.  He has our princess jailed where she meets her new little pal Tri.

Tri gives her a rod which allows her to create fake versions of things out in the world. After a short stealth scene where she creates stuff to get around some guards, she starts making cooler stuff like creatures to fight other creatures. Her adventure then takes her to save Link from the mysterious Still World which is where everyone goes when they fall into the rifts.

This is where I was a little bit gutted.

I wanted Zelda to go around hacking and slashing enemies to save the day, but to be fair, that could have wound up just feeling like Link with a Zelda skin. Instead we don’t really get a lot of combat, as alternatively Zelda makes stuff to throw at enemies, or to hide from, or even versions of enemies to fight on her behalf. In so many ways it is much more of a puzzle game than an action one.

The one thing that becomes a bit of a pain, is the massive number of objects Zelda can make. This sounds like a weird thing, I mean heaps of variety is a good thing yeah?

I regularly forgot about some of the stuff I could make, as I would switch back and forth from a handful of the commonly used ones. At times I was definitely making the game harder for myself, as later I would use an item and realise it could have saved my time and energy earlier if only I remembered I had it in my arsenal.

From an aesthetic perspective, the game has gone for a more Chibi style.

You may recognise this from the Link’s Awakening remake. I won’t lie, I absolutely loved it then, and I love it now. The simple top down style makes the game a treat to look at. It also switches perspectives at times with some 2D sequences that really just help the game keep from getting too tedious. The sound and soundtrack are also great, making this a must play for Zelda fans wanting to feel the vibes from the older games, after the excellence that was Tears of the Kingdom.

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is a really solid game that is well worth checking out. It is trying to feel more like a classic Zelda game, but with its own take and it succeeds there. They could have cut a massive chunk of the items you can make and it would have been much more streamlined.  It isn’t the next great Zelda game, but it’s a sure entertaining way to spend some game time.

The post The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom (Switch) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Famicom Detective Club is a series that started in 1988, which as I hadn’t quite nailed walking yet I missed this one. To be fair a remake was released 3 years ago, but I didn’t play them so… Ah well.

Anyway I have jumped into the third game of the series Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club, to see if you can jump straight in.

It turns out, you can.

The game kicks off with you as a P.I. at Utsugi Detective Agency.

A call comes in and you go down to the scene of an intriguing murder. It turns out that a serial killer that hasn’t been around for a loooong time is back in action. The situation is that a body is found, with a creepy paper bag on the head with a smile on it.  And the mystery kicks off.

I wasn’t sure what to expect going into the game, but it is much more of a visual novel than anything. I was kind of hoping for a bit more of a puzzle game like a Phoenix Wright game, but this was a solid surprise. The bulk of the time you will spend is navigating conversation paths.

You generally have a handful of options like to observe, to listen, or to ask certain questions. When I first started playing the game I was kind of half assed clicking through the options, but this is the wrong way to play and I started over. You need to get yourself into the headspace of trying to follow the story and figure out what is going on.

If you don’t do that, it’s tedious, if you do it’s interesting and intriguing. Fortunately, most of the time the writing and dialogue is good enough to make the story land home.

The game has a really nice visual style, not dissimilar to other visual novels.

Some scenes are more animated, some have that nice static objects moving style. It manages to tread that nice fine line to be great to look at but representing that visual novel style. The one complaint is that it is only voice acted in Japanese. This isn’t a major issue for many, but if you are jamming it on the train after a hard days worth of work, then some intense voice acting could have made it an easier game to experience.

On the whole, this is a fantastically created murder mystery with just enough interaction to elevate it in the visual novel space. The twists and turns are solid and engaging, and the game gets bloody dark at times.

Some voice acting in English could have really elevated the experience for me, but regardless, I am glad I checked it out.

The post Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club (Switch) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

In 1990 Nintendo hosted a massive tournament in the US using short modified versions of Rad Racer, Super Mario Bros and Tetris.

The goal, to get the best score and earn some sweet sweet cash. Well now 34 years later, you can enjoy a sweet version of the speedrunning action, from the comfort of your own home of course.

Jumping into the action, the main single player mode is Speedrun mode.

Here you get presented with each of the 13 games that you can do levels from. Each of them lets you play a level, and getting great scores on them allows you to unlock later levels. Initially it feels far too simple as you have super short levels where, for instance, Mario just needs to run and grab something. The initial The Legend of Zelda one for example literally just has you run up into a cave and grab a sword. Early levels are regularly under 20 seconds, as long as you don’t balls it up of course.

It turns out you should enjoy these early ones, as they get longer and harder fast. For example the Super Mario Bros. levels go from needing to collect some coins in a few seconds, to having to nail a couple of minutes of the level with the jumping fish on the first try. Even scaling the damn stairs at the end of a level can be frustrating if you don’t time your jumps absolutely spot on.

The levels carry on even if you die, it just reverts you back a couple of seconds, but with the timer still going.  I can’t tell you how many times I had to go back and forth as I tried to get past Bowser perfectly to get the damn axe.

The Speedrun mode gives your rankings based on the time you complete the levels. You need to get high enough ranks to earn enough currency to unlock later levels.  This alone was enough for the game to have been a whole heap of fun. The great news is there are even more options for you once you smash this out. There is Survival mode which has you play 3 rounds against ghosts of other players which is awesome. Then there is a local co-op version which has you and up to 8 people competing for times, and then world champs has you do 5 levels and your score goes up on an online leaderboard.

Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition might not be the next great Nintendo game, but it’s a damn fun side game. It lets you enjoy slices of classic Nintendo goodness that respects these icons in short bite sized and fun ways.

The post Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition (Switch) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Having not been massively in the Nintendo ecosystem for a long time, my time with the Switch and later years of the 3DS has been a long game of catchup.

When Luigi’s Mansion was ported to the 3DS I finally got to see what I was missing out on here. Then the third entry released on the Switch and I was in love, that just left me missing one game. Well now Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD has released on the Switch I was finally able to right that wrong.

This story kicks off with King Boo having escaped. He manages to destroy a big fancy magical crystal called the Dark Moon. The Dark Moon had been keeping ghosts docile, and with it destroyed chaos reigns again. Our old friend E. Gadd has been experimenting with the ghosts, and now they are going crazy again.

Here he needs to enlist some help and so using a TV chats with Luigi and pulls him into the world.

Luigi has to go off into the mansions to find all the parts of the Dark Moon. He isn’t alone though, he has his trusty flashlight, his vacuum cleaner, and more. Okay, maybe he is mostly alone, but still he has all the tools he needs for the job.

Going from Luigi’s Mansion to Luigi’s Mansion 3 was a huge jump with functionality.  Luigi’s Mansion 3 brought a lot of awesome new mechanics like our green gloopy version of the hero, Gooigi. Unfortunately these were new to the series and so stepping back to Luigi’s Mansion 2 removes some of these cool mechanics.

The good news is that despite a lot of the mechanics being simple, it’s still fun as hell to play.

From a look and feel aspect, this remaster has been done excellently.

The simplistic art style will have made this a bit easier, but there has been some serious work done on some of the details. The edges look nice and smooth, and there is detail like clothing stitches that I noticed that really elevates the game. It seriously looks like a game that was made from the ground up for the Switch which is no easy feat.

The game wasn’t just released 11 years ago, it was released on the 3DS, so you know, a frickin tiny screen.  I can’t over emphasise the excellent job that has been done to make this game look so good on a big TV.

Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD is an excellent port of a great game.

Sure it’s not as great as Luigi’s Mansion 3, but it’s easily worth your time to check out in 2024.  The silly story, the brilliant aesthetic, and watching Luigi’s shake and cower as he makes his way around some creepy haunted mansions is well worth your time. It’s a great starting point as well for newbies to the series before you jump into Luigi’s Mansion 3!

The post Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD (Switch) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.