The best Nintendo Switch news and trailers from February’s Nintendo Direct
Here’s what third parties have to offer for the Switch in 2024
Many may be anticipating this to be the Nintendo Switch’s swansong year. But just how do you top last year’s double whammy of Tears of the Kingdom and Super Mario Bros. Wonder anyway? But the latest Nintendo Direct (21 February, 2pm GMT) shows there’s still much to look forward to on the almost seven-year old console.
We may not have had any news on the Nintendo Switch 2, but while there are first party Nintendo titles coming, such as next month’s Princesss Peach: Showtime and a much anticipated remake of Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, the first Nintendo Direct of the year was focused on showcasing games from third party partners, including Microsoft.
We’ve rounded up some of the highlights and trailers below, while you can also catch the whole 23-minute Nintendo Direct presentation here.
1. Grounded
After last week’s Xbox podcast announced that four Xbox games would be making their way to other platforms, we finally know the first of these is Grounded, Obsidian’s co-op survival game inspired by Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. Either teaming up with up to three friends with cross-play supported, or just going it alone, you’ll have to gather resources in the big backyard and survive against huge bugs if you’re hoping to make it home.
Also quietly confirmed in the presentation is that Pentiment, the excellent narrative adventure set in 16th century Bavaria first released on Xbox and PC in 2022, is also coming to Switch tomorrow!
Release: 16 April
2. Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist
Fans eagerly anticipating Hollow Knight: Silksong are left out in the cold again, but this might be a worthwhile alternative. Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist is a sequel to 2021 Metroidvania Ender Lillies: Quietus of the Knights, an action platformer set in the Land of Fumes where mystical toxins have infected the minds of humans and artificial life forms.
You play as Lilac on a quest to purify the land of this blight but the intriguing twist is that as you exorcise bosses, they can become your allies, their spirits fighting alongside you as special abilities. You can equip up to four different ally attacks at once, as you venture this crumbling kingdom and discover Lilac’s lost memories.
Release date: 2024
3. Super Monkey Ball: Banana Rumble
Having made its console debut back on GameCube, it’s good to see the first new Super Monkey Ball game coming exclusively to Switch, but can Sega possibly recapture the original’s peaks?
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Rumble features over 200 brand new stages, with optional motion controls, and a new spin dash move that can help you blast over obstacles and ramps to find ways to reach the goal in unique ways. Of course, multiplayer party modes are included in the package as well but so is a new online mode that allows for up to 16 players to play together in races or working together to smash a robot.
Release date: 25 June
4. Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time
A role-playing game that’s also a life sim is the best way to describe Fantasy Life, which first came out on the 3DS. This new instalment is set in an abandoned island with a mystery a thousand years in the making to be solved.
Donning up different Lives, basically its version of jobs such as paladin, hunter, miner, farmer, cook, tailor and many more, you’ll have to assume different roles as you travelling through time to gather resources in the island’s past in order to rebuild it in the present. The game will also allow for online co-op for up to four players.
Release date: 10 October
5. Endless Ocean Luminous
The presentation ended on another unexpected revival in the form of Wii-era scuba diving adventure series Endless Ocean. This new instalment is set in the Veiled Sea, an unexplored region that changes each time you dive in.
Filled with over 500 species or marine life, including some presumed extinct and some mythical, it looks like a chilled open-ended game, though not one you have to explore alone, as up to 30 players can dive in together online.
Release date: 2 May
6. Everything else
Along with two Microsoft game announcements, Nintendo’s old pals Rare are also getting some more of its back catalogue via Nintendo Switch Online and the Expansion Pack, as five classic Rare games, including Killer Instinct and Blast Corps, join the library today.
Nintendo Direct also also brought another shadow drop as Penny’s Big Breakaway, an old-school 3D platformer from the devs behind Sonic Mania, is out today.
RPG fans have much to look forward to as upcoming fantasy tactical game Unicorn Overlord has a free demo out now ahead of its release next month, while hardcore RPG Shin Megami Tensei V is getting an expanded edition subtitled Vengeance releasing on 21st June. The 3DS’s Monster Hunter Stories is also getting an HD remaster this summer.
Speaking of oldies, Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection is coming next month complete with content from the first two games, which not only includes bonus maps but both online and offline multiplayer. Play the classic Star Wars Battlefront games on modern consoles, online and offline in this complete classic collection.
Indies rounded up the rest of the presentation, most of which have been announced previously. But a new title among these is Arranger, which styles itself as a ‘role-puzzling’ adventure, from a team that includes folks who made Braid, Carto and Ethereal.
Alan Wen
