ULTRA NECROZMA (POKEMON ULTRA SUN AND ULTRA MOON)

A general and ever-increasing lack of challenge has been one of the biggest issues with the mainline Pokemon series for some time now, but credit where credit is due- Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon actually had some pretty tough fights. In fact, the fight against Ultra Necrozma is probably one of the toughest fights ever in a Pokemon game. Boosted stats, a sudden jump in its level, a moveset that can do devastating damage, and more ensure that even with the best party composition, you’ll struggle in the fight against Ultra Necrozma.

KILLZONE

Billed as the Halo-killer prior to launch, Killzone 1 on the PS2 couldn’t even kill a fly. It was a beautiful looking game, but was dragged down by stupid AI, timid shooting, and a bland campaign. A whole lot of people gave in to the enormous hype surrounding it, and a whole lot of people were immensely disappointed with the investment they made in its purchase.

While we got a whole lot of reports on how the shiny new consoles and the latest and greatest games are doing in the US thanks to the NPD Group yesterday, there were also some reports on how some of the older games and consoles have been doing in the same period. Taking to Twitter, NPD analyst Mat Piscatella shared a list of the top 10 selling 3DS games for 2018 in the US.

To no one’s surprise, Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, the last mainline Pokemon games released for the 3DS before the series moved over to the Switch, were the bestselling 3DS games of 2018. It’s a bit remarkable, because they are 2017 games. That said, the 3DS didn’t get many high profile releases in 2018, and two of the biggest ones that it did—Detective Pikachu and Luigi’s Mansion—both ended up charting (though they were lower down than you may have expected).

On the whole, then, the 3DS’ time in the sun is clearly coming to an end now, although Nintendo insists that it wants to keep the system around. You can check out the full list of the bestselling 3DS games in the US in 2018 for yourself below.

1. Pokemon Ultra Sun
2. Pokemon Ultra Moon
3. Mario Kart 7
4. Super Smash Bros. for 3DS
5. Detective Pikachu
6. Super Mario 3D Land
7. Minecraft
8. Luigi’s Mansion
9. Mario Party: The Top 100
10. Super Mario Maker

Pokemon: Ultra Sun is the best-selling game of the year on Nintendo 3DS. pic.twitter.com/JTQAUZy7KW

— Mat Piscatella (@MatPiscatella) January 22, 2019

Mike Tyson- Mike Tyson’s Punch Out

Iron Mike’s legendary performance in the world of boxing is as well documented as his fall from grace and infamous tattoo, but his early appearance in the world of Nintendo has gone down as one of the moments that would define “Nintendo Hard”. In a display somewhat similar to the real life events, the AI was only able to deliver KO punches against the player character, Little Mac for the first round. His fast, hard to read movements made just surviving long enough to have a shot against Tyson difficult enough, but unless you were omnipresent, you weren’t going to last that long anyways.

Pokemon’s year long legendary celebration continues as of May 4, granting trainers any of the Alola based 3DS games a brand new legendary monster to add to their collection. This go around, the box legendaries of the main Generation 6 titles are yours for the taking.

After a short trip to Gamestop in the US, Players of Pokemon Sun or Ultra Sun will be granted the Dark/Flying type bringer of destruction Yvetal, first introduced in Pokemon Y, while Ultra Moon or Moon trainers gain Xerneas from Pokemon X. The distribution is significant to Ultra game trainers as they are given the pokemon opposite to the one they’ll find in their title.

Details on the Pokemon weren’t available as of press time, but if it’s anything like past distributions, players will be given a stronger Monster holding a rare item should they redeem their code within one of the Ultra games.

Even with its age and competition from the Nintendo Switch’s handheld functionality, Nintendo reported some very solid 3DS sales to round out the fiscal year ending March 31st 2018. According to the company’s recent earnings report, the Nintendo 3DS sold 6.4 million units, hitting a lifetime sales total of 72.53 million units.

In terms of software sales, the company managed to hit 364.89 million sold. Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon contributed to that total with 7.51 million units sold. Though its line-up isn’t exactly the most packed for this year, the Nintendo 3DS continues to receive solid support. Meanwhile, the SNES Classic Edition proved to be successful “in every region”. It sold 5.28 million units worldwide.

In other financials, Amiibo sales are with 10.3 million figures and 5.8 million cards sold. Smartphone revenue is also up with Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp joining the likes of Fire Emblem Heroes and Super Mario Run. Total revenue from “smart devices and IP related income” hit ¥39.4 billion, up by 62 percent year-over-year.

Nominees:

Nier: Automata

Platinum Games’ Nier: Automata was an unassuming enough announcement at E3. Of course, then the demo arrived, followed by the full release and we were blown away. Bullet hell meets hack and slash combat with a fairly strong degree of ability and weapon customization…and then there are the shoot ’em up segments which are their own brand of strange. Beyond the epic boss fights and perfect precision of the combat, Nier: Automata tells a wonderful tale of identity, humanity and existence that will simply tear you apart.

Horizon: Zero Dawn

It’s still surprising that Guerrilla Games, best known for the Killzone series, was able to produce such a compelling open world action RPG like Horizon: Zero Dawn. Plot has always been an issue in past Killzone titles but Horizon actually sports a good cast of characters, led by Ashly Burch’s performance of Aloy, and an interesting mystery. Everything else – from the lore and world design to the visuals, side quests and combat – is executed superbly. Even in a year with so many great role playing and open world games, Horizon: Zero Dawn more than held its own.

Divinity: Original Sin 2

Larian Studios earned a name for itself with the first game but Divinity: Original Sin 2 surpasses it in every single way. The utter scope of freedom and attention to detail, excellent script-writing and plot development, fantastic combat system and world building ensured one of the best role-playing adventures of the year. Plus any game that lets us drop hefty barrels on foes to kill them is an automatic win. Don’t let the strangeness of Rivellon scare you – there’s so much waiting to be discovered and each playthrough can compel you in ways that are fresh yet grim.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

While previous entries in the series always employed a faux-RPG approach, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild goes all in on elements like weapon damage, durability, armour stats, upgrading, cooking and whatnot. Though it prompted comparisons to Skyrim, especially with the more open world approach, Nintendo integrated all these elements seamlessly, living up the quality and sense of adventure that the Zelda series brings.

Middle-Earth: Shadow of War

Though Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor had enough skill trees and loot, Middle-Earth: Shadow of War deepens this pursuit even further. There are Orc Followers, gems, gear sets, weapons and what have you to collect and customize. You can build entire armies, give them different bonuses and orders and spend hours just grinding levels. While the loot boxes are definitely a mark against it (especially when the highest tier of Orc Followers is tied to them), Middle-Earth: Shadow of War offers a nice action RPG experience with a fun core gameplay loop.

Nioh

Team Ninja’s Nioh is so much more than a Dark Souls clone. In fact, it combines Feudal Japan, Japanese mythology, a Diablo-like loot grind, heaps of customization and weapons, numerous side quests, a sprawling campaign, plenty of difficult encounters and memorable boss fight. The excellent combat is backed by so much customization and content that it’s insane. More than just resurrecting the studio from the waning Ninja Gaiden series, Nioh is proof that Team Ninja can create an excellent action RPG worthy of your time.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2

Monolith Soft has done it again and while the jury is out on whether it’s better than its predecessors, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is still amazing. The series’ tradition of gorgeous open world exploration continues along with the satisfying, responsive combat and a suite of customization options for abilities and party members. The English voice acting may vary in quality and there’s an abundance of fetch quests but Xenoblade Chronicles 2 offers a great story with memorable characters and more than enough exploration to keep you busy for hundreds of hours on end.

Assassin’s Creed Origins

Ubisoft didn’t just want to revamp the core story and open world exploration with Assassin’s Creed Origins – it tore away many of the stealth mechanics and crafted a huge action RPG with compelling combat. Wouldn’t you know it but this worked. Despite the same trappings like tailing missions and bugs, Assassin’s Creed Origins offers a deep world with some great side quests and activities to pursue. Combat feels a lot better than previous games and while it may come at the expense of innovations in stealth, Assassin’s Creed Origins is a satisfying experience overall.

Pyre

In a year dotted with so many action RPGs, Supergiant Games’ Pyre is something…different. It’s full of colourful characters, immersing you in its dialogue and character interaction that make the oncoming decisions all the more intriguing. “Combat” is a wholly different affair, pitting teams of three against each other in sports-like matches where abilities, cohesion and movement play a big role. Did we mention the spell-binding art design and music? Pyre is everything that one could possibly love from a Supergiant role-playing game and yet, so much more.

Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle

We initially had our reservations about this. A mash-up between Mario and the Rabbids? Mario using guns or energy blasters or what have you? Upon actually viewing it, Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle is a delightful romp full of excellent tactical strategy combat and RPG customization. The sheer range of tactics combined with the wackiness of both franchises provides for a fast-paced yet deeply thoughtful role-playing experience.

Battle Chasers: Nightwar

In this day and age, Battle Chasers: Nightwar is a treat. Inspired by classic console RPGs, it combines turn-based combat with an excellent aesthetic based off the comic books of the same name. The game itself is full of dungeons to explore, some of them randomly generated and thus offering a dungeon crawler to it all. Along with six heroes, some interesting combat mechanics and a unique old-school feel, Battle Chasers: Nightwar offered a fun experience in a year full of open world RPGs.

Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon

Make no mistake – Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon are most definitely retreads of last year’s Pokemon Sun and Moon. However, they add so much more to the games, expanding them enough that they’re worth a look. New activities like Ultra Wrap Ride and Mantine Surf add some much needed spice on the side but you’ll be busy with the new locations, the new Z-Moves and new Ultra Beasts. It’s basically more Pokemon for those who love the games but with enough content and fun gameplay to justify the purchase.

Persona 5

Persona 5 is the epitome of style and substance. The world leaps out at you in vibrant colours, animated menus and sleek combat sequences that can be devilishly tough at times. Heist mechanics, dungeon crawling and an amazing story (albeit one with a slow start) make this stand out from previousgames. But when you talk about a game with an excellent cast, addictive combat and a top-notch story, Persona 5 stands so far above many other games this year that it’s not even funny.

Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia

While Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia is a remake of Fire Emblem Gaiden, it still provided a great narrative and stellar tactical combat befitting the Fire Emblem name. In fact, the game is so good at balancing plot development with actual gameplay that it’s astounding and the production values, scope and exploration are simply top-notch. This is not Fire Emblem Fates but Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia is still a great tactical RPG in a franchise that’s full of them.

Skyrim Switch Edition

It’s Skyrim but in handheld form. Well, Skyrim on the Nintendo Switch can also be played in docked mode but this is the same Skyrim. It has all the DLC, no mod support and pretty much all the same glitches as its 2011 release. Sure, the sheer range of the open world is amazing, the quest system and exploration is fun, you can pursue many different kinds of gameplay loops and it will go down as one of the best open world RPGs ever. But in 2017, the flaws inherent in 2011’s Skyrim go a long way to make it pretty good but far from perfect. At least it’s on handheld though.

Winner: Persona 5

It’s the intro that catches you, that mix of groovy music and sleek animation. At the outset, the familiar school setting, managing one’s personal life, and anime-esque drama seemed typical for Atlus. Persona 5 immediately cast aside those doubts with emotionally effective stories filled with deep characters that you actually grow to care for over the course of the game. The various systems intertwine, making your social interactions enhance your overall effectiveness in combat. This makes the relationships formed with your Persona and comrades all the more personal.

Of course, the new hand-crafted Castles and intriguing combat hooks add even more stakes to the story as your rogue-ish band pushes forward. The fact that there’s so little Persona 5 gets wrong and so very much it gets right while having almost no bugs is simply astonishing. When you consider the amount of competition it’s had this year, that’s definitely no small achievement and we’re proud to crown Persona 5 as the Best RPG of 2017.

Note: GamingBolt’s Game of the Year categories, nominations and awards are selected via an internal nomination, voting and debate process. You can check the rest of categories and the respective winners here.

These titles are an “alternate story” from the original Pokemon Sun and Moon, borrowing much of the core of those games, but making many alterations such as to wild Pokemon distribution, new story events involving the legendary Necrozma and Team Rainbow Rocket, new Z-moves and adding a handful of additional monsters to catch that weren’t available in Pokemon Sun and Moon.

The alternate events of the story revolving around Necrozma and the light of Alola flesh out the backstory of the previously mysterious Legendary similarly to how the Anime gave Zyguard a story. Other new characters are introduced, such as the four members of the Ultra Recon Squad, affiliated with the Aether Foundation but not a part of it. Each version has two members of the squad highlighted, but all will appear in both versions.

• 1. Development
• 2. Story
• 3. Gameplay
• 4. Characters

Development

Announced via Nintendo Direct in June 2017. According to producer Shigeru Ohmori, Pokemon Ultra Sun and Pokemon Ultra Moon were worked on by younger members of Game Freak with some key supervision, while the main team began to work on the Nintendo Switch project. Designed as the culmination of their work with the Nintendo 3DS, the development team of Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon was about half of what it was for the original Sun and Moon, despite that the games have a script twice as long as their predecessors.

Ohmori would also say in a separate interview that the Ultra instalments first began as an idea formed as Sun and Moon were just wrapping up, with the games intended to take advantage of the momentum afforded to the series by Pokemon Go on mobile. The chance for the younger team members to gain valuable experience working on the Ultra games is said to be in the long run, helping the Switch project along.

Between the reveal in June 2017 and release in November 2017, the game would tease its various new elements and plot points through periodic trailers, starting with a trailer that revealed an expanded story with new locations, new designs for the player characters, expanded roles for characters that got little screen times in Sun and Moon, and a new evolution for Rockruff, which turned out to be a gift for trainers who got the game near launch.

Small trailers would continue to be released, primarily through the Pokemon official youtube channel for the next few months. Trailers would reveal new events like Mantine Surfing, traveling to other Ultra Space dimensions to catch Legendary Pokemon from throughout the series, as well as new Ultra Beast Pokemon to be found in the game. As past games limited changes to new forms to keep perfect compatibility, this is the first time new monsters were introduced within the same generation. New Z-moves and Team Rainbow Rocket, as well as the premise of the story were also introduced.

Story

Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon are alternate tellings of the events of Sun and Moon, and as such don’t deviate much father than previous special editions such as Pokemon Emerald or Pokemon Platinum do from their paired versions. You are a young boy or girl who moves from the Kanto region to the tropical Alola region, home to tons of new, exotic species never seen before outside that region.

Young trainers in Alola take on the Island Challenge, as opposed to the Gym challenge of other regions. Trial captains challenge the player and their team as they travel the four islands of Alola and the player will eventually conquer the Kahuna of each island before they can move on. Meanwhile, the trainer meets Lillie early on, a mysterious young girl who’s taking care of an even more mysterious Pokemon, with a mystic power and an inability to stay in the bag. Lillie and the island challenge itself eventually wrap the trainer up in the goings on of the Aether Foundation, Team Skull, The Ultra Recon Squad and the mysterious Necrozma.

Gameplay

In the field, as the game is a follow up to Pokemon Sun and Moon, the adventure through the Island Challenge is largely familiar to those who played that game, as you travel through the islands of Alola, find and train Pokemon, take on Trials from Island Captains, take on Kahunas and unravel the mysteries of Necrozma and the Ultra Beasts. The exact steps might change around and a handful of new locations appear and new events occur, but the journey largely feels similar until the ending.

Pokemon gameplay has remained relatively similar for the 21 year run of the series, and Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon is no different, maintaining all of the large systems from Pokemon Sun and Moon. Pokemon have one or two of 18 different types, from the obvious like Fire, Grass and Water, to the obtuse like Poison and Dark. Pokemon can learn up to four different moves, also matched to these types and go at each other in turn based battles. Trainers can keep up to six different Pokemon on them and level them up to increase their stats, learn new moves and evolve.

There are better resources for a more in depth rundown of how Pokemon’s battle systems work than the above functional explanation. The meta game is altered at a high level of play thanks to the addition of the new ultra beasts, new available moves and new Z-moves, but at the most basic level the gameplay is going to have a flow much like any other Pokemon game.

A couple of new mini games, Mantine Surf and Ultra Space Exploration, both open up new areas to explore. Mantine Surf is a fun mini game players can choose to participate in that moves them between the islands of Alola, where they can show off with tricks and earn BP exchanged for moves and items. Ultra Space Exploration is a post game minigame where you’ll ride either Solgaleo or Lunana through Ultra Space, using the motion controls to dodge hazards and warps you don’t want to take in order to find rare or legendary Pokemon, or even tackle the Ultra Beasts on their home turf.

Characters

Most of the major players of Sun and Moon have a similar, but not identical role in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, including Professor Kukui, Lillie, Guzma, Lusamine, Hau, Gladion, the four Kahunas, and others. In order to avoid repetition, and to avoid spoiling the differences they do show within the game, we’re going to focus on the two new groups of note.

The Ultra Recon Squad is a mysterious group of four individuals with an unknown origin. They speak in stilted, official, almost robotic tones and make it quite clear that they are not native to the Alola region. They appear to be working with the Aether foundation but not strictly as a part of it, and carry with them a never before seen Pokemon. There are four admins, Dulse, Zossie, Soliera and Phyco. Dulse and Zossie are primarily encountered during the story of Ultra Sun and Phyco and Soliera feature heavily within Ultra Moon.

Team Rainbow Rocket appears late in the game to cause trouble first in Festival Plaza and then on Aether Paradise. Giovanni of Team Rocket has brought together the team leaders of all other past Pokemon games, Team Aqua’s Archie, Team Magma’s Maxie, Team Galactic’s Cyrus, Team Plasma’s Ghetsis, and Team Flare’s Lysandre. Each of these team leaders was pulled from a world where they had managed to succeed in their evil ambitions, and brought together under Giovanni and Rainbow Rocket’s umbrella. What does Giovanni hope to achieve by bringing all these terrifying mobsters together?

Note: This wiki will be updated once we have more information about the game.

Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon takes what worked so well in its direct predecessor and it builds upon those strengths in some smart and subtle ways. The end result is a game that isn’t all that different from the series’ first outing in Alola, but is undoubtedly better. It’s also worth noting that that’s only possible because it doesn’t deviate much from last year’s game. Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon isn’t the kind of major retelling that other third versions of the series have been in the past (such as Pokemon Platinum), nor is it a direct sequel to the games it is based on (like Black 2 and White 2).

No, this is more in the vein of games such as Pokemon Yellow and Pokemon Crystal. Sun/Moon was already almost the perfect realization of the Pokemon formula, so rather than trying to reinvent the wheel, Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon chooses to build on the rock-solid foundation that its predecessor had already left in place. It gives Sun and Moon the respect it deserves, and makes a number of intelligent changes to elevate the experience to become even better than it was a year ago.

"Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon takes what worked so well in its direct predecessor and it builds upon those strengths in some smart and subtle ways. The end result is a game that isn’t all that different from the series’ first outing in Alola, but is undoubtedly better."

For instance, while Sun and Moon was guilty of having a somewhat slow start, Ultra does away with most of what bogged down the opening and kicks things off in a much more interesting way. The story beats themselves are almost identical in the beginning, but the game makes the excellent decision of letting you pick your starting Pokemon almost as soon as you start your adventure. The rest of the beginning plays out almost exactly as it did in Sun and Moon, but this one small change helps with the pacing in a hugely significant way.

Even more significantly altered is the game’s final act. Pokemon Sun/Moon has to be the most story-focused game in the series to date (albeit with stiff competition from Black and White), and Ultra is definitely yet another step in that direction. The addition of several major new characters and events helps make the last third of the game’s narrative feel hugely different from what we saw in Sun and Moon, similar to what we’ve seen in games such as Pokemon Emerald. In fact, it would be fair to say that Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon actually does a much better job of telling its story in a cohesive manner than its predecessor did.

Don’t get me wrong, this is still Pokemon, so you shouldn’t expect anything too special or memorable as far as the narrative is concerned. That said, Ultra makes smart changes and additions to its narrative to make it a more complete, more cohesive, and as such, a much more enjoyable tale. Additions such as the Ultra Recon Squad and Ultra Wormholes, for instance, lend another dimension to the entire experience. If you’ve played Sun and Moon before, seeing more of such new elements will be among the several things that will make you want to keep playing.

As significantly altered as the narrative’s final act is, though, the rest of the game is almost disappointingly similar to Pokemon Sun and Moon. For the bulk of my journey, barring a good chunk of half a dozen hours or so at the end, it was hard for me to shake off the strongest sense of deja vu. Given the series’ history with third version releases, I guess I should have expected as much. But after the major deviation that Black 2 and White 2 was from its predecessor, or even Sun/Moon itself was from everything that had come before it, perhaps I was expecting this to be something of a brand new adventure.

"As significantly altered as the narrative’s final act is, though, the rest of the game is almost disappointingly similar to Pokemon Sun and Moon."

Thankfully enough, Pokemon Sun/Moon was a hell of a game, so the fact that Ultra retreads a lot of the same ground kind of works in its favour. The game revolves around the concept of trial challenges rather than gym battles, and going through these while exploring the wonderfully realized Alola, which has to be the best region in any Pokemon game to date, is still as engrossing and addictive as it was a year ago. Trial challenges are notably more enjoyable than they were before, thanks to some design changes made with the intention of making them feel more like puzzles and less like fetch quests (not to mention the fact that there’s a new trial in here as well), and even the boss battles against the Totem Pokemon are a lot more thrilling and challenging than their disappointingly easy Sun and Moon counterparts.

The foundation that Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon is built on is strong enough that it doesn’t need to change much stuff in order to be an enjoyable experience. That said, if you’ve already played Sun/Moon, especially if you did so recently, playing Ultra for an experience that is at least seventy per cent similar (if not more) might not be the best idea in a year that has seen the release of countless other amazing games that deserve your time and attention. By that same token, much of the issues that plagues Sun/Moon are present here as well, which means Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon can feel excessively restrictive and linear at times, and the sense of freedom that characterized Pokemon games in the past is now missing.

It’s due to this almost excessive similarity to the base game that we look to some of the smaller changes in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. Fortunately, though, these small changes are actually worth speaking about, and though none of them radically change the way you will experience Alola, they do contribute greatly towards making the experience notably better than it was in Sun and Moon. For instance, while Sun and Moon had one of the best user interfaces we’ve ever seen in a Pokemon game, barring maybe HeartGold/SoulSilver, Ultra makes a few subtle tweaks to make it even smoother- like delegating actions such as saving or throwing Pokeballs at wild Pokemon to a single button press, rather than having to go through entire menus like before.

That’s just one illustration of how Ultra adds in some small but vital features to make an already refined experience even more polished. There’s a lot more of these minor tweaks and variations in the game when you really start looking. Every now and again, you’ll come across wild Pokemon in the overworld that you can play with, from petting them to playing peekaboo with them. Similarly, throughout your journey, your Rotom Pokedex will have a lot more conversations with you than it did in Sun and Moon, and this time, every so often, you’ll actually be able to talk with it through dialogue choices. There’s also Totem stickers lying around every corner of every city and place you visit, and the added hook of collecting these stickers makes exploration even more enjoyable.

"Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon adds in some small but vital features to make an already refined experience even more polished."

None of these changes add any actual, new mechanics, nor do they reward players with new items or skills that were previously unseen in Pokemon Sun and Moon, but they do contribute towards making Ultra a much fuller and a much more entertaining package than its predecessor. That’s not to say there are zero new mechanics though- Alola Photo Club and Mantine Surf are new features that were missing from Sun and Moon, and they’re a bit of a hit and miss. Photo Club is surprisingly shallow, and past trying it out once just to see what it was about, I never felt compelled to return to it. Mantine Surf, on the other hand, was an entertaining new mini-game, and I found myself returning to it on more than one occasion.

Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon’s visual accomplishments also deserve a special mention. Pokemon Sun/Moon was no technical masterpiece, but it had some gorgeous art, and all around, it has to be among the best looking games you’ll ever see on the 3DS. Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon looks even better, though not hugely so. It polishes some of the rough edges of its predecessor, makes smarter use of lighting, and also uses its camera slightly better- the end result is a game that is beautiful to behold. The soundtrack is also worth a mention here- Pokemon has always been known for having excellent music, and Sun/Moon was no different. Ultra grabs hold of that Hawaiian-themed soundtrack, and with a few variations and a handful of its own additions, it succeeds in making it better.

Game Freak are now working on the next mainline Pokemon game, and surprisingly enough, it’s slated to be a Switch exclusive. Surely, that means that Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon is the final Pokemon game we will see on the 3DS. If that is indeed the case, then it’s one hell of a way to say goodbye. It may not be all that different from 2016’s Sun and Moon, making it a little harder to recommend to people who’ve already seen everything Alola has to offer, but for fans of the series, this game is unmissable.

This game was reviewed on Nintendo 3DS. 

After much controversy over its microtransactions, EA’s Star Wars Battlefront 2 still managed strong a debut in the UK as per the latest Chart-Track data. Physical sales for the game were enough to rank it at second in the charts though it still couldn’t overcome Call of Duty: WW2 which is now in first place for the third week in a row.

FIFA 18 has fallen to third place while Nintendo’s Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon saw strong debuts at fourth and fifth place respectively. Assassin’s Creed Origins fell from third to sixth place while The Sims 4 for Xbox One and PS4 debuted at seventh.

Rockstar’s LA Noire Remastered came in at eighth place followed by Super Mario Odyssey and another new debut LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 at tenth. As for The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim VR, it managed to debut at nineteenth place. Chart-Track only looks at physical sales for games in the UK so expect all sales of the above to be higher when digital downloads are included.