Nintendo Direct: Free-to-Play Titles, Koopalings, and a New Smash Challenger Approaches

This past Thursday saw the first Nintendo Direct of 2014, which focused primarily on major WiiU and 3DS titles that are due to come out spring of this year. Those who were perhaps expecting some sort of jaw-dropping announcement in the face of Nintendo’s poor quarterly performance – posted last month – might find themselves somewhat disappointed, as much of the Nintendo Direct was business as usual. Still, for those interested in the upcoming games of 2014, here’s a rundown of all the major announcements from Thursday’s Nintendo Direct.

• Though it will still be some time before we get a specific release date for the game, a new challenger was announced for the upcoming Smash Bros. for WiiU and 3DS. The challenger in question? Little Mac of Punch-Out!! fame. From the looks of the trailer, the diminutive pugilist’s move set will largely incorporate his fighting style from Punch-Out!!, including some sort of charge meter that may inflict major damage. You can check out the reveal trailer below.

• Mario Golf: World Tour will feature a new single player mode, known as Castle Club, that lets you use your Mii character. You’ll be able to customize your character by earning 8 different types of items, and also be able to enter training modes to focus on specific areas of golfing, such as putting. The game will be released for the 3DS on May 2.

• Also coming out on May 2 for the 3DS is Kirby Triple Deluxe, which was announced in last October’s Nintendo Direct. The game promises to feature tons of collectables, allowing for a more in-depth experience should players be looking for a challenge. Types of collectables include Sun Stones, which aid in Kirby’s progression, and 8-bit keychains, which can be earned through the Streetpass feature.

• Yoshi’s New Island, another sidescroller coming for the 3DS, will have some features that set it apart from its predecessor. Mega Eggdozers (and their Metal equivalents) are giant projectiles that Yoshi can use to destroy pipes, blocks and much more. Also, Yoshi will be able to transform into various forms – such as the rock-breaking jackhammer Yoshi, or the sea breathing submarine Yoshi – that can be controlled with the gyro controls. An additional transformation will give Yoshi wings, allowing novice players to bypass difficult levels. The game’s due to release on March 14.

• On the e-shop side of things, Nintendo is releasing two free-to-play titles: Steel Diver: Sub Wars and Rusty’s Real Deal Baseball. Steel Diver: Sub Wars, the successor to 2011’s Steel Diver, is what Satoru Iwata refers to as a “contemplative fps”. Players control a submarine and must make quick manoeuvres against rival subs. The game boasts a single player mode as well as competitive 4 on 4 team battles. The free version of the game is more of a demo, offering players access to a limited selection of subs, as well as the first two missions from the campaign. It’s available right now on the e-shop.

• Rusty’s Real Deal Baseball is a mini-game collection developed, according to Iwata, around the theme of “good feelings”. Players can purchase a wide variety of baseball themed games and can haggle with Rusty, the game shopkeeper, to lower the actual prices of the minigames from their starting price of four dollars. The game will be free in april.

• Another newly announced game was Pokémon Battle Trozei, an action puzzle game that has players matching tiles in order to capture and battle Pokémon. Once captured, Pokémon can be used to help players do more damage against enemies. The game comes out March 20.

• A bit more information was revealed about Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy. In addition to the usual campaign, this will be the first Layton game to feature a Streetpass component, where players can create treasure hunt challenges for other players they pass by. Completing these challenges earns you points that you can then spend on items. This will also be Emmy Altava (Layton’s assistant)’s last adventure with the professor. What this means exactly will be revealed when the game releases in less than two weeks, on February 28.

• Though a specific date wasn’t given, Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate will be released in early 2015. It will feature online co-op on the 3DS.

• Weapon Shop De Omasse, the fourth and final game from the Guild-01 collection, is finally seeing a release in North America. After Nintendo of America started releasing games from the subsequent Guild-02 collection, it seemed that Weapon Shop would never see a western release, so this is a pleasant surprise. The game, which has you working in a blacksmith shop and forging weapons for traditional rpg adventurers, will be released on the e-shop on the 20^th of this month.

• Inazuma Eleven, another game long overdue for localization, has been released on the e-shop. A soccer RPG, the game is divided into two portions – an rpg segment that has teams training and recruiting characters, and the action-packed soccer matches. This series has had a devout following overseas, and has finally made its North American debut.

• For the WiiU, Nintendo offered a look at Ubisoft Montreal’s Child of Light, a beautiful-looking platformer rpg starring Aurora, a child who must do battle with the Queen of Night. Aurora is aided on her quest by the firefly Igniculus, whom a second player can control with the Wii U gamepad. The game comes out on April 20.

• A few days later, Nintendo will release NES Remix Volume 2. As with the previous instalment, challenges have been culled from NES games, though this time around said games include Super Mario Bros 3, Punch-Out!!, Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link, Metroid, and more. The game also comes with Super Luigi Bros, a version of Super Mario Bros that plays from right to left and stars Luigi. NES Remix Volume 2 comes out April 25.

• A while back, Nintendo promised that GBA titles would eventually make their way to the Wii U Virtual Console. It looks like we won’t have to wait too much longer, as the first wave of GBA games should be showing up in April. Games include Metroid Fusion, Super Mario Advance 3: Yoshi’s Island, and Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga.

• A new trailer for Mario Kart 8 was shown, introducing not just one, but seven new characters making their Mario Kart debut: the Koopalings, Bowser’s minions, who first appeared way back in Super Mario Bros. 3. Mario Kart 8 will be released on May 30.

• Finally, we were offered a look at two more upcoming games, Monolith Soft’s X and Bayonetta 2. X‘s combat system was inspired by the system from Xenoblade Chronicles. Bayonetta 2 looks to be released later this year.

You can see the Nintendo Direct broadcast in its entirety below: