Nintendo of America held its annual February Direct on Wednesday, this time in the form of a Partner Showcase.
Instead of their usual live stream, Nintendo opted for a pre-recorded 23-minute montage featuring several upcoming releases, remakes, and additions to the Nintendo Switch Online service.
Here are some of the biggest reveals from the Partner Showcase, coming to Switch in the next few months.
Grounded
From Xbox Studios comes Grounded, which was released on Microsoft consoles in September of 2022.
Grounded is a survival action-adventure video game that takes a page from the late ’80s and early ’90s Honey, I Shrunk the Kids franchise.
Four children are shrunken down to the size of ants by an evil cooperation and they awake to find themselves in the lead scientist’s backyard. They are tasked with battling spiders, bees, and other insects as they regain their memory and uncover information related to the experiments that led to their adventure.
The semi-open world game can be experienced in both first-person and third-person settings and includes a four-player co-op mode (including cross-platform).
Release date: April 16, 2024
Epic Mickey: Rebrushed
Disney’s Epic Mickey: Rebrushed was one of the most notable remakes showcased on Wednesday.
Originally released for Wii in 2010, the action-adventure platformer follows Mickey Mouse into the dark world of Wasteland, a place for “forgotten things” — misused and obscure Disney characters created by sorcerer Yen Sid.
The remake appears to be shot-for-shot with only graphical enhancements. Despite the cleaner colors and crisper images, it still very much looks like a Wii-era game.
Release date: Later this year
Star Wars: Battlefront
Star Wars: Battlefront is getting a port to Nintendo Switch as part of the Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection.
The first two games in the series will be included in this package along with online play, 64-player battles, new characters, and new maps.
Release date: March 14, 2024
South Park: Snow Day
The kids from South Park are back in South Park: Snow Day, which was showcased with a new gameplay trailer.
The co-op action game will serve as a sequel to South Park: The Stick of Truth and South Park: The Fractured But Whole. The user takes over as a new member of the South Park gang in an effort to save the town.
The gameplay trailer featured unique, less-cartoony 3D graphics but stopped short of displaying many of the battle mechanics.
Release date: March 26, 2024
Endless Ocean
A cult classic on Wii, Endless Ocean will get a brand new installment titled Endless Ocean Luminous.
The underwater exploration game is set in the Veiled Sea, a location “known to very few people.” The open world is changed with each dive as the user encounters and catalogs unique aquatic wildlife. The latest edition also features an online option where up to 30 players can plunge deep into the sea together.
In total, there are roughly 500 different species to discover, including animals once thought to be extinct and mythical cryptids.
Release date: May 2, 2024
Nintendo Switch Online
Updates to the NES, SNES, and N64 online catalogs have slowed in recent months but that is poised to change, at least briefly, thanks to Rare.
Being added on Wednesday are NES titles R.C. Pro-Am and Snake Rattle ‘N’ Roll, SNES titles Battletoads in Battlemaniacs and Killer Instinct, and N64 title Blast Corps.
A Nintendo Switch Online subscription is required to access these games and the remaining console catalogs.
Other notable upcoming releases
- Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance (June 21, 2024)
- Monster Hunter Stories (HD port and voice acting)
- Super Monkey Ball: Banana Rumble (June 25, 2024)
- World of Goo 2 (May 23, 2024)
- Another Crab’s Treasure (April 25, 2024)
