A simple scroll through the menu on our Switch is enough to show that 2019 has been a great year for Nintendo and its console. The handheld hybrid has gone from strength to strength, gaining a non-hybrid member of the Switch family along the way, as well as more games than anybody could reasonably have time to play.
2019 had plenty of surprises, too, from a host of games you'd never expect to see on Switch for one reason or another to typically off-the-wall announcements from everyone's favourite Japanese video game company. A Switch that doesn't switch? VR with your console and a bunch of cardboard? A Pilates ring and a body-building dragon? Anyone?!
Let's have a look back on an eventful 12 months in the world of Nintendo...
January - We Begin With An Apology...
Our reviews and New Year resolutions were in stunning synchronisation when we kicked things off with our first review of 2019: Fitness Boxing. Nintendo's other big release that month was a Switch port of New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe. January also saw the announcement of and apology for Metroid Prime 4's delay, which was probably for the best all things considered.
In other Nintendo news, the company participated 'as an observer' in a VR consortium event, which hinted at the quirky Labo release we'd see later in the year. 3DS sales and software slowed to a crawl, and a game-breaking bug in Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story probably wasn't the best way to send off the venerable, ageing handheld. And speaking of things dying, the Wii Shop Channel was closed (giving everyone the excuse to whistle its infectious theme music for a day or two) and the price of brand new Wii Us skyrocketed.
The rumour mill kicked into gear early with whispers that Xbox-exclusive Super Lucky's Tale might be coming to Switch. It sounded far-fetched at the time, but little did we know it was merely foreshadowing some rather unusual industry cross-pollination later in the year. With Microsoft tweeting about how much it dug Super Smash Bros., it all seems so obvious looking back.
Smash was still a relatively recent Switch release and fans were having fun making meme-friendly tier lists and rendering fighters in a realistic fashion. Cross-platform play was on the tip of everyone's tongues, Splatoon 2's Splatfest events were in their prime making us choose between friends, family and other fun binary subjects, and people were still finding hidden Easter Eggs in old Nintendo classics. A few other heart-warming January tales rounded out the month and we were well on our way with 2019.
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February - Unleash the Directs
As January went on, rumours of an imminent Nintendo Direct announcement simmered, but it wasn't until 13th February that Nintendo went and dropped an absolute whopper which confirmed multiple brand new Switch releases. Alongside a long list of announcements, Tetris 99 launched that very day and Super Mario Maker 2 was revealed, as was the brilliant Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening remake. Not only this, but before the month was over Pokémon Sword and Shield was also unveiled in a separate Direct presentation.
Elsewhere Nintendo announced its next mobile experiment in the form of Dr. Mario World, as well as plans to open a Nintendo Tokyo Store. With Super Nintendo World on schedule to open for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (and Miyamoto promising it would be worth the wait), Japanese gamers would soon have no shortage of ways to hand over wads of cash to Nintendo. Nintendo Switch Online had over 8 million accounts subscribed, although Nintendo was looking for ways to boost the appeal of the service, and the number of games available for Switch reached and impressive 1800 - not half bad in less than two years.
In a move that would echo a similar apology with Ring Fit Adventure later in the year, developer Imagineer apologised after stores in Japan ran out of physical copies of Fitness Boxing. The rumour mill started smoking with 'Switch Mini' conversations popping up all over the place, despite Nintendo playing coy. It was also rumoured that Microsoft was planning to release games on Switch, a move which made more sense the more we thought about it.
It was a big month for Nintendo, but arguably the biggest industry news was the announcement that Reggie Fils-Aimé's body was ready to leave Nintendo of America and that Doug Bowser would be taking over as President from 15th April 2019.
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March - Dogs and cats, living together, mass hysteria
At the start of March - refusing to let the 3DS go quietly into that good night - Nintendo released the excellent Kirby's Extra Epic Yarn and left Switch-owning fans of the game wearing a frown. The month was bookended with a similarly joyful Switch release, though, in the form of Yoshi's Crafted World. A host of games were announced, including a bunch in a Nindies Direct broadcast that - unbelievably - revealed Cuphead for Switch as well as Zelda/Crypt of the NecroDancer crossover Cadence of Hyrule. Famed N64-era dinosaur hunter Turok returned to Switch, too.
In other Nintendo news, the company revealed some interesting figures on its recruitment page regarding average salary and other juicy work stats, Masahiro Sakurai spoke about the lengths he went to to bring Smash Bros. Ultimate to the masses, developers told us what they really thought about the Switch eShop, and some lucky beggar found an ultra rare Nintendo World Championships 1990 NES cart in their loft.
Elsewhere, Google revealed its console-less Stadia platform, Sony decided to do its own Nintendo Directs, we glimpsed some lovely mock-ups of Switches and Joy-Con sporting the liveries of past Nintendo consoles, and another mock-up of a modern take on the Game Boy predicted the look of the Analogue Pocket over six months before its reveal. Freaky!
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April - Sonic, ports and virtual insanity
As is customary, April began with pranks and gags but the game releases soon started rolling in with Labo VR Kit (which released as the old kits won a couple of BAFTA awards) and updates to both Zelda: Breath of the Wild (which made us feel quite unwell) and Super Mario Odyssey. A slew of ports - several of them incredibly good - arrived on Switch, too, including Mortal Kombat 11, Cuphead and Hellblade.
In other Switch news, the console got a silent 'boost' power mode that improved loading speeds in certain games, Nintendo axed its Quality of Life department and removed 7th-gen consoles from its information pages, the company was ranked as the 9th most reputable in the US according to a report, and those 'Switch Mini' rumours just wouldn't stop.
Overshadowing all that mere noise, though, was the fact that it was Game Over for Reggie Fils-Aimé at Nintendo of America as he retired and Doug Bowser took over as NOA president. Reggie quickly joined Twitter and got a new chair.
Elsewhere, Animal Crossing turned 18, Charles Martinet cleared up a decades-long Mario 64 dispute, we found out more about Kirby's disturbing feet, and we depressed everybody by detailing exactly how your beloved retro consoles are slowly but surely dying.
And finally, the trailer reveal of the new-look Sonic in his upcoming movie capped the month off nicely with a reaction so universally negative that Paramount decided to redesign the character and delay the movie until Valentine's Day 2020.
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May - Chugging along nicely
Following the horror of the initial Sonic reveal, the internet took it upon itself to fix things until the director of the film confirmed that they'd be reworking the character design. In other video game movie news, Detective Pikachu was generally much better received than the blue hedgehog.
Back to Nintendo news, a Super Mario Maker 2 Nintendo Direct gave us a better look at what to expect from the sequel, although there was a little confusion around some expected features which Nintendo didn't include (at least not at launch).
The month of May saw plenty of games released on Switch, too, with Konami's Castlevania Anniversary Collection, Capcom's Resident Evil rereleases, Baba Is You and Gato Roboto being particular standouts. Another Pokémon mobile game launched while Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp and Fire Emblem Heroes were scheduled for the axe in Belgium due to their lootbox-y, nefarious ways, and Nintendo also began its Game Vouchers programme for Nintendo Switch Online subscribers.
And in more random events, we took a look into the ever-changing world of the Switch menu icon, an inept criminal stole a Nintendo Switch on camera while wearing his work uniform, and a medical app hit the 3DS eShop for the bargain price of $99.99.
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June - The Electronic Entertainment Exposition
E3 month! From the window of the E3 Hype Train we observed Mario Kart 8's fifth birthday, we delved into the background behind Perfect Dark's three different covers in Japan, Europe and North America and took a look at dormant franchises we'd like to see revived on Switch.
Ahead of E3, a Pokémon Direct revealed new details about Pokémon Sword and Shield, including the reveal of the Gen VIII legendaries. Yooka Laylee and the Impossible Lair was revealed, and Switch Mini rumours continued at a pace fuelled by some lovely mock-ups.
Then, of course, the E3 2019 Nintendo Direct broadcast dropped and all the hot takes flooded in. There were too many announcements to summarise here, but the Animal Crossing: New Horizons delay, Banjo-Kazooie in Smash and the official reveal of a sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild were probably the biggest stories.
At the show we got our hands on the Switch remake of Link's Awakening and Creature In The Well, sat down for a chat with Tetris Lord Alexey Pajitnov and generally enjoyed the post-announcement glow of an excellent E3 for Nintendo. Witcher 3 on Switch? Well I never! Not everyone was happy, though, with many Pokémon fans very disappointed to hear that Pokémon Sword and Shield would not feature the entire national Pokédex. And as support for ARMS quietly ceased, we looked back on that underappreciated little gem in the Switch catalogue.
In terms of new releases, Metroidvania Timespinner impressed us, as did Collection of Mana and the freshly released Zelda crossover title Cadence of Hyrule. Konami's Contra Anniversary Collection hit all the right nostalgia buttons, Nintendo released the last 2D Mario you'll likely ever need, and Virtua Racing took us back to our '90s arcade roots.
And in site news, the lovely Zion officially joined the lovely Alex full-time to double the size of Nintendo Life's lovely video production team and add a little transatlantic spice to our bumbling bevy of Brits.
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Comments 19
OutRun--Finally on a Nintendo Console!
Journey to Silius--On the Switch!!!
A bunch of eShop games like SHAKEDOWN HAWAII and SUPER MEGA BASEBALL 2 that made me FINALLY accept digital over physical (dang those tiny little carts)
And then ending the year with my first freeium love affair--Asphalt 9 and its arcade racing brilliance.
Excellent year for sure.
That February Direct makes me excited for the next one in 2020. I hope Nintendo have a few surprises up their sleeves again for us.
The absolute highlight for me, without question, is "Fire Emblem: Three Houses." I had my doubts going in because I felt I didn't have much experience with strategy RPGs. I ended up loving the game immensely, but what I love even more is the fact that it inspired me to try out more strategy games in the future.
I wish I was playing Animal Crossing Switch right now.
Games:
FE Three Houses, Astral Chain, Mortal Kombat 11, Mario Maker 2, Cuphead, Skullgirls, and Overwatch. So many great games released this year. But to be frank, Skullgirls is a cute little fighter with such an emotional story and characters. Do not sleep on it. Overwatch is super duper fun and runs decently enough on Switch. (Lucio main!)
Announcements:
More Fighters in Smash Bros coming. To be quite honest, none of the DLC characters so far have interested me that much. I haven't played Persona, DQ, Banjo-Kazooie, or Fatal Fury. They're cool don't get me wrong, but I hope for someone I'm more familiar with as DLC.
Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE getting a Switch port. Due to it selling rather poorly for a Nintendo IP game (probably due to the fact that the US release was months before the Switch's announcement), nobody played this game the first time around. As one of the few people that have played it, I'm happy to experience it again and to see others do so for the first time. It's a really underrated JRPG. (And it's what introduced me to Fire Emblem and Shin Megami Tensei. Without it I never would've tried Three Houses and that game is amazing). Side note, the fact that we're also confirmed to be getting new info on Shin Megami Tensei V next year is great. Can't wait to play another Atlus RPG on my Switch!
Xenoblade Definitive. Same reasons as TMS#FE except I haven't played the original. Can't wait to be really feeling it for the first time!
Bravely Default II. Looks cute! Can't wait to try it!
Under Night In-Birth. Another niche fighting game that I can't wait to try out!
Trials of Mana Remake. Looks fun also!
Overall, can't wait for 2020. Looking like a great new year!
Maybe it wasn't up to the standards of 2017 when it comes to first party titles, but the overall variety of first party titles, indies, third party AAA ports and arcade hits like Frogger more than make up for it. An excellent year for what has become my favorite video game console of all time.
Looking back. That February direct was really really good. Gimme more
I really want an NFL/NCAA football game on the Switch. It's madness that Madden isn't on a console that has sold over 42 million units. EA is such garbage. Maybe the NFL will strong arm them into making it for the console, kind of like MLB is doing with The Show.
2019 ends with a pretty good decade from Nintendo. Here's hoping we get many more.
Switch Games I waited for in anticipation but fell short of the mark for me.
Kirby
Yoshi
Fire Emblem
Resident Evil
Yooka Laylee
Zelda Links Awakening
GAMES THAT LIVED UP TO EXPECTATIONS
Dragon Quest
Sonic Racing
Sniper Elite 3
Luigi's Mansion.
I’m a very happy gamer this year. My wishlist/games to get is ridiculous and even if nothing was launched next year, I’d be kept busy and steps closer to the poor house.
I’ve played like 4% of the Witcher, so I need to attend to that in the dark Winter months ahead.
Having played with my kids’ Xmas present , the Lite, I’m jonesing for one of those too...it’s just lovely to play on. Although I’ve destroyed many hours of stardew valley save data in some kind of snafu.
Just sitting and waiting for Animal Crossing now where I will be forced to buy two damn copies. It will be worth it. Been a long time sunk I’ve sunk teeth into that game.
Anyway, happy new year to everyone at Nintendolife, a place I spend waaaaay to much time in and a happy gaming year for all the people reading. It’s a good community and I appreciate it.
@kingbk I would love madden on switch
Since the switch started, I have never had so many games before like new games, retro, complilations, arcade, indies. This is a system that can stay revelant for a long time. It is not even year three yet.
Astral Chain, DQ11, Castlevania, Contra, DQ1 are some of the highlights. Great year.
It’s funny at the start of the year there was concern this would be a weak year, but I actually think it’s been the best year for switch for overall growth in the games library. It’s has massively increased with so many good games that it’s impossible to play everything unless you don’t work or go to school/college etc
So I can’t wait to see what 2020 brings, I personally want to see more revision to apps like us getting Netflix or Crunchyroll and some back catalogue from the 3ds and the wii, but something tells me that may not be happening in the next year.
Other then that just please give news on smt5 already!
For me it was mostly a year of VNs and JRPGs, with some interesting various indie games mixed in. Wasn't the strongest year for Nintendo first party games but that's okay as overall there was heaps of excellent games to play. My backlog continues to grow.
2019 was certainly a year for pop culture in general. Marvel and Star Wars ended arcs. Nintendo had a bang up year. The announcements of Xbox Series X and the PS5. The list could just go on.
How does 2020 come close to matching it? I'm not sure the theaters can, but the world of video games should be okay.
I'm actually looking more forward to Animal Crossing than I ever have. This first Direct will give us an idea of what to expect for the year. Will we have an idea of what will dominate E3? So much suspense.
Baba is You came out in March not May - you just inexplicably didn’t review it for 2 months and left it off your March eshop selects article (not even an honourable mention)
Guess no super mario sunshine.
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