Nintendo has already had a killer first year for the Nintendo Switch, what with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild captivating gamers, along with other great games like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, ARMS, Splatoon 2 and the forthcoming Super Mario Odyssey. But we’re just getting started, as the company apparently has big plans for the next year ahead.
Videos by ComicBook.com
While it’s too soon to tell if we’ll see Metroid Prime 4 or that new Pokemon game, we will be seeing new entries in the Kirby and Yoshi franchises, as well as games that have yet to be announced. And apparently, “non-traditional IPs” will be among them.
Speaking in an interview with Famitsu, Nintendo’s Yoshiaki Koizumi spoke about the company releasing more than just the usual IPs for the system, meaning that we could see a few long-lost franchises make a return at some point. He stopped short of saying which ones, but we’ve got a few estimated guesses.
With that, let’s talk about some old favorites that we’d love to see resurface again, just because they can…
F-Zero
This is obviously the big one next to Star Fox, which isn’t so obscure anymore now that Star Fox Zero has come out for the Wii U. F-Zero would make a fine return for a Nintendo Switch racing game, with its breakneck pacing, awesome controls and wide assortment of racing characters to choose from, including the mighty Captain Falcon. And obviously it would work incredibly well online as well, as we’ve seen from games like Fast RMX. Now the big question is who would be the right team to develop this game. Shin’en? Sega, the guys that did F-Zero GX? Or maybe an internal Nintendo team? Whatever the case, we want it.
Punch-Out!!
This is a given, mainly because every release of Punch-Out!! that we’ve seen, from the old days of Mike Tyson on the NES to the absolutely stunning Wii game, has been nothing short of spectacular. If anyone has the nature of boxing down, it’s clearly Nintendo. That’s why we think that a Switch release of a new game, or maybe a “re-treatment” of the Wii game, would hit the spot, with new boxers, two player local fighting options (with the JoyCons) and various control schemes available. Plus, you’d have to bring back Donkey Kong, if only because he’s one of the best characters introduced to the franchise since the days of King Hippo. (Don’t tell him we said that.)
Eternal Darkness
We’ve talked about this old-school GameCube game in the past on the Nintendo Switch, since rumors are still circulating that this game could see a re-release, especially with the big “N” filing a recent copyright for it. But what if we’ll be treated to a new release of the game? Not necessarily a sequel, mind you, but maybe Eternal Darkness HD, with all new visual stylings that bring the game to life. For that matter, it could certainly mess with your head again, telling you that it’s deleting all your save files (though it’s not – or is it?!) and introducing plenty of scares for a new generation to enjoy. We’d take a new version of this like nobody’s business.
Kid Icarus
This one could be a bit of a gamble, since the last game featuring Kid Icarus, the 3D adventure Uprising, didn’t exactly produce big numbers for the folks at Nintendo. Still, its visual splendor and innovative gameplay were more than enough to have us thinking that it would be a proper fit for the Nintendo Switch, doing away with gimmicky controls in favor of something that works better with the system’s set-up. For that matter, seeing the graphics in 1080p would really blow our minds as well, compared to the teeny-tiny Nintendo 3DS screen. It certainly wouldn’t hurt to give Uprising another shot at the market – or, hey, maybe a sequel?
Star Tropics
This just needs to happen. We haven’t heard from the Star Tropics franchise in so many years, since the original adventures astounded us on the Nintendo Entertainment System. And we know that Nintendo is still thinking about it, since the original games are making the rounds on the Virtual Console service, as well as various online forums. The first two games were thrilling adventures for all ages to enjoy, and a more contemporary game with Breath of the Wild‘s engine would certainly be welcome. Hell, we’d be just as content with a collection that celebrated the older adventures…and gave us hope for something new.
Excitebike
The last time we got revved up by Excitebike was with downloadable content for Mario Kart 8, where we actually race around one of the game’s arenas, unleashing power-ups on everyone. But the original Excitebike is still a racing marvel to behold, and, for that matter, the WiiWare game that came out a while back is a fun representation of the classic game with beautiful new visuals. We’d be happy with either a treatment of the old-school Excitebike, or even an advanced version of Excitebike 64 to roar through the streets with. We just need to play it again – and without overheating our engine, thank you very much.
Wave Race
F-Zero isn’t the only place where we used to get our racing kicks. One other outstanding series was Wave Race, which got its start on the Nintendo 64 before moving over to the GameCube with the satisfactory follow-up Blue Storm. Since then, the waters have been a bit calm, which has us thinking this franchise needs to make waves again. A new version with local and online multiplayer options, along with sweet track design and neat water effects, would certainly be welcome amongst the Switch community. And, of course, we need another golden opportunity to race a dolphin. Just because.
1080 Snowboarding
We haven’t seen much from Nintendo when it comes to extreme sports, so we definitely have to make mention of the 1080 games. The original was such a blast of fresh air on the Nintendo 64, and the GameCube follow-up 1080 Avalanche followed suit beautifully, with better visuals, refined gameplay and an extreme soundtrack fitting of the material. A new game would kick some major butt, with customization options, a build-your-own-track editor, and various control configurations that would make you feel like king (or queen) of the mountain. We need to give the original GameCube game a spin again.
Earthbound
And, finally, we come to the game that deserves to be revisited, simply because it was such an innovative adventure at the time of its release. EarthBound inspired a bunch of Super Nintendo players at a time when they needed it the most, during a role-playing renaissance where invention and gameplay were key. Where else are you going to find kids in an unlikely role to save the world? We know Nintendo has been paying close attention to this franchise, mainly because of its re-release on Virtual Console services. So, yeah, Mother 3 would be a welcome addition to the Nintendo Switch library. C’mon, Nintendo, we need adventure again!
