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Yoshi's Island track heading to Mario Kart Tour, and Poochy may be playable
It's Poochy, the rockin' dog!
Nintendo has just teased what’s coming next to Mario Kart Tour, and this time around, it’s a Mario Kart 8 Deluxe track heading to mobile players.
While we usually see Mario Kart Tour tracks jump to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, this time around Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s Yoshi Island track is going mobile. That’s not all though, as it seems Nintendo is teasing something even more interesting in the image above.
We’ve zoomed in on the portion of the picture in question, and while it’s a bit tough to make out, it certainly looks like a playable Poochy might be added to Mario Kart Tour. If that does end up being the case, let’s hope he also joins the roster in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe!
Nippon Ichi Software has released a big wave of content for Xicatrice. There’s a slew of screens and art to check out here, along with details on the game’s supporting cast, skill systems and more. You can see the complete breakdown of these details below, courtesy of a translation from Gematsu.
■ What is Xicatrice?
Xicatrice is a “superpowers x academy RPG” where you play as a teacher who leads a special unit of students on dangerous missions during the school year. The player nurtures the students through a cycle of “Class,” “Skill Build,” and “Combat” while managing their physical conditions.
Class
- Teach skills to students through a daily curriculum.
Skill Build
- Construct the best countermeasure against enemies, choosing from countless skills available.
Combat
- Choose actions for each turn based on proposals made by students, and defeat the enemy.
■ Supporting Characters
Aside from the students the player leads, these are some other characters that appear throughout the game.
Renshi Kamiya (voiced by Tomohito Takatsuka)
“I don’t care if you’re annoyed. I’ve already decided to intervene in your issue.”
The game’s main character. A member of the Anti Abnormal Unusual Talent Team (AUT) who used to resolve cases caused by superpower users, but lost his own ability due to a certain incident. Now, he leads RAUT 302nd Unit as a teacher and a former superpower user.
Takayuki Akutsu (voiced by Yukiya Matsui)
“Don’t get me wrong. I just came to see how you were doing under orders from above.”
A co-worker from the main character’s AUT days, and Rui’s older brother. He and the main character have known each other since they were students. Possessing an ability that surpasses that of a normal superpower user, he is currently the squad leader for AUT.
Rui Akutsu (voiced by Yumika Yano)
“If you fail, it’s as simple as trying again until you succeed. Fortunately, there’s no need to rush right now…”
A lab worker at the Superpower Medical Center. She is in charge of following up on the main character and students. Using a special equipment called the CUAD, she supports the students of RAUT 302nd Unit by helping them overcome their emotional scars. She is worried for her brother, who is constantly buried under work for the AUT.
■ System
“Majors” Determine the Skills Students Learn
Approximately 300 skills appear in this game, and they are organized by tendency into 15 categories called “Majors.” In order to learn a skill, the player must choose the “major” that the skill is organized into, and then reach a certain level of basic stats.
For example, in order for Kei Namisaki to learn the healing skill “Resurrection,” the player must choose the “Healing Arts (Chiyu Kyoshiki-ka)” major, then raise the basic stats of “Concentration” to 44 and “Logic” to 53.
In addition, majors can be changed monthly, and the amount of majors that can be chosen at one time can increase depending on the growth of the student.
Skills that Utilize a Student’s Characteristics
How a character grows to have certain specifications depends on the player, but each of the seven students have unique initial statuses and basic stats that are easier to level up than others. Here we will take a look at four students and their characteristics, as well as their initial skills.
—Haruki Suzuhira
Because he has high accuracy and a high rate of a critical hit, he is able to use the consecutive attack skill “Double Attack,” which sacrifices accuracy for a higher rate of critical damage.
—Toma Asahi
Using her strong defense against physical attacks to her advantage, she can force enemies to focus their attacks on her through the use of “Shield Strike,” thereby allowing her to protect her allies.
—Wakaba Shinomori
Using her quickness, she can use “Quick Attack” to strike first against many enemies.
—Yuichi Kamishiro
With his immense physical attack power, the high-powered “Smash” can be used to take out a great portion of the enemy’s HP with just one strike.
Furthermore, even if using the same skill, the attack’s strength and SP consumption will vary depending on the basic stats of the character. For example, a character with Judgment at 30 will use Smash that has “Strength 2.4x, SP Usage 9.” However, a character with Judgment at 60 will us a Smash with “Strength 2.9x, SP Usage 15.”
—“Smash” for Kamishiro with heightened Judgment. The strength is very high.
“Passive Skills” Will Significantly Change the Style of Combat
Skills can be separated into two categories. Active Skills like “Smash” that are suggested actions, and Passive Skills that goes into effect just by equipping them.
There are many types of Passive Skills, including “Cautious Action,” which raises your attack power by the number of attacks by the enemy, and “Protection Arts: Break (Goshiki: Ha),” which protects allies from physical attacks. These skill types do not activate until certain conditions are met, but offer powerful effects when triggered.
—By equipping “Cautious Action” and using “Double Attack,” he can attack with double the attack strength in one turn. Aim for the synergy from combining two skills.
—“Charge Arts I: Tenacity (Soushiki I: Gankyou)” is continuously in effect, raising the level of HP and attack power.
—“Start Dash” can only be activated at the beginning of combat, but significantly increases a multiple of statuses. When combined with “Quick Attack,” it is possible to down an enemy with the first strike.
Counterattack, Follow-Up Attack, and Auto-Attack – Passive Skills Increase Options
The core of combat is to choose one action every turn from the proposals made by the students, after which only that student is able to perform an action. However, with equipped skills, students whose proposals were not chosen are able to act as well.
Some passive skills automatically activate an equipped Active Skill every turn based on probability. Some Passive Skills react to specific actions taken by allies, following up on their attacks. Other Passive Skills are activated when receiving attacks or evading, acting as counterattacks to enemy actions. By equipping these skills, it is possible to increase the number of actions possible in one turn.
—The passive skill “Elemental Additional Attack Arts (Zokusei-ha tsuishiki)” is a follow-up attack triggered by an ally’s elemental attack.
—“Evasion Arts: Break (Hishiki: Ha)” is a counterattack passive skill triggered by dodging the enemy attack. By combining it with a skill that enhances dodging, it can become a powerful attack option.
Don't sleep on Like Dreamer, coming to Switch today
Wake up, sleepy head
Developer Outside and publisher Waku Waku Games have announced that Like Dreamer, a brand new shoot ’em up game is launching on Switch today for $11.99 USD.
A cute pop art-style shoot ’em up game from Outside, the makers of Cosmo Dreamer. In this game centered around a popular danmaku social network, you’ll dodge bullet barrages in an array of virtual settings, earning Likes and Followers for your mad gameplay skills.
Do not fret! While shoot ’em ups look tricky, there’s really not all that much to it. This game is structured for a wide range of gameplay, from absolute beginner to seasoned expert.
Saga of Sins blesses the Switch today
Pray for a successful launch
German developer Bonus Level Entertainment and French publisher Just For Games are excited to announce that their expiatory story-arcade game Saga of Sins is launching on Switch today.
Saga of Sins is an unholy action-adventure featuring a mystical storyline and rewarding arcade gameplay! Immerse yourself in a world of stained glass inspired by the Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch. (1450-1516)
In Saga of Sins, players must battle nothing less than the infamous seven deadly sins, driving them out of the village of Sinwell to save the townsfolk from the plague. As the cleric Cecil, players can enter the minds of the villagers to fight sin directly at its source. But as Cecil fights his way through floods of sinful monsters, dispels sins and does his best to protect the village, more and more strange things start to happen and soon the righteous Cecil is faced with the question: what is reality, what is madness? And is what he is doing really the right thing?
However, not everything is as it seems, and an increased number of unsettling things start to happen. Has evil befallen Sinwell? Or is Cecil simply losing his mind? Be prepared for inner conflict and surprising twists.
The exciting story is supported by the impressive stained-glass art style, which makes every level and every enemy look as if it had sprung from a medieval church window. The game supports 4K resolution, which displays its unique style to its full extent. Saga of Sins was also funded by the FFF Bayern and the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection (BMWK).
Dredge sets sail on Switch today
What lies beneath...
Publisher Team17 and developer Black Salt Games have announced that the single-player fishing adventure DREDGE is coming to Switch today.
DREDGE is a fishing adventure with a sinister undercurrent. Sell your catch, upgrade your boat, and dredge the depths for long-buried secrets. Explore a mysterious archipelago and discover why some things are best left forgotten.
Captain your fishing trawler to explore a collection of remote isles, and their surrounding depths, to see what lies below. Sell your catch to the locals and complete quests to learn more about each area’s troubled past. Outfit your boat with better equipment to trawl deep-sea trenches and navigate to far-off lands, but keep an eye on the time. You might not like what finds you in the dark…
Starting from your new home in the remote archipelago, ‘The Marrows’, take to the water and scour the depths for curious collectables and over 125 deep sea denizens. Explore each area while completing quests and visiting neighbouring island regions – each with their own unique opportunities, inhabitants, and secrets.
Publisher WayForward and developer Canari Games have confirmed that the cinematic platformer LUNARK is launching on Switch today. The game is normally priced at $20, but it you pick it up anytime between now and April 5th, 2023, you can snag it for just $18.
Set in a far future where Earth’s moon has been transformed into a vessel for humanity’s survival and a totalitarian regime reigns supreme, LUNARK puts players in control of Leo, a courier with unique abilities and a mysterious past. As he gets unwittingly caught up in the rebellion against LUNARK’s iron fist, Leo must run, jump, hang, climb, roll, and shoot his way out of one life-threatening situation after another as he navigates impressively animated pixel-art environments ranging from a dystopian megalopolis to eerie caves to an alien forest.
Using their reflexes and their wits, players must overcome traps, solve puzzles, earn upgrades, and battle enemy droids, and when they aren’t fighting for survival, they’ll find themselves interacting with a cast of colorful characters who will put Leo’s allegiances to the test.
The Last Worker clocks in on Switch today
Time to start your shift
Publisher Wired Productions, Writer/Director Jörg Tittel, and pioneering independent games studio Wolf & Wood, can confirm that first-person narrative adventure, The Last Worker, will be ready for delivery today on Switch for $19.99.
The Last Worker is a first-person narrative adventure centered around humanity’s struggle in an increasingly automated world, where humans are being replaced by robots. Created from the ground up to deliver both VR and flat-packed experiences, the game combines a hand-crafted art style created in collaboration with comics legend Mick McMahon (Judge Dredd, 2000 AD) and unique, immersive gameplay mechanics, seamlessly interwoven into a narrative game like no other.
The Last Worker delivers an emotional, thought-provoking story filled with rich characters performed by an all-star cast including Jason Isaacs (Harry Potter, Star Trek Discovery), Ólafur Darri Ólafsson (The Meg, True Detective), Clare-Hope Ashitey (Riviera, Children of Men), David Hewlett (The Shape of Water, Oddworld New’n’Tasty), Zelda Williams (The Legend of Korra) and Tommie Earl Jenkins (Death Stranding, Wednesday). The Last Worker is scored by Oliver Kraus, known for his collaborations with the likes of Adele, Sia, and Florence and the Machine.
Bow down to Anyaroth: The Queen’s Tyranny on Switch today
Will you bend the knee?
Get ready to join the fight to free the Anya civilization! Indie publisher Firenut Games and developer Yggdraseed Studios are excited to announce that their pixel-art platform adventure game Anyaroth: The Queen’s Tyranny will launch on Switch today.
Taking inspiration from classic Metroid games and sci-fi movies, Anyaroth: The Queen’s Tyranny takes players deep into the depths of Anyaroth, a planet besieged by the tyranny of its Queen. Fight with the rebellion to free the Anya civilization from the Regime’s mind-control system and discover the secrets hidden deep in the planet.
Anyaroth, a planet entirely under the control of the Queen, is dying. From the once lush forests and historical cities of its surface to deep down to the planet’s core, the Queen has spun a complex web of barracks, factories and mines to exploit all the planet’s resources as well as its population. The Queen’s Regime is spreading, and it must be stopped.
As a rebellion fighter, you must take on the challenge of bringing down the Regime and returning the planet to harmony. Utilising and combining an arsenal of weapons, special objects and abilities, you must explore the game’s fighting system to dispatch your enemies in stylish ways. Use your links with the rebels to learn more about the mysterious world of Anyaroth, its history, and the Rebellion’s cause. Between fights, pay attention to your surroundings as you may find artefacts containing key information or materials for crafting a long-lost weapon and unveiling the secrets this strange planet hides.
Citizen Sleeper’s third DLC episode, PURGE, sees launch on Switch today
The thrilling conclusion
Developer Jump Over the Age and indie games publisher Fellow Traveller have today announced that Citizen Sleeper’s third DLC episode PURGE, is coming to Switch today.
With the release of Episode: PURGE, Citizen Sleeper’s three episode post-launch DLC expansion is now complete and the game has even more to offer with a thrilling late game storyline that delivers an immersive new narrative arc introducing additional characters, lore and locations. Players returning to Erlin’s Eye might even find themselves running into some familiar faces!
Episode: PURGE will be distributed for free across all platforms to anyone who already owns or has access to Citizen Sleeper via an update.
Citizen Sleeper follows your journey as the Sleeper, a digitized human consciousness in an artificial body, on the run from a megacorp who wants their property back. Washed-up on a lawless, derelict space station called Erlin’s Eye, it’s up to you to survive. Explore the station, choose your friends, escape your past and change your future.
Dashing Orange puts the squeeze on Switch today
The juice is loose
Publisher Jandusoft is excited to announce that Dashing Orange, a new colorful adventure created by Nickolas Machado (creator of Ligth up the Room), is coming to Switch today. The game is priced at $4.
Dashing Orange is a fast-paced 2D platformer with a focus on precision and fluidity, where you´re in control of a cute little Orange in a journey in this abstract world.
Along the way, you´ll master jump, wall-jumping, wall-sliding, dashing and more than 25 new mechanics and traps as you leap from level to level, moving along, up and down the screen to put in your best possible performance in 75 challenging stages.
- 75 hand-crafted levels to test your skills.
- Tight controls: Jump over spikes, dash and climb walls.
- Paint levels with your orange juice by jumping, dashing or, well, dying.
- New mechanics being introduced every 3 levels.
Get a read on BookyPets Legends, launching for Switch today
It's a real page-turner
BookyPets Legends is an adventure, exploration and collecting videogame, designed to encourage reading among children from 7 to 12 years old in an easy and fun way. Now reading can also be a game for your children thanks to our exclusive methodology, GameReaging, for the development of a reading habit, which has been scientifically validated.
BookyPets Legends transports children to the other side of the universe, the magical kingdom of Imaginatios which is inhabited by all the characters from fairy tales, and by magical creatures with book-shaped wings, the BookyPets!
The game consists of freeing the BookyPets, who have been trapped by 3 evil monsters (Fear, Laziness, and Selfishness), by reading hundreds of proverbs, fables, tales, legends and children’s novels, in order to get keys and open the cages in which they are locked up. They will be helped by numerous fairytale characters, although some of them will also try to thwart the mission!
BookyPets seamlessly blends reading into the gameplay and narrative of the video game to encourage children to read. Now, reading and playing will be one and the same. The game is set to arrive on Switch today, and is priced at $20.
Arcade Archives: Navarone comes to Switch today
Quarters at the ready
The next game in the never-ending line of Arcade Archive releases is ready for Switch. Hamster has confirmed that Arcade Archives: Navarone is coming to Switch today, and you can see a trailer for the title above.
Navarone is a 1980 arcade shooter developed by Namco. Players maneuver a ship around the perimeter of an island, destroying targets while avoiding enemy fire from fixed positions. Navarone has its inspiration in the 1957 World War II novel The Guns of Navarone, which was made into a feature film in 1961.
As always, Arcade Archives: Navarone will be priced at $8.
Pocket Academy 3 arrives on Switch today
Pocket this one today
Developer/publisher Kairosoft has announced that they’re bringing Pocket Academy 3 to the Switch today. The title will be priced at $14 normally, but those who pick up the game before April 13th, 2023 will be able to snag it for $12.60.
Your favorite dream school simulator is back and better than ever! Introducing: The super fun school festival! Build facilities and create a great school environment. Set up classrooms, a cafeteria…and a counseling room! (A little nerve-wracking for students to get called in there!) Place compatible facilities together to create popular spots which will make your school really stand out. As the school’s popularity and rep go up, enrollment applications will flood in. Once you get the hang of things, hold a school festival, complete with fun activities for all!
Get serious about school clubs, too! Once your students get good enough to breeze through practice matches, enter them into the nationals and help them reach that sweet victory. They may even get scouted for their talent! Help your students prepare for placement tests so they can realize their dreams. Much sweat and many a tear will be shed as you build your ideal school!
12 years since Pocket Academy, Kairosoft has perfected the recipe for an exciting school management simulator, packing in lots of new features!
SteamWorld creator saddened by 3DS eShop closure due to the impact on SteamWorld: Tower Defense
Vanished...just like steam
The 3DS eShop is officially closed for business, as Nintendo virtually shuttered the online shop earlier this week. While 3DS owners can still redownload titles they’ve already purchased, it’s now impossible to buy games for the first time.
This move has impacted a great deal of games, including some that only released digitally as 3DS eShop games and DSiWare titles. Among that list is SteamWorld: Tower Defense, which was a DSiWare exclusive that never received a port to any other platform.
In an interview on the Kit and Krysta podcast, SteamWorld series creator and Thunderful Group co-founder Brjann Sigurgeirsson shared that the 3DS eShop’s closure was definitely a sad occasion, as now it’s impossible for anyone to purchase SteamWorld: Tower Defense.
“Should we take the game and port it, like make a Switch version or something… [unfortunately] we just don’t have time to make a Switch version of Tower Defense and for me it’s upsetting a little bit cause it means that it’s going to go from being a game that very few people are downloading nowadays to a game that nobody can download.”
If you have SteamWorld: Tower Defense on your 3DS or DSi, consider yourself among the lucky few. Hopefully the SteamWorld team does get around to a port one day, but for now, the game is lost to time.
Sonic Mania dev confirms they helped with Sonic Origins Plus
Time to have a little more faith
Sonic Origins brought Switch fans another collection of classic Sonic games, but there were some features, tweaks and components missing that fans were pretty vocal about. Thankfully, most of those are going to be fixed in Sonic Origins Plus, and that’s due to SEGA teaming up with a dev Sonic fans have a lot of respect for.
Developer Headcannon, which worked on Sonic Mania, has confirmed that they’re involved with Sonic Origins Plus. The developer shared the extent of their work on Sonic Origins Plus in a series of tweets, which you can read below.
It’s coming - Sonic Origins Plus! We’re happy to announce that we’ve once again cooperated with SEGA to update this project; you know we can’t resist Sonic! Here’s some of what you can look forward to in Origins Plus:
We were excited to hear that SEGA wanted to make Amy playable, and we couldn’t resist an opportunity to help her into the spotlight! New playable characters need new sprites, and our own @AStartShow was certainly up to the design task while @DashPadSPD performed data management.
Knuckles is now playable in Sonic CD, as well! As with the inclusion of playable Amy, we were thrilled to provide some new graphics to complement SEGA’s efforts in making this possible.
Alongside SEGA’s work in updating the collection, we were also able to supply a few additional updates and enhancements to help make the title the best it can be! We appreciate their openness to our feedback and suggestions.
We’re very proud to have had a hand in bringing out the best In this collection; Sega have placed a lot of trust in us in by allowing this, and we appreciate that greatly! We can’t wait for you to experience it!
