![\"Nintendo](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/SEI_254141995-356f.jpg\")
\n\t\tNot all games are being created equal (Nintendo)<\/p>\n
\t\t
\n\t\tNot all games are being created equal (Nintendo)<\/p>\n
After negative previews of Kirby Air Riders at Gamescom<\/a>, a reader is concerned that Nintendo<\/a>\u2019s lower budget Switch 2<\/a> games are all proving a disappointment.<\/p>\n When I saw GC\u2019s less than glowing preview of Kirby Air Riders<\/a> I was really hoping that maybe they were just having a bad day or didn\u2019t vibe with the game for some reason. But then I saw the other previews and, while some of them minced their words or beat around the bush, the consensus seems to be that the game\u2019s a dud.<\/p>\n The weird thing about this is that\u2019s absolutely not a surprise, because the GameCube version was not well liked either (I won\u2019t pretend I played it, but I watched footage on YouTube and you can see it\u2019s very similar to the new game). So you\u2019ve got weird decision after weird decision, with a sequel to game that nobody liked and wasn\u2019t successful, that doesn\u2019t seem to be improving or adding anything.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s before you get into the comparisons with Mario Kart World<\/a> and the fact that one of the main selling points of the original seems to be that you only used one button to control it. But now that\u2019s not true and yet I don\u2019t really understand why, because it seems to working the same basic way.<\/p>\n I can\u2019t talk more about Kirby Air Riders because I haven\u2019t played either of them but the problem for Nintendo, assuming I\u2019m not the only one, is that I have no intention of doing so either. What really worries me is that this is becoming part of a pattern, especially as the next game they\u2019re going to start talking about is Hyrule Warriors: Age Of Imprisonment.<\/p>\n Now, I did play the last one (this is the third) and it was not great. I knew going in that it wouldn\u2019t be amazing going but given it was based on Zelda: Breath Of The Wild I wanted to give it a go. I will not be doing that again and I can\u2019t help imagining this is a problem for Nintendo, assuming that I don\u2019t have really weird taste in games that\u2019s not shared by anyone else \u2013 which as far as I know I don\u2019t.<\/p>\n Given that all this follows Welcome Tour<\/a> and Drag x Drive<\/a>, both of which have taken a drubbing on Metacritic, it\u2019s hard not to come to the conclusion that there are now two tiers of games at Nintendo: the big budget, well known franchises that are as good as ever, including Mario Kart World, Donkey Kong Bananza, and, hopefully, Metroid Prime 4.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tExpert, exclusive gaming analysis\t\t\t<\/p>\n Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter<\/strong><\/a> for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Then you\u2019ve got the B-tier which previously could sometimes not be so good but usually were, or had some other redeeming feature, like being weird or experimental. But for the Switch 2 the B-tier is just\u2026 bad. Worse than that, it\u2019s all games that looked bad as soon as they were shown off and then turned out to be exactly what was expected.<\/p>\n I think for me, the strangest thing is how they got picked to become games in the first place. Why are they making Kirby Air Riders or Hyrule Warriors or a really bland looking\u2026 whatever Welcome Tour was supposed to be? How did these ideas get past the initial meeting, as something that not only did Nintendo make but decided to have them out in the first six months of their new console.<\/p>\n Zelda is a big name and I guess Hyrule Warriors was an easy way to get a game out this year but the others\u2026 absolutely nobody was asking for this and it hasn\u2019t benefitted Nintendo in any way.<\/p>\n What also worries me is what about the games that come in the middle? Things like Fire Emblem, which are low budget but well-known franchises that people like? I worry that, in Nintendo\u2019s mind, that\u2019s probably going to be closer to Kiry Air Riders in terms of how they handle it and I really don\u2019t want to see the next game of that getting less than 50 on Metacritic.<\/p>\n I find all this quite disturbing because Nintendo is torching its reputation in the strangest way possible. Its big games are still amazing but its smaller ones, so far, all suck. And no, that was not meant to be a joke about Kirby.<\/p>\n By reader Onibee<\/strong><\/p>\n \t\t The reader\u2019s features do not necessarily represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.<\/p>\n You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot. Just contact us at gamecentral@metro.co.uk<\/a> or use our Submit Stuff page<\/a> and you won\u2019t need to send an email.<\/p>\n Arrow Arrow Arrow![\"Metroid](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/SEI_261165869-2858.jpg\")
\n\t\tMetroid Prime 4 should be an A-tier game (Nintendo)<\/p>\n
\nMORE: There\u2019s no reason to make a PS6 or a next gen Xbox \u2013 Reader\u2019s Feature<\/a><\/p>\n
\nMORE: I know what the gimmick for the next Zelda game could be – Reader’s Feature<\/a><\/p>\n
\nMORE: Here’s the one reason why I\u2019m not buying Battlefield 6 – Reader’s Feature<\/a><\/p>\n