8 Reasons To Be Excited About The Nintendo Switch 2
3. Surprising Choices Of First-Party
Whilst certain IP are staple parts of the Nintendo diet, the original Switch’s launch year seeing Mario Kart 8 ported over from the Wii U alongside brand new 3D Mario and 3D Zelda games made it an incredible debut year. The Switch 2 may not have hit the three biggest buttons right away like it’s predecessor did but it’s choice to do otherwise paints a welcoming picture of the future.
Undoubtedly, the Nintendo Switch 2’s biggest launch comes in the form Mario Kart meets Forza Horizon. However, it’s the choice of supporting this with B-tier properties that is so interesting. A new 3D Donkey Kong game had been long rumoured but it looks to be a franchise reboot, and it comes alongside a surprising threequel in Koei Tecmo’s next Zelda musou with Age of Imprisonment. Finally, perhaps the wildest first party surprise, is a new Kirby Air Ride game; a sequel to a beloved 2003 cult racing hit, helmed by a beloved 1970 hit Masahiro Sakurai.
Whilst these three individually might struggle to sell a system to the masses; it’s the combination of those, the starpower of Mario Kart World, and the long-gestating Metroid Prime 4 in combination that makes for an incredible well-rounded set of titles.
More than just the immediate excitement of that though is the long-term, for two reasons.
First of all, it means that when new 3D Mario and 3D Zelda do come then they will be banner titles for the system. Front-ending the Switch 1 was a bold move which paid off but it did mean that the last few years of the console were a little more “business as usual”. Tears of the Kingdom and Super Mario Wonder were both brilliant games, but iterations on the formula.
Perhaps more excitingly, Nintendo choosing reboot Donkey Kong and push Metroid Prime 4 back into the spotlight might bode well for other dormant Nintendo IPs. Especially considering the hardware changes to the console might spark some new ideas, which has been a major factor in why Star Fox and F-Zero have been missing for so long.
Who knows, the Switch 2 might see the likes of a new Kid Icarus game.