As easy as it is to be insanely excited by a new Zelda trailer, and a bunch of incredible classics coming to Switch, there were a few other things talked about during the recent Nintendo Direct. So put down the magnifying glass and stereo headphones from your Tears of the Kingdom trailer diving and enjoy some other video game news!
- Metroid Prime Remastered: It may not have been the biggest surprise to exist if you follow a lot of reputable game news, but there’s still no way to prepare for how exciting it is to finally see this in person. And it was made available immediately! It’s never a bad day when one of the best video games ever made is updated and released for a modern system. The physical edition comes out later this month.
- Pikmin 4: I’m always ready for a new Pikmin, and this one looks exceptionally plucky. Between the multiplayer, the return of mini-dungeons from Pikmin 2, and an adorable new dog-like friend, there’s a LOT to be excited for when this comes out on July 21.
- Disney Illusion Island: Based off the animation of a recent Mickey series, this game is dripping with gorgeous animations. It’s easy to look at this and say “Oh, it’s just Rayman Legends with Micky Mouse.” But there hasn’t been a new Legends since the Switch debuted, and those games are awesome. July 28 will see this charming, family friendly platformer spring to life.
- OCTOPATH TRAVELER II: The gorgeous HD 2D art style, killer combat, and fantastic soundtrack are all back in full swing in this sequel to a modern classic. A demo is available now, allowing for 3 hours of uninterrupted play that can be carried over to the main game when it launches on February 24.
- Samba de Amigo: Party Central: A new Samba de Amigo title sounds good, though I’d love to have seen more about the soundtrack.
- Game Boy and Game Boy Advance Games: The games below are available now, but don’t forget that the Oracle duology, Golden Sun, and more are coming soon.
- For the base Nintendo Switch Online, you’ll have access to the following Game Boy games: Tetris, Super Mario Land 2 – 6 Golden Coins, The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening DX, Gargoyle’s Quest, Game & Watch Gallery 3, Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare, Metroid II – Return of Samus, Wario Land 3, and Kirby’s Dream Land.
- For the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pass, you’ll have access to the following Game Boy games: Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$, Kuru Kuru Kururin, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap.
- Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp: In another timeline, this was the game that took off instead of Fire Emblem, and we’d be having teatime with a Howlitzer. This is our chance to correct the timeline! It launches April 21.
- Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon: This game looks great! The art is very impressive, and it’ll be interesting to expand the Bayonetta universe with different gameplay. March 17 isn’t far now.
- Omega Strikers: 3v3 soccer with a very cool cast of characters sounds like a great time, and free-to-play is never a bad price to try. It comes out April 27.
- Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection: A collection of the first three Etrian Odyssey games originally for the DS have been remastered in HD. The bundle is $80 and comes out on June 1. Each game in the collection will also be available separately in Nintendo eShop for $40 each.
- Sea of Stars: A very cool looking SNES style JRPG is coming soon. You can check out the full game on Aug. 29, but a free demo will be available now in the eShop!
- Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe: Kirby returns to Dream Land… Again! This port of the excellent Wii game features more mini-games, a new campaign chapter centered on Magalor, and spine-meltingly cute animations. There’s a demo now to tease you until it releases Feb. 24.
- Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Expansion Pass: New content, featuring a sort of rogue-like mode, is coming to Xenoblade Chronicles 3. Chapter 3 of the Expansion Pass launches on Feb. 15. Volume 4 launches later this year with new story content that appears to feature an older Rex and Shulk.
- Splatoon 3: Expansion Pass – Inkopolis & Side Order: A DLC pass is coming with two waves of content. The first is a simple re-skin of the lobby to be the original Inkopolis from Splatoon 1. The second appears to be another trippy stack of single-player story content, similar to the Octo Expansion for Splatoon 2. They’ll becoming later this year.
- Fire Emblem Engage Expansion Pass: Wave 2 of the DLC is out today, and more is coming soon. Tons of more characters will be available as Emblems for use in-game. My favorite is in Wave 3, Veronica from Fire Emblem Heroes. I was a big fan of that game, and her power seems to be using the gacha-style summoning stone to summon other characters, which I think is really great.
- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Booster Course Pass: They teased the next pack of the Mario Kart 8 DLC, featuring a new Yoshi’s Island themed stage and the return of Birdo. They’ve since said that more characters will be coming, so it sounds like the last few waves will be a lot of fun!
- Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania: If we’re never getting a proper 2D Castlevania, you might as well put it in really good games. This will be available on March 6.
- We Love Katamari REROLL+ Royal Reverie: There’s some new content where you play as a young King of all Cosmos, but all that matters is the best Katamari game ever is coming to Switch on June 2.
- Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective: Another classic DS title is coming back in HD. This one looks great!
- Baten Kaitos I & II HD Remaster: Metroid Prime getting a remaster may not have been the biggest surprise, but this Gamecube remaster certainly was! I didn’t think anyone even remembered these games. Look forward to this classic pair of card battling JRPGs later this summer.
- Fashion Dreamer: This ain’t the Nintendo one so I don’t know how excited I am, but hey! Fashion!
- DECAPOLICE: Cyberpunk Anime detective games are (apparently) all the rage these days. Decapolice looks like it will be a great one! It features a rain-slick presentation and RPG trimmings, and it comes out later this year.
- FANTASY LIFE i: The Girl Who Steals Time: I hear this one’s a banger, so I’m looking forward to it. It’s a cute farming/RPG game, and I’m about ready for a new one of those.
- PROFESSOR LAYTON and The New World of steam: Not much to say, but a new Layton is coming eventually.
- TRON: Identity: I wasn’t expecting a visual novel set in the TRON universe, but sure, why not! It comes out this April.
- Minecraft Legends: Taking a more action approach to a strategy game, this game looks like it has a lot of promise. We’ll see on April 18!
- Have a Nice Death: We can comment how it looks a lot like Hollow Knight meets Cuphead, but I can think of worse games to try and ape from. If they pull it off, this will be a must-have on March 22.
- Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE: More Cyberpunk detective work that throws in a spot of Persona 5 / Psychonauts. You can travel into the mind of enemies to do abstract battle and get them to admit their wrong doings! We’ll see this one on June 30.
- Harmony: The Fall of Reverie: Don’t Nod is bringing a story-heavy visual-novel game with branching story paths, along with a soundtrack by Celeste composer Lena Raine. Get ready to date some abstract beings in June.
The Nintendo Direct presentation also featured a montage of upcoming Nintendo Switch games, including Blanc on Feb. 14, Disney Dreamlight Valley, which is available now in Early Access, Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection launches April 14, Tales of Symphonia Remastered returns on Feb. 17, and WBSC eBASEBALL: POWER PROS takes a swing for only ninety-nine cents and is available now.
