Yesterday, Nintendo announced that it would hold a Nintendo Direct today to discuss upcoming Wii U and 3DS titles. True to its word, the latest Nintendo Direct did just that, and even served up some surprises for the Nintendo fan.
Starting out, Nintendo showed off a new trailer for Super Mario 3D World that featured some of the new powerups that players will encounter in the latest Mario adventure. We already knew about the cat suit, but there’s also a cherry that will split Mario into two copies of himself. The powerups from Super Mario 3D Land, including the boomerang suit and coin box, will be available in this game as well.
Next up was Wii Party U. There wasn’t a lot of new information available beyond it featuring some new mini-games that require players to gather around the gamepad and use four Wiimotes in unison to complete tasks. The game will launch with a Wiimote Plus bundle on October 22.
Another one of Nintendo’s big holiday titles – Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze – has been delayed. Nintendo said that the game has been delayed until February 2014 to allow the team at Retro Studios to add more polish.
Moving onto Sonic, Nintendo had two announcements. The first was Mario & Sonic At The Winter Olympic Games will have online multiplayer. That alone isn’t too surprising, but the way it’s being handled certainly is. Keeping in line with the olympic spirit, players from all over the world can compete in four events to contribute points to their country. The game will keep track of which country leads the world in points as players battle to defend their country’s honor.
As for the other Sonic-related announcement, Nintendo confirmed that Sonic will be back in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS. Sonic was a fan favorite in Super Smash Bros. Brawl so it’s good to see him back.
In some final Wii U news, Nintendo announced that Pikmin 3 will be getting some Challenge Mode DLC today for $1.99. This will add four new maps to the game. There will be more DLC added down the road as well.
Moving onto 3DS, Nintendo showed off the first English trailer for Square Enix’ Bravely Default. The game is your standard turn-based RPG, but that’s only a good thing. It will also allow players to choose between the English dub or the original Japanese cast.
Nintendo also provided an update on The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds. Nintendo has decided to change up the formula of Zelda games with this newest title by allowing players to buy almost every item from the start of the game and tackle dungeons in any order. This will be the first time a Zelda game has offered such an option since the original The Legend of Zelda on the NES.
Finally, Nintendo announced a new Kirby game for the Nintendo 3DS. There’s not much to say at the moment beyond it looks like a Kirby game. That’s not a bad thing, mind you. It will be out in 2014.
