Topic: The Super Nintendo Switch Launch Games Speculation Thread

Now that is something for a title huh? But hey, it says it all. Firstly I believe they will really go for the "Super" Moniker. They simply can't miss this. It's different enough too to not pull another Wii-U. But let this be about the launch games for the new system. Let's speculate.

I highly suspect one of the launch games will be a full fat F-Zero game. Either it's a remaster of GX or something completely new, drawing inspiration from F-Zero 99. And that is also the game why I believe that F-Zero will be revived in a grandiose way. F-Zero 99 is perfect to judge interest AND stir the marketing drum. Also, don't forget, for the SNES, F-Zero was a launch title.

So that's the first I throw into the ring.
F-Zero Next Gen for Super Nintendo Switch.

Obviously all the late-gen titles of now might receive a graphical update, maybe they even have the necessary settings in their codebase. Meaning Mario Wonder, that Peach game, the latest Zelda, etc.

Speaking of Zelda, I believe there will be a great remaster of Windwaker for the next gen Switch. So that's my second guess.

Metroid Prime 4 being my third guess. It will just be pushed out until it's a release title for the next gen system. Would make perfect sense.

Also I believe that Gamecube games will come to NSO with the new Switch hardware and that most of all games will be backwards-compatible. Many games will receive a patch to run in higher res and with higher framerate on the next gen system.

I also believe we will see a completely new IP for the next gen Switch. I have no idea what. It's just a gut feeling.

So that's my list:

• F-Zero
• Windwaker Remaster
• Metroid Prime 4
• Completely new IP
• Gamecube on NSO

What's yours?

I think it will launch with three Nintendo games. 3D Mario video game, Metroid Prime 4, and a new semi-casual IP. Mario Kart 9 will come out around a year later (though feel free to switch the two Mario games with this prediction), either Astral Chain or Arms will get a sequel between that time. If it doesn't come out on Switch in a few months, maybe a new 2D Zelda or the long rumored Wind Waker/Twilight Princess HD in year 1 as well (or maybe just TOTK again, I dunno). Maybe another Mario Party because I don't know why Superstars didn't get DLC unless they want to be in Switch year 1 or something.

I can't even begin to guess 3rd party launch games though. Nearly ever Nintendo launch for 3rd party games is a guessing game, but I personally hope its exactly like Switch where there's like a handful of launch titles and none of them are from the big publishers. The fact that Switch sold with early titles like Puyo Tetris and Blaster Master Zero and Disgaea 5 but Wii U bombed with giant late 360 era games and 3DS originally bombed with Street Fighter 4 and Ghost Recon is very funny to me. That is literally enough reason to hope for a repeat of that.

also there's zero chance Nintendo would have a new F Zero or GCN NSO would launch with the system. I don't think GCN will even be first year.

ARMS 2 or else.

I know this probably won’t happen, but I’d love to see a port or new entry of Kid Icarus. Redoing games like F-Zero and others give me a little hope they might consider it, even though the chances are slim…

I'm still firmly of the view that the libraries of the Switch and whatever is next will kind of melt together. Some games will be exclusive to the new hardware, some will run on the new hardware with some enhancements and some will just be Switch games. I think that'll shape the launch lineup

I think Metroid Prime 4 is the perfect candidate for an "enhanced Switch game". This is the Twilight Princess/Breath of the Wild title for this cycle. But this time instead of having two incompatible but largely similar versions you have one cross-compatible version that runs significantly better on the newer hardware. Not only would this be a pro-consumer move but it'd be a bit of built-in marketing on why you want to buy into the new platform

For the game exclusive to the new hardware? I think 3D Mario is the easiest prediction to make. Two reasons. Firstly it's the sort of game that could take advantage of improved hardware. The game is basically built around the idea of having a character move through varied environments. But probably more critically it has been unusually quiet on the 3D Mario front lately

Along the same lines I think that the main appeal on day 1 will be third party titles. I think we'll see some games that skip the Switch and go straight to Switch 2 from third parties. A lot of people brought the Switch because it was portable Skyrim, Witcher, Dark Souls, Doom etc. A 3-4X raw spec boost plus tricks is going to unlock a whole lot more third party interest. Portable Elden Ring, Baldur's Gate etc or stuff like CoD and Battlefield. Or even just more competent versions of the impossible ports we've already got. Hell, why not go crazy and say Cyberpunk? Who knows

I do also like the idea of Astral Chain 2. New hardware could definitely help with titles like that

What I don't think makes sense early on are more Gamecube era remasters or even GC on NSO. I think Wind Waker HD should take a back seat for a good while after launch. I think those sort of titles should stay on the Switch, maybe with enhanced graphics on Switch 2 but mostly just stay on Switch. Throw them out there as something to maintain a shelf with something new for Switch owners. But I don't think the launch window is the time where you'd do that.

@EaglyBird good call! But surely it will launch with more than one game right? I have the feeling it will either be odyssey 2 or some completely new spin on it.

@SmashBall35 I’m with you on that!

Xenoblade X 2!

…never

Metroid Prime 4
And a brand new 3D Mario

They're the big hitters and marry perfectly in satisfying both hardcore and casual gamers! I'd imagine both games are being timed for this, I can definetly see MP4 being a cross-gen release and I guess Wonder coming out takes the attention off 3D Mario for a while.

And then I'm gonna throw in a new Rayman cos why not!

@EaglyBird I'd say Launchweek.

I think a 3d Mario is almost guaranteed, no other game would be as good a console seller imo.

Considering how long the game development cycle is, and how sparse rumours have been I'm not sure how many new 3rd party games would be available at launch, but I could see a lot of ports on a now more powerful machine. Edlen Ring for sure, FF 15, and probably all ps5 era games that also had a ps4 version.

First few months
3D Mario game featuring instantaneous travel between Brooklyn and the Mushroom Kingdom.
Wave Race with haptic feedback from waves and lots of ray tracing.
Balder's Gate 3 to show the system is capable of recent games.
Cyberpunk 2077
Red Dead Redemption 2
Street Fighter 6
Zelda Ocarina of Time Remake (while they make the next new Zelda)
Splatoon 4 (it's technically Japan's national sport at this point!)
Madden (just for the 'finally' moment!)

Actual launch versus first half year doesn't make a huge difference because they will all be advertised early on. It's not like we care more about Snipperclips than Odyssey just because the first was day-one. This especially won't matter much because Switch2 will start with the full Switch library. Given that:

• 3D Mario either at launch or early 2025 for Mario 40th anniversary.
• Although I am very skeptical of F-Zero since honestly not many people know what it is, I could imagine it as a filler racer game if Mario Kart 9 is still in the oven. MK9 would be another 40th anniversary Mario/early release option. Of course an alternative for early Switch2 is just MK8 Deluxe Deluxe.
• 2D Zelda - whether a remaster or remake or a new 2D game, seems inevitable 2D Zelda will be there in the early days since we know TotK won't get DLC. I assume they will also advertise that TotK looks better on Switch2.
• FF7 remake (the first part). I know we aren't sure about exclusivity deals, but still seems plausible. More generally, they will want multiple big 3rd party games which couldn't run on Switch-1. Baldur's Gate 3 is basically guaranteed if they can get it to run on Switch2 at all/quickly enough to be an early release/ which is a question.
• Arms 2? I'm of the opinion they will give this franchise another try but it kind of depends on their plans for Smash which I have zero guesses on. Arms is a good filler fighting game if they aren't going to do anything new with Smash immediately.

1. 3D Mario - the major system seller has to be there at launch, right?
2. I think there will be a Zelda game at launch, as @FishyS said, it could be a new 2D game, I'm leaning more towards A Windwaker Remaster as @Scollurio mentioned, I think it will be a full on "DLSS" remaster. Across the generation, I think we'll see Twilight Princess DLSS Remaster + Windwaker + new 2D - any of these could be a launch title, but I think a DLSS remaster helps Nintendo sell the graphical capability of the platform
3. Metroid Prime 4, i'm not sure if this will be a launch title of "year 1" title, but I expect it to be in the launch presentation
4. An EA Sports Title the new "FIFA" or Madden.
5. GTA5 with DLSS etc.
6. COD
7. Assassin's Creed - not sure which one, but one of the recent releases which the Switch couldn't handle

Something I've noticed looking at the launch titles for previous Nintendo consoles is that they've included one major first-party title from a established IP and one first-party title that was either of a significantly smaller scale or a new IP.

@BrazillianCara They sometimes add new IPs to show off new gimmicks. Like 1-2 Switch. But also Nintendo releases a new IP almost every year so it just makes sense one or more would be on a new system early on.

I was trying to think of all the new Nintendo owned franchises which started on Switch:

• 1-2 Switch (2017)
• snipperclips (2017)
• arms (2017)
• mario + rabbids (2017)
• labo (2018)
• sushi striker (2018)
• astral chain (2019)
• ring fit adventure (2019)
• game builder garage (2021)-- sort of a spinoff of labo so may or may not count as a seperate franchise.
• buddy mission: Bond (2021)

There have been a lot. I'm probably missing a couple. That said, there were certainly more than usual which started the first year of Switch.

Metroid Prime 4 will definitely be in the launch year, but I don’t know about launch day. I personally think the launch titles will be a new 3D Mario, a remaster of some sort (possibly TTYD), and then a gimmick game like Wii sports or 1-2 switch. Although hopefully the gimmicky game is more on the Wii sports line of quality then the 1-2 switch line.

This list looks less realistic and more “this is what I want for a launch lineup”, which is fair enough. If you want a rough guess, I’d take a peek at the switch launch lineup. If you want to count major games that release the same year as the console like Mario Odyssey releasing months after the switch as launch titles, that’s also fair.

Wind Waker is definitely a fan pick, not so much a realistic one. Wind Waker didn’t launch with the GameCube, or the Wii U. Why would this time be different? However, they’ve both released the span of 1-2 years following the console launches, 2003 and 2013 respectively for GCN and Wii U. Could see an Hd port or a remaster (the remaster won’t be like Metroid Prime or Thousand Year Door, think Pikmin 1 and 2’s June remasters. More like small but noticeable quality of life updates and improvements. I don’t expect them to build the game from the ground up like TTYD or MP when and HD remaster would sell millions anyways, and it’s easier.

Metroid Prime 4 is also a “want” not so much realistic. It could be a Odyssey type situation where it releases in the same year as the console’s launch, but the game probably won’t launch with the console. Metroid isn’t a strong enough franchise to help push Console sales like Mario and Zelda are. And heck, the game could even still be in development by the time that console comes out, it could be a massive game in development hell for all we know. It’s happened to Metroid before.

New IP is a given. It has happened the last 3 generations, so why not? Wii got Wii Sports, a new and very profitable IP, Switch got Arms and that Fitness game with the ring controller, Ring Fit Adventure I think it was called.

F-Zero is a want. That is absolutely not an IP that helps push consoles. It could also be dependent on F-Zero 99’s success as to whether a sequel or even a remaster of F-Zero GX happens or not. Nintendo will wait and see if it’s worth their time to invest in a series with a history of low sales again. Nintendo doesn’t care if you want [insert franchise here] sadly. You will get it if either a top executive like Sakurai takes the reigns like he did Kid Icarus, or if the sales for said franchise actually are profitable enough to continue. They almost canceled Fire Emblem because the sales were atrocious during the GCN and Wii days. Awakening saved the franchise’s bacon however.

It’s more profitable for Nintendo to release 40-60 dollar US GameCube remasters than it is to make a shoddy NSO app where all the games have rather big file sizes and could take up quite a lot of space compared to games from the 80s and 90s. No way that a Wind Waker Remaster of all things AND a GameCube NSO app is happening. That’s just what people want to happen, doesn’t mean it will sadly.

I’m not trying to be harsh and shoot everyone’s hopes and dreams down, I’m being skeptical and cautious. At least one of the things I said weren’t happening could happen for all we know, it’s Nintendo. But some of these just don’t make any sense because you know how Nintendo is. Money talks. They don’t care about what people want most of the time, they want profit

I can't see us getting Metroid Prime 4 or Wind Waker HD on launch year. Prime 4 will probably be on the next console, but I see it being the next Pikmin 4 situation, where it comes a decade after announcement. While Nintendo launched the Switch with Mario Kart 8, Mario Kart 8 was a game that not many people got to play due to being a brand new title on the Wii U. WindWaker HD is a remake of a game that released on the Gamecube.

My thinking is that we're most likely getting a new 3D Mario, and that the new Mario games next year are all compatible with the next system, plus have upgraded visuals. Monolith could have a new IP that they've been working on, as I doubt that Xenoblade is the only thing that they have in the works, and while Nintendo shot down Monolith from making new games, that was before Xenoblade 3 I believe. I kind of hope we get a brand new 2D Zelda made by Grezzo, but I doubt it.

Metroid 4
OoT HD Remaster with MM HD released the next year
A new Super Mario 3D
Cyberpunk 2077.
New Pokemon game