The Switch is getting a bevy of new games that should appeal to a broad variety of players, Nintendo announced today in one of its “Direct” videos. A new Mario Tennis game, updates to Odyssey, some classics and indies and, perhaps most unexpectedly, Dark Souls: Remastered.
The deepest fan-pleaser cut has to be The World Ends With You, a quirky DS cult hit with a great soundtrack and great modern aesthetic. Many a fan has asked for a remake or port, and they are surely crying tears of delight today.
The impeccable Super Mario Odyssey gets a new competitive game mode and an appearance by the well-known plumber’s too frequently ignored brother. Luigi hosts Balloon World, where you’re given 30 seconds to hide a balloon somewhere on a stage, or find one that someone else has hidden. No doubt 999-star power players will find ways to put these in absurdly hard to reach areas.
Luigi also appears (alongside all the usual suspects) in the new Mario Tennis Aces, which is pretty much what you’d expect. The story mode looks like it’ll be fun, though I doubt it will touch the fondly remembered Power Tour on GBA. (If you want a spiritual sequel to that, try Golf Story. Wrong sport, right feel.)
I personally am looking forward to playing action JPRG Ys VIII, the beautiful and musical Fe and mega-hard pixelly platformer Celeste, which has been given a few easier modes for people who don’t want bite marks on their controllers.
While I’ll probably end up replaying Dark Souls: Remastered on PC to get the maximum effect of the redone art, it’s nice to know that Nintendo is looking to court games and developers generally preferred by more hardcore types.
Check out the rest of the Nintendo announcements (with groan-worthy narrated clips) at the Direct page.