Nintendo defied expectations as we speak with an E3-timed Direct exhibiting off not the hoped-for new Change {hardware} however a dozen or so new video games — in addition to a common launch window for the much-anticipated subsequent Zelda sport. And to have fun the unique’s thirty fifth anniversary, it’ll promote a brand new Sport & Watch that includes the primary three video games within the collection.

Amongst different issues, Nintendo confirmed off remasters or remakes of titles from the “Monkey Ball,” “Mario Celebration,” “Advance Wars, “Wario Ware” and different collection, and introduced new entries within the “Mario + Rabbids” and “Shin Megami Tensei” worlds. Different newly introduced or teased video games will probably be making it to Change as nicely, like the brand new “Guardians of the Galaxy.”

Maybe most stunning was the inclusion of a brand new side-scrolling Metroid sport, the primary in almost 20 years — and in reality, it has been out and in of growth for half that point. “Metroid Dread,” the fifth within the mainline collection that started on the NES, will launch October 8, and we’ll see if Nintendo has managed to maintain tempo in a style it pioneered however others have refined.

Picture Credit: Nintendo

Everybody hoped for Zelda information, nevertheless, and Nintendo… solely barely disillusioned us. Because the announcers famous, it’s the thirty fifth anniversary of the NES authentic, and the right time to announce one thing really particular, however they’ve “no campaigns or different Nintendo Change video games deliberate.”

As a substitute, they provided an admittedly tempting Sport & Watch within the model of the one we noticed launched final yr for the Mario collection. I had a lot of good issues to say about that gadget, and the brand new one will little question be simply as enjoyable. The flexibility to pause the sport and choose it up later (however not rewind or save states) ought to make for a enjoyable, genuine playthrough of the primary three video games within the Zelda collection: “The Legend of Zelda” and “Zelda II: The Journey of Hyperlink” for NES, and “Hyperlink’s Awakening” for Sport Boy (just lately remade).

Picture Credit: Nintendo

The final merchandise on the listing was a brand new have a look at the follow-up to Breath of the Wild, which years after its debut nonetheless shines as one of many, if not the, greatest sport on the Change. Its sequel has quite a bit to dwell as much as!

Whereas the primary trailer was all cinematic, this one confirmed gameplay and the overworld, together with a brand new degree of verticality that brings flying fortresses and castles within the air into play. It actually seems spectacular, however one wonders how a lot additional the corporate can push its Change {hardware}. In any case, “Breath of the Wild” pushed the system to its limits at its debut, and even then it was not as highly effective as its rivals from Microsoft and Sony — each now changed by a brand new era.

One hopes that Nintendo is solely being bizarre and has a trick up its sleeve, because it has many occasions earlier than. The Change was introduced out of nowhere, and former {hardware} updates have additionally dropped with little or no warning and seemingly arbitrary timing. What’s anticipated is an up to date Change that’s bodily the identical dimensions however significantly up to date inside and utilizing a bigger, higher show. Excellent backwards compatibility, like with the 3DS collection of handhelds, additionally appears solely logical. However Nintendo has at all times achieved its personal factor and its followers wouldn’t have it every other method.