Now that 2024 is right here, the countdown is on. Rumors counsel that the Nintendo’s Switch long-awaited successor is coming by the top of the 12 months. While there’s no official phrase from Nintendo on that but, there’s good purpose to assume it may occur. The present lineup of Switch video games for 2024 is trying skinny, so one may moderately guess that builders could also be off engaged on Switch 2 video games by now.
As I start to mirror on the Switch’s wildly profitable life span, I can’t assist however assume about what a bounty of video games its given to Nintendo followers. I’m not simply speaking about Mario and Zelda video games both. Most of Nintendo’s franchises have been represented in some type, even when some have been simply rereleases or oddball spinoffs. We’ve seen Animal Crossing, Metroid, WarioWare, and even F-Zero get new video games on the system. Nintendo left nearly no stone unturned this technology, because it turned nearly each franchise it had right into a money cow.
Despite its intensive library, there are nonetheless a number of holes. Some key Nintendo franchises have but to grace the system, even within the type of an outdated sport remaster. While titles like Advance Wars and Big Brain Academy made a comeback, heavy hitters like Star Fox have seemingly skipped the Switch totally. With maybe solely months left within the system’s life span, these are the most important Nintendo sequence that might miss the Switch except a last-second launch is on the horizon.
Star Fox
Nintendo
Of each main Nintendo sequence that has but to return to Switch in any type, Star Fox is probably the most stunning omission. The house shooter has been a staple of Nintendo consoles ever since 1993. The sequence has appeared on nearly each Nintendo system for the reason that Super Nintendo, solely lacking the Nintendo Wii. It looks like we gained’t get one on the Switch at this charge, and that is smart to a level. The Wii U’s Star Fox Zero was a industrial failure, doubtless leaving Nintendo with chilly ft.
Even so, we’ve seen that the Switch has been capable of elevate even probably the most area of interest franchises because of its huge set up base. An improved Star Fox Zero rerelease may have rehabilitated the sequence. Perhaps Nintendo is saving that for its ultimate gamble on the platform. If not, there’s at all times hope that it will get the F-Zero 99 remedy.
Earthbound
Nintendo
At this level, Earthbound’s absence on a contemporary Nintendo system is a little bit of a meme. It’s not even that gamers are clamoring for a brand new entry within the area of interest RPG sequence; they’ve merely been begging for a port of its third entry, Mother 3. For a number of years previous to the Switch’s life, it felt like Nintendo was constructing to that second. A shock Earthbound Beginnings launch in 2015 felt like table-setting for a Mother 3 revival heading into the Switch period, however that by no means got here.
There’s nonetheless a sliver of hope that we’d see Earthbound on the Switch in some type this 12 months. This 12 months marks the sequence’ 30th anniversary and a few obscure occasions are deliberate to have a good time it. That consists of some merch drops and collaborations. While video games aren’t talked about on the anniversary webpage, that is most likely the perfect hope we’ve had since 2015 for a revival of some kind. If the 12 months goes by with out Mother 3 launching on Switch, both as a full remake or a Switch Online retro rerelease, we could also be trying on the true finish for the dormant sequence.
Punch-Out!!
Nintendo
At this level, I don’t assume many individuals actually anticipate a brand new Punch-Out!! sport from Nintendo. It’s in the identical boat as Duck Hunt — a retro sequence that we’re snug trying again at with pure nostalgia. But it’s a bit stunning Nintendo opted to skip the sequence totally on Switch. Nintendo confirmed its eagerness to make a motion-controller boxing sport early within the Switch’s life with Arms, so Punch-Out!! appeared like a logical (and extra bankable) subsequent step. That by no means occurred, nor did any sort of throwback port of its Wii installment.
Punch-Out!! might have been a casualty of what I name the Switch Lite impact. When Nintendo launched its lower-tier system, which ditched removable Joy-Cons, the system moved away from motion-controlled video games totally. Titles like Mario Party Superstars and WarioWare: Get It Toegther! prioritized conventional button controls to make sure they might run on all methods. Perhaps that explains why we by no means received a Punch-Out!! sport. If that has you feeling blue, would possibly I like to recommend watching Summoning Salt’s implausible two-hour documentary concerning the historical past of Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! speedruns?
Rhythm Heaven
Nintendo
While the Rhythm Heaven sequence may appear as area of interest as they arrive, it’s nonetheless a little bit of a shock that it has but to seem on the Nintendo Switch. The weird rhythm sport sequence has a protracted historical past on Nintendo methods, showing on the Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, 3DS, and even the Wii. It appeared just like the sort of sport that might get a small-budget shock launch on Switch throughout some random Nintendo Direct. That by no means occurred although, and indies like Melatonin have been left to select up the place the sequence left off.
Rhythm Heaven is a kind of awkward franchises that discovered itself misplaced in Nintendo’s transition from separate handheld and residential console markets to a unified system. Games like Pushmo that have been particularly designed for on-the-go play have disappeared on Switch as Nintendo turned console-quality video games into sturdy moveable experiences. Perhaps there simply isn’t loads of house left in Nintendo’s first-party schedule for a fast rhythm sport that takes a number of hours to finish.
Kid Icarus
Nintendo
For a very long time, Kid Icarus was hardly even thought of a “Nintendo franchise.” It had two entries within the writer’s early days, however it went chilly after 1991’s Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters. Interest within the sequence would come again when the sequence’ winged hero, Pit, made his solution to Super Smash Bros. Brawl, however few have been actually clamoring for an precise revival. What would a contemporary Kid Icarus sport even appear like?
That mindset would change in 2012 because of Kid Icarus Uprising, a cult hit Nintendo 3DS title that stands as one of many firm’s most inventive outputs. It would reimagine the sequence as a legendary third-person shooter stuffed with aerial battles and a few on-rail segments. It’s a wildly formidable sport that made nice use of the 3DS and one which left followers hungry for extra. Unfortunately, it’s been over a decade now since that launch. Uprising wouldn’t flip Kid Icarus right into a top-tier sequence, and there’s no purpose to assume it’ll develop into one anytime quickly; a brand new Switch title would have been its finest shot at that. Perhaps it’ll make a comeback on Nintendo’s subsequent system as a solution to push the brand new tech.
Dr. Mario
Nintendo
I totally admit that this choose is one which maybe solely I care about, however it’s value mentioning regardless. Tons of Mario spinoffs have made their solution to Switch over time, from Mario Maker to Strikers. There’s one which hasn’t although: Dr. Mario. The puzzle sequence has been absent on Switch exterior of its look on the Switch Online NES app. Instead, Nintendo would attempt to flip it right into a cellular sport with 2019’s Dr. Mario World. That title would reimagine the franchise as a touch-based puzzler with blended outcomes. It looks like that launch is why we by no means received a devoted Switch installment.
Do we actually want a brand new Dr. Mario sport? Perhaps not contemplating what number of nice puzzle video games are on the Switch, however Dr. Mario is a blast for followers of the style. In truth, Dr. Mario: Miracle Cure was one among my most-played video games on Nintendo 3DS. It was a stable standby that I returned to any time I used to be in-between large releases or needed an informal expertise to dig into. Arcade-based Nintendo video games like which were missing on Switch as the corporate targeted on console-caliber titles, however I hope Nintendo can discover a solution to return to its roots on its subsequent console. Series like Dr. Mario are the sort of moveable staples {that a} moveable gadget wants.
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