by The Nintendo Switch is slowly coming to an end and almost every major series from the Japanese company has had a new spinoff. In addition to well-known names like Star Fox or a great F-Zero, which have yet to make the hybrid system happy, there are also smaller titles that I really miss. I have now listed five of them. Why should they come to Nintendo Switch in 2024? What are its special features? You will discover all this now. The classification is completely random and does not follow any specific order.
Mario and Luigi
With Super Mario RPG and Paper Mario: The Legend of the Aeon Gate, the Nintendo Switch wins perhaps the two best RPG games with the Italian plumber and Paper Mario: The Origami King is also an… acceptable title, but there is also another series that is currently on the Nintendo DS and Nintendo 3DS has had several spin-offs. We’re talking about Mario and Luigi. While the Paper Mario series underwent some bold experiments after part 2, the Alphadream series remained true to itself. Classic turn-based combat with action commands, a charming art style, and a fun story have kept portable gamers happy for years. Unfortunately, the development studio is bankrupt and it would be up to Nintendo to find a new studio to develop another spin-off. But in my opinion, Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi are different enough that they can coexist on the same console without any problems.
Terra Wario
Wario Land: The Shake Dimension is the last part of the series so far
©Nintendo
The two big mascots on Nintendo platforms today are Super Mario and Kirby. However, during the Game Boy era there were also Wario Land titles. Considered at the time the third Mario Land, the Italian plumber’s money-hungry adversary quickly managed to make a name for himself in the popular genre. The platformers shined with many features that the other series lacked. Therefore, the hero is invulnerable in some parts, but if he is hit he will be thrown back, which is sometimes even worse than the loss of a life. However, Wario’s virtually indestructible body has other advantages. If he touches a fire source, he himself will become a flame and can destroy obstacles in the level. Or he gets bitten by a bat and turns into Dracu-Wario. In the levels you will find treasures and secrets, which in one part even caused other areas to change drastically. The same applies to the change of day and night, which ensured that you started the relatively few levels over and over again. The particularity of Wario Land 4 was the fact that after reaching the objective it was necessary to quickly return to the beginning and thus get to know the level again. This mechanic also returned in Wario Land: The Shake Dimension, the only console and so far the last game in the series. After more than 15 years, it’s time to send the hero in yellow again on a treasure hunt that has nothing to do with microgames.
Paradise Rhythm
Anyone who has played any title in the Rhythm Paradise series knows that this is a very special franchise. Rhythm titles utilize buttons or the touchscreen so you can solve various minigames to the beat. Sometimes you need to screw a robot, other times you need to kick a football at the right time. The humor at times is almost similar to the WarioWare series, but it is much more demanding, especially if you have no sense of rhythm. However, since the release of Rhythm Paradise Megamix for the Nintendo 3DS, the series has gone quiet. It’s a shame, because the Nintendo Switch with its two detachable controllers would be ideal for spontaneous duels between two players. And if we don’t get the Chorus Kids as Super Smash Bros. fighters, they should at least get a branch of their series on the hybrid console.
Hotel Dusk: Room 215 and Last Window: The Secret of Cape West
The CING development team is now gone, so I was even more excited when the announcement of Another Code: Recollection was shared during the last Nintendo Direct. The adventure titles starring Ashley Mizuki Robins are fantastic. They offered a gripping story and exciting puzzles. However, CING had another series that received two spin-offs on the Nintendo DS. In Hotel Dusk: Room 215 and Last Window: The Secret of Cape West you take on the role of Kyle Hyde, a former police officer who now travels the country as a salesman to find his ex-cop partner. What made the games special was the gameplay. So you had to hold the Nintendo DS like a book. The graphic style is also exceptional with its character models drawn in black and white that could have come from the Take On Me music video. Otherwise, the titles have the same strengths as Another Code. A great story and great puzzles, but in a very different style from the teenager’s adventures.
Streets of Happiness
Bowser has to pay Mario with money. A difficult fate that you can only experience in Streets of Happiness.
©Nintendo/Square Enix
Yes, I know, the “Itadaki Street” series, as it is called in Japan, is not a pure Nintendo series. But it was only thanks to the crossover between Super Mario and Dragon Quest that fans in the West were able to enjoy the exceptional multiplayer title in 2011, which can never be talked about enough. The gameplay of Streets of Happiness is a mix of Monopoly and the stock market. Your characters run around a game board, buy shops there, and decorate them with money. If your opponents enter the field, they must withdraw money. The highlight: you can also invest unused money in shares to support the card’s different sectors and earn money from sales. If a player manages to acquire all four buildings in a sector, the total value of the street increases. However, if a fellow player has taken control of a building you need, you can trade it or buy it through a hostile takeover for five times the price. As you move around the game board, you collect tokens which, if you have a complete set, can be used to level up and receive a cash gift from the bank. The game ends when one of your friends goes bankrupt or someone reaches the predefined target amount. The gameplay was so fun for me and everyone I introduced the game to, so much so that to this day people still set up their Wii or Wii U at gatherings to play the title. It’s a shame that there are still no new games for a modern console. It’s time for Square Enix and Nintendo to fix this in 2024.
