2020 has been a strange year for Nintendo. They’ve had some major success withAnimal Crossing: New Horizonsand we got the surprise announcement of a newPaper Mariogame. Other than those two games though, there’s not been a huge range of first-party titles to get excited about.
They also seem to have forgone the usual format for Nintendo Directs. We have had a couple of “Nintendo Direct Mini’” presentations and a handful of franchise-specific directs, includingPokemonandAnimal Crossing, but other than a few shadow dropped videos likePaper Mario, nothing. That’s left the second half of the year looking strangely bare for the company.
Now we do have aNew Pokemon Snapthat was announced last month and the rumouredSuper Mario35thanniversary collection, but neither of those are confirmed yet to be dropping in 2020. That leaves the holiday season completely empty.
What Nintendo does have however is a plethora of franchises in their back catalogue that lay completely dormant. With that being said, I’ll take a look at five of these franchises that–should Nintendo choose to revive before the end of the year–would change their holiday landscape.
Now, don’t get me wrong: a newPikminis very likely coming, it’s just a case of “when.” Back in 2015, in aninterview withEurogamer, Shigeru Miyamoto confirmed that not only was a newPikmingame coming, but that it was also close to completion. While in that specific instance the game likely turned out to beHey! Pikminon the 3DS, Miyamoto has since confirmed that a newPikmingame is “progressing.”
Aside from the 3DS spinoff, the last mainlinePikmingame we got wasPikmin 3for the Wii U back in 2013. While the franchise has never been one of Nintendo’s best-selling, it offers something wholly unique from the company. Real-time strategy, or strategy as a whole, is something Nintendo rarely tackle, and thePikminseries is known for doing it incredibly well, in a very unique style, all while loaded with that typical Nintendo charm.
The problem withPikmin 3, like a lot of other of Nintendo’s best games, is that it launched on the massively unsuccessful Wii U. This undoubtedly hurt its numbers, as estimates put worldwide sales of the game well below one million units and potentially raised questions in Camp Nintendo about the viability of the franchise.
The simple answer though is for Nintendo to do what they’ve done with many other games over the last few years; release aPikmin 3port to the Switch. It wasrumoured only a couple of months agoand could easily solve a multitude of problems. It gets the game into the hands of those who didn’t have a Wii U, scratches thatPikminitch for the big fans of the franchise, fills a hole in Nintendo’s holiday line up, and would allow Nintendo the opportunity to see just what the demand for a newPikmingame is, which I’m willing to bet is pretty high.
2) Advance Wars
Speaking of Nintendo’s limited foray into the strategy genre, a newAdvance Warstitle is near the top of many people’s list, including mine. The handheld franchise has been absent for 12 years now sinceDays of Ruinon the Nintendo DS, and it’s high time it makes a comeback.
Last year we were treated toWargroove, Chucklefish’s spiritual successor toAdvance Wars. The game played incredibly similarly and looked just like what you’d expect from anAdvance Warsgame, however it just wasn’t quiteAdvance Wars. The setting was slightly more fantastical when compared to the military theme ofAdvance Warsand it was thematically less dark. Now, this isn’t trying to detract fromWargroove–in fact, it did some things better–but Nintendo struck gold with their strategy franchise and it would be incredibly hard for anybody to replicate just how good it really was.
Advance Warswas designed for handheld and the Switch’s functionality makes it more suitable for a release now than on perhaps any of their other home consoles. There would no doubt be palpable hype around the announcement/release of a newAdvance Warstitle, and it’s a franchise that would be right at home on the console.
Nintendo have a rich history of great racing games on their consoles.Mario Kartis the gold standard when it comes to kart racers,Diddy Kong Racingwas fantastic, andWave Racewas another N64 classic. But a franchise that’s been absent since the GameCube and simply needs to come back isF-Zero.
Starting out on the SNES,F-Zerois known for being a high-octane, futuristic racing series that offers something different from a typical racing game. The races contain up to 30 different competitors (including yourself) and are played at a blistering pace. The neon-futuristic aesthetic is full of well-designed courses that are accompanied by some of the coolest music in Nintendo’s catalogue.
We’ve not had a brand new Nintendo racer sinceMario Kart 8on the Wii U, and whileMario Kart 8 Deluxehas performed incredibly well on the Switch, ultimately it’s a port of a now six-year-old game. Given the advancements in technology since the GameCube, the potential for online races (no matter how sketchy it might be given Nintendo’s infrastructure) and the offer of something completely different, it’s hard to imagine anF-Zerogame that would be anything less than amazing.
4) Star Fox
While theStar Foxseries may not have been away as long as the rest of the games on this list, it’s certainly a series that would benefit from an overhaul and Switch release. The lastStar Foxgame,Star Fox Zero, was released back in 2016 towards the end of the Wii U’s life cycle, and it’s safe to say it was unsuccessful. The result of being released so close to the end of the Wii U’s catastrophic life was some extremely subpar sales numbers (with estimates putting it atless than 500k units sold) despite thegame reviewing pretty well.
Star Foxarguably peaked back in 1997 withStar Fox 64,with its on-rails sci-fi shooter gameplay exciting fans. However, since then Nintendo has pivoted backwards and forwards on what they want the franchise to be. The N64 game was followed byStar Fox Adventureson the GameCube, which was a complete departure from what the series had tried so far by turning toZelda-style gameplay.Star Fox: AssaultfollowedAdventures, trying a combination of spacecraft and on-foot elements. After that we gotStar Fox Commandon DS which mixed in some turn-based strategy elements, and then 10 years later sawStar Fox Zero. Every iteration of theStar Foxfranchise has adapted the gameplay in some way by trying to carve out a niche, without ever really setting the world on fire.
AlongsidePikmin,Star Foxis a franchise that Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto has always been fond of,saying back in 2016that he “always wanted Fox McCloud to be a bit more popular than he was.” So despite the failures of the series' recent entries, there’s definitely hope for a reboot, and what better time to do it than when there’s little else coming out on the Switch to compete with.
5) Nintendogs
While not a game for the “hardcore” audience out there –Nintendogscertainly shifted units. The game was released a few months after the original DS launched and was nothing short of a phenomenon. Across the lifecycle of the DS, the originalNintendogsfell only a few thousand units shy of selling 24 million. Despite only having two games (NintendogsandNintendogs + Cats) the series has outsold a string of other huge franchises includingMetroid,Luigi’s Mansion, andFire Emblem.
Like many of the games on this list,Nintendogsdid something different; Nintendo spotted a gap in the “pet simulation” market and they took it. The simple gameplay loop of caring for a dog, feeding it, walking it, and generally just looking after it resonated with the masses, and the release of multiple different versions with different breeds helped further the game’s success.
Last year, developers Imagineer releasedLittle Friends: Dogs & Catsas a spiritual successor toNintendogs, however the gamepaled in comparison when contrasting the two. Several critics, including our own Cameron Hawkins, were quick to point out that “it is very limited on what you’re able to do, especially for the game’s asking price.”
Like most of these dormant franchises,Nintendogswould benefit greatly from the advances in technology since we last saw it. A reboot of the franchise would be a great way for Nintendo to capitalize on the more casual market this holiday season, especially after the success ofAnimal Crossing: New Horizonsearlier this year. WhileAnimal Crossingcertainly has more depth, the two games would likely have some overlapping appeal. Releasing a “NewNintendogs” would hit the nostalgic sweet spot for many, and would no doubt help sell both Switch hardware and software units.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/xUBSCyFoWTw
Honorable Mentions -
Kid Icarus-Kid Icarus Uprisingis the only non-Smash Bros.title from Masahiro Sakurai since 2005, and it was a very solid game; it offered a compelling gameplay loop and came out to some very strong reviews. While not having the pulling power of the other names on this list, a newKid Icaruswould be very much welcome, especially with Pit being a much more familiar character to Nintendo fans now.
Golden Sun- The Camelot-developed/Nintendo-publishedGolden Sunseries was a stellar range of handheld JRPGs that ended most recently withGolden Sun: Dark Dawnon the DS.Octopath Travelerhas shown that there’s a demand for high-quality RPGs on the Nintendo Switch, and what better way to fill that demand than with a new entry in the beloved franchise.
Mario Sportstitles-Mario Tennis Acesreleased on the Switch in 2018, but that’s the onlyMario Sportsgame on the system so far. Mario has dipped his toes into golf, football and basketball in the past, and any of these games (especially a newMario Golf) would make an impact on the Switch.
WarioWare-WarioWare Goldwas another relative commercial failure in 2018 with many asking the question–with the Switch being so well established by that point–why release aWarioWaregame on the 3DS? This Christmas would be a perfect time for Nintendo to right those wrongs and release a new entry in the party-game series on the Switch. AnotherWario Landgame wouldn’t go amiss, either.
Wave Race- Revered for its realistic water,Wave Raceis a fantastic racing series set on, you guessed it, the waves. LikeF-Zero,Wave Raceoffered something different in the racing genre and would be another popular pick to resurface this holiday season.
So while it’s looking quiet for Nintendo towards the back end of this year, there’s an undoubted amount of potential for something special. If they can drop a trailer forPaper Mario: The Origami Kingand have it release a month later, there’s hope for all of the franchises on this list that (hopefully) some of them are already in the works. Which one of these games would top your Christmas List this year?Let us know in the comments below.
