Today’s Nintendo Direct opened with the heavy artillery as fans were whisked away to the new and improved Termina. Other highlights included amiibo finally being elaborated on, and Splatoon‘s single player campaign.
The Legend of Zelda Majora’s Mask 3D opened the Nintendo Direct and set gaming forums on fire. While often overshadowed by it’s predecessor Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask has an extremely vocal fan base that has been clamoring for the 3D re-release since Ocarina of Time 3D made its debut. Majora’s Mask departed from the typical Zelda formula and made a lasting impression with its fairly dark and somewhat macabre nature, as Link wanders a land days before it’s doomed to be destroyed by the, now infamous, falling moon. Now a wider audience than ever before can play the game, which has been updated beautifully.
The second largest announcement to come from today’s Nintendo Direct, after Majora’s Mask 3D, was the reveal of what exactly amiibo would do for Mario Kart 8 and Hyrule Warriors. The Mario Kart 8 leak was unsurprisingly confirmed. All of the amiibo from the first wave, save Villager and Marth, will unlock themed track suits for Mii racers. This update goes live with the update November 13th, which unlocks several new tracks, new vehicles, and Link as a new racer. The tracks also looked fairly amazing borrowing from games like F-Zero, The Legend of Zelda, and Excitebike.
Hyrule Warriors will feature every amiibo to a small extent. The Link amiibo will unlock the Spinner, from Twilight Princess, as his new weapon. Coincidentally, this amiibo update comes as a free software update the same day the Twilight Princess additional content goes live. All other amiibo will reward players a randomly selected material, weapon, or rupees. No word yet on if the eventual Zelda and Ganondorf amiibo will also add new weapons for their respective characters.
Finally, amiibo support was announced for Kirby and the Rainbow Curse, but no details were given. What was given though is the announcement of a 4-player mode, where other players will accompany Kirby as Waddle Dee. Players two through four will move freely around the map and may lift and carry Kirby as players attempt to collect items and defeat enemies. According to the Nintendo Direct, Kirby and the Rainbow Curse will be available February 2015.
Xenoblade Chronicles X, a game that may be the the largest title to ever grace a Nintendo system, was spoken of in a bit more detail. Players will engage in quests of planetary exploration and research to influence the fate of humanity. The environments are vast and varied, it was almost jarring to see the same character that was just exploring the planet’s wilderness, complete with giant alien creatures, running through the backyards of New Los Angeles, complete with neatly trimmed hedges, swimming pools, and sunbathers. To facilitate exploration in such a massive world, Xenoblade Chronicles X features a quick travel option from the Wii U game pad. Nintendo is targeting a 2015 release date.
Also covered was Codename S.T.E.A.M., a strategy game from the developers of Fire Emblem. Players will control outlandish versions of characters from history and fiction as they take orders from President Lincoln himself. Their mission is to use an array of crazy steam powered weaponry to repel an alien invasion. New characters Tiger Lilly and Tom Sawyer were revealed. The release date hasn’t been hammered down beyond Spring 2015 as of yet though.
Indie developers were shown a little love, and Nintendo posted several indie developer interviews to their Youtube channel following the Nintendo Direct. After dropping a few names and praising the indie scene, a Commander Video trophy was revealed for Super Smash Bros.
Shigeru Miyamoto made an appearance to speak briefly about his Pikmin animations and their availability on 3DS and Wii U. Both versions run for about twenty minutes and are $4.99. The 3DS will display the shorts in 3D, while the Wii U will display them with HD visuals. On top of this, a new Pikmin 3 demo has been put on the Wii U eShop. Any saved data will transfer over to the full game if you decide you wish to purchase it after experiencing the demo.
The Nintendo Direct also gave mention to the Ultimate NES Remix, which contains NES Remix 1 and 2 together, for Wii U and 3DS. Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, which also boasts amiibo support, was touched on as well. It will feature stage specific challenges in addition to the gathering of each world’s stars and gems. In another strangely cute move, Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate is receiving Mario and Luigi costumes for felyne assistants.
The Nintendo Direct closed out on a new trailer for Splatoon‘s single player campaign which quite frankly was impressive. Splatoon has a lot more depth than many could have imagined after the limited footage seen at E3. The single player mode boils down to the inky rivalry of squid vs octopus, where the octopi seemingly have mechanical tools to aid them in combat. The environments go far beyond what was seen in the E3 footage as well. Keep your eyes on this family friendly shooter, which releases in the first half of 2015.
Did you watch the Nintendo Direct? Let us know what you think of Nintendo’s latest moves in the comments section. If you missed out on the Nintendo Direct, it can be seen in its entirety below:
