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Yes, you are reading the title correctly. I just bought a Nintendo Switch. Talk about being late to the party.
When the Nintendo Switch first released in March 2017, I was not convinced. Up until that point, I had considered myself as a traditional console gamer – despite owning Nintendo systems in the past.
I waited, and waited, and waited to finally ‘jump on board’ with the Switch – and last week I finally did. The game that came bundled in the console was recent release: Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled. Let me just say, this game stresses me out. Even on medium difficulty, this game is very hard. Despite this, I am having a lot of fun with this remake – and this is from someone who never played the original games.
Loading screens are a huge issue when playing this game. Playing on the Switch, I would wait upwards of 40 seconds between races. This is unacceptable, especially when races are only 3 minutes long!
One feature I would like Activision/Beenox to add would be to change the difficulty on the fly. I know some would see it as a challenge, but I would rather not play the same boss fight race for three hours until I eventually beat them!
In terms of the Switch, the game runs fairly well. I mostly played in handheld at 720p, but can scale up to 1080p when docked – graphically similar to a base PS4 or Xbox One.
The Return of a Favorite?
When I was a kid, I loved playing Football Manager on my PC. I would play this game for hours upon on hours. Usually, I would start with the football team I support – Nottingham Forest. My aim would be to get them into the Premier League.
Many years later, I am now back loving this series. Football Manager 2019 Touch – a more simplified version of the famed PC game that is on Nintendo Switch, as well as mobile devices. I have put 30 hours in just over a week. Yes, I have a problem.
As the game is more simplified, there are features missing that are on the PC version. There is not a full range of training methods as compared to the PC version. And the backroom staff is not there. On PC, at your club, you have access to your full backroom staff. This includes the under 18s coach, first-team coaches, as well as scouts. In Football Manager 2019 Touch, only Head of Youth Development, Assistant Manager, Director of Football, Physio, and Chief Scout is available. It just gives you less control of your club – and Forest legend Wes Morgan (who I also now have at Villa), is about to retire and I want him to join my backroom staff but there is no room for him.
Forest… Again!!
I started my career once again with Nottingham Forest. Unfortunately this time, I failed to achieve promotion and was sacked 7 months into my first season – languishing in mid-table. I was then hired by Bradford City in League 1, and now manager of Aston Villa in the championship.
Like Crash Team Racing, I am playing FM 19 Touch in handheld mode. The game is not fully optimized for the Switch. The game is primarily developed for the PC platform and is then ported over to the Switch. At first, you are quite overwhelmed with all the options. Button configuration is also not the best. Despite all these issues, I am loving my return to this franchise that I enjoyed so much when I was younger.
The Surprise?
With my Nintendo Switch, I picked up Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle. I picked up this game as it was relatively cheap as compared to the big-hitters such as Zelda and Mario. I wasn’t expecting much from this game. 10 hours in, and I’m loving it!
I am not usually a fan of RTS games such as XCOM, but the lighthearted fun of Mario + Rabbids has me hooked. Even if the Rabbids are scary. Have you just ‘sat’ on the start screen for five minutes and listened? Yeah, I know it’s horrifying.
What I notice with this game is how the hours can ‘fly’ by. There is not much of a narrative, but that is fine. It offers light RPG mechanics, that still remains interesting, and building your team to go into battle is a lot of fun.
I am currently rocking with Mario, Rabbid Peach, Rabbid Luigi, and Luigi. All these characters have a skill tree, but these abilities are not limited to any one character. For example, on my save, Mario’s active ability is the dash. This allows Mario to damage the enemy whilst he is on the move. However, this same ability can be activated on Rabbid Peach. If there was a follow-up to this game, this is something Ubisoft could improve on. Each character could have their own individual skill tree, to make their more unique – hence the player having to make harder and more thoughtful decisions when choosing their team to go into battle.
I have been playing Mario + Rabbids equally in handheld as well as docked. To my surprise, I enjoy playing this game in docked. The game looks gorgeous, and this type of tactical game I feel is best experienced on a TV/monitor.
My Overall Impressions
Some would say that I have not experienced the best of what the Nintendo Switch has to offer. They are probably correct. I am yet to experience the critically-acclaimed The Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild and Super Mario Odyssey, just to name a few.
I plan to, but not just yet. What I can say is that despite not playing these ‘big-hitters’ yet, the Nintendo Switch is the most fun I have had in gaming in a long while. The fact that I can take a games console ‘on the go’ is awesome. It will certainly come in handy on my upcoming holiday/vacation!
For more on Nintendo Switch, check out our review of SteamWorld Quest and Forager getting a retail release on Switch.
