About Darren

Darren is a huge Nintendo fan from the days of the Gameboy Color and his copy of Pokémon Blue. Over time, he developed a passion for many Nintendo franchises, including Metroid. His favourite system is the Wii.

Feature: The Legacy of Pokémon

Preface

For over twenty-three years, the Pokémon franchise has been a constant and welcomed presence in my life. This massively successful series started in 1996 in Japan, with the release of Pokémon Red & Pokémon Green for the Nintendo Game Boy by a company called Game Freak. Its huge financial success and popularity eventually found its way overseas, finally reaching Europe in 1999. It continued to dominate the lives of children and their parents’ wallets with an obscene amount of content and merchandise, such as toys, animation, trading cards, and video games. At twelve years old, it was impossible for me to avoid the craze that had captured the attention and imagination of kids throughout the world. Here, I will attempt to recount my own memories of the Pokémon series, and share highlights from my personal journey through a franchise that means so much to me.

Darren

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By |2023-01-09T15:33:00+00:00January 5th, 2023|3DS, GameBoy, Nintendo, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Switch, Omega Ruby/Alpha Saphire, Pokémon, Retro, Uncategorized|0 Comments
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REVIEW – Pokémon Scarlet

The ninth generation of the hugely popular Pokémon franchise released on November 18th 2022 for the Nintendo Switch. It marks the first open world title for the series, and is the first to offer a more extensive multiplayer experience. Up to three other players can join in online modes. Ever since Pokémon Legends: Arceus released back in January, I have been excited by the possibilities of a game in a similar vein, but with the core features of the series I have known since I first became a fan back in 1999. Could generation nine, a massive departure from the past games I played on the Game Boy and Nintendo DS, which were joyous experiences that have been embedded into my life, truly match my expectations? I had the privilege to review Pokémon Scarlet, and take a deep dive into a game I had been counting down the days for, ever since it was first announced. 

I played Pokémon Scarlet roughly 90% of the time in docked mode, using Version 1.0.1 of the game. Since we are sharing this post-launch, this review will contain some light spoilers.

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By |2022-12-13T02:50:09+00:00December 13th, 2022|Nintendo Switch, Review|0 Comments
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REVIEW – Splatoon 3

Since 2015, Nintendo fans have been enjoying the ink-based action shooter Splatoon, featuring the beloved Inkling characters on the Wii U, with a highly successful follow-up in 2017. Now, in September 2022, the third title splashes down on Nintendo Switch with new features, quality of life improvements, and the return of many classic abilities, weapons and clothing with many more outfits to help keep things fresh!

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By |2022-09-27T16:56:56+00:00September 27th, 2022|Review|0 Comments
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First Impressions of Splatoon 3 Splatfest World Premiere

For those of you who didn’t get a chance to play the Splatoon 3 Splatfest World Premiere this past weekend, we thought we would share our thoughts on our experience playing the limited-time demo.

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By |2022-08-30T15:05:15+00:00August 30th, 2022|Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch Online, Preview, Splatoon|0 Comments
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REVIEW – Nintendo Switch Sports

The overwhelming success of the Nintendo Sports series has delighted fans since the Wii. Wii Sports was bundled with the popular Nintendo console, and sold approximately 82.9 million copies throughout the generation. Further iterations of the franchise included Wii Sports Resort, and the enhanced remake for Wii U, Wii Sports Club. Quite a few years have passed since those games were released, and now it’s time for a new generation of fans to get off their sofas, get active, and take on a variety of games in Nintendo Switch Sports.

Please note that I wasn’t provided with a leg strap accessory in time for this review, but will add my thoughts if this changes.

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By |2022-05-09T13:13:57+00:00May 9th, 2022|Nintendo, Nintendo Switch, Review|0 Comments
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Pokémon Presents February 2022 Recap

The Pokémon Company has just aired their latest Pokémon Presents broadcast, detailing new and upcoming announcements.

President and CEO of the Pokémon Company, Tsunekazu Ishirara, opened the presentation to welcome fans, confirming that this year is the 26th anniversary since the birth of Pokémon, which began with Pokémon Red and Green in Japan. Updates for many existing games were highlighted in this stream, plus a few surprises!

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By |2022-02-27T15:22:17+00:00February 27th, 2022|Nintendo, Nintendo Direct, Pokémon, Pokémon Presents|0 Comments
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REVIEW – Pokémon Legends: Arceus

Last month, Pokémon Legends: Arceus was released, and like many other people, I had the opportunity to play the game and experience a different take on the Pokémon formula. Since the phenomenon arrived on the shores of the United Kingdom in 1999, I have been hooked with the Pokémon franchise, and embraced almost everything it has to offer; from collecting trading cards, plush toys and stickers in my youth, to the video game series I continue to enjoy to this day. Last year when I saw the trailer for Pokémon: Legends: Arceus, I was deeply intrigued and excited by the idea of a video game with huge open areas where wild Pokémon roam, and the opportunity to create the first Pokédex for the region. Such a departure from the norm made me compelled to see what this fresh new take was all about.

As a Pokémon fan of over two decades, I hope my thoughts below will help people still on the fence, make an informed decision on whether to buy the game or not. For the purpose of this review, I preferred to play the game on my television, using a Pro Controller.

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By |2022-02-13T13:23:00+00:00February 13th, 2022|Nintendo, Nintendo Switch, Pokémon, Review|0 Comments
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