Topic: The Nintendo Switch Rumor and Speculation Thread

I'm not so sure about a remake of Super Mario Land 2. For a remake/remaster to be worthwhile I feel like you have to have a solid reason for it to exist and a reason to revisit it. With things like Zelda and Metroid it makes sense because these are titles that have their own story and world about them. It's worth revisiting and adding some more polish is a nice way to go about it

With 2D platformers, even the more unusual ones, these are games that are more or less just a series of levels. If you're going to remake them you should probably just also make new levels for it. And at that point it's just a new game in the series. Which for 2D Mario in particular we have plenty of, even if Mario Land 2 is one of the more unusual Mario games. With that said, I was always a bit annoyed that Super Mario Maker never had Mario Land or Mario Land 2 themes. So I'd be down for a Mario Maker 3

@skywake

I might argue Link's Awakening feels a lot like a series of levels despite the 'plot' since it is a pretty linear game.

Regardless, there is precedence for remaking Mario games both with art and/or physics changes and new levels. GBA version of smb3 added 38 levels, all-stars changed the art and tweaked the physics, 3D world tweaked things and added a whole new world, New Super Luigi was technically DLC but similar idea and the Switch port also added Toadette to the main game and made other changes.

The main issue with Mario Land 2 is it is incredibly short so a remake would have to either take insane liberties (3D version with big open levels??) or else add a ton of content as well as improving graphics and gameplay. Since Nintendo likes to remake games where they can both sell off nostalgia and don't quite have to start ideas from scratch,.I would think it's at least a possibility (this is the speculation thread).

As for smm3, I really hope they make it someday but my personal guess is they will make a truly new 2D game first (something post-new sup) and then add that as a theme in smm3, as well as potentially other themes they skipped.

As long as they have BC and allow the v2 to dock on the New Switch Dock that would be a good but there is no way a v2 can match performance if that is the next gen Switch but if the pokemon leaks DLC2 that would me at least a boost in performance hardware/software would help v2 Switches. When time comes I will still keep my v2 Pokemon and Splatoon3 Switches are those are unique and the TOTK leak Switch well we will see when that comes around but considering that was the last of the leak from that person and Ninja are taking over well they close off any good leaks.

Just as one never-ending rumour leaves the room in Metroid Prime Remastered....another one takes it's place immediately afterwards.

I'd trust them though "¯(ツ)¯"

Hahaha! So what, Ninty has become his own news source now? He couldn’t find enough fake insider stories to make 3 videos a day out of so he’s just saying ‘fine, I’ll do it myself.’ What a joke. Grubb claimed this game was coming to switch for how long? And what happened at the ‘GaMeCuBe BlOwOuT?’ that was gonna be the September Direct? Nothing.

Gonna humor these fools and say maybe this does exist. Never played GX before, so i could give it a go if it was the same price as Prime Remastered. The online function would be fun as all hell too. 39 other racers trying to destroy each other on the track? That’s my kinda game. Still, I’m not paying full price for a game just as old as prime. If it’s 50 bucks Canadian like Prime Remastered, then why not? Liked the SNES game, loved F-Zero X. Played hours of it. F-Zero maximum velocity is one of the GBA games coming to switch. Who knows? Could be Nintendo dipping their toes back into the F-Zero pool after that random investor dumped 44k into Nintendo shares last year just to ask Shuntaro Furukawa himself when the hell the next F-Zero is coming, ha!

As much as I'd love to see a F-Zero GX remaster, I don't see it happening. F-Zero's that one franchise that you can reliably assume Nintendo will ignore and MK8 seemed to be treated as the franchise's replacement (Wii U DLC had Mute City and Big Blue, the game's gimmick is antigravity, Blue Falcon vehicle playable, etc.).

@Grumblevolcano sales were never high for that series. Nintendo is a fan of the stuff that sells, hence the lack of star fox and f-zero. The older games will be at least ported and have been, thankfully. I can’t see Nintendo going out of their way to assign Next Level of all people to remaster a game from a dead franchise. An HD port at most would be more realistic, but even that seems highly unlikely. Certainly not some remaster for a game that Nintendo has payed f-zero attention to. (Sorry about the bad pun.)

@TheBigBlue I was waiting to see if you'd notice lol...
As soon as I saw who it was from, I knew what your reaction was going to be...
But I agree entirely

@Colonel_Mustache still beat him at Mario kart 💪

@TheBigBlue Good job! 🫡

So let me get this straight, Nintendo has decided to for some reason to bring back F-Zero and give it to a developer that has no prior experience in Nintendo racing games to remaster F-Zero GX, a game initially by Sega? Yeah I call BS on that rumour.

Yeah. Ninty isn’t a reliable source, and he’s unreliable at relaying fake unreliable insider info too.

It's not even a good fake rumour. Why would you bother to do a remaster of a racing game? If you're going to go and completely re-do all the visuals you could probably just do some more tracks and call it a new thing. Which you would do because an entirely new thing is going to have more perceived value

In any case, Fast RMX is a thing so I wouldn't be that interested even if they did do it

I'd have thought a racing game was the ideal genre to give an inexperienced studio to remaster. Barely have to touch the code (assuming you can drop it into a GameCube emulator wrapper), just add online and control options and make it look purdy, simples.

Not putting any stock in the rumour, but the idea seems plausible enough to me.

Many parts of that rumour screamed fake to me, but the most complexing part is probably the claim that Next Level got assigned to the game. Now, industry ‘insiders’ all last year were dropping not so subtle hint bombs about F-Zero returning this year. Seems Nintendo prime has expanded on these, and somehow made it appear even more fake. How? He’s really good at it. Being a faker I mean. None of that rumour makes sense, yet so many fools are falling for it. Like Skywake said, wouldn’t it make more sense to put money and resources into a new entry, rather than completely bump up and redo the visuals and waste money that way. I understood that the switch is in its “porting old games” years, but this is strange. Couldn’t Nintendo have given a shot at a potential F-Zero revival to a smaller dev studio who truly understands what makes the series so different and so fun? The same smaller companies that make ultra fast futuristic racers inspired by F-Zero and put them for cheap on the Switch Eshop due to low budgeting? Have them prove their talent! Surely you could have Next Level doing something else that is more their forte. I’m not saying them remastering this is a completely bad idea, it’s just completely out of left field, and like I said, a smaller company that makes F-Zero style games already could hugely benefit from working on an existing title like that. Nintendo prime needs to get a hobby.

I was rather hoping that NLG would've been tasked with porting their Wii Punch-Out to the Switch.

Why Nintendo has not tapped the Fast RMX devs to make an F-Zero reboot is completely mind boggling. Not really sure why they're funding Platinum Games to make so many Bayonetta entries when they could be tapping talented devs who all have the experience to make an amazing F-Zero/Star Fox/etc.

I believe F-Zero at this points needs an angle to stand out. It can't simply be a racing game, because that would compete with Mario Kart, in Nintendo's eyes at least. It needs its own identity, both thematically and with content features. It can't just function like a Mario Kart game where you browse a similar menu and load up a Grand Prix.

F-Zero could lean into a JoJo-esque tone to stand out among Nintendo's other IP. I also would love an ARMS mashup, where you can race with ARMS characters. Not sure why, but I always felt like the two IP would go well together after watching the Smash Ultimate character reveal video.

@Ulysses Platinum has always made the Bayonetta games. Or at least is one of the producers outside of Nintendo. That said, they don’t just work on Bayonetta. They’ve done a wide variety of genres. From Wonderful 101 to Metal Gear Rising, I’m sure they could do some more genres, maybe even F-Zero. They can handle hardcore games, why not racing?

Jojo esque? For F-Zero? I have never made that connection. I guess it could branch out of the racing genre, but that would take some work. Star Fox did it I guess.

F-Zero isn’t going to compete with Mario Kart that much, if at all. If anything, F-Zero caters to a much different racing demographic. Hardcore. Super Cool. Metal (Music). And most of all, brutal speed! Mario Kart is for everyone, not necessarily a specific demographic. The two series can coexist, I’m not sure what the deal is.

I said this before, those small companies like the people behind Fast RMX that take their games’ inspiration off of F-Zero should be given a crack at a true F-Zero game. Contrary to what Nintendo devs have said in the past, a new gimmick isn’t necessary. A new entry alone will have fans hooked and curious. The execution is what matters. For the comeback game at least, as long as the game stays true to what F-Zero was and is, it can’t fail. We finally got a brand new 2D metroid game after 18 years just a year and a half ago. Mercury Steam knew the core essence of Metroid, studied it, and applied it with perfection. They even added their own little improvements like the Melee Counter. Dread didn’t have a specific gimmick. It was the fifth 2D metroid game. That is all. And it still passed with flying colors. Sure, that game had the Emmis, but Samus Returns, a remake of the second game that Mercury also worked on had some chase and escape sections with Diggernaut. That whole horror and being hunted aspect was just expanded upon for Dread, which helped contribute to the name. But that game is still a 2D Metroid game, no more, no less. Didn’t need a ton of improvements to be a terrific game. No forced gimmick or anything. I say F-Zero couldn’t fail and it would be an instant hit with fans, but even that isn’t a guarantee.

F-Zero already has its own identity. It’s not a Mario kart game. That’s it. It’s not a arcade racer, it’s a true competitive high speed racer.

If F-Zero ever comes back, I’ll be shocked. But never say never. Mario Sunshine is on the switch for god’s sake.

Mechanically F-Zero really isn't that much different from MK8D. You drive, drift, and boost like every other racer on the planet. F-Zero did have antigrav racing as a unique hook, but 8 stole that so what's left?

Honestly I feel like this is a problem with the racing genre in general, most of them just play the same. There's no variety. If Nintendo is going to have a second racing IP, they'd be better off bringing back something like Wave Race, 1080 Snowboarding, or Excitebike. Because those aren't the typical drive/boost/drift racing games.

The "we need a new gimmick" statement is just a PR excuse. They don't actually need a new gimmick. NSMB and Splatoon 2 and 3 didn't, they were largely similar games and they still pumped them out. I think what they really mean when they're saying "F-Zero needs a new gimmick" is "we need a reason to believe that F-Zero will sell better than it has". F-Zero has never really done well in sales. Aside from the first entry on the SNES, it barely cracks 1 million and the last few games didn't even hit that much. Meanwhile Metroid has usually sold about 1-2 million (and just cracked 3 million with Dread) and Sunshine, while controversial among fans, sold over 6 million copies. That is why F-Zero has been dormant. They want it to reach a wider audience (they probably want sales to be more in the 3+ million range) and they're not confident that it can.

Honestly if they want to pick another niche IP to sell to a wider audience I think Star Fox would be a better choice. It already sells 1+ million and has sold 3-4 million in the past, and they could bring in new fans by making a game more along the lines of Starlink or No Man's Sky, so that would be a more worthwhile risk.

And the difference between those is...? Hard to tell the difference when they're both drive/boost/drift racing games.

Well, 2023 and folk are so jaded they are claiming F-Zero plays like Mario Kart. Bonkers.