Nintendo had the shortest presentation of any of the major console companies for E3 2017, and it was focused, entirely, on the Nintendo Switch. But that didn’t stop Nintendo from dropping a host of surprises, ranging from the return of an eagerly awaited franchise to revealing its next Mario game.
Super Mario Odyssey
Nintendo’s next entry in the Mario franchise showed off a lot of gameplay, most notably explaining just what Mario’s animate hat has to do with it. It turns out Mario can throw that hat onto anything in the world and essentially take control of whatever object it lands on. Yes, Mario can mindjack people with his hat. That’s… sort of terrifying! Oh, also, there are Amiibo of Bowser, Mario, and Peach in full wedding regalia, so hopefully we can run around Skyrim in a wedding gown wielding a bouquet of piranha plants.
Rocket League
Rocket League is coming to the Switch, which is a big coup for both sides. It’ll have cross-network support, local multiplayer, and, by far the most important feature, the ability to fit your car with an adorable little Mario hat.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2
The action RPG will be back, and it will, well, it’s going to be like the last one, only moreso. That said, if you’re done with Breath of The Wild, this might be a good way to scratch that open world itch.
Kirby
Kirby is officially back in 2018, this time with a multiplayer game that lets you team up with some friends for custom attacks and Smash Bros.-esque fighting.
Yoshi
Yoshi continues to get adorable platformers of his own, once again with an arts-and-crafts focus. This game appears to include a mechanic which allows you to flipping the level to discover secrets, which is a neat idea, but the game also has (potentially) the most annoying music of E3, which is saying something.
Fire Emblem Warriors
Arriving Fall 2017, Nintendo’s RPG series is getting the Dynasty Warriors treatment, although we didn’t see much gameplay.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild
The Legend of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild is getting DLC focused on trials, a new story called The Champion’s Ballad, and its heroes will become Amiibo as well. Really, did we expect anything else?
What was most intriguing, though, was what Nintendo only hinted at. After dancing around the topic, Nintendo finally said a core Pokemon title is heading to the Switch. And it also took the surprising step of telling fans that Metroid Prime 4 was on the way. So if you were hoping lines for the Switch to calm down, we’re guessing you’ll be waiting for a while.