I’ve been shouting from the mountaintops that the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct that aired not too long ago was likely going to be the greatest thing ever. After all, Nintendo has all the momentum in the gaming world, and all they had to do was showcase a bunch of games from 1st and 3rd party developers and then let the success roll. Yet, as the Direct ended, you have to wonder if they actually “understood the assignment,” or merely wanted to ensure that everyone knew how different the Switch 2 would be from the previous one. In this recap, we’ll break down the biggest announcements from the Direct!
First, obviously, there’s Mario Kart World! This is the launch title for the Nintendo Switch 2, which will arrive on June 5th! The massive trailer reveals all the new features that’ll come with the title, including much larger courses that you can take on in various ways, larger online battles, all-new modes to have fun in, and more! This will likely be the best Mario Kart game ever and that’s saying something, so it’s a great way to kick off the new console’s life.
What might have surprised many of you, and definitely me, was how much time Nintendo spent on the hardware side of things. They put a ton of time into talking about not only the hardware differences between the Switch and Switch 2, but also about new features like GameChat and being able to put a camera on your Switch 2 so that you can see your friends while you play with them. It is a cool feature that’ll let you have feel more in-touch with your gaming crew while you play, but how many people will use this feature to the fullest remains to be seen.
We also got to see the return of the Nintendo Gamecube via a breakdown of the upcoming titles that’ll arrive on Nintendo Switch Online at the launch of the Switch 2. These games will only be available for Switch 2 users, and multiple classics will be there, and more will be added over time, including Fire Emblem Path of Radiance!!!
Arguably one of the biggest surprises in the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct was that of Kirby Air Riders, the title that Masahiro Sakurai himself is working on. Seriously, this game is happening and you know right off the bat that Sakurai will go full-tilt to ensure it’s the coolest thing ever.
Oh, and how about the reveal of Hyrule Warriors Age of Imprisonment? Clearly, Nintendo loved what Koei Tecmo did with the Age of Calamity and wants to “double dip,” and this time, we’re getting more story about Zelda’s adventures in the past! it looks pretty cool to me, and definitely something I’ll be trying out.
On the Nintendo Entertainment Podcast, I predicted we would get a 3rd party exclusive game, but even I didn’t expect From Software to come out with The Duskbloods! They are another team that is known for quality, so we’ll have to see what they cook up when it drops next year:
The final big game shown at the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct was the stunning reveal of Donkey Kong Bananza! The game is a full-tilt open-world Donkey Kong game, and fans are undoubtedly pumped about this because we’ve been asking for it FOR SO LONG!!!! Seriously, we’ve wanted this kind of thing since the N64, and since it’s coming out in July, that means it’s one of the first big releases on Switch 2. That’s something important right there.
All that being said, there were some very odd things that weren’t in the Direct that caught people’s attention. For example, while Nintendo dropped a big press release about the systems price and its features, it was only afterward that we heard that the game prices could range from $70-90 depending on the game! That’s a huge difference, especially if you prefer physical copies.
Furthermore, there were a TON of games that people expected to see in this Direct that didn’t happen. No Splatoon, 3D Mario game, Star Fox, Smash Bros, F-Zero, Xenoblade, Fire Emblem, the list goes on! In truth, we only got 3-4 1st party games depending on how you view it (Age of Imprisonment is a 3rd party collaboration, so…). This is in direct (pun intended) contrast to the OG Switch reveal, even where there were NUMEROUS 1st party titles shown to get people hyped. Yes, Metroid Prime 4 and Pokemon Legends Z-A were confirmed to be getting “enhanced editions” for the Switch 2, but it’s up to you to decide which version you’ll want and if they’re true “Switch 2 exclusives.”
And while it was great seeing all the 3rd party support, including certain surprises like Street Fighter 6 and Split Fiction coming to Switch 2, many likely expected more 3rd party exclusives.
Thus, as I end this recap, I can’t help but admit that I’m a bit disappointed in what was shown. Sure, there’s stuff to look forward to, but not as much as we were hoping for. It’s possible we’ll get another Direct before the June 5th launch…but it’s hard to say for certain.
