Last week, we got our first Nintendo Direct of 2022, and it was a long one. “Roughly 40 minutes of information on Nintendo Switch games launching in the first half of 2022.” I always try to create a post the next day going over all of the news from the Direct, but last week I had a lot going on. Instead, I’ve decided to create a TOP FIVE post about last week’s Direct.

I never really have high expectations for any of these showcases, because many of the announcements are brand new or surprising to me. Even though I follow gaming news pretty regularly, I have many video game blindspots (so many franchises and titles I’ve totally missed out on). When any of these showcases happen, I’m just excited for more games — whether they are for me or not. I’m excited for more games for everyone!

So, what did we get in this Direct? We got some remakes and remasters, a couple of ports, some news on games we know are coming, and some big surprises. In my TOP FIVE I’ve included the five biggest announcements to me. I also threw in a few honorable mentions (so maybe it’s more like a TOP TEN).

Here we go!

TOP FIVE

5 Mario Strikers: Battle League

We’ve recently seen the return of Mario sports games with tennis and golf, and they weren’t great sellers. I’d say they were just fine games overall. Will Mario Strikers: Battle League be the one that sparks the Mario Sports series?

Maybe what we’ve been missing is team sports. Tennis and Golf are more solo (and doubles) sports. Perhaps the missing link is team sports. This definitely seems closer to the classic arcade-style sports games I grew up on and have been waiting for to comeback (NBA Jam, NFL Blitz, Wayne Gretzky’s 3D Hockey, NBA Street and more).

There’s also some interesting features coming to Mario Strikers: Battle League. Eight players will be able to play on one Switch for a four-on-four soccer match. There will also be multiple online modes, including online clubs for up to twenty players per club.

Mario Strikers: Battle League is coming to Nintendo Switch on June 10.

4 Disney’s Speedstorm

Mario Kart has always been my main kart racer. The one that came close to it was Diddy Kong Racing on Nintendo 64. That being said, I’m totally down for some Disney/Pixar racing. 

Disney’s Speedstorm looks amazing, especially for a Free-to-play game. It also looks more like a faster paced kart racing game.

Disney’s Speedstorm is coming out on Nintendo Switch and other platforms this summer, for FREE!

3 Kirby and the Forgotten Lands

It’s great to see a brand new Kirby adventure — in a whole new style. I grew up on classic 2D side-scrolling Kirby Adventure games. This new 3D platformer in a beautiful world that looks amazing. 

I can’t wait to explore the forgotten land and inhale objects and enemies up and take their abilities. I think it’s cool that Kirby can evolve his copy abilities from each type of enemy. In the new Mouthful Mode you can eat pretty much anything and even become giant objects.

Nintendo usually has one big game release on or around my birthday. In 2019, Yoshi’s Crafted World released on my birthday week, Animal Crossing: New Horizons came out about a week before my birthday, and now Kirby and the Forgotten Land comes out on my birthday week.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land releases on March 25.

2 Nintendo Switch Sports

I never owned a Wii, but I did play tons of Wii Sports at friends houses who did. I played the hell out of some Wii Bowling (it was so much easier than IRL bowling). It’s strange that it took this long for the Switch to get its Nintendo Switch Sports game.

The new Nintendo Switch Sports will feature Tennis, Bowling, Chambara, Soccer, Badminton, Volleyball and a free update for Golf later in the year

There’s an online play test planned for next weekend, February 18-20: Bowling, Chambara and Tennis.

Nintendo Switch Sports is coming pretty soon, April 29, 2022.

1 Mario Kart 8 Deluxe: Booster Course Pass (New DLC)

Mario Kart 8 originally released on the Wii U in 2014. The game was re-released in 2017 for the Nintendo Switch with all of it’s previous DLC. Since it’s re-release it has continued to be on top of game sales pretty much every month, with no additional content or anything.

For the past few years we’ve been waiting for some more content or a brand new Mario Kart 9. Last week they revealed that 48 newly remastered courses will come to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe by the end of 2023.

I’m guessing we won’t be seeing a brand new Mario Kart 9 until some time after 2023 — which I’m guessing means we won’t see the next Nintendo console until after 2023.

We’ll receive six waves of eight courses each starting March 18, 2022.

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HONORABLE MENTION

I also wanted to include some of the announcements I’m also pretty hyped about.

Portal Companion Collection (1 & 2)

I started Portal and Portal 2 back in the day on my PC. I’ve gone back to them a few times. I’m hoping the Switch version will help me finally finish these games.

The Portal Companion Collection releases on Switch later this year.

Advance Wars 1+2: Re-boot Camp

I never played the original Advance Wars games, but there’s something special about the mix of art styles within this game. The cutscenes and dialogue feature animated style, while the gameplay itself features a sort of shiny, blocky claymation style. I’m also always looking to get into more tactical turn-based RPGs. 

This one was announced a while back, but is finally coming out on April 8th.

Project Triangle Strategy

I love the HD 2D art style of this game. It’s what made me want to play Octopath Traveler. I’m glad they started using this art style to remake some classic JRPGs too.

When the first Triangle Strategy demo came out I started it, but there was too much going on. Too many characters to control in battle. With this new demo I’m taking my time and paying attention to the tutorials and story. I’m really trying to understand the game.

So far, I’m really enjoying the new Prologue of Triangle Strategy, and once I finish I’ll figure out if I want to pick up the full game when it’s released [DATE 2022].

Metroid Dread: Update

I recently jumped back into Metroid Dread. I do run into a lot of trouble in the game. I end up getting lost or dying a bunch, but I always get past it.

It’s great that there’s now an insanely hard mode for people who want it and the option for an easy mode for those who need it. There will also be a Boss Rush mode added in April.

This update came out on the day of the Nintendo Direct, so if you own Metroid Dread and haven’t updated it yet, you better go do that.

Earthbound & Earthbound Beginnings (Switch online)

Earthbound is a game so many people talk about. I’ve even played some newer games that were heavily influenced by the Earthbound series.

I actually got to play some of Earthbound on SNES online on my Nintendo Switch. It’s cool to play the original game, and I hope to beat it. I think this one can use a sweet 2D HD remake at some point, but for now I will continue to play the original.

Both Earthbound (SNES) and Earthbound Beginnings (NES) are out now on Nintendo Switch Online.

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There you have it. My TOP FIVE plus five more HONORABLE MENTIONS from last week’s Nintendo Direct. There were some other exciting announcements in there, but also some I don’t care about. You can watch the full Direct below if you missed it. If not stay tuned for more from myVGBC.com coming later this week.