The long-awaited first Nintendo Direct of 2019 hit today, and as expected, it was packed full of news sure to please Switch owners looking for more Fire Emblem, Mario, and even Zelda. Here’s everything we learned.
Super Mario Maker 2 is coming to Switch—with slopes!—in June 2019.
Freaking finally. We can now create our own Mario courses on the Switch, and Mario can finally slide on his denim-covered ass down diagonal slopes. Nintendo didn’t show off any especially wild new features for the Switch version of this Wii U game, but we did see Cat Mario, too. “Many new elements” were promised.
The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening is getting remade for Switch.
An adorable-looking, 3D, top-down remake of the 1993 black and white Game Boy game is heading to Switch this year. We didn’t get many details about it, but the trailer confirmed that you can still stomp on old-school style Goombas in the side-scrolling bits. There was also a gorgeous 2D animated intro.
Fire Emblem: Three Houses is slightly delayed, to July 26.
Nintendo detailed a lot of the game’s lore, including what the deal is with the titular Houses. Looks like the characters are all students, and they level up and grow through a combination of fighting and book-learnin’ at school. There will be a special edition, of course.
Astral Chain, a new game from Platinum Games, will be out on August 30.
It’s an action game in which you play future cops and fight giant monsters. Seems like it’ll have co-op. Masakazu Katsura, the manga artist known for Video Girl Ai, is on character designs, and Platinum’s Hideki Kamiya and Takahisa Taura are on the development staff.
The BoxBoy series is coming to Switch, with 2-player co-op.
Time to get really mad at your friend as you play through 270 different stages in BoxBoy! + BoxGirl! on April 26. There will also be stages in which you play as Qudy, who is twice the height of BoxBoy.
Dragon Quest XI will hit Switch this fall.
The Switch version of Square Enix’s latest RPG will be titled Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes Of An Elusive Age: Definitive Edition, include both English and Japanese audio, and will also have new storylines for various characters. It’ll even feature the 16-bit style graphical mode from the 3DS version that didn’t leave Japan. Nintendo promised more new information on the Switch version in the future.
Lots of stuff is dropping to the eShop today.
First, there’s Tetris 99. It’s an exclusive for Switch Online. If you’re a member you can play this battle-royale Tetris game, in which 99 players start but only one remains, for free starting today.
Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker for Switch will get a free update today that adds 2-player co-op to each of the game’s courses. There will also be 18 new challenges and five new courses via paid DLC, starting today. You can order the package, called “Special Episode,” now and get the first course, with the rest delivered on March 14. A digital bundle will hit eShop today containing the whole game and DLC access.
Daemon X Machina, the mecha combat game shown at E3, will get a “prototype missions” demo today, with the full game coming this summer. The game is still in development, so developers are looking for feedback. Play the demo and you might get a survey looking for your thoughts.
Yoshi’s Crafted World, coming March 29, will have a demo today. It will include adorable “costumes” that are just Yoshi wearing a cardboard box.
Final Fantasy IX will also come to the eShop today, with Final Fantasy VII close behind on March 26. No word on the other Final Fantasies that are being ported to Switch.
Other new game or content announcements, including...
Disney Tsum Tsum Festival is coming from Bandai Namco. Many different four-player mini-games, playable locally and online. You can also play what looks like a straight-up port of the mobile version of the game.
Oninaki is the new action RPG from the developers of I Am Setsuna and Lost Sphear. The character must jump back and forth between “the living world and beyond” to find “lost souls” to rescue, who give you new powers. It’s coming this summer.
Rune Factory 4 Special has been remastered for the Switch, coming later this year. Rune Factory 5 is also in development.
Starlink: Battle For Atlas is getting more Star Fox-related content in its Spring update. You’ll be able to play as Falco, Peppy, and Slippy and take on the members of Star Wolf in the new battles in April.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will get a Version 3.0 update this spring. No details on what it’ll include. The DLC character Joker from Persona is coming in April.
And a whole bunch of other release dates and announcements for Switch, including:
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order (Summer), Bloodstained: Ritual Of The Night (Summer), Dragon Quest Builders 2 (July 12), Dead By Daylight (Fall), Deltarune (February 28), GRID Autosport (Summer), Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (Spring), Mortal Kombat 11 (April 23), Unravel two (March 22), Assassin’s Creed III Remastered (May 21), and Chocobo’s Mystery Dungeon Every Buddy (March 20).
Oh, and the developers of Bayonetta 3 are reportedly “hard at work.” Glad to hear it.