Hey there, friends! Hope your summer is going well and that you’ve avoided fully melting into the ground, at least for today.
I’d like to remind you of something I wrote three weeks ago. It reads as follows…
As most of you know, “Nintendo is Great” is a Substack dedicated to reviewing every game ever released for a Nintendo console and handheld in chronological order. For the bulk of the Substack’s life, this has meant primarily NES reviews, starting back in October 1985 with the test launch of the NES in America. Only recently have I jumped out of the chronological timeline to introduce Game Boy, Virtual Boy, and Game Boy Advance games.
But friends, I gotta be honest. I really haven’t enjoyed going out of chronological order. I did it mostly to provide some variety to longtime readers and hopefully bring in some additional subscribers. Perhaps it’s accomplished those things, but for whatever reason – OCD, probably – introducing these systems early feels like I’m not being true to myself and this Substack’s original purpose.
So after this post, I’m going back to my original timeline, back to November 1988. No more Game Boy games until I hit 1990. No more Virtual Boy games until I hit 1995. No more GBA games until 2001. Such is life.
All of this will remain true, save for one thing.
Alongside my current retro-focused chronological journey, I am going to break my own self-imposed protocol and start discussing Switch 2 games, also in chronological order. That means my Switch 2 articles will kick off with launch game coverage (June 5th, 2025, to be precise) and proceed forward from there.
I’m doing this for a couple of reasons.
Reason #1: I haven’t really engaged with a lot of newer titles outside of Nintendo developed/published games in the last decade or so. AAA, AA, indie, so many have passed me by. To be honest, most games don’t even look appealing to me, but that isn’t fair. To pass harsh judgment on something I’ve never played is a very “old man” ish thing to do.
Thus, the majority of my Switch 2 reviews are going to fall under the subtitle, “Old Man Yells at New Games.” Now, at 41, I’m more “aging football player” old than legitimately decrepit. That said, when I look at the genres and titles younger gamers enjoy these days (crafting, farming, farm-crafting, walking sims, weird indie titles that sell five million copies on Steam but aren’t on any console, Roblox, etc), I feel incredibly ancient and out-of-touch.
Basically, my desire to play Switch 2 games is to explore newer titles and see if I can shed my inner curmudgeon. I know I won’t love every game I play, but hopefully I can at least appreciate what many of them are trying to accomplish. Will I yell? Possibly, if I really can’t stand the game. Yelling is not the goal, though. I just really like the way “Old Man Yells at New Games” sounds.
Ah, but what constitutes a “new game,” you ask? Yes, the lines are blurry these days. The first Switch 2 game I’m reviewing is the Arcade Archives release of Ridge Racer, a 33-year-old arcade game. Ridge Racer is, without question, an old game and does not qualify for me to yell at it.
After Ridge Racer, however, I’ll be confronted with nothing but mostly newer titles. Mostly. The Bravely Default HD remaster came out in 2025, but it’s just the 2012 3DS title all gussied up for larger, sharper screens. A 14-year-old game is not a new game by any means, and yet, remasters and remakes of older games are so commonplace now that I’m going to consider the majority of them “new” for the simplicity’s sake. Also, given how technological advancements in gaming have slowed considerably in the last 10-15 years and how people play games for years at a time, I feel comfortable calling something like No Man’s Sky new-ish, even though it came out in 2016.
I am unsure how I will approach “Nintendo Switch 2 Editions” of games like Tears of the Kingdom or Super Mario Wonder. To me, the latter games are still Switch 1 games, through and through. They might look a touch nicer and play better on Switch 2, but I don’t consider them Switch 2 games in the least. I will likely address the Switch 2 Editions, perhaps comment on any changes, but they won’t receive full-blown commentary. As for third-party titles that have both Switch 1 and 2 editions released on the same day, I will absolutely discuss Switch 2 versions over Switch 1.
I do not anticipate these Switch 2 articles being like my retro reviews. Rather, I want them to be more off-the-cuff thoughts and impressions, less formal, more loose and freewheeling.
I also want to give these newer games a fair shake, and as we all know, modern games are way too long for their own good. I’m several hours into the Bravely Default HD remaster, and I haven’t even gotten past the Intro. Only 30+ more hours to go! (I’m enjoying it so far, so I suppose I don’t mind). Point being, these Switch 2 articles will likely be fewer and farther between compared to the easier-to-play-and-digest retro articles.
Reason #2: In addition to playing newer titles for my own curiosity and amusement, I’m doing this to hopefully inject some variety into the Substack. I am grateful to all my readers who don’t mind me talking mostly about NES games, but I imagine for those of you younger than 35-40, it can be hard to care.
I also really love the idea of playing games from Nintendo’s oldest console and games from their newest console at the same time. Like two beautiful bookends.
I currently have no plans to delve back into any other Nintendo handheld or console library at this time. I remain committed to my original chronological journey starting with the NES, Game Boy, SNES, etc. Switch 2 will be the lone exception.
I hope you’re all looking forward to more Switch 2 coverage! Let me know if this excites/annoys you in the comments below, don’t forget a like or a restack, and I’ll see you next week!
*image courtesy of Nintendo World Report
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Do what works for you. I enjoy learning about old titles etc that I’ve never heard of or haven’t considered in a while, but I suppose the same applies to Ridge Racer!