"I think every player should think that he's a difference maker."

As a gamer that spends most of my game time on a handheld console, it can be frustrating when I get into a game on our Wii U and don't have the time to sit and play for extended periods of time. Being able to take the 3ds about with me is a lot more convenient. There have been some amazing Wii U releases this year and many of them I have wished could be somehow moved to the 3ds so I could fit them into the times I can actually dedicate to playing. It's this frustration that is getting me so excited about the Nintendo Switch, I love the idea of being able to continue a game I am playing on the go and I cannot wait to give the console a try in 2017.

Until that is possible though I spend my time hoping that the games I love will be moved to a handheld platform. Recently I've been in luck (Twice). Since reviewing Super Mario Maker back in September it instantly became my favourite Nintendo release of this year and inevitably made its way to the top of my top 5 Nintendo Christmas List. Super Mario Maker has taken those Mario games many of us have grown up with and given the Nintendo gaming world the chance to design custom levels to share with people all over the world. This is what I have always loved about Nintendo, for me, they are at the peak of games design.

When I first read that they would be creating Mario Maker for the 3ds I was so excited and couldn't wait to get stuck in. There are some really creative levels that have been designed and I love seeing what people have come up with, The boys and I really enjoy making almost impossible levels for each other to tackle and the game has sparked some serious competition in our house.

I was actually expecting the 3ds version of the game to be really limited, but there is just as much going on. The only negative I have found and its nothing to do with the actual game, is that you obviously need to be connected to the internet to enter the course world and play other gamers levels. That being said though, as I sat outside Seth's school with the game on, I clicked on 'Mario Challenge' and I have become obsessed! At first glance, these not very challenging levels look simple to complete but when you add things in like not being able to use the left button or only being able to destroy certain bad guys, the levels become not only difficult but very very addictive.

Seth has asked for Super Mario Maker for Christmas and has refused to play this until then. With the option of being able to design levels and send them to each other, I've got a feeling we are going to be in for a pretty eventful Christmas day.

I did mention earlier in the post that there has been two occasions where a game I love has had the WiiU to 3DS cross-over, The second is coming soon. I cannot wait to get my hands on another of my favourite games in 2017 when Nintendo also release that 3DS version of Yoshi's Woolly World, Poochy and Yoshi's Woolly World. 2017 is going to be huge for Nintendo and I'm excited to be a part of it.

"Its all fun and games, 'til Santa checks the naughty list"

With Christmas only weeks away, our preparations for the big day are in full swing. Rather than encouraging the boys to write a huge list of things that they want we told them to write 5 things on their Christmas list that they would really like from Santa. With gaming being such a huge thing, it was inevitable that one of them would ask for a console game. I wasn't at all surprised that it was Seth as he uses gaming as a distraction for his daily physio. With this in mind I thought I'd write about my top 5 Nintendo releases of 2016.

5: Kirby Planet Robobot

I love a good platform game. Finding it difficult sometimes to dedicate larger amounts of time to the bigger role-playing type games its always great to have the sort of game that you can just switch on wherever you are, knock out a few fast paced levels and then switch off until your next spare few minutes. Kirby Planet Robobot ticks all those boxes and has been my game of choice while parked up waiting for the troops.

4: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD

If you played the original then who doesn't love a good remake. I bought a friend of mine the 3ds Ocarina of time remake at the beginning of the year after he had had an unfortunate accident while away and was advised by his GP to relax for a few weeks. Ill never forget his eyes lighting up as he unwrapped it, as the game was a great memory from his childhood. With Twilight Princess you can relive the epic story again in HD. With a huge free roaming world and many puzzles and activities to complete along the way, this is a game that will have you hooked.

 3: Yo-Kai Watch

Although Sun and Moon is HUGE at the moment, it seems that the Yo-Kai Watch fire is still burning bright in the Nintendo gaming world. I honestly expected things to have died down a little with this game now but I am constantly getting updates from the Yo-Kai Watch Twitter site, telling me that the game is still as big as the early weeks of its release. Yo-Kai Watch is a 3DS Role-playing game that has been compared to Pokemon a lot. If you look past the similarities though you'll see that this game has a pretty cool story and characters that you can really relate too. If you played a demo of this game I can guarantee you would purchase it.

  2: Pokémon Sun and Moon

Pokémon Moon is the first handheld console role playing game that I have got into for a long time. If I am honest I probably would not have even given it a try if it wasn't for Seth's excitement over its release and him being adamant that I had to have the game too so that we could play together. I'm so glad that he did steer me towards it though as I am hooked. If I had Mrs M's job travelling back and forth to London then this is how I would be spending my time. The latest installment from the Pokémon franchise is a must.

1: Super Mario Maker

 It was a close call between Pokemon and Super Mario Maker but for me personally, Mario Maker has so much more to offer with its gaming experience. This is a game that has endless possibilities and will never get boring as you are creating the levels yourself. On top of that there is an enormous catalogue of levels created by gamers all around the world. Whats more is that as of last week the game has now made its way to 3DS meaning you can take your creations on the road with you. For me, Super Mario Maker is everything I want in a game.

Whatever you decide on this Christmas you can be sure that Nintendo has you covered for gaming entertainment. It has been a really great year for Nintendo releases and I am so excited about 2017 with the release of Nintendo switch, yet again Nintendo are going to revolutionise on the go gaming.

Merry Christmas Ya'll

"It depends on where you put the paint, not how much you splash on."

Although I have been a huge Nintendo fan since as far back as I can remember, there was a period of a few years that I missed out on in the gaming world because 'Girls' became the main point of my attention. Because of this, I was late to the Paper Mario party, completely skipping the first release in the series on the N64. When I realised later on that 'Girls' weren't all that, I fully submerged myself in Paper Mario: The Thousand-year door and I was hooked. For me, growing up with the mustachioed plumber, it has been awesome to see the character get reinvented again and again. Paper Mario is right up there with Galaxy and Sunshine as my favourite Mario games.

You can imagine my excitement then at the release of Paper Mario Color Splash. This game couldn't be more me, bright, colourful and starring that plumber that we've all come to love over the years. 

After finding a Colour drained paper Toad in a letter from Prisma island, Paper Mario and Peach embark on a mission to the island. On arrival, they meet Huey a talking paint can who is the guardian of the color fountain. Shortly after the team run to the aid of a Paper Toad who is being drained of his colour by a Slurp guy and so their adventure begins. Throughout the game there are drained Toads, colourless items and patches of unpainted wall and floor etc that need colour adding to it which you can paint with your hammer if you have collected enough paint.

With a variety of battle cards to use to defeat enemies you find along the way and paper puzzles throughout the levels, Color splash is shaping up to be a real gem of a game, everything you would expect from the Paper Mario series.

We are only a short way in to the game but its clear Color splash is going to keep us all entertained over the coming weeks. With the weather starting to get a little more bleak as we get closer to winter I think we could all do with a bit of color.

"Durability is part of what makes a great athlete."

With the Rio Olympic Games just around the corner it was no surprise when we found out that Nintendo had released the next instalment of Mario and Sonics friendly yet competitive take on all of the Olympic Games. Shockingly we've not played any of the previous title so the boys were eager to give the game a try. I had a vision of the game playing out like Linford Christies decathlon, a proper button bashing sports game from back in the 80's but we've come a long way since then in the gaming world.

Mario and sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games boasts an impressive 17 events for starters. As soon as we saw the BMX event had been included we were hooked. What I love about Nintendo over any other games company is the family gaming experience. The bulk of their games are none aggressive and family friendly. Mario and sonic is no different, a competitive and exciting button bashing bonanza.

 You can compete in any of the events against your friends and family but the game also gives you the option of team games where you can join forces in events like football, beach volleyball and rugby sevens (which is one of my personal favourites). 

I was really disappointed to see that the motion controls that the Wii is so famous for had been dropped but as we played through the games I found it was actually a positive. Instead of waving your arms about the game has taken us back to well timed button tapping with events like BMX and swimming. It took the boys a while to realise that you can't just repeatedly bash the buttons, and that it is all in the timing.

As with any games from the Mario or sonic range it's great to play as your favourite characters from an impressive back catalogue. This latest instalment has over 30 playable characters (some of which become available as you play the events) and you can also play as your Mii which with many of Nintendos own titles is a great touch. 

Mario and sonic at the Rio Olympic Games is going to be huge family summer event, which is exactly what I love when it comes to gaming.

"Physical wounds can be treated without much difficulty, but emotional wounds are not so easy to heal."

I asked Seth if he wouldn't mind writing this post, firstly because I am awful at fighting games. Its always been this way ever since I first played Street fighter 2 as a kid. I don't know what it is about them, I just find them so frustrating, I literally can't beat the boys. Secondly Seth is a HUGE Pokémon fan so it seemed like him writing it was the obvious choice. Anyway that said, over to Seth...

Hi It's Seth. I just want to start by saying I love Pokémon games. My favourite Pokémon is Dragonite because he is a dragon type and he is cute. As well as liking Dragonite I like Jiggly-puff. I wasn't sure about Pokémon at first but I tried watching Pokémon indigo league and then it all changed. I asked Pauly if I could save up for Pokémon omega ruby and he said "I have got it up stairs on my 3DS" so I sat down and started to play . That is how I got into Pokémon games. To add onto this I LOVE!!!!!! Nintendo more than any other computer gaming brand. My favourite console is the Wii U. 

One of the things I enjoyed on omega ruby was the battling so I was really excited when Pauly told me about Pokkén tournament. I was really excited as I also love a game called Marvel vs Capcom it is a super hero fighting game and Pokkén tournament is a Pokémon fighting game were I can use some of my favourite characters to battle.

 My favourite part of Pokkén tournament is when you mega evolve and you can turn into a new evolution. To mega evolve you have to get a few hits and wait for a bar to go up and then you press two buttons to trigger off mega-evolution. You can also play multi-player which is lots of fun. A few days ago my next door neighbours and us had a tournament and I won it. You can also play in single player mode. In the single player mode you can play against the computer and level up  your Pokémon to make it stronger. On Pokkén tournament you have extra characters that you can send in and help you.When they help you they will only help you for a few seconds and then you'll have to wait a while before you can call for backup again.

I play mostly on two player but I hope when I play on one player that I can unlock more things to use or play as. My favourite character on this game is Charazard because he is easy to control but I also love Lucario. On Pokkén tournament the controls are easy. Opeie really likes playing as Machamp and sometimes it is really hard to beat him because he just keeps smashing us and Mega evolving.

 As well as mega-evolving there is a massive selection of arena's to battle in. There's a Dojo one and lots of others for battle. The magma one is my favourite.

    By the way I'm really excited about Pokémon sun and moon on the 3DSbecause they are brand new Pokémon games and I love being able to take my Pokémon games out with me on my 3DS. Pauly said that when it comes out we can maybe get sun and moon so that we can play together, I am excited about that the most.

"Twilight drops her curtain down, and pins it with a star."

I always love the games that we get to review for Nintendo, especially as Nintendo played such a huge part of my childhood. What I love most about it though is that every now and again the games go beyond enjoyment and completely suck me in and take control of all of the spare time I have. Despite being such and enormous fan of Nintendo for the last 24 years, when we reviewed The Legends of Zelda Tri force Heroes not too long ago it was actually the first Legends of Zelda game that I had played from the franchise. I'm not quite sure what was holding me back but after playing that I was itching to play the remastered The Legend of Zelda The Twilight Princess HD.

As far as it being a remake goes, I can't really comment as I've not played the Wii edition and have nothing to compare it to, but as a stand alone game The Twilight Princess HD is a truly amazing piece of work and my evenings have been fully submerged into the land of Hyrule. With a Vast land that you can easily spend hours just wandering around, I was glued within 5 minutes of playing.

The story follows Link a ranch hand from a quiet rural community who is sent on a trip to Hyrule to deliver an important package. He arrives to find the land covered in darkness and the eerie dark curtain also causes him to be transformed in to a wolf. So at different chapters in the game you can be playing as link or his wolf shaped counterpart. My favourite part of being the wolf is that you get to talk to any animals you meet along the way giving you further insight in to what is going on  Throughout the story. You meet a variety of enemies but also many friends to help you along your way, my favourite so far have been a group of monkeys to help you get across large gaps. With you throughout the game is Midna a strange ghost like character who gives you tips and often points you in the right direction.

I've racked up about 12 hours game play so far and if the information on any of the gaming sites is anything to go by the game takes an amazing 30-35 hours to complete, so I'm looking forward to many more quiet gaming nights to myself. I can't recommend the Twilight Princess enough. If you've got the sort of spare time that lets you get lost in a huge gaming adventure then you should definitely embark on this HD adventure to Hyrule.