Nintendo dropped a surprise “Mini Direct” presentation on January 11, 2018, focusing on a number of announcements regarding games for the Nintendo Switch.
The presentation opened with the unveiling of The World Ends With You, which originally released for the Nintendo DS a decade ago. The game will allow players to use either the touch controls of the original or new Joy-Con controls. The World Ends With You: Final Remix will release later in 2018.
Some downloadable content was announced for Pokken Tournament DX, including new playable characters, Aegislash and Blastoise. The game will be seeing two waves of content in “Battle Packs,” and will include both new playable characters and new support characters. Wave 1 arrives on January 31, with Wave 2 arriving on March 23.
A new look at Kirby Star Allies was also provided, and the trailer gave some insight into the pink puffball’s new copy abilities. These new powerups include the Artist and Spider abilities, and Kirby will also be able to combine abilities to create new, unique powers. Kirby Star Allies releases on March 16.
A port of the popular Hyrule Warriors will be making its way to the Nintendo Switch as well. Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition will include every map, character and mission from both the Wii U and 3DS versions of the games and their respective DLC packs. There will also be new content, including costumes for both Link and Zelda based on their appearances in Breath of the Wild. The game will arrive in spring 2018.
A new Mario sports game will be headed to the Switch – Mario Tennis Aces. The game features a story mode, the first time the series has seen such a mode since the Game Boy Advance days. The game is scheduled to arrive this spring.
The long-running RPG series Ys will be making its way to the Switch when Ys VII: Lacrimosa of Dana arrives. The game features anime-inspired graphics and high-octane action, and will be releasing this summer.
Super Mario Odyssey was one of the best-received games of 2017, and it will be receiving a large update that expands the content. The new content focuses on Mario’s brother Luigi, with a new online mode called “Luigi’s Balloon World” becoming available. Mario will also receive new outfits, and new filters for the Snapshot mode will also be provided. The update arrives in February.
Another surprise of 2017 was Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle, which will also be receiving a new update. A trailer showing off Donkey Kong’s addition to the tactical shooter was shown; he’ll be swinging into action this spring.
A new fighter called SNK Heroines was announced, focusing on – what else – the ladies of the various games by SNK. The colorful fighter features tag-team battles and arrives this summer.
Multiplayer co-operative shooter Payday 2 will be heading to Switch as well. The game will allow for four-player local gameplay via the Crimenet service, and new heists will also be added to the game. The game will hit the system on February 27.
The Donkey Kong franchise will be headed to the Switch soon, with a port of the Wii U title, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. The colorful platformer allows for players to control Funky Kong in the game for the first time for the Switch edition, though the original characters are also still available. The game arrives on May 4.
Finally, an announcement was made for another popular series – Dark Souls is heading to the Nintendo Switch. The brutal action-RPG will arrive in the form of Dark Souls Remastered, which hits the Switch on May 25; this marks the first time the series will be available on a Nintendo console.
You can check out the full presentation with all of the trailers below.
