Well, that's another week down, and this one was full of Metacritic review bombing drama, SNES games galore, and only a bloomin' Nintendo Direct. Phwoar.

So, it's absolutely time for us to sit back, relax, and chat about our gaming weekend plans to wind down. We've done just that below, and we'd love for you to join in via our poll and comment sections. Enjoy!



Liam Doolan, news reporter

After a week of searching far and wide in my local area, I’ve finally got my grubby mitts on Astral Chain. I know… last weekend I wasn’t all that interested in playing this game, but after reading our own review here on Nintendo Life and hearing all the positive comments and feedback from our community, I quickly changed my mind.

I’m not sure what I was thinking trying to pass this up in the first place. The first few hours of the game have been an absolute blast. I love the funky beats in the headquarters and that anime-style opening sequence was something special. When I’m not in Astral Chain over the weekend getting to know my Legion, I’ll probably be playing Stunt Race FX on the Switch Online SNES app. I would also like to fit in a few sessions of River City Girls and Torchlight II. Oh, and I should probably test out the new DLC fighter Banjo-Kazooie.

Dom Reseigh-Lincoln, reviewer

There are just so many things to play! Despite having finished a new run on Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen (I'm in New Game+ now, naturally), I'm still deep into Astral Chain and Spyro Reignited Trilogy. I'm even playing Assassin's Creed III Remastered, because I love AC and I'm not even embarrassed about it at this stage in my life.

However, I'll need to put all those tasty morsels to one side as I take NBA 2K20 for a spin this weekend. I've heard good things about this Switch port - namely proper feature parity with other consoles, finally - so expect my three-pointer heavy verdict on the latest instalment in handheld basketball next week.

Subscribe to Nintendo Life on

Ryan Craddock, staff writer

Well, it's happened. Just like pretty much everyone else I've spoken to this week, I'm practically in love with Astral Chain.

I'm about eight-or-so hours in, taking things really leisurely and exploring every nook and cranny of each area. There's something really satisfying about the game's mix of exploration, objectives and battles, so even though I don't really know what I'm doing half the time in the bigger fights, I still enjoy the ride anyway. Safe to say I'll be blasting through another File or two this weekend.

Austin Voigt, contributing writer

I can easily say I believe my entire weekend will be consumed with enjoying all of the old SNES titles of my childhood, which now quite literally fit into my pocket and are playable anywhere. I had a tear in my eye yesterday as I opened up the SNES app on Switch, and began playing Super Mario World, A Link to the Past, Super Mario Kart, Super Metroid, Kirby... all of the titles that introduced me to gaming. I even called up my uncle - the owner of the original SNES system I first got my gaming chops on as a kid - and had a blast reminiscing with him (he still has his console, by the way). Oh Nintendo, how you do tug at our heartstrings.

Subscribe to Nintendo Life on

Gavin Lane, staff writer

With Banjo dropping in Smash Bros. Ultimate earlier this week, now is finally the time for me to join the fight. I’m not ashamed to admit I got a bit emotional watching the video with Masahiro Sakurai introducing the Rareware heroes – the amount of care and attention that's gone into not just Banjo and Kazooie themselves, but also the characters and world surrounding them is pretty heart-warming to someone who counts the N64 original as their personal favourite video game, like, evs. It’s been a long wait but the bear and bird are back and I’ve got my fingers crossed that they’re the key that’s going to get me into Smash, too.

I also splashed out on a couple of those Nintendo Game Vouchers this week – I’m saving one for something down the road, but I redeemed the other last night and Astral Chain was waiting on my Switch this morning. I’ve heard very good things…

Ollie Reynolds, reviewer

The days are getting shorter and the weather a bit colder, but I'm having a scorching good time with Astral Chain at the moment, so I'll be spending a good chunk of the weekend working my way through some cases.

If I get time, I may also start Final Fantasy VIII Remastered. It's a bit of a weird one for me as I never really got on with it as much as the other mainline entries in the series, but after 20 years, hopefully it'll strike a chord this time

Which games are you playing this weekend? (609 votes) SNES! SNES! SNES! 35% Astral Chain 17% River City Girls 2% Torchlight II 2% Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen 1% Spyro Reignited Trilogy 4% Assassin's Creed III Remastered 1% NBA 2K20 0% Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 14% Final Fantasy VIII Remastered 2% Something else (comment below) 22% Please login to vote in this poll.

As always, thanks for reading! Make sure to leave a vote in the poll above and a comment below with your gaming choices over the next few days...