The unpredictable renegades of the industry, Nintendo have never been a company to follow the rules. They forge their own paths, they fear nothing and no-one, and they have no bedtime curfew.

In short, being completely oblivious to what Sony, Microsoft and the rest of the industry are doing is the way they roll. This attitude has been a strong positive, at times, giving the company their reputations as innovators. Touchscreen gaming, motion controls, L-targeting, D-pads and the like… all of these gaming mainstays were popularized by Nintendo systems.

In any industry, it can be beneficial to have a company like Nintendo. Technology would stagnate without competition, after all. Even with all of that said, though, when you get too creative and out there, it can be tough to get customers on board. They’ll feel like clueless people at an exhibition of surrealist art, wondering just what that giant eyeball made of peaches and q-tips is supposed to mean.

Needless to say, too, experimentation and innovation is a risky business. You can’t make an omelette without cracking a few craptacular Virtual Boys, as they say. The Wii U was one of these missteps, and Nintendo themselves have acknowledged its horrible failure.

Nintendo Switch is no Wii U, that’s for darn sure. The plucky little system is on fire at the moment, and it’s showing no signs of slowing that momentum as we enter a new year. Check out our red-hot roundup of 25 Nintendo games coming our way in 2018.

25 Detective Pikachu: Why Not Throw ANOTHER Hat On The Little Guy?

I get it, Nintendo, I really do. Pikachu is the mascot of one of the biggest franchises you have, and he/she is all kinds of a big deal. It totally makes sense that you want to dress the electric rodent up in a whole wardrobe full of quirky outfits, like an overbearing pet owner.

Christmas Pikachu, New Years Pikachu, Halloween Pikachu, all the different outfits from Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire… fine. Go right ahead. What the hey, why not throw Detective Pikachu in there too?

Oh, wait. You have. This 3DS title will arrive on March 23, and will see you solving mysteries as said talking Pikachu (and his partner and sidekick Tim Goodman). The game was released on the eShop in Japan back in February 2016, and is finally set to hit the rest of the world.

24 Bayonetta 1 And 2: Oh, Baby, It’s A Triple!

As I say, Nintendo Switch is in a great place just now, but it hasn’t always been that way. At launch, it lacked the true heavy hitters it needed, with Breath of the Wild the biggest title available (and it was also a Wii U game). What caused the upswing in momentum? The likes of Mario Odyssey, and the announcement of more big titles to come.

During the Game Awards last month, Nintendo announced that Bayonetta 3 was in development as a Switch exclusive, and they threw in some more news too: Bayonetta 1 and 2 would be re-released to join it on the system. Fans of stylish hack and slash action will be super happy to know that the first and second games are set to hit soon, on February 16.

23 Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition: The Number Of Ports Is Over 9000

I know we’ve been over and over this, but the Switch library (and sales) has benefitted enormously from some of the bigger names that have been dropping since launch. This is just how console sales work, of course, it’s inevitable.

The trouble with these huge, spangly, AAA releases, like Super Mario Odyssey, is that they can’t just be churned out overnight by a couple of interns. So what do you do in the interim? You bust out refined ports of previous titles, apparently. We’ve seen this with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, the upcoming The World Ends With You and Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze ports, and now here comes the Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition.

I guess with the sales of Wii U having been… less than stellar, it’s good to give people access to games that they may never have experienced. Hyrule Warriors hits Switch later this year.

22 Dark Souls Remastered: Something Wicked This Way Comes

Since the new year first dawned, there’s been a lot of buzz around Nintendo. After the Switch’s great 2017, there’s a lot of pressure on the system to keep the hype train rolling. There was a lot of anticipation around a possible Nintendo Direct, which they just did not deliver. Lots of names were flying around the web, with predictions that Grand Theft Auto V, Dark Souls and more would be ported to the hybrid handheld.

When January 11’s Direct Mini finally arrived, it turned out that the rumors were true: Dark Souls Remastered was unveiled, and it is indeed Switch bound. Just the first game (or the second, I guess, depending on how you look at it), this notoriously unforgiving action RPG has a release date of May 25. It’ll also hit Xbox One, PS4, and PC on the same day.

21 Darkest Dungeon: Is It Me Or Is It Getting HARD In Here?

When all of the hype around a possible Dark Souls Switch started to surface, I wasn’t entirely settled on why. I always welcome new and unexpected releases, even re-releases, but I just couldn’t understand why this would be a suitable home for the game. Still, Skyrim works super nicely portable, and it’s encouraging to see that Nintendo are being invited to the multiplatform party too.

If Dark Souls isn’t clothing-renderingly, heavens-imploringly difficult enough for you, how about a little Darkest Dungeon as well? Red Hook’s acclaimed dungeon crawler is one of the biggest indie titles of recent years, with its inimitable atmosphere and visuals and brutal challenge. Originally a Steam title, previous console ports have suffered from fiddly controls, and Red Hook have promised touchscreen control support for the Switch edition.

We’ll see how it fares when it releases, January 18.

20 Mario Tennis Aces: Is It Going To Be Ace?

Now, I’m going to be frank here: I’ve always had mixed feelings about the Mario Tennis games. It’s the whole Mario Kart vs Gran Turismo sort of thing, I guess. I’m not a fan of super serious sims, but I don’t want everything to be too wacky, RNG-based and generally nutso either. Entertainment is key, but I’d like a little skill-based gameplay to be front and centre too.

Different entries in the series have taken different approaches to this whole concept, and I can’t wait to see more of Mario Tennis Aces and get an idea of where it falls on the scale. Nintendo have already shown off a glimpse of story mode (the first in Mario Tennis since the GBA game in 2005), and the boss battles therein, so it looks like we’re taking things slightly more seriously this time around.

19 Travis Strikes Again- No More Heroes: Suda51’s Back, Back Again

If you were a Wii player who tentatively tiptoed beyond the mainstream, you probably remember No More Heroes. This hack and slash adventure title was brought to us by Suda51, one of gaming’s more creative minds, and it became a real cult favourite. You took the role of Travis Touchdown, an otaku who wins a beam katana at an auction and becomes embroiled in a battle for survival.

It was sleek, stylish, and a heap of flashy fun to play. A sequel, No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle, arrived on the Wii in 2010, and now Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes has been confirmed to be on its way to the Switch sometime this year.

The game will pick up a middle-aged Travis’s story several years later, seeing our anti-hero transported to a digital world and fighting his opponents from within several fictional video games.

18 Fire Emblem: Fill In Your Own Snappy Subtitle

As all newly-released consoles discover, big IPs are the way to truly sell systems. If you’re buying into Sony, Nintendo or Microsoft’s latest system, it’s probably because you dig what they bring to the industry. Great multiplatform titles are always welcome, naturally, but decisions tend to come down to the big exclusives.

As I say, the Switch struggled a little prior to the release of Super Mario Odyssey, because this is exactly the sort of exclusive that fans of the company’s games buy their consoles for. The future lineup has been expanding since, with the likes of Bayonetta 3, but we’re also told that a true Fire Emblem title is on its way to the Switch later this year. Fire Emblem Heroes was a neat little sideline, but it was no true series entry.

With nary a screenshot or any details in sight, all we can do is sit tight.

17 Super Smash Bros Switch: Let’s All Cross Our Fingers Even Tighter

Yep, that’s right. You guessed it, friends, there’s no concrete official word to support this yet. Many were hoping that some would come during that first Nintendo Direct of the year, but it didn’t. Still, though, the hype among the Switch community is at fever pitch, so I couldn’t help but include this one.

Just like The Miracles, Marvin Gaye and everyone else who’s covered that song over the years, we’ve all heard it through the grapevine. The story is, Nintendo are going to pull a Mario Kart Deluxe on us with Super Smash Bros Wii U/3DS. A fully-fledged new entry will be a long time coming, if ever, but this would be a neat little stopgap in the meantime. This one would have double dip written all over it.

16 The World Ends With You: Final Remix: Straight Outta DS Stardom

You know, there are some games that just can’t catch a break. The industry is full of licensed dross that sells super well just on the strength of the name on the cover, and it’s darn unfair. On the other side of the coin, we’ve got the fantastic but slightly obscure games that don’t get the recognition they deserve.

2007’s The World Ends With You was quite a sales success, sure, but there are so many RPG fans that never got a chance to experience it. The good news is, the recent Nintendo Direct Mini dropped the Final Remix edition out of nowhere, an enhanced Switch port of the classic rhythm-based RPG. The fresh new Joy-Con/touchscreen control system sounds intriguing, and I can’t wait to get in on this when it arrives later this year.

15 Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze Switch: Funky Is Here!

For long-time Nintendo fans, the Donkey Kong Country games need no introduction. These SNES platformers were renowned for their visuals, sound, and gameplay, and have earned their place in history as some of the best games available for the system.

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze was the fifth game in the series, and a sequel to the Wii’s Donkey Kong Country Returns. Developed by Retro Studios, it’s a super solid scrolling platformer, but just isn’t quite as well regarded as earlier entries in the series. In another surprise announcement from the January 11 Nintendo Direct Mini, though, we learned that it’s going to get another lease of life on Switch.

On May 4, an enhanced version of Tropical Freeze will arrive on the hybrid handheld. The big draw of this version? An all-new play mode that will bring franchise favourite Funky Kong into the fray.

14 Payday 2: Time To Get Paid

Here’s another one to file into the draw marked Surprising But No Less Welcome Switch Ports.

Payday 2 is, it’s safe to say, a couple lightyears out of Nintendo’s wheelhouse. If you’re unfamiliar with 505 Games’ hit FPS, it’s easiest to think of it as a sort of first-person Grand Theft Auto. Your main objective is to cooperate with your fellow gang members to complete a variety of heists, bank robberies, smaller scale crimes, those sorts of thing.

In short, not the sort of thing you’re likely to see Mario getting up to as he cruises through the Metro Kingdom. Still, it’s good to see Nintendo being a little more open-minded, for the sake of the diversity of the Switch’s games catalog. To that end, it’s been announced that the Payday 2 port will drop on February 27.

13 Dragon Quest Builders: It’s Dragon Quest, Jim, But Not As We Know It

Dragon Quest is a franchise that has established itself across the world, but has never quite reached the heights that it has in its native Japan. Generally, when it comes to THE RPG franchise, most people would tend to cite Final Fantasy, but Dragon Quest could perhaps be an even bigger deal.

As a result, then, Dragon Quest has seen its share of sidelines, spin-offs and such. One of the most recent of these was Dragon Quest Builders. This sandbox action RPG is set in the original game’s world of Alefgard, with the player tasked to rebuild the world following its destruction.

A combination of RPG and Terraria/Minecraft building, then, and a good fit for the Switch. You’ll be able to see for yourself, come February 9.

12 Kirby Battle Royale: Fighting Yourself Is The Hardest Part

If you remember that darn Dark Link dodging around you sword like Floyd Mayweather back in Ocarina of Time’s Water Temple, you’ll know how very difficult it can be to fight… yourself. Our pink puffball pal Kirby has learned that himself over the years, and he’s about to get another huge dose of it.

Kirby Battle Royale is a 3DS brawler that released in Japan and Europe last November. It’s on its way to North America next week, January 19, and it’s one for new-release-starved 3DS owners to keep an eye on.

The game offers a single-player campaign, as well as competitive and co-op modes in an arena. The crux of the whole thing is taking part in a range of different minigames, and it’s a Mario Party-esque good time.

11 Yoshi: What Comes After ‘Wooly?’

Speaking of video game mainstays, who’s Nintendo’s main man? Well, Mario, that’s who. His faithful steed Yoshi may not be quite that iconic, but he’s right up there with the rest of the Mushroom Kingdom A-list.

As such, Yoshi has starred in all manner of games over the years, and has a devoted fanbase that embrace the little dino-gal/guy in all of its forms. Whether your favourite is the classic green Yoshi, the black, red, pink, orange or another one entirely, there’s a Yoshi for you.

The Yoshi series has brought us a lot of brilliantly kooky and creative titles, such as 2015’s Yoshi’s Wooly World. We don’t know anything about the tentatively-titled Yoshi Switch yet, but it’s penciled in to arrive some time this year.

10 Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 Plus: Still Going Strong In 2018

As with any trend, from flares and dodgy 90s fringes to yo-yos and pogs, things come and go. The video game industry is no different in this regard. We just don’t have big-old chunky cartridges anymore, and it’s a darn shame. Those N64 carts were robust, friend. They’d survive a direct hit from a ballistic missile.

At the same time, though, some things really are timeless. You just can’t keep them down. Friends reruns, for instance, are still going to be playing in the 3049, and Pac-Man is still going to be starring in video games.

Pac-Man Championship Edition was a well-received attempt to bring the little guy’s mechanics into the modern age, as was its 2016 sequel. A refined version of said sequel is releasing on February 22.

9 Scribblenauts Showdown: C’mon Let’s Scribble Again, Like We Did Last Summer

We’re through the looking glass a little on this one, granted, but this is totally a name that bears watching.

The internet being what it is, leaks and spoilers are hardly a rarity. If you had to wait a few days to go and watch The Last Jedi, you’ll know that painful fact all too well. What if somebody had let slip that Chewbacca and R2-D2 were Rey’s parents, before you’d seen it at the theater? That’s not a revelation you want to get hit by ahead of time, I’m sure you agree.

As Nintendo Life reports, Scribblenauts Showdown is a name that was being bandied around on a Taiwanese ratings board, as a multiplatform (Switch included) release. The listing was since removed, and we’ve heard nothing more about it since, but the super creative platforming/puzzling series would be a neat fit for the Switch.

8 Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux: Shins And Megamis and Tenseis, Oh My!

Localisation is a tough issue for gamers, isn’t it? Just ask any Animal Crossing fan, and they’ll moan, mither and whine ‘til they can moan, mither and whine no more. Why do we have to wait months on end for games to be localized? Well, for partly logical reasons.

If we’re talking about text-heavy titles like RPGs, it’s a hugely time-consuming thing. Particularly in Europe, where there are multiple different languages to cater for.

Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey is a case in point. The original version of the game was released back in 2009, arriving in North America the following year. The Redux edition didn’t appear in Japan until last October, and is now on its way to the West later this year. Look out for this large-scale, demon-fusing RPG.

7 Ace Attorney: Who Could Have Any OBJECTIONS To This?

Once again, this early in the year, there are a lot of details that we just aren’t privy to yet. When developers and publishers can’t show reveal anything just yet, but they still want to keep the hype train running, they’ll often release a placeholder. Just the faintest hint of a we’re-working-on-a-new-entry-in-this-franchise sort of deal.

We’ve seen a couple of these in this rundown already. Mysterious Fire Emblem and Yoshi games are in the works, and now it’s time for another established franchise to throw its hat into the ring: Ace Attorney.

Capcom’s beloved visual novel detective series found its natural home on the DS family of systems, and Phoenix Wright and co have themselves a super enthusiastic following worldwide. We’ve only got a name to go on so far, but Ace Attorney Switch is sure to be a hit.

6 Fe: Fe, Fi, Fo, Fun

Fe is on its way to Switch, PS4, Xbox One and Windows on February 16. It’ll be the first game to be released under the ‘EA Originals’ banner, which is EA spangly new program championing indie developers. It seems that they’ve picked a great spot to start.

Conceptually, Fe is a similar idea to indie darling Ori and the Blind Forest. You play as a fox-ish creature in a forest world, beset by enemies dubbed the Silent Ones. Enemies are all around you, but so too are forest-dwelling allies, who you must cooperate with.

Fe is an action adventure in which you’ll be able to experiment and find your own solutions to the puzzles you’re presented with. The hands-off approach to games design is always a welcome one in my eyes, and I’ll be sure to check this one out next month.