Nintendo Switch: 10 Most Anticipated Exclusives Of 2021

Though it saw a host of third-party exclusives understandably pushed back owing to the pandemic, 2020 nevertheless saw the Nintendo Switch maintain its impressive momentum. That was due in no small part to the startlingly relevant Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which released just as lockdown ensnared a large chunk of the world's population. The idyllic digital getaway would go on to shift a mammoth 26 million copies across the year, becoming the console's second best-selling game in the process.

The Switch was not otherwise blessed with an abundance of exclusives in 2020, with ports and remasters comprising the bulk of its crop. Things - as they are generally for far more important reasons - are beginning to look up going into 2021, with a range of this year's delayed titles set to land in the first quarter, as well as a long-sought port of the Wii U's finest game.

2021 also marks a couple of major milestones for two of Nintendo's most beloved franchises - and you can bet your last dollar the Big N will do all they can to monetarily milk the celebrations.

It could well be that the biggest Switch release of the next 12 months is an updated model of the console itself. Rumours persist that Nintendo will finally confirm the hardware upgrade in 2021; what chances they'll have a big, Breath of the Wild-shaped surprise to go along with it? Slim admittedly, but if the last year has taught us anything, it's to never lose hope.

While you're here, why not check out what we rated as the best Nintendo Switch games of 2020?

The Wii U completes its descent into complete obsolescence as the last great - in fact, the greatest - game of its admittedly limited library arrives for Switch on 12 February.

Super Mario 3D World is a bit of an oddity, reversing the traditional process by being a bigger console brother to the 3DS' excellent handheld outing Super Mario 3D Land. As with the pint-sized platformer, 3D World uses a fixed, isometric view, so it's a little disorientating for long-time 3D Mario fans, and will be doubly so for those regressing from the absolute freedom of Mario Odyssey. It might feel like a backwards jump for Mazza, but it's still leaps and bounds above just about every other platformer of the generation.

The port arrives with a much welcome 30% movement speed increase and a suitably moody bonus chapter called Bowser's Fury - about which we know almost nothing yet. It'll be nearly four years since Odyssey this February; for the many who missed it the first time, 3D World's Cat Mario and pals should scratch the Mario itch for the time being.