The first Nintendo Direct presentation of 2019, which came more than three months after the previous show, was chock full of announcements and details regarding Nintendo’s slate of Nintendo Switch games for this year. Let’s take a deeper look at six highlights — with the list of all the news following below.
Super Mario Maker getting a sequel for Switch, not a port
Nintendo isn’t porting the beloved Wii U game Super Mario Maker to the Switch. Instead, the company is working on a brand-new follow-up, Super Mario Maker 2. There weren’t any real details, except that the sequel will offer “a host of new tools and features,” including the ability to put slopes in created levels. Super Mario Maker 2 is set for release this June.
Zelda: Link’s Awakening revived for Switch
The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening debuted on Game Boy way back in 1993, and Nintendo is bringing it back 26 years later, in 2019, on the Switch. Expect details later, but the gameplay footage — the same top-down perspective, but with 3D graphics instead of 2D sprites — looks gorgeous.
PlatinumGames’ Astral Chain coming to Switch this summer
The next project from Japanese studio PlatinumGames is called Astral Chain, and it’s scheduled to be released Aug. 30 exclusively on Nintendo Switch. Platinum’s Hideki Kamiya is involved in the title, which Nintendo describes as a “synergetic action game.”
Tetris 99 gets surprise announcement, release
Following hot on the heels of last fall’s Tetris Effect comes Tetris 99, a Switch-exclusive spin on the Russian classic that puts 99 players into tetromino combat against each other. (Yes, it’s basically Tetris battle royale.) Tetris 99 will be available today in the Switch eShop as a free-to-download game for Nintendo Switch Online subscribers.
Fire Emblem: Three Houses arrives in July
Nintendo provided some new information on the Fire Emblem: Three Houses, the headlining game of Wednesday’s Nintendo Direct presentation and the series’ debut on Switch. Most importantly, we now have a release date: July 26, which is well after the previously scheduled release window of spring 2019.
BoxBoy! debuting on Switch
The BoxBoy! series of puzzle platformers apparently didn’t end with its Nintendo 3DS trilogy, which concluded with Bye-Bye BoxBoy! in 2017. The franchise is transitioning to Switch with BoxBoy! + BoxGirl!, which will be released April 26 on the Switch eShop. As you might have gathered from the title, the game will offers two-player co-op in certain stages.