March 2018 Nintendo Direct Recap

Wow.  As is often the case, any time rumors start coming out of Nintendo, we get a chorus of hype that reaches deafening levels.  Reddit in particular creates unstoppable hype trains when they hear a shred of something somebody heard someone else mention once.  Well, this Nintendo Direct seemed to carry a little less of the hype leading directly in, but that set the stage for a deluge of announcements.

To begin, here is the half hour full direct:

So with that, lets take a look at some of the announcements I am most excited about.

Super Smash Bros

The big announcement from the Direct.  Cleverly teased at the end, with a little segway from the Splatoon announcement, all we know is that something is coming in 2018.

 

We see that the Splatoon characters will somehow be involved, as an ominous shadow of Mario overlooks the skirmish.  Will this be a new Switch title?  Is it a port of Smash 4?  When will we know more?!  The anticipation will continue to build throughout the year for what appears to be one of the Switch’s next major titles.

Splatoon 2

Having recently been putting plenty of hours into Nintendo’s premier online first person shooter, I’m glad that I got into it now that a new Version 3.0 will be released (including new gear, stages, and a new Rank X).

In addition to the base game upgrades, Splatoon will also be getting a new expansion.  It’s weird to call new content “expansions” in the context of a 2018 console, but expansion or DLC or whatever you want to call it, there will be paid additional content coming out for Splatoon 2.  From the Direct, it looked like it focuses on the single player part of the game, which I have spent little time with so far.  However, the focus on the Octo Expansion as a series of tests looks like it could be interesting.

Mario Tennis Aces

I’ve always been a big fan of the Mario sports games, especially Camelot’s Mario Tennis for Gameboy Color.  The mixture of basic real time sports aspects with the RPG progression was perfect for the handheld.  The N64 game was also a favorite of mine, but I have lost interest through the more recent iterations of the tennis side of things.

In the non-RPG entries, I always look to the variety of Mario-game characters and their different styles to stay interested.  It looks like entry will have a plethora of characters, and the environments and visuals look enticing.

The online multiplayer is a great upside for the game, but will once again test Nintendo’s ability to join the rest of us in 2018 and how online gaming is done nowadays.  I’m hoping that the matches manage to be somewhat compact, similar to how Splatoon does a great job of condensing the FPS experience into a 3 minute window.

Project Octopath Traveler

I’ve had my eye on Octopath Traveler ever since the trickle of info has come out after the Switch release.  A new RPG from Square?  Gotta be at least worth a look right?

I’ve had a chance to play the demo and really enjoyed the visuals.  It was also interesting how they are really leaning on the different “paths” for each of the different styles of characters.  It will be interesting to see how the piece it all together in a full length RPG.

In addition, we finally got a release date: July 13, 2018.  It’s exciting to know we will be able to play it this Summer, after hearing it about it in small bits and pieces for over a year.  I also have to point out that the special edition shown in the Direct looked absolutely awesome, the pop-up book especially.

Luigi’s Mansion

A Nintendo 3DS remake to go along with Dark Moon.  I think the original game was fun back on the Gamecube, and I think the 3DS is a great home for a port.

The original game did give me some headaches with its controls.  Hopefully that issue is remedied in the port, and the dual screens with a map will be a huge upgrade.  The game was highly unique and remains a charming gem to this day.  Excited to get this and keep my 3DS relevant.

Crash Bandicoot N’Sane Trilogy

I’ve finally started getting through each of the three games included in this remake on PS4, but I’m kinda sad I got it before knowing that it was coming Switch.  I’ll justify it by stating that Crash is Sony’s original mascot and deserves to be on a Sony console — eh, whatever I’m happy to see it on the Switch.

And that’s just it – I had heard this wasn’t a Sony exclusive, despite the past history of Crash, so I’m curious as to whether this will be put on the Xbox One.  The game did well on PS4, but it was originally a Playstation classic.  Time will tell.

Undertale

Undertale deserves a mention as it hops onto to the Nintendo Switch, leaving Xbox out as the one system without this incredibly unique indie title.

First of all, I think the game should work well on a portable handheld, but I would really like to point out that this is a good signal from Nintendo.  Getting more quality indie games onto the system shows the integration of traditionally PC-based indie scene to continue to flourish on this generations consoles.  Happy to see this come to Switch.

Conclusion

Nintendo has done it again.  The hype is real, and now we know that the Switch and 3DS are getting a great lineup this year, with some titles just around the corner.  Oh, and there will be a Smash title on Switch coming soon.  Pretty awesome to hear that.

What did you like in the Direct?  Are on you the hype train?  Did you want Pokemon?  Will Smash be a brand new game?  Comment below!