Amiibo Samus and Link Mini Review

Nintendo are masters at making kids (and adults) shell out money for things they don't really need. Remember Pokemon cards? Remember spending all your money on them, hoping that

you got a shiny, rare Pokemon card?

I don't hold it against them, they've not been around for over 100 years for nothing. Are amiibos a re-invention of that phenomenon or are they genuinely, ahem, game changers?

I'll answer that question straight away. I don't know yet. I've barely had time to play Super Smash Bros. but from what I understand, the amiibo will be able to affect compatible games differently. You can use a Mario amiibo to unlock a themed racing suit in Mario Kart.

Detail shot of Samus. The colours are a little pudgey but nice and vivid.

The Link amiibo can unlock a weapon in Hyrule Warriors and any amiibo can be used to store

customised stat data for that character in Super Smash Bros. Basically this is Nintendo's

answer to Skylanders and Disney's Infinity.

There certainly is an appeal in having physical merchandise of your beloved franchises and no doubt Nintendo know that regardless of functionality, people are going to snap these up just because they look cool. The good news is that they are well made and reasonably priced. We have Samus and Link here today but there is a decent selection of other characters and more to come soon.

Link is tilted up in this shot so you can actually see his face.

For about $15 each or so, I'd recommend them. Imagine how cool Samus would look on your desk, next to Link and Mario and Pikachu and... damn you Nintendo!

Bonus:

Just some shots of the Samus amiibo with the Samus Figma.