The Summer Game Fest may be over, but Nintendo is hosting its big summer showcase today. The publisher is broadcasting a new Nintendo Direct, airing roughly 40 minutes of news about upcoming Switch games, though there won’t be any mention of the console’s successor here.
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Instead, what we’re likely to see is the twilight roll-out of the Switch’s library. A few new games, a few old ones, and maybe the return of a long-lost giant, hiding away for years in Nintendo R&D. Here’s everything we saw today.
Everything shown in the June 2024 Nintendo Direct
- A surprise reveal of Mario & Luigi: Brothership opens the show. It’s the first Mario & Luigi game in years, and though former series studio Alphadream rode off into the sunset, it looks like the series is returning under Nintendo. The look is certainly there, and this might be a fun Nintendo revival on November 7, 2024.
- Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition is still slated for July 18, and looks like a bundle of classic retro fun. I really dig the physical deluxe version, too.
- Love anime? Well, Fairy Tail 2 arrives this winter to recount portions of its story in an action-RPG style. I really don’t know much about Fairy Tail, other than how my college roommate kept trying to get our friend group to watch it. It did not work.
- Yes, Fantasian is escaping the clutches of Apple Arcade with Fantasian: Neo Dimension this holiday season. The Hironobu Sakaguchi and Nobuo Uematsu team-up will be playable on Switch consoles, so you can finally experience what your friend with Apple Arcade has been yelling about for ages.
- A new sport for Nintendo Switch Sports is on the way, in basketball. This free update coming summer 2024 will add hoops to the mix, and include the motion controls you’d hope for in a new Switch Sports title. Don’t shatter your TV by dunking.
- Mio: Memories in Orbit is a curious new title with a gorgeous art style. It seems like you’ll progress through a space station of some kind, exploring how the technical space has fallen to ruin and doing some light combat and platforming. Look for more of this as we approach a launch year of 2025.
- Disney Illusion Island gets a free update today, adding the Mystery in Monoth. Help Dash Dolphin solve some mysteries in the same ol’ couch co-op platformer realm. Seems like a good addition for families who want a detective mystery to solve together.
- Need to get away? Hello Kitty Island Adventure is lined up as a timed console exclusive for next year, adding to the roster of Apple Arcade escapees. You can explore, chat with pals, and build an island paradise. Expect this one to be surprisingly big when it hits Switch consoles.
- For some more sports action, we head to Looney Tunes: Wacky World of Sports, a new competitive sports game starring your cartoon favorites arriving this fall. It’s no Mario vs. Sonic at the Olympics, but it does have Bugs Bunny.
- New roles are coming to Among Us in a free update later today. The Noisemaker can alert players when they’re eliminated, the Tracker can plant tracking devices, and the Phantom adds an Impostor that turns invisible. Creepy!
- Marvelous heard that farming games are all the rage, and they’re not missing out. Farmagia looks like one part Harvest Moon or Rune Factory, and another part Monster Rancher, with maybe a touch of Pikmin? Whatever it is, it’s certainly got a look and style, and we’ll learn more as we approach a release date of November 1, 2024.
- It’s time to return, once again, to Donkey Kong’s country. Donkey Kong Country Returns HD is a remastered version of the older Nintendo title arriving on January 16, 2025. With 80 levels and local two-player co-op, it seems like a good way to lose a weekend or two.
- The Dragon Quest fanfare is playing, which can only mean one thing. Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D is showing off gameplay, and it has a release date too: November 14, 2024. But for those who love the classics, it doesn’t end there. Square Enix confirms that Dragon Quest 1 and 2 are also getting the HD treatment, sometime in 2025.
- If you’re a Funko collector and wish you could see them come to life, first seek consultation, and then seek out Funko Fusion. This game arrives on September 13, 2024 to make Funko figures come to life and do various action-adventure, third-person shooter things.
- Here’s a short reminder that Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD is set for June 27, and it’s looking like a good time for fans of the green plumber getting the life scared out of him. Poor guy.
- I’m still not sure what The New Denpa Men is, other than a surreal free-to-play RPG arriving on July 22. If you find out, please let me know.
- For something new today, Metal Slug Attack Reloaded is an auto-battling tower defense take on Metal Slug. Opinions in the internal Destructoid chat were divided, but maybe you’ll find something to love in this approach to Metal Slug. If not, there are always some tactics to be had, too.
- Grab the reins of your nearest carriage, as Darkest Dungeon 2 roars onto the Switch on July 15. Feels like a perfect fit for the handheld console.
- The Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack lineup gets four new titles today. Game Boy Advance sees The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past / Four Swords Adventure and Metroid Zero Mission join its repertoire, while Nintendo 64 gets an M-rated update with Turok: Dinosaur Hunter and Perfect Dark. All four arrive today.
- Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero revives the NIS series for a 2025 entry, letting you take over environmental objects to cause mass havoc.
- Marvel fans, our time has finally come. The Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics brings several classics to the Switch, as well as PS4 and PC via Steam, in 2024. Yes, this includes Marvel vs. Capcom 2, a few other fighting titles, and even some beat ’em ups, complete with online and everything.
- Keep the party going with Super Mario Party Jamboree on October 17. The latest entry in the Mario Party series adds new boards, a few old locales, and a 20-player online battle mode to boot. Are you ready to ruin friendships? Because I sure am.
- Link has disappeared, and so Zelda is taking up the lead in The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom. This new take on the top-down Zelda style lets the princess wield magic, creating copies of various objects found in the world to fight enemies and solve puzzles. It looks fantastic, and is arriving fairly soon: September 26, 2024. A special Nintendo Switch Lite, adorned in gold and Zelda theming, is also on the way.
- It’s a new year, and a new Just Dance is on its way. Just Dance 2025 Edition arrives in October 2024.
- Here’s a reminder that Lego Horizon Adventures, the brick-based adaptation of Aloy’s adventures, is also coming to Switch. It’s set for holiday 2024.
- Queue up two more for the holidays: the cat adventure game Stray and hobbit life sim Tales of the Shire are both heading for Switch to ring in the festive season.
- HOLD IT! We’ve seen most of the Ace Attorney games make their way to Nintendo Switch, so it’s only fitting that we get some Miles in there too. The Ace Attorney Investigations Collection brings both of Miles Edgeworth’s games to the Nintendo Switch on September 6, 2024. No objections here.
- Craving some more Danganronpa? Well, The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- is a new game from the series’ creators, and it certainly has the same style. Defend a school against invaders for 100 days, while also diving into the truth of this building, the 15 companions living inside it, and what is up with this post-apocalyptic nightmare they’re all in. Hundred Line is aiming for 2025.
- The RPG remastering will continue with Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven. This revival is a full-on remake with English voiceover, rearranged compositions, and of course, new graphics. SaGa fans are eating well this year, and they won’t have to wait long for this meal either. Romancing SaGa 2 arrives on October 24 2024.
- For our one last thing, we close on one of Nintendo’s lingering Switch games that’s been around for years. Metroid Prime 4, now subtitled Beyond, shows off some new gameplay and general vibes ahead of a 2025 window.
That’s all for the June 2024 Nintendo Direct. An all-together solid showing, considering we’re in the final hours of the Nintendo console’s life-cycle. With some inventive new surprises and revivals of classics, it’s hard to really find fault in this showcase.
