This week we had the first major Nintendo Direct of the year and, well, it was packed with surprises and reveals. It's clear that Nintendo has also successfully plugged most — if not all — leaks, with quite a few of the announcements not appearing beforehand with the usual rumours and speculation; the show was all the more fun for it, too.

With 30 games featured in the western broadcasts, it was almost frantic in terms of announcements (especially in the first 10 minutes), and there was a mix of older franchises being revived alongside current big-hitters. There was also a rather charming segment that reminded us of the Iwata-san era of Directs, in which our hosts loosened up and demonstrated a bit of Nintendo Switch Sports. Shinya Takahashi and Yoshiaki Koizumi were conscious of not overstaying their welcome and quick to return to new announcements, serving up a well-judged slice of old-school Nintendo levity that we enjoyed very much.

It was a showcase that also stuck quite rigidly to its focus on the first half of this year, fleshing out the release schedule to a significant degree. As a result games that are due further down the road — the likes of Bayonetta 3 and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 — did not feature at all. On the plus side, the next Direct is sure to be rather exciting as well.

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If you need a reminder of all the details, our big ol' summary is below.

The general reaction among our team was varying degrees of 'wow' and 'finally!'. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe DLC is long overdue, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 was an open secret but looks exciting, more Fire Emblem Warriors can't hurt, Karby was a thing, Mario Strikers is back; the list goes on and on. There were also a couple of 'out now' reveals (GetsuFumaDen: Undying Moon and the Triangle Strategy Prologue Demo) to keep us busy in the meantime. Oh, and EarthBound!

Lots to mull over, then, and now the dust has settled a little we're curious as to what you think. Drop some votes in the polls below and sound off in the comments!

What did you think of the February Nintendo Direct?
What was your favourite announcement in the Nintendo Direct?
What was your reaction to the Splatoon 3 trailer music?