Nintendo Direct: The Best Announcements

Nintendo crammed its latest Direct full of first-party heavyweights, surprise revivals and a confident nod toward next-generation Switch hardware. Over the course of an hour of reveals, it brought breathlessly awaited dates, intelligent remasters and enough genre variety to keep the console’s outsized player base engaged. Below are the highlights and why they matter.

Mario steps into spotlight with Galaxy and film tease

The show opened with a nod to Mario’s legacy, celebrating four decades of platforming history and a spacefaring future. That was prefaced by a quick tease of an all new animated film inspired by the Galaxy era, leading into the headline: Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2 are returning as their own separate releases for both Switch and Switch 2. At $40 a pop, they’re presented as definitive, family-friendly entries that will introduce two of the series’ most inventive 3D sandboxes to new players.

Nintendo ran that same wave of plumber-inspired insanity with Mario Tennis Fever, a fast arcade sports entry with wacky special rackets and tongue-in-cheek “baby” story mode.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder also receives a paid Switch 2 upgrade with fresh levels and party-centric multiplayer features — smart extensions for one of the last cycle’s best-selling 2D Mario adventures.

Switch 2 flex: Metroid, Zelda action prequel and Hades II

Metroid Prime 4 got a release date, and the clip’s most memeable moment (Samus on a motorcycle) arrived with promises of a hi-fi return to handsome, atmospheric sci-fi. A new action-packed prequel set in The Legend of Zelda’s world also fleshed out hordes of enemies even at the game’s earliest sequence and had strong performance in video footage; a silent but key indicator for the hardware muscle compared to plain old Switch.

Hades II locked down a hard release and timed console exclusivity window on Switch 2. That’s a smart move: Supergiant previously said that Switch was a massive audience driver for the original Hades, and securing early access to its sequel affords Nintendo a prestige indie anchor as it heads into the new platform’s second year.

Yoshi, party play and inventive platforming

Yoshi and the Mysterious Book charmed me with its storybook look and sandbox-style interactions that seem aimed at curious kids without dumbing down clever puzzle design.

It sits well alongside that upgrade to Wonder, which was previously covered in depth on Nintendalerts and rounds out a family-friendly lane that had been a strong sales bedrock for Nintendo, if you believe its franchise attach rates shared with investors.

RPG wave: Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Fire Emblem

Square Enix’s Final Fantasy VII Remake finally makes it way to Switch 2, Intergrade content in tow, giving the system a major third-party RPG that once strained last-gen hardware.

Dragon Quest VII makes a full 3D comeback, a curious stylistic change for an old-timer that ought to tickle the fancy of fans who just like playing turn-based games.

Monster Hunter Stories 3 carries on Capcom’s monster-collecting spin-off with underappreciated warmth, style and Dynasty Warriors Origins lets you put a kibosh on it all — large-scale battles (and loud guitars) — new story DLC. Direct finished on confirmation of a new Fire Emblem coming against Roman-esque arenas — a bold visual shake-up for Nintendo’s flagship tactics series.

Horror, hot wings and fightersAbdul Razak Alhassan vs. Munir Lazzez stack the lineup

It also staked a claim via the latest Resident Evil on Switch 2, plus Resident Evil VII and Village launching alongside it —a triple that says we are here. Fatal Frame II comes back as a remake for those who like their scares drawn out and spectral. To fight enthusiasts, Mortal Kombat’s Legacy Kollection strings together old 2D and early 3D entries along with interactive documentaries that play up the series’ wacky birth.

Indies, co-op chaos and comfort games

Storm Lances is shadow-dropped to be a cartoony co-op roguelike with fast runs and an accessible learning curve. This winter, Popucom throws in some colorful, multiplayer-only puzzle shooting, and Dinkum offers laid-back farming out in the Texas Outback. Lynked combines a top-down action RPG with life-sim elements and is playble now.

Comfort gaming is still a Switch strong suit: Powerwash Simulator 2 zeroes in on the “oddly satisfying” crowd, and Suika Game Planet expands an obsession with fruit matching that kind of took over social feeds without you knowing it.

Nintendo also announced Switch 2 Edition upgrades for crowd-pleasers including One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4, Overcooked 2, Stardew Valley and Human Fall Flat, giving them visual boosts and modern creature comforts such as mouse or webcam support where appropriate.

RetroSwing: Virtual Boy coming to Switch Online

Craziest of all, Virtual Boy titles are making their way to Nintendo Switch Online. The catch: they’re going to need a new peripheral that encases the Switch display in something that resembles a headset, referencing the original’s unique shape. It’s a bold preservation play for a platform that Nintendo put out to pasture in under a year, as well as another reminder that Switch Online’s value proposition just continues to stretch beyond the usual 8- and 16-bit comfort zone.

Pokémon detours and DLC

Pokémon Pokopia could be the most bizarre spin in the franchise yet: you’re a Ditto pretending to be a human so you can run a farm, and relying on metamorphic abilities to plant fields and tend animals.

Elsewhere, Pokemon Legends: Z-A is getting paid post-launch content with new Mega Evolutions (including some for Raichu—Pokemon Lightning Edition enthusiasts rejoice!).

One more thing: Metroid dated; DK and more live now

In other news, Donkey Kong Bananza got a $20 DLC pack that included a smash-and-score mode for aggressive play.

Wrapping things up is Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream, which revives Mii madness with dopey voices and island drama — no “win,” just perennially viewable weirdness that’s always driven its word-of-mouth success.

The big picture: This was a bold, breadth-first Direct. Between prestige RPGs, headline indies, nostalgic resurrections and even hardware-forward showcases, Nintendo indicated a smooth handoff from one of the bestselling consoles OF ALL TIME to its follow-up — without forgetting about the people who bought in last time.