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Nothing beats going into a Nintendo Direct with zero expectations and being surprised. Did I have Super Mario RPG and Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon remakes on my announcement bingo card? Absolutely not, but you better believe I'm happy to see the two plumbers take center stage on the Switch – in more ways than one, as it turns out. The close of the show saw the reveal of Super Mario Bros Wonder complete with polished-looking 2D platforming, a playable Daisy, and, most importantly, Elephant Mario.
But I'm getting ahead of myself here. The showcase was packed with fun new announcements before Wonder even entered the picture. And better yet, I wasn't anticipating any of them. A new Princess Peach game? Yes please. The return of a coffee drinking Pika in Detective Pikachu 2? Here for it. Along with a new WarioWare entry, Dragon Quest Monsters The Dark Prince, and more, the Nintendo Direct was one delectable helping of upcoming Switch games that are immediately wishlist material. Above all, though, it's great to see more of Mario and co. again after a long stretch, with some solid first-party offerings to look forward to.
Super surprises
Nintendo just underlined the generational appeal of video games with a simple release date
For some reason I just couldn't shake the feeling that I shouldn't expect much from the June 2023 Nintendo Direct. Even though it's Nintendo we're talking about, it somehow felt like a low-key showcase after all of the fanfare and build up towards the Summer Game Fest and Xbox Games Showcase. It's likely a reflection of the way Nintendo has always done things as it is anything else, with a casual announcement the day before a showcase is dropping. But after the recent launch of Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – which continues to hold a lot of attention as one of the biggest releases of 2023 – I didn't think we'd get as many fun surprises as we did.
I figured we'd see some third-party game announcements, along with an update or two on current releases, alongside Pikmin 4. Then at the close of the show, we'd get one final reveal as is tradition. The latter came true of course, but the overall showcase was firing on many cylinders. After opening on a new look at the Pokemon Scarlet and Violet expansion, it wasn't long before the showcase started ramping things up with a line-up of remakes for some of Nintendo's classic library of beloved games. Super Mario RPG, is one much-talked about SNES game I never got to try out, so I'm more than happy to get to dig into a slice of Mario history in a shiny new form.
But thinking back over previous Directs, it feels like it's been some time since we've seen much in the way of anything Mario-shaped outside of Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope. Seeing him pop up in something new for the Switch with Super Marios Bros Wonder feels long overdue, and it was certainly a more than welcome surprise to see some classic platforming action. Plus, if anything is going to sell me on a new game, it's the chance to turn into an elephant. I mean, come on.
For me personally, though, the most exciting announcement was the new Princess Peach game. While we only got a light teaser with the promise of more to come soon, I'm beyond hyped to know Peach is getting a new adventure of her very own after so long. I can't wait to find out more, and that's exactly what you want a showcase to do: Drum up your excitement for what's ahead and get you thinking about just what shape a new game could take.
It's always a joy when you settle into a showcase of announcements and go away feeling far more surprised by what was on show than you were initially expecting. The last thing I anticipated was quite so much Mario-shaped magic, but it's great to see him back again with other beloved characters stepping into the limelight, too.
Check out our pick of the best Switch games you can play right now.
