February 21st’s Nintendo Direct didn’t offer anything earth-shattering, but it’s lovely to see World Of Goo and Pocket Card Jockey back.
Anyone hoping we’d see a glimpse of the Nintendo Switch’s hotly-anticipated successor, or perhaps a few morsels of information about Metroid Prime 4, were probably disappointed by today’s Nintendo Direct. In fact, the modest selection of games announced in its 23-minute showcase were pleasing enough yet low-profile enough to lend weight to the theory that Nintendo’s keeping its bigger titles back for whatever comes after the Switch.
Kicking things off was Grounded, a port of the Honey I Shrunk The Kids-esque multiplayer adventure that’s been kicking around on PC since 2020. If Nintendo started with this in order to keep expectations in check, then the announcements certainly continued in the ‘surprising but not shocking’ mode. There’s a port of Ender Lillies: Quietus Of The Knights coming this year (it emerged for other systems three years ago), while a port of the old 3DS title Monster Hunter Stories is also on the way.
Another remake on the way is Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed – an action game we last saw on the Wii over a decade ago. There’s also the Star Wars: Battlefront Collection, which is fairly self-explanatory, while the upcoming South Park: Snow Day is also coming to Switch (ports for other consoles were announced a while back).
The most enticing announcements were among the smallest. World Of Goo 2 marks a welcome return for a uniquely sticky puzzler that came out in 2008 – yep, another throwback to the Wii era. The physics-based sequel looks like a lot of fun, though, even if it doesn’t do a huge amount to update the formula at first glance.
Another pleasing announcement was a remaster of Pocket Card Jockey, formerly a digital-only release for 3DS. Now called Pocket Card Jockey: Ride On, it’s a light update on the original’s mix of horse-breeding and card game action. The original was a bit of an overlooked classic, so it’s pleasing to see it given the chance to find a new audience on Switch.
Overall, though, it’s a rather subdued line-up, all things considered. Even the old games being added to Nintendo Switch Online aren’t exactly earth-shattering (RC Pro Am! Snake Rattle N’ Roll!).
Not a bad selection, then, but this latest Nintendo Direct certainly felt like something of a placeholder. We suspect much bigger announcements will emerge later in the year. You can watch the full webcast below.
