2018 has been an amazing year for the Nintendo Switch, every month this year we've seen some decent new games, with the addition of the fiendish Diablo III: Eternal Collection and the adorable Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! last month, there really is something for everyone.
So, what's on the horizon for Nintendo Switch fans for what's left of 2018, then? We've compiled a list of all the good stuff coming out at retail in December and January next year, so feast your eyes and prepare your wallets - this could be painful.
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Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - 7th December
December's must-have Switch game is not up for debate. Legendary game worlds and fighters collide in the ultimate showdown. Fighters, like Inkling from the Splatoon series and Ridley from the Metroid series, make their Super Smash Bros. series debut alongside every Super Smash Bros. fighter in the series ever.
Ultimate lets up to eight players square off in action-packed battles that are all about smashing beloved video game characters off the screen. You won't want to miss this.
Fitness Boxing - 21st December (4th Jan - US)
If you fancy some Joy-Con waggling action this Christmas you might like to pick up Fitness Boxing for your Switch. Unfortunately, the US will have to wait until the New Year to duke it out with this one. Get off the couch and get moving with fun, boxing-based rhythmic exercises set to the instrumental beats of songs by popular artists. You can personalize your workouts by selecting from different fitness goals. Train your way, whether you're on your own, with a friend, at home, or on the go!
New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe - 11th January
If you never had the pleasure of playing this on the Wii U, then you are in for a treat. New Super Mario Bros. U is some of the finest 2D Mario platforming action known to man, so it's a welcome addition to the ever-growing Switch library. Luigi's first starring role in a platforming adventure, New Super Luigi U, is getting the deluxe treatment too, and comes packed in.
Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes - 18th January
Hit the road in an all-new adventure with gaming's most hardcore otaku assassin. Enter the world of the Death Drive Mark II, and hack and slash your way out of its various games. Pass a Joy-Con to a friend for local co-op, with special team-up charge attacks. You won't want to miss this latest game from visionary director Suda51.
More Awesome Nintendo Switch Games
Aside from the highlighted games above, there are lots more Switch retail games which might take your fancy in December and beyond.
Awesome Accessories For Your Switch
We saw a whole slew of interesting accessories released for the Switch in the past few months, but more are on the way. Here are some tantalising accessories coming up in December and beyond, which we found for your consideration.
So that's it for December and January - did we miss anything? Let us know with a comment and also tell us if you've pre-ordered any of these goodies!
Comments (54)
Still on the fence about Smash as I've played previous entries to death and still have them but may fold just for the Castlevania content. Though I'll probably just wait for Super Mario Bros which was a great game for the Wii U and I need an excuse to play my Switch again
Are we forgetting something???
Oh yes, Katamari!! Please remind people this exists and have people buy it.
Eh, you are missing some of the biggest games...
Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition
Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom
Guacamelee! 2
Battle Princess Madelyn
Katamari Damacy Reroll
If it’s only about physical games I still don’t understand why Tales of Vesperia is absent.
Um, did we forget something?
Tales of Vesperia? Katamari Damacy? Onimusha Warlards? Atari Flashbacks Collection Vol 1-3? Blazblue Central Fiction? Gear Club 2?
edit
I thought Steins;Gate Elite and Trials Rising should be on the list but then realized they were February. Technically Blazblue is Feb also, but only 1 week in so, I’ll leave the link in case anyone in NA wants to import.
Here, I've got links, and they're not affiliated either.
Tales of Vesperia Switch Amazon
Tales of Vesperia Collector Edition Switch Bandai Namco Store Exclusive
(Highly recommend Tales of Vesperia btw, it’s widely recognized as the best Tales game ever made, and has shown up on more than one “Greatest JRPGs of All Time” lists)
Katamari Damacy Switch Gamestop Exclusive
Onimusha Warlords Switch English Support Amazon JP
Atari Flashbacks Collection Switch Gamestop Exclusive
Blazblue Central Fiction Switch Amazon UK PAL/JP Exclusive
Gear Club Unlimited 2 Switch Amazon
Smash aside, December is surprisingly sparse, with no other AAA releases in sight. Unfortunately, Katamari is not being released at retail in Australia, so I will have to import that, along with Kunio-kun Collection for the Double Dragon trilogy (whose inclusion tipped me into buying it). It also has English support for those considering importing. I'll also consider Capcom Belt Action Collection (known as Beat 'Em Up Collection internationally).
I'm also really looking forward to Rollercoaster Tycoon Adventures as I grew up with the likes of Theme Park and Theme Hospital (I have never played a Rollercoaster Tycoon game before), and unfortunate tech issues aside, I don't think I'll be able to resist caving in on day one.
While I have completed NSMBU and NSLU, I am looking forward to playing it again, as I have been itching for a new Super Mario Bros. game since the Switch launched, and I wouldn't mind an excuse to tread familiar territory, however, the inclusion of the Wii game would have made it an especially sweet deal (seeing as the Wii U bundle has been a budget title for some time) and the Switch version appears to have little to no new content (not even an option for more than 4 players).
I'll definitely get NSMBU for Switch.
I need a money tree.
So... Basically just Smash then? 😉
Twinkle Star Sprites hits on the 6th of Dec.
@JaxonH Is Atari Flashback actually coming dec 7 or is that a placeholder date?
Walmart claimed they'd have it in october so preordered it from them. They took their money from my credit card, gave me a shpping arrival date, then the day afterward claimed it'd been delayed until 31 december. I demanded a refund and got it within a few days.
Since then I'm leery about whether or not anyone has a real date for the atari collection.
I might buy Katamari but that will be me for the year, it's a shame that January has more exciting games than December...
Doesn't V-rally 4 release on the 12th December, not 5th February as you list?
...can you hear it? Or course you can't because it is the complete silence from my empty bank account.
What is NERO? (I wish clicking the red link would take you to the NLife news page about said game instead of the Amazon page (that already has a link!))
Are the Peach controller and Shovel Knight amiibo not purchasable in the UK?
Is New Super Mario Bros Deluxe really gonna cost 60 dollars???? I thought I'd heard it'd cost 40 (39.99)
Alright now. Tales of Vesperia is HUGE for the Switch. If you want to continue seeing grand JRPGs like this, Ys, and Grandia cone to the switch, you’re going to have to cover them.
@ClassicJetterz My Katamari is paid for! And since the GameStop here is doing a midnight, I can get my Katamari copy after 9pm. Should be same at any GS, since it’s a post-close release
Smash and Katamari for me! Can’t wait for them.
I HIGHLY recommend Katamari to all.
2 titles i am waiting for not even on the list Tales of Vesperia and Steins Gate; can’t wait to get them
I may also get super mario deluxe, probably not on release though.
Nothing in december for me but i don’t mind, i still have a bunch of games from previous months to play.
Have the limited edition Peach ball preordered.
Otherwise I think I will spend December getting older titlesI'm missing.
Sidenote: @ritouf your avatar is awsome!
I pre ordered Smash but Im still on the fence about New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe,
Never played this one but I played the one on DS, 3DS and Wii...
I would rather buy a Mario Maker Switch port instead of NSMBUDX
Super Smash Brothers - Ultimate & Fitness Boxing.
I’m interested in fitness boxing, but may wait for a sale.
I’m interested in Sega classics... but it coming out on the same day as smash means I can forget it exists until it goes on sale.
And I pre downloaded smash, have all the Wii u and GameCube accessories, so this will be a good time to not spend money on personal video game things...
So I need to forget I saw those shovel knight amiibo.
For those in the EU that have tried the Fitness Boxing demo, is it good or just Switch Fit?
@Silly_G Do they not have GameStop physical exclusives at EBGames or are they just deciding not to release it in AU? Both are pretty awful, but the latter is just weird.
@JaxonH They must not have affiliate links for those.
Hello Neighbor and My Little Champion get spots over Katamari Damacy and Tales of Vesperia .
@JaxonH Thank you for this. Was just about the log in to mention "Katamari Damacy Reroll".
Glad you did, and then some!
@John_Deacon it's BOTH GAMES New Super Mario Bros U & New Super Luigi U when I bought it on Wii U I paid $80 to get both
When's Dæmon ex machina coming out? I thought that was a January release? It looks neat as hell.
@Illusion
I heard from another place it was December 7th or 10th or whatever is on GS website, and Rollercoaster Tycoon came through so, I do think it's in a week, though I find it odd GS was the only site with a listing (but you say Walmart had it too so, maybe it's not GS exclusive, but if that's true I wonder why Amazon and BestBuy dont have listings)
@ClassicJetterz I'm kind of surprised this way left out.
Awesome games are coming, and I don't even care about this Smash Bros game.
Preordered genesis classics, gear club unlimited 2 and smash. Will get new super Mario in Jan.
This article is missing many games...
Just Smash...have Christmas presents to buy.
No mention of the Smash Pro Controller?! Wut?
What's Smash Bros? All kidding aside, the hype train seems quite slow...
No mention of Tales of Vesperia Definitive Edition? Come on now. Every time you guys put out one of these lists us readers have to point out very notable releases that are missing. It should be about providing an informative list, not about your affiliate links (and Vesperia has an Amazon link too lol).
Such a slow year for me (ME, I'm really happy for everyone since I seem to be the minority) and my Switch. Haven't been able to get myself pumped for Smash considering I put countless hours into 4 and the only new characters that excite me are K. Rool and Simon. To get the game and the DLC it'll be about $100 after tax and there will still be fewer new characters than any Smash sequel before even after the 5 are all released by next year, I just feel like it's a lot of money for relatively little exciting new content, then again I really don't care about story mode or anything besides vs. with friends.
Animal Crossing and Pokemon late next year, until then I feel a little bored by the system. Maybe I should try getting into more indies. I buy the systems for the Nintendo magic though.
Not sure why I typed any of this.
N.E.R.O. Nothing Ever Remains Obscure? And I thought JRPGs had the most confusing titles.
@ritouf You should definitely consider Smash Ultimate. With all the details we have seen since E3 2018, I can assure you that Smash will not be as bare bones and disappointing as Aces and Mario Party. I played both and they felt half finished. Maybe wait for the reviews of Smash next week?
You are cheaper buying a second hand DS with New Mario Bros than Mario Bros U for Switch....
That Atari Collection would be an instant buy for me if it had Tempest 2000, but it doesn’t. Too bad.
Hey, could everyone please make sure you buy Katamari Damacy. Not sure why it's not listed.
I read this article and all I could see was "Smash Bros!".
Not that I'm complaining, I'm preordered and all ready to go!
A lot of this will have to wait, in my case. I want to get a lot of them, eventually, but I went ham and grabbed the SSBU special edition bundle. So I'm mostly tapped out, between that and gift shopping.
I'm a sucker for steel books, and that smash pro controller looks pretty nice. It's the only limited edition controller I'm going out of my way to get. Because the Xenoblade and splatoon ones didn't do it for me.
NSMBU should have been released in December for people who aren’t into fighting games (SBU). I woulda loved to play that on my Christmas break with my wife.
I just noticed looking at the front cover of Smash Bros. Ultimate that Luigi was nowhere to be found, but they even managed to cram Diddy Kong in the background. Feel bad for the guy.
Are the new Shovel knight amiibo not coming to UK?
Sounds like December is a completely quiet and insignificant month for Nintendo...
At least according to the "analysts"...
"so feast your eyes and prepare your wallets - this could be painful." Smash Bros. in December and NSMBU Deluxe in January. That'll do nicely, but it's far from a feast or a burden... 1 solid 1st party game a month is just right for me!
So, can we start talking about a January Direct yet...? If 2017 was a feast, and 2018 a fast... is 2019 going to be the gluttonous buffet we're all hoping for?!
My Little riding Champion for me this month!
Ah, who am I kidding.
I'm getting smash! If anyone wants to join in, all smash fans will now proceed to sing.
🎵Colors Weave into a spire of flame...🎵
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