Nintendo promised a Direct that focused on Nintendo 3DS games and an extended feature on the latest Mario Tennis title, which usually means "You can skip this one." They then proceeded to blow up the Internet with some of their biggest reveals of the past few years. Let's break them down.

The Nintendo 3DS - Bring Out Your Dead!

It was looking like 2018 was going to be the final year for the Nintendo 3DS, as only a few third-party titles and Detective Pikachu were on the schedule. This new Nintendo Direct announced a few more games for the system, though none of them are likely to set on the world on fire.

The Direct opened up with the latest game in the WarioWare series, called WarioWare Gold. This seems to be similar to the Mario Party collection, in that it has all of the games, but not the interesting narrative that holds them together. It will be released on July 27th.

Dillon is returning in a new 3D tower defense game called Dillon's Dead Heat Breakers, which will include characters based on your Mii and those of your friends. It will be released on May 25th.

An updated port of Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story is coming to the 3DS, which will include a new mode starring Bowser Jr. Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Inside Story has a release date of 2019.

A port of Luigi's Mansion is coming to the system, with the addition of a Boss Rush Mode. Luigi's Mansion was a great game, but the announcement of a 3DS port might be considered evidence that we won't be seeing GameCube games on the Virtual Console.

The Nintendo Switch - More Ports

A lot of new Nintendo Switch titles were announced during the Direct, though many of them are ports of older games.

There was some more information revealed about Kirby Star Allies. You will be able to recruit King Dedede, Meta Knight, and Bandana Waddle Dee. The game will also receive new characters from the older Kirby games through free updates.

There was also some new information revealed about Octopath Traveler. The game will have two new characters (Tressa the Merchant and Alfyn the Apothecary) and the cast possess the ability to mix and match their class abilities. Octopath Traveler will be released on July 13th.

We were finally given a glimpse of Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes. The game involves Travis trapped in a video game as he fights his way through hordes of enemies. The new footage makes Travis Strikes Again look a lot like Furi. It is due for release in 2018.

Mario Tennis Aces revealed a long feature during the Direct. You can now perform a move where you can aim the ball manually with the motion controls. It's also possible to break the opponent's bat in order to win. You can also perform counter-attack style blocks to protect yourself, as well as briefly being able to slow down time. It will also be possible to use the Joy-Cons as a motion-controlled bat, in a similar manner to the Wiimote and Wii Sports. 

A lot of ports were announced for the Nintendo Switch. Okami HD will be coming to the Switch during the Summer, Little Nightmares: Complete Editon will be released on May 18th, South Park: The Fractured But Whole will be released on April 24th, while Undertale will finally be released on a Nintendo console with a release date of "Eventually."

Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy is also coming to the Nintendo Switch on July 10th. The Direct made out like this was a big event, due to the fact that Crash has commonly been associated with the PlayStation brand. This isn't the case, as Crash has starred in numerous Nintendo titles over the years.

Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition now has a release date of May 18th.

There were also a few games that will be appearing on both the 3DS and the Switch. The action-packed puzzle game called Sushi  Striker: The Way of Sushido is coming to both systems on June 8th.

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker is also leaving the Wii U and coming to the 3DS and Nintendo Switch. The game will feature new levels based on Super Mario Odyssey, including New Donk City. Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker will be released on July 13th.

 

Dark Souls Amiibo!

We finally caught a glimpse of Dark Souls Remastered during the Nintendo Direct. The biggest revelation concerning the game is that a Dark Souls amiibo is in development.

Solaire of Astora has an amiibo in production where he is praising the sun. This will allow the player to perform the gesture whenever they want.

While it is awesome to see a Solaire amiibo, we can only hope that it leads to more, as there are far more deserving characters, such as Sif or Ornstein & Smough.

 

Splatoon 2 - Real Sequel Content?

Splatoon 2 is receiving a huge update in April, which includes new gear, levels, and a brand new rank for the online mode. The game is also receiving its first paid DLC in the form of the Octo Expansion.

The Octo Expansion is a brand new single-player campaign that allows you to play as one of the Octolings, which is something Splatoon fans have been asking for since the first game in the series. This will also give you access to gear that makes your regular Splatoon 2 character look like an Octoling.

The Octo Expansion is due to be released this Summer for $19.99.

 

Smash Bros. Switch - Let The Predictions Begin!

By far the biggest announcement of the Direct was confirmation that Super Smash Bros. is coming to the Nintendo Switch in 2018. The only other pieces of concrete information that we got were that the Inklings from Splatoon are going to be playable characters and Link will either have a costume based on Breath of the Wild or there will be a new version of Link that uses Breath of the Wild abilities.

This announcement sent shockwaves through social media, as a whole new round of speculation concerning the new content has begun.

Smash Bros. for the Switch is almost certainly an updated port of the 3DS/Wii U game. Anyone who says otherwise is deluding themselves. There hasn't been enough time for a brand new Smash Bros. game to finish production, considering that the Switch development kits have existed for barely two years.

This new Smash Bros. will likely contain all of the content of the last two games in the series, with some new characters/stages thrown in and improvements made to the online mode.

A Smash Bros. title for the Switch is one of the most hotly anticipated games for the system and its presence on the 2018 schedule means that the system has at least one killer title on offer for the year.

 

 

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