If you tuned in to yesterday morning’s Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase, you saw the more than 25 Switch games presented—over 30 if you count each entry in a collection. Some of them we have seen before, but many were new and surprising. It was a good mix of new IPs and some ports, collections, and remasters. The most surprising ones for me were Megaman Battle Network Legacy Collection and Portal: Companion Collection.
Megaman Battle Network was a game series released on the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS. I played some of the first game when it came out, but I never owned them myself. It was a really unique version of a tactics-style role-playing game. And the story gave me VR Troopers vibes, if anyone remembers that show, where there was the real world and a world inside the computer. I’m excited to dive into them when the Legacy Collection releases next year, as I have wanted to play them for a while now. I had considered buying the originals, but they’re getting pretty expensive.
Portal was a fantastic first-person puzzle platforming game. Originally it was released alongside Half-Life 2 and Team Fortress 2 in The Orange Box. It was so widely loved that Valve developed extra levels and eventually a sequel four years later. I even remember that Jonathan Coulton’s Still Alive, a song he wrote for the game, was added as a downloadable track in Rock Band. Interesting random fact, Portal started off its life as Narbacular Drop, a game developed by students at Digipen when I attended. I think they were a year ahead of me, but Narbacular Drop wasn’t created until after I dropped out. Since I have this six-degree connection, Portal has always held a place in my heart.
Other standout games for me were Sonic Frontiers, Live A Live, Mario + Rabbids: Spark of Hope, and the Persona 3 through 5 ports. All of which we knew were coming, but seeing them again or in more detail was pretty exciting. What were some of your favorite announcements from the show?
In order, all of the games in the Direct were Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak, Nier: Automata, Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, Super Bomberman R 2, Megaman Battle Network Legacy Collection, Pac-Man World Re-Pac, Blanc, Return to Monkey Island, Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope, Little Noah: Scion of Paradise, Railgrade, RPG Time: The Legend of Wright, Sonic Frontiers, Disney Dreamlight Valley, Live A Live, Doraemon Story of Seasons: Friends of the Great Kingdom, Minecraft Legends, Dragon Quest Treasures, Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, No Man’s Sky, A Plague Tale: Requiem, Captain Velvet Meteor: The Jump+ Dimensions, Portal: Companion Collection, Harvestella, Persona 5 Royal, Persona 4 Golden, and Persona 3 Portable.