As potentially the most creative and biggest innovator of the massive triple-A gaming companies,Nintendohas had plenty of great ideas for games that they never return to, and that sucks.
You’ll find a Nintendo-published title on one of their old systems, then play through something truly unique, only to realize it hasn’t been loved for 10 or more years (even if they still feel like taking down fangames of it).
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I want to take a look back at some of their series that haven’t gotten a proper, entirely new and original entry in over a decade, and see how much they’d benefit from being aSwitch 2title that can use the console’s new features.
Whether it’s a great fit with mouse controls, or it’d just be a fan favorite that I’d love to see return in high fidelity, these games would all make for a banger announcement that’d properly ignite the Nintendo fanbase in excitement.
Completely Blindsided
This one is a tad arguable, asF-Zero 99released on the Switch a few years ago. But if we’re all being honest with ourselves, it’s just the SNES game with multiplayer, and no one has been playing it at all recently.
I want a brand-new entry that’s in-line with F-Zero X and GX, in full 3D with the same exhilarating high-speed gameplay we lost on the GameCube. I have zero clue why they’ve never returned to this, and it saddens me.
I really highly doubt we’ll see it any time soon, though. Even though racing in high resolution at 120 FPS would make speeding across tubes at mach 10 feel better than it ever has, there’s just too much competition.
Nintendo is already stuffing their release year with Mario Kart World and Kirby Air Riders, on top of the release of Sonic Racing Crossworlds and Fast Fusion. If we see F-Zero, it will be at a minimum of four-or-so years from now.
Swimming in Seas
The Legendary Starfy
I think Starfy is such an anomaly of a series for Nintendo. It has a mascot with just as much potential for success as Kirby, gameplay that is pretty beginner-friendly and enjoyable, and yet it’s barely left Japan.
It hasn’t seen a new entry since the fifth game on the DS, and that was the only game in the series to get translated and released worldwide, with the first three games only available through NIntendo Switch Online nowadays.
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Swimming around as a little starfish is a really simple concept that leads to a ton of engaging levels that felt fresh, and even if it was just a properly translated and localized collection of all five games, I’d love to have it back.
Ideally, though, we’d see the first new release in 17 years, done in a lovely 2.5D style similar to the recent Kirby games, and let everyone finally get acquainted with this series that has deserved so much better for so long.
8Wave Race
Rafting Rapids
Wave Race 64
I think it’s baffling that Wave Race was given three entire games. The first was just a strange little Game Boy title, but Wave Race 64 received near unanimous praise and critical acclaim only to get promptly thrown away.
Wave Race Blue Storm was the last attempt at doing anything with this series, falling into relative obscurity due to thecurse of being a GameCube game. It got a little bit more criticism, but the series was far from hated.
We could be having a great time racing across the seas on jet skis, and potentially newfangled hovercrafts, but like I said with F-Zero, I find that seriously unlikely due to the massive number of racing games already coming to the Switch 2.
It feels like the water-surfing in Mario Kart World is some sort of spiritual successor to this series, but nothing beats pure water-riding-focused racing, and it could be one of the prettiest games ever made if it were realized.
7Pilotwings
Circle Back Around
Pilotwings Resort
As an incredibly iconic SNES game, a launch title for the Nintendo 64, and a very random launch title for the 3DS, the Pilotwings series has always been in a strange situation, but I’d love to see it come back.
I think the jetpackgameplay in Pilotwings Resortwould’ve been incredible if it were made for the Switch. Using the dual joy-cons to act as handles with gyro would make it all the more engaging.
Making it into an open-exploration-focused game centered around unique control schemes for each vehicle would make it stand out from every other flight-focused game on the market, and I’m surprised they haven’t really done that.
Let the plane control as it did inWii Sports Resort, make a wingsuit fly at incredibly precise angles with the mouse controls. You can really go all out on the gimmicks and make for a game that feels incredibly unique.
Barreling Forward
Star Fox Zero
I really thinkStar Foxdeserves another chance after Star Fox Zero was a remake of Star Fox 64 for the hundredth time, now with a more inconvenient control scheme, and a very bland, washed-out style.
Bringing the series back with a genuinely new entry would be fantastic, one that actually looks as incredible as flying through alien planets and blasting everything in sight should. And no, Starlink does not count as a real video game.
Using the mouse controls could also alleviate the problem of joystick aiming always feeling off, something Zero failed terribly at doing by giving you 360-degree aim when you only have to look forward.
I have doubts, since instead of making a new game on the Switch, they had Ubisoft include the cast in a very middling toys to life game that sold like garbage. Hopefully they’ll see the light, and we’ll see the first original game since Command.
5Sin and Punishment
Underrated Exclusive
Sin and Punishment
You probably never think of Sin and Punishment as a cult classic Nintendo title, but it’s only really shown up twice, both in immaculate form and as enjoyable rail shooters reaching quite a bit of critical acclaim.
That’s why it’s all the more frustrating that they gave up onthis series entirely after the Wii. It was never given a chance to be a dual-stick shooter, and while the pointer controls worked great, it could have been better.
Mouse controls benefit shooters an incredible amount, and the best part about them being on proper game controllers is being able to use an analog stick in the other hand, which means this game could be incredible.
Though I find this rather gritty, less marketable series far less likely to see a drop of attention over another series with similar gameplay, it would be a hard-hitter throwback that’d make the dedicated Nintendo fans giddy.
4Mario Paint
We Have a Mouse Again
Mario Paint
The funniest SNES accessory to me was the SNES Mouse, which was used nearly exclusively for Mario Paint. Now that the Joy-Con 2 can be used as a mouse, it makes me think a Mario Paint sequel has to happen.
This series only got one entry in America, and got a sequel with Mario Artist exclusively in Japan for the awful Nintendo 64 Disk Drive. Needless to say, I think it deserves a real, new game for this new system.
Nintendo could bring back the typical doodling, music composition, and animation tools, also bringing in the great extra tools from Flipnote 3D, and allowing for a far less limited color pallette with unlockable stickers on top of it all.
As it’s literally a blank canvas, there’s an unlimited amount of potential for this game, and I think this is genuinely the perfect time to bring it back, even if it might not be the most exciting new release ever.
3Golden Sun
RPG Perfection
Golden Sun
With the advent of incredibly successful indie games likeSea of Stars, alongside the nostalgia cyclehitting GBA games pretty hardcurrently, it’s the perfect time for Nintendo to finally reviveGolden Sun.
This series was one of Nintendo’s greatest RPG franchises ever, and as theMotherseries is pretty much off the table according to Shigisato Itoi, it’s the RPG series that makes the most sense to put back in the spotlight.
There was a very iconic entry on the GBA, a pretty damn decent followup on the DS, then radio silence. They like putting Isaac in Smash as an assist trophy, but they really don’t acknowledge the series otherwise.
Seeing a proper return to the beautiful world of Weyard in high resolution would genuinely make some people cry, as I’ve seen Nintendo fans begging for a lick of new content every week at this point.
2Punch Out!!
Perfect Idea, Zero Execution
Punch-Out!!
I might be alone in this feeling, butPunch Out!!on the Wii being the last hurrah for the entire series makes me incredibly sad. The idea of motion control integration is incredible, but the Nunchuck just sucked at motion.
This game drops inputs so often it becomes more frustrating than fun at times, and it allows for barely any nuance with how rudimentary the motion implementation is, so I’d be elated to see it given a second life on the Switch 2.
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The Joy-cons are way better at detecting motion, meaning you could actually throw a left hook and have it register properly the majority of the time. The boxing minigame in 1-2 Switch felt like a test that never got followed up on.
On top of that, Wii felt like we barely got anything new, so seeing a sequel that impresses with more than just a cool fight with Donkey Kong would be great, alongside just controlling way better.
1Kid Icarus
A New Uprisal
Kid Icarus: Uprising
It’s a damn shame thatKid Icarus: Uprisingwas one of the best games on the 3DS, revitalizing a dead franchise with great humor, run gameplay, and a control scheme that gives you arthritis, only to never come back again.
It felt like a statement that Kid Icarus was going to become a new mainstay Nintendo powerhouse, and despite the incredible critical reception, the series just didn’t come back on the Switch in any form whatsoever.
While Sakurai iscurrently working on Kirby Air Riders, I could totally see him gunning for a new Kid Icarus title next, using the mouse controls for aiming and properly adapting the Uprising formula into a single screen experience.
As long as he doesn’t get tied up in another massive Smash Bros. project, it feels incredibly likely. He’s expressed the desire to return to Uprising and spoken about it a ton, and it’s a perfect fit for this new control scheme.
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