Nintendo Direct: DK Tropical Freeze, Hyrule Warriors coming to Switch, Super Mario Odyssey, Pokkén Tournament, Mario+Rabbids DLC, Mario Tennis and Kirby release dates
At the 11/01/2018 Nintendo Direct, a wave of ports were announced for the Nintendo Switch, and it includes some fantastic titles. During the 14-minute presentation we had announcements for Dark Souls: Remastered (as announced yesterday also for PC, PS4 and Xbox One), Hyrule Warriors Definitive Edition, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, The World Ends with You Final Remix and Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA. We also got new DLC and updates for Pokkén Tournament DX, Super Mario Odyssey, Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle, a new Mario Tennis game and a release date for Kirby Star Allies.
Hyrule Warriors Definitive Edition, a Dynasty Warriors inspired slasher will include all previous maps, missions, characters and outfits seen in the Wii U and 3DS versions, naturally with added improved visuals. There will also be some new outfits with Breath of the Wild attire for Link and Zelda being thrown into the mix. Hyrule Warriors Definitive Edition will release Spring of this year and will be two-player compatible on the go.
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, a port from the Wii U will come with a new “Funky Kong” playable character that has a double-jump and infinite roll ability and will be playable in two-player on the go. Much like Hyrule Warriors, being someone that missed Tropical Freeze on Wii U, I can’t wait to try these games out on the go and with spruced up visuals. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze will release for Nintendo Switch from May 4th 2018.
As rumoured last year, the Switch will also be getting a 2007 port of Square Enix’s The World Ends with You with the Final Remix. Originally released on the Nintendo DS, this classic JRPG will be remastered in HD and a brand new scenario “that gets to the heart of the story”. The World Ends with You Final Remix will release sometime this year.
Lastly, the final Nintendo Switch port announced was Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA which originally released last year (2016 in Japan) for PS4 and PS Vita. This popular JRPG will release for the Switch this coming Summer, it will also be releasing for PC on January 30th. Also from NIS America, will be SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy to release this summer.
Seemingly out of nowhere, a new Mario Tennis game was announced with Mario Tennis Aces for Nintendo Switch and will release this Spring. This will be a brand new game with new gameplay features and will come with its own story mode accompanied with addition boss battles.
As announced last year, we also got a release date for Kirby Star Allies, with the side-scrolling platformer arriving to Nintendo Switch much sooner than you might expect on March 16th.
Pokkén Tournament DX will be getting some added DLC. From January 31st, you’ll be able to pre-purchase Aegislash as a playable fighter with Mega Rayquaza and Mimikyu as supporting Pokémon. Then a second DLC pack will release on March 23rd that includes Blastoise as a playable fighter with Mew and Celebi as supporting Pokémon, it will also include some new avatar items. You can pre-purchase both packs in the Battle Pack now for a combined total of £13.49 with the DLC being released in the two waves.
Super Mario Odyssey will be getting a free DLC-like update that will add a new mini-game to play after you’ve finished the main story. The new mode in question is Luigi’s Balloon World which will have you searching for hidden balloons throughout the main games existing levels and your scores will be uploaded to an online leaderboard to compare with others. Oh and these balloons, they’ll be hidden by other players and you’ll be able to hide them too! There will also be three new outfits to acquire in-game that includes Mario’s sunglasses and tropical shirt from Super Mario Sunshine, as well as a musician suit and a suit of armour. The update will go live in February.
Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle will be getting some new DLC with the other Nintendo mascot, Donkey Kong who comes armed with a banana boomerang type thingy. As well as having everyone’s favourite Ninty ape to play as, there will no doubt be some brand new levels to take on. The DLC announcement got its very own trailer, which you can check out below.
To wrap things up, the Nintendo Direct video also re-confirmed that Payday 2 is still coming to the Switch and it will release on February 27th with a new character. Indie titles Celeste is arriving to Switch on January 25th, Fe is coming to the Switch on February 16th. Also, NCA NeoGeo Art of Fighting 2 is available on the Nintendo eShop as of now.
And that wraps up this Nintendo Direct-fest article. What are you most looking forward too? Let us know in the comments.