Today’s Nintendo Direct was full of announcements, from the reveal of two new characters for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate to the eagerly anticipated reveal of Splatoon 3. Between those two, there were 50 minutes worth of trailers, reveals, and deep dives that would have any Nintendo fan purring like Mario in Super Mario 3D World.
Anyway, whether you missed the show or just wanted to catch up on it, here’s all the info from today’s Nintendo Direct.
Every announcement from today's Nintendo Direct
Pyra and Mythra join Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Pyra and Mythra, the twin aegis sisters at the center of Xenoblade Chronicles 2, are coming to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as a two-in-one character. The rest of the gang, including main character Rex, will show up through special attacks, not to mention cameo appearances in the new Azurda stage.
Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout on Switch
The most adorable battle royale around is coming to Switch this summer. We don't have an exact release date for Fall Guys on Switch just yet, but we now know that it's just a few months away – which is really just more time for its selection of stages to get even better.
The Outer Wilds
The Outer Wilds, an unexpectedly introspective and unforgettably good space adventure, is coming to Nintendo Switch. The Outer Wilds is equal parts comfy and harrowing, so it ought to be a great game to bring on the go.
Famicom Detective Club
Murder mystery series Famicom Tantei Club: Kieta Kōkeisha is finally coming to the West! Arriving under the title Famicom Detective Club, Nintendo is bringing two games – The Missing Heir and The Girl Who Stands Behind – to Nintendo Switch on May 14.
Samurai Warriors 5
Samurai Warriors continues to make history look irresponsibly handsome. The fifth mainline instalment is coming to Switch this summer, and it'll also be available on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
Legend Of Mana
A remaster of the classic RPG that sees you hunting for the Mana Tree, you need to create the places you’ll visit on the World Map by placing artifacts you acquire on it, and watch as towns, dungeons, and more spring up for you to explore. You can get a nostalgia blast when this launches on June 24.
Monster Hunter Rise - New Trailer
Monster Hunter Rise is scheduled to launch on March 26, and it's looking better by the trailer. The latest showcase focuses on the Rampage event and how it affects monsters, and it also shows us six new and returning monsters that haven't been seen in Rise before.
After an 18 year wait, Nintendo is finally bringing back Mario Golf to consoles. Arriving June 25, Mario Golf Super Rush is coming to Switch along with a large roster of characters from the Mario universe, a fully-fledged story mode, and the option to engage in aggressive speed golf – which sounds as ridiculous as it does awesome.
Tales from the Borderlands
The most overlooked Borderlands game is getting another shot on Switch starting March 24. Tales from the Borderlands is a narrative-driven adventure from Telltale Games, and it's both an unmissable story in its own right and a fascinating piece of Borderlands lore.
Capcom Arcade Stadium
Imagine telling someone back in the ‘80s that one day that could take an entire arcade collection wherever they fancied in their pocket. Still, maybe leave out some of the details from modern https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dNmx-5AdNglife… Anyway, Capcom Arcade Stadium gives you 1943 for free and allows you to buy classics such as Ghosts ‘n Goblins, Street Fighter 2, Strider, and more. Best of all, it launches today.
Stubbs the Zombie: Rebel Without A Pulse
What year is it? 2021 apparently, and not 2005. Stubbs the Zombie: Rebel Without a Pulse is being resurrected for Nintendo Switch, arriving March 16. You'll be once again tasked with recruiting and mobilising a growing horde of zombies to take over the city, and you'll be able to do so with updated controls and be able to earn achievements for your efforts.
No More Heroes 3
Travis Touchdown is back, slicing through aliens with his beam katana, and doing odd jobs like mowing lawns to pay to enter boss fights. It's classic Grasshopper Manufacture madness at its purest. The game was first announced in late 2019 but got delayed due to COVID-19. It now has a brand new release date of August 27.
Neon White
Neon White throws a lot at you at once. It's a first-person action game about kicking demons out of heaven by harnessing magic playing cards. Look, I said it was a lot. Lead designer Ben Esposito – who you may know from Donut County and What Remains of Edith Finch – describes it as "a campy anime speedrunning game made for freaks, by freaks," which seems pretty apt so far. It'll be out on Switch and PC later this year.
DC Super Hero Girls Teen Power
You'll need to suit up and fight alongside your pals to save Metropolis in DC Super Hero Girls: Teen Power. Set to launch June 4 for Nintendo Switch, this brawler looks pretty light touch, but it could also be quite a bit of fun. We won't have long to wait to find out.
Plants vs Zombies: Battle for Neighborville
EA brings the 2019 third-person pea shooter - originally released on PS4, Xbox One and PC - to Nintendo Switch on March 19. Choose to play as either the vegetation or the undead in a series of missions and boss battles, or grab some friends for co-op or 8 versus 8 battles. As a bonus the Nintendo Switch version will come with added motion control support.
Nintendo is bringing back a fan-favourite from the 3DS era. That's right, Miitopia is coming to Switch on May 21! If you haven't played it before, Miitopia is a hyper charming RPG that lets you take your Mii avatar out on adventures, traveling to different worlds to battle enemies and meet other players. It's a lot of fun, and will almost certainly be well worth diving back into on Switch.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons Super Mario Update
Feel like your island life could do with a little sprucing up? Well great news if those spring cleaning plans involved decking your home out with a tonne of Mario gear and dressing your islander up as the famous plumber himself, as a free update in March will make your (very specific) dreams come true. And if that’s not enough, another free update is planned for February 25th.
Project Strategy Triangle is, thankfully, just a working title for the new strategy JRPG from Square Enix – more specifically, much of the team behind Octopath Traveler. It's big on branching narrative and it strikes us as an unofficial successor to Final Fantasy Tactics, so we're eager to see more before its 2022 release. Fortunately, a demo that launches on the Nintendo Store today means we can!
Star Wars Hunters
This short trailer showed us a quick glimpse of some holograms, a few laser blasts, and a 2021 release date, as well as promising a competitive free to play third person shooter in a galaxy far, far away. The fact it’s set between Episodes 6 and 7 means we’re hoping for a Mando cameo.
Knockout City
The developers behind Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit revealed a brand new game during the Direct. Titled Knockout City, it's a tactical team-based third-person shooter where the guns have been replaced by dodgeballs. Want to learn more? Then you'll want to read our Knockout City preview.
World’s End Club
The developers of Danganronpa have cooked up another death game, this time starring 12 "go-getters" trapped in an underwater theme park. The twist is that the gang escapes the death game early on only to return home and find the world deserted, and so begins a side-scrolling, genre-defying road trip across Japan. We'll sample the weirdness for ourself come May 28.
Hades Physical Edition
GamesRadar+'s Game of the Year for 2020 is enough of a mega hit to get its own physical release on Nintendo Switch, adding a PC download code for the Hades Original Soundtrack and a 32-page, full-colour character compendium with lovely art of all those alarmingly attractive gods. It's your to own on March 19.
Ninja Gaiden Master Collection
Bundling together Ninja Gaiden Sigma, Sigma 2, and Ninja Gaiden 3, Team Ninja’s nails hard fighter gives Switch fans a chance to replay the reboot trilogy of Ryu Hayabusa’s extremely bloody adventures. All previous DLC will be bundled into the Master Collection when it launches on June 10.
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity Expansion Pass
Following on from its release late last year, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is getting an Expansion Pass. Beginning May 28, you'll be able to purchase the pass for $20 in advance of two waves of content coming later this year; the first of which is expected to land June, including an expanded roster of characters, new weapon types, challenges, and more, with the second wave of content expected in November.
Bravely Default 2
The next Bravely Default game – which is technically the third game in the series, but who's counting – is just a few weeks away. Bravely Default 2 will arrive on February 26, bringing a new saga of beautifully illustrated, unabashedly old-school JRPG goodness with it.
Ghosts ‘n Goblins Resurrection
Famously difficult platformer Ghosts ‘n Goblins returns next week, with Ghosts ‘n Goblins Resurrection set to land on Nintendo Switch on February 25. A first for the series, you'll now be able to endure the legendary challenge with a companion, as Resurrection arrives with a local co-op mode. It's better to fail with a friend by your side.
SaGa Frontier Remastered
It's been a long time coming, but we finally got some news on the long-awaited remaster of SaGa Frontier. Square Enix revealed this thing way back in 2020, but we're happy to see this classic RPG from the PS1 arrive on Switch – along with new content, additional characters, and more – on April 15, 2021.
Apex Legends on Nintendo Switch
We knew Apex Legends was coming to Switch, but now we know that you'll get an all-new Legendary Pathfinder skin for downloading it. Add that to the 30 free levels of the Season 8 Mayhem battle pass, plus Double XP for the first two weeks after the March 9 launch, and you've got something that's certainly worth checking out on Switch. Plus, it's free.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD
No new info on the Breath of the Wild 2, but as consolation prizes go, Skyward Sword HD is a pretty good one. Not only is the sky above and the land below getting a fresh visual remaster, the not-so-beloved motion controls are now entirely optional. It's hitting Switch on July 16.
What a gift, what a joy, to live in a world where Splatoon 3 is a real thing... even if we're going to have to wait until 2022 to actually play it. The reveal trailer started off with a post-apocalyptic Eiffel Tower and rolled straight into Turf War battles with cool new weapons - even three games into the series, Nintendo's still keeping us guessing.
There's still plenty of Nintendo games to enjoy this year, just check out our new games 2021 guide for more.
