Nintendo Direct recap – Mario Maker 3DS and more!!!

Wow. Even when it’s easy to be skeptical of Nintendo this day and age, they always, and I mean ALWAYS, figure out how to surprise people when they least expect it. Today’s Nintendo Direct, which focused purely on the Nintendo 3DS (aka not the NX) was filled with pleasant surprises and details on new and already-announced games.

The Direct kicked off with some sweet gameplay of the latest duo of Pokemon games, Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon. Until January 2017, you can receive a Munchlax upon getting the game. It can evolve into a strangely powerful Snorlax due to being equipped with a special item. This among other details can be seen in the clip of the Direct above.

SUDDENLY, SUPER MARIO MAKER!!!

The unthinkable occurs; one of the best games on Wii U, Super Mario Maker, is coming to the Nintendo 3DS in style! Granted, you can’t upload courses or play certain levels that are incompatible (Because the Wii U has to have some exclusive features). However, millions upon millions of levels are available in the online servers for players to frolic upon.

This ain’t the first new Mario title to be coming to 3DS, though. Earlier this year it has already been known that Mario Party: Star Rush aims to make a mark on the handheld as well. Surely looks more promising than the previous 3DS game in the series, Mario Party: Island Tour.

Animal Crossing gets some love in the Direct as well. A wave of dedicated amiibo cards are on the way, and there will be a mini-Direct exclusively focused on the franchise.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnmFQRLTr5M

StreetPass games are still a thing in a new Mii Plaza update shown below. Five new games are coming this time around making for a considerably big update! Slot Car Rivals and Market Crasher in particular will be available for free.

Tank Troopers makes a surprising debut as an upcoming eShop game from Nintendo themselves. It will be available this Winter.

While new IPs are always a plus, there’s no having to count out the old. Hence, Nintendo DS puzzle hit Picross 3D (a pretty hilarious name in hindsight) is coming back for a new installment on the 3DS.

Viewers were also given a glimpse of the upcoming indie games ala the Nindies Summer Jam. This September, we’ll be seeing releases of Axiom Verge, Jotun, Noitu Love: Devolution, Severed, and Asure Striker Gunvolt 2!

Image result for Nindies Summer Jam

On the Zelda side of things, there’s going to be classic Zelda amiibo. Oh, and Skyward Sword is releasing on the Wii U eShop. Probably a given since just about every single console Zelda game has to be playable on Nintendo’s current hardware every generation! Slightly more surprising is a third DLC pack coming for Hyrule Warriors.

Image result for zelda classic amiibo

Dragon Quest is paving its way to the 3DS with not one, but two ports! Dragon Quest VII and Dragon Quest VIII are making sure to both hit the platform this year so players could have a good abundance of Dragon Quest flavor.

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Yokoi Watch joins this pattern of RPG/adventure games with a pleasing reminder that a sequel is coming. There will also be a demo coming to the eShop in the middle of September, so those on the fence can try out a sample for themselves!

Oh yeah, Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice is coming. This new title based off the CGI animated series got a mention in the Direct, but its attention wasn’t exactly held for long.

It carried over into Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse, which isn’t far from release at this point in time.

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SUDDENLY YOSHI’S WOOLLY WORLD!!!

Apparently, Super Mario Maker is being accompanied by another great Wii U title, Yoshi’s Woolly World! Looks like Yoshi’s New Island won’t be the only title in the series to be on the portable. Who would’ve thought?!

Ever Oasis briefly interupts the stream of psuedo-Mario-related news with more details and footage of the game. This upcoming action/RPG has you controlling up to three characters at once. Each has their own unique abilities to diffuse every situation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zuluLwm0kg

Mario comes back to take the spotlight for a brand new title for the Nintendo 3DS, however! Mario Sports Superstars, possibly a sequel to the Wii’s Mario Sports Mix, goes above and beyond to deliver five fully-fledged sports games in one! There’s Golf, Tennis, Soccer, Baseball, and Horse Racing, and they are all practically as if you were playing individually released retail Mario sports titles. So if you were waiting on a new Mario Tennis or Mario Golf, this compilation may give you your fill.

Finally, believe it or not, Pikmin makes its way to the Nintendo 3DS. For the first time ever, we have a portable Pikmin game, and it looks to be a 2D side-scroller. Unlike Chibi Robo: Zip Lash this at least looks to be faithful to what Pikmin is all about.

That’s all there is to say. There were quite a lot of hefty announcements for new games and unexpected ports, and quite a lot of new ways to anticipate upcoming games that are already known about. I know I for one will grab Mario Maker and Yoshi as soon as they come out!

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