With Super Mario Bros. Wonder behind us, the end of the Nintendo Switch’s amazing run draws near.
Sure, the Switch still has Super Mario RPG this fall (on my birthday! Thanks Papa Nintendo), Princess Peach: Showtime! early next year, and Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door next summer, yet two of these games are remakes and the other – no disrespect to the Princess – doesn’t look like an A-Tier, must-play title. Even ignoring the credible rumors swirling around these past few months, the Super Nintendo Switch 2 Pro – or whatever they’ll end up calling it – is fast approaching, like a Bullet Bill shot from Q4 2024.
And given past Nintendo trends, I believe this successor console will have an amazing launch line-up – or at least an impressive launch window.
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With the exception of the GameCube, Nintendo has never failed to release a Mario or Zelda title for a console at launch, spanning all the way back to 1983’s Nintendo Entertainment System – and even then, the GameCube had Luigi’s Mansion. From Super Mario Bros., to Super Mario World, Super Mario 64, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, New Super Mario Bros. U, and finally The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, early adopters of Nintendo consoles have had something amazing to play, with more than a few genre and generation defining classics. Throw in a pattern of great supporting games, from like Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 and Wii Sports, and you’ve got a good idea of what to expect from Nintendo when new hardware rolls around.
Clearly, the Nintendo Switch 2 needs a Mario or Zelda game as a flagship title, something that’s a must-play to get people to rush out and add what almost certainly is another handheld hybrid to their TV stand. As Nintendo gave us The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom this year, I would be as ridiculous as Tingle to predict another new Zelda title for the Switch 2, unless there’s something akin to The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds in the works.
While the Switch got Breath of the Wild, it’s likely that Nintendo will give us a successor to Super Mario Odyssey next year. Yes, Super Mario Bros. Wonder just debuted, but 2D Mario games and 3D Mario games generally have different development teams. Given we saw some kind of pseudo-open world prototype with Bowser’s Fury in 2021, expect an expansion on that – or something new entirely – to headline the Switch 2’s launch.
But I wouldn’t rule Zelda out yet. As Nintendo reportedly showed off an upgraded Breath of the Wild on the Switch 2 at Gamescom, I anticipate some kind of Zelda remake for early in the next console’s lifespan. This could be Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom, as Nintendo has had Zelda games straddle console generations before, or it could be the long anticipated ports of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and Twilight Princess. They’ve been remade before, sure – but going from 1080p on the Wii U to 1080p on the Nintendo Switch never made much sense. It makes more sense to see them rendered in whatever higher resolution the Switch 2 produces.
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Certainly there will be some sort of sports party game akin to Wii Sports or 1-2-Switch. But what interests me more is what we haven’t gotten, but expected, on the original – namely, Metroid Prime 4. The first Metroid Prime was remastered for the Switch back in February, and according to GameSpot, the next two are still on their way. Metroid Prime 4, however, was announced way back in 2017, and Retro Studios and Nintendo haven’t spoken a peep about it since. Perhaps this is just my wishful thinking, but what better way to kick off a new Nintendo console generation with a highly anticipated sequel that could truly show off new hardware?
Last, Pokémon developer Game Freak has been uncharacteristically quiet. It wasn’t that long ago that they released Pokémon games at a breakneck pace: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee! into Sword and Shield and its two DLCs, followed quickly by Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, and Legends: Arceus. Since Scarlet and Violet came out in November 2022, the only other Pokéadventure they’ve given us is The Teal Mask DLC 10 months later, though the follow-up, The Indigo Disk, isn’t far off. Will the Switch 2 see a new Pokémon generation? Undoubtedly. Will it happen at launch? I’d be remiss to predict such, but a remake of Black and White from a third party studio? A definite possibility.
That all said, Nintendo loves to space out their heavy hitters rather than drop them all at once: seeing a new 3D Mario alongside a new Pokémon generation, Metroid Prime 4, and a 4K remake of Breath of the Wild would seem like a Wonder Flower-induced fever dream. The fact still remains, however, that the Switch 2 has the potential to have one of the best launch lineups in Nintendo history; and regardless of whether or not these titles all release at once, the future of Nintendo and its first-party lineup looks as bright as one of Mario’s Super Stars – or the Triforce, if you’re more of a Zelda fan.
