News

Nintendo Direct highlights great third-party support and Mario's nips

September 14, 2017 by Kieran McClung

Super Mareola!

Nintendo Direct took place late last night showcasing a huge amount of upcoming content for both the Nintendo 3DS and the Nintendo Switch. The Direct focused mainly on Super Mario Odyssey but there were some genuinely exciting announcements, least not with more third-party support for the Switch. There was still a lot of love shown for the 3DS, though, which is great considering the recent release of the Switch meaning there’s plenty to get excited about for both platforms.

Nintendo 3DS

Pokémon

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJdwPU-SylM[/youtube]

Pokémon Ultra Sun and Moon were announced for the Nintendo 3DS both releasing on November 17th this year. The Ultra variant of these Pokémon games mixes things up a little with new areas to explore, including a beach and some kind of Pikachu ranch. There are also a bunch of new customisable’s for your character including quite a fetching Pikachu hat. The beginning of the game has also been tweaked slightly, changing the way you collect your first Pokémon. Each game will also include a completely new Ultra Beast (Legendary Pokeémon for us oldies) and they look… different.

It wasn’t all about Ultra Celestial Bodies though as Pokémon Gold and Silver are also coming to the 3DS’ Virtual Console. The two games will be available on the 22nd of September and you’ll also get a Celebi for Pokémon Sun, Moon and Ultra Sun/Moon if you purchase either title. The two games are also getting limited edition releases in Europe where you get a box styled like the old Gameboy Color boxes. The box is pretty much empty though and only contains a redeemable code for the store but nostalgia!

A new Pokémon 2DS XL is also being released on November 3, just weeks before the new Ultra Sun/Moon editions. The new 2DS sports the classic red and white Pokéball colours with the extruding pokénip on the lid with a sleek red interior.

Other 3DS games

Fret not if you’re a non-pokéfan as there’s plenty more to be excited about coming to the 3DS.

A remake of Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga is coming to the 3DS on October 3rd alongside two new amiibo – Goomba and Koopa Troopa
Layton’s Mystery Journey was finally given a world wide release – October 6th.
Kirby Battle Royale will be coming to the 3DS family on November 3rd.
Nintendo Presents: Style Boutique 3 – Styling Star will strut its stuff on November 24th.
~~Minecrack~~ Minecraft is finally coming to the 3DS family too (at some point).
Mario Party will be making its mark on the 3DS in January next year. The compilation takes the best 100 minigames from the original 10 Mario Party games and bundles them in the ultimate handheld party game.
Atlus’ RPG – The Alliance Alive will be available on the eShop early 2018.

Nintendo Switch

Super Mario Odyssey

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zps84AcOxqI[/youtube]

The extended look at Super Mario Odyssey further reinforced just how great this game is going to be. The Mario Odyssey segment showcased the usual stunning gameplay but also some little tidbits of info such as the world map and how players would be able to explore the new Mario universe. It also showed off two new locations – Shiveria in the Snow Kingdom and Bubblain in the Seaside Kingdom, each of which looked absolutely stunning, as you’d expect.

Power Moons are the key resource in Super Mario Odyssey and collecting allows you to progress further through the game. It was emphasized that Power Moons won’t always be easy to collect with some of them hidden in ridiculously complex locations. Photo mode was also shown off which allows you to pause the game at any moment to take that perfect photo. It didn’t look half-arsed either with full camera controls, filters and logo placement.

The video also brought with it some controversy, of which overshadowed the abundance of great content shown before it. The internet is ablaze with the reveal that Mario has nipples! That’s right. All those years there were two pointy milk dispensers hiding behind Mario’s dungarees.

A new Switch bundle was also announced, releasing October 27th. The Switch comes preloaded with Super Mario Odyssey, includes a Mario themed carrying case and two red Joy-Cons. Begone weird colour combos!

Other Switch games

An extended look at Xenoblade Chronicles 2 opened the Switch segment. The video shared more information about the games story, world and combat system and will be available on December 1st.
Morphies Law is a new robot-morphing 4v4 online shooter with a genuinely unique gameplay features. Shooting opponents steals their mass and in turn, increases the size of your character. If you’re a pro you’ll be a bigger target yet the noobs will be running around like tiny little Lego figures. The game releases on Switch this Winter.
The Bethesda blowout was genuinely quite surprising. Joining Skyrim on the Switch are DOOM and Wolfenstein 2!. DOOM will be releasing at the end of this year whilst Wolfenstein 2 will be making an appearance sometime next.
Arcade Archives Mario Bros. is coming to the Switch on September 27th with a load of other arcade classics following suite. These arcade versions of the games will be different to their NES counterparts and feature titles such as Balloon Fight, Ice Climber & Pinball.
A new Square Enix RPG was also shown – OCTOPATH TRAVELER (working title). The game is incredibly stylistic with its 2D/3D/Pixel-Art/Voxel art style. The demo is available now with the final game releasing next year.
Dragon Quest Builders is also coming to the Switch in Spring next year.
The new Kirby game – Kirby Star Allies – was also given a rough release of Spring next year and a little more gameplay was shown off.