On 11.5.2014, Nintendo had its latest Direct, giving fans a peek at the games on the the horizon and what its plans are for Amiibo. Since the release of Mario Kart 8, Nintendo has improved the sales of the Wii U, while the 3DS has seen a dip in sales. Naturally, Nintendo needs to give Wii U and 3DS owners, as well as prospective consumers, a reason to get pumped about the plans Nintendo has. Did it succeed? Take a look at this overview and find out what all the buzz is about.
Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D
It seems like every time a Direct comes around, people are predicting this title’s announcement. Nintendo has continued to pay homage to the Nintendo 64 classic, like Majora’s Mask hanging on a wall in 2013’s A Link Between Worlds and an appearance by the maniacal moon in this year’s Hyrule Warriors. Finally, Nintendo is giving fans what they’ve been clamoring for. The version will be for the 3DS/2DS and will feature a similar graphical overhaul akin to the Ocarina of Time 3D remake from a few years back. Considering how well Nintendo nailed the Ocarina remake, it looks as though this updated Majora’s Mask will be every bit as good as its predecessor.
Nintendo is Serious About Amiibo
We’ve known for a while that Nintendo plans to bring the Amiibo figurine functionality to multiple games, but what we haven’t known is how they plan to integrate those fabulous looking figures. Nintendo revealed that Mario Kart 8 will use Amiibo support to unlock costumes for Mii racers. Each figurine puts the Mii racer in the costume of it respective Amiibo. Nintendo will role out support for Mario, Yoshi, Peach, Fox McCloud, Samus, Link, Donkey Kong, and Kirby. After that, we’ll see other figurines getting support in MK8, in December.
Mario Kart 8 isn’t the only one getting support when Amiibo launches. Nintendo outlined that, in Hyrule Warriors, Amiibo will unlock certain weapons, like the Spinner from Twilight Princess. What other weapons we’ll get, we don’t know, but what we do know is that every Amiibo will be compatible, according to Nintendo’s Brill Trinen.
Mario Kart Gets DLC
Screenshots of the characters and tracks included in the upcoming DLCs for Mario Kart 8 have been out for some time. Still, there’s been a bit of mystery as to what the tracks will be. On November 13, the first pack will feature new racers (including LINK!) and 8 new courses. The biggest course reveals were Hyrule Circuit and an Excite Bike course. It’s great to see Nintendo continuing its support of its most successful Wii U game, to date.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgp1FWgu4dY
Captain Toad’s Treasure Tracker Has A Lot of Levels
Nintendo showed a trailer of Captain Toad’s latest adventure. Apparently, we are supposed to call them “mini-verses.” Whatever they’re called, this trailer shows us 70 “mini-verses” and each looks promising and charming. Captain Toad’s Treasure Tracker comes to the States December 5, 2014. Can’t wait for that!
3DS Is Getting Some Promising Games
On December 5th, Nintendo 3DS owners can get their hands on Ultimate NES Remix. This will even feature some portions from the Japanese Super Famicom Remix. By purchasing either the physical or digital copy, owners of Ultimate NES Remix will get a free 3DS backgrounds theme.
In Spring 2015, the developers of Fire Emblem will bring Codename S.T.E.A.M. to the 3DS. This real-time strategy game will have us stepping into the shoes of Abraham Lincoln? Yep, you heard that right.
Things We Already Knew
Sometimes information leaks before a company has a chance to spring its surprise on us. In this case, Nintendo showed a trailer of the Duck Hunt dog joining the ranks of Super Smash Bros’ roster of combatants. We’ve known this for about a month, but the trailer was worth the laughs and on top of that, Duck Hunt will be coming to Nintendo’s Virtual Console.
Kirby and The Rainbow Curse will be coming to Wii U, February 2015. We knew it would be within the 1st quarter of 2015, but it’s great to see a more precise time-frame. This title will feature 4 player co-op, as well. This definitely looks like one of the most fun Kirby games in a while.
Nintendo gave us another look at Splatoon. Complete with a Single Player campaign and multiplayer mode, Splatoon is shaping up to be one of the more inventive shooters on the scene. It’s nice to see Nintendo creating new franchises and bringing online multiplayer to the forefront.
Miyamoto Makes Movies
The Father of Video Games explained that he has been overseeing the development of 3 Pikmin mini movies. Starting now, the 1st of the 3 Pikmin short movies are available on the Nintendo eShop, on both 3DS and Wii U.
Our Take
Nintendo had us at Majora’s Mask. In all seriousness, it was great to finally see this classic come to the 3DS. Besides that, it should be interesting to see what other games come out for the 3DS, besides Super NES Remix and Codename S.T.E.A.M. Furthermore, the Wii U doesn’t have a robust lineup of games for 2015. Sure, the games that come out will probably be phenomenal, but Nintendo needs to help us see its vision beyond the immediate future. Then again, this Direct was mostly about everything leading up to Spring of 2015, so we can’t fault them, too much.
What stood out to you in the Nintendo Direct? Is there anything you wanted to see? Let us know in the comments below!