The Direct Approach

Time for some much needed good news! Nintendo recently posted an abbreviated Nintendo Direct, with news about several upcoming and already released Switch games. Here it is in case you haven't seen it.

Here are a few highlights from the presentation. Mr. Driller Drill Land is finally, finally getting an American release, offering an English translation along with a "casual" mode that makes the game as easy as you probably expected it to be when you first saw pictures of the original for the Dreamcast. 2K is finally getting its rear in gear and releasing Bioshock, X-Com, and Borderlands collections for the Switch. Presumably Borderlands 2 will run better on this handheld system than it had the Vita, because it's hard to imagine how it could get any worse. There's an expansion for Marvel Alliance 3 centered around the Fantastic Four and their eternal nemesis Dr. Doom, which looks pretty slick.

Okay, let me catch my breath here... what else? Shinsekai is a search action game where you, a scuba diving alien, must explore the depths of the ocean while fighting giant millipedes, uncovering robot sidekicks, and above all else, not drowning. It looks promising... better than the similarly themed Song of the Deep, anyway. There are a couple of Animal Crossing updates, neither of which fix the limited multiplayer options that have drawn the ire of fans. Looks like it's going to be one island per Switch forever, folks. Arms is getting one of its characters in Super Smash Bros Ultimate, and Bravely Default is getting a sequel, which reminds me that I should probably finish the first game eventually. (Blows dust off his neglected 3DS)

And there's more! Ninjala seeks to scratch that multiplayer itch for Switch owners bored with Splatoon, introducing a cast of young martial artists that use chewing gum to clear chasms and battle each other with Nerf swords and... giant corn cobs. There's a Naruto meets Willy Wonka vibe going on here. Finally (or finally for me, since the other stuff in the presentation didn't interest me much) there's a sequel to Clubhouse Games, the all-purpose time-waster for the Nintendo DS. There are new games blended in with the old, and the graphics have significantly improved, to the point where the marbles in Mancala have a translucent sheen as they're dropped into the gold-lined cups of the wooden playset. For all its many diversions, the original Clubhouse Games was one of the plainest looking games I can remember on the DS, so any improvement to the visuals is a welcome addition.