Mailbox: Metroid Excitement Levels, Game Clubs, “The Galaxy Strategy” – Nintendo Life Letters

Issue #29 – October 2025.

We’re deep into October now, which means it’s time to open up the Nintendo Life Mailbox and see what word-based packages you’ve been sending our way this month.

Got something you want to get off your chest? We’re ready and waiting to read about your game-related ponderings. Each month we’ll highlight a Star Letter, the writer of which will receive a month’s subscription to our ad-free Supporter scheme. Check out the submission guidelines at the bottom of this page.

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Poll: Box Art Brawl – Duel: Hey You, Pikachu!

Pika-who?

Welcome back, one and all, to this week’s edition of Box Art Brawl!

It was the NSO newbie Fatal Fury Special that got put under the microscope last time, as we matched up two covers for this SNES brawler. Overall, it was a pretty one-sided fight. The colourful Japanese variant walked away with 68% of the vote, leaving the North American design with 32%.

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Sonic Team’s Boss Wants To Put More Sonic Characters In The Spotlight

Sega celebrated the ‘Year of Shadow’ in 2024.

Last year, Sega ran a year-long campaign for Shadow the Hedgehog that lined up with the release of Sonic X Shadow Generations and the introduction of the “Ultimate Lifeform” in the live-action Sonic movies.

This was generally well-received by Sonic fans, and it’s now led to some discussion about how Sega could potentially recreate this magic with other Sonic the Hedgehog characters in the future. Speaking in a recent interview, Sonic Team boss Takashi Iizuka said he would like to continue this trend by spotlighting a different character. Characters in the next movie will apparently play an active role in this.

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Football Manager Signs With FIFA In New “Multi-Year Partnership”

“Elevating authenticity to truly global heights”.

The Football Manager series has signed a “multi-year partnership” with the global football governing body FIFA.

This deal will bring official licenses from FIFA’s competitions to the long-running football management series by Sports Interactive. This will include the upcoming FIFA World Cup 26, which will be held in Canada, Mexico and the USA next year.

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New Dragon Ball Game Project To Be Revealed Early Next Year

Don’t miss it.

Last week, Dragon Ball fans got quite a shock when it was announced Bandai Namco would be rolling out a new update for Dragon Ball FighterZ, with an additional DLC character scheduled to follow this in Spring 2026.

If this wasn’t already enough excitement, the official Dragon Ball Games social media account has now confirmed a new “Dragon Ball game project” will be revealed in January 2026. This announcement will take place at the Dragon Ball Genkidamatsuri event in Japan, as part of the series’ 40th anniversary celebrations.

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Guide: Pokémon Legends: Z-A: Walkthrough

The A to Zs of Pokémon Legends, right here.

Welcome to our Pokémon Legends: Z-A walkthrough hub, and to Lumiose City! You’ll be spending a lot of time in this Paris-inspired town in Kalos, so let’s settle in. As the second game bearing the Legends moniker, Z-A is decidedly different from the mainline ‘Generational’ games — but it’s even a big step forward from Arceus.

It’s a good time, and in our 7/10 review of the Switch 2 version, we lavished praise on the new real-time battle system, but found that setting the action in a single city was constricting.

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Talking Point: How Do You Play NES Games These Days?

Or, do you even play NES games?

The NES — specifically the Nintendo Entertainment System, not the Famicom — turns 40 today.

The console’s staggered rollout across the US makes its launch a bittier affair than the orchestrated, worldwide drops we’re used to these days. But four decades ago, the first units were purchased in the United States and Western gamers began playing with power.

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Guide: 50 Best NES Games Of All Time

Our guide to the greatest games on the NES.

The NES’ staggered launch began 40 years ago in the US, on 18th October 1985, following the Famicom’s release two years earlier in Japan. On this historic anniversary, we’re republishing this list of the best games on the system. Enjoy!


The Nintendo Entertainment System, or NES (ness? nezz? enn-eee-ess?), is the archetypal home video game console.

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8BitDo Announces ‘NES40 Collection’ Of Peripherals, And They’re Up For Pre-Order Today

Celebrate four decades of play, design and memory.

8BitDo has announced a brand new ‘NES40 Collection’ of products which incorporates an Ultimate 2 Bluetooth controller, 68-key Retro Keyboard, and a rather fetching Retro Cube 2 speaker.

The new range, which is now available to pre-order over at 8BitDo’s official website, certainly looks stunning, and it manages to add a few nice little touches to a line-up that stick to the look and feel of previous “Retro” offerings from the company.

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