Talking Point: Which Nintendo Series Are You Most Excited To See Return On Switch 2?

We’re on the cusp of a new console generation and naturally thoughts are turning to games we know are coming and games we know must be coming. News flash: Nintendo is making another one of those Mario games. They seem to go down well?

So far, only Mario Kart and Donkey Kong have been confirmed for brand new, Switch 2-specific instalments with World and Bananza, although Metroid Prime 4‘s cross-gen launch means that Samus fans will be bounty-hunting on Nintendo’s next machine. And we’ve got a confirmed Kirby ride, too, as well as a return trip to a Forgotten Land.

Even with those heavy-hitters, though, there’s still so much on the table — so much Nintendo must have stuffed up its sleeves. We’ll get news in due course, but we’ve been thinking about which series we’re most excited to see rendered anew on Switch 2.

What’s your favourite Nintendo series? Which are you most excited to see get a new entry on NS2? Are those one and the same thing? Let’s check in with Team NL before we get to the poll at the end…

A New, New Horizon (Alana Hagues, deputy editor)

I might be exaggerating a bit here, but Animal Crossing is vital to my existence. Even before the year-we-don’t-talk-about, Animal Crossing had a hold on me. New Leaf was my college and university escape, Wild World let me play with my mum, and it all stemmed from a US-imported copy of Animal Crossing on the GameCube, where I had three whole memory cards dedicated to separate towns. Yep.

New Horizons completely blew all possibilities out of the water for this cosy series, and that makes me incredibly excited for a Switch 2 entry. I think there are two ways Nintendo could go with this — a more back-to-basics approach, focusing on just a town, you as mayor (or even right back to a simple little villager), or go even bigger and build your own town.

No, I’m not kidding, and while I love idyllic, humble life of Animal Crossing, I would honestly kill for the ability to customise my own mini town à la City Folk. Blend that Happy Home Designer gameplay into the actual place you live even more, improve online, get rid of breakable tools (please). Let us go on vacations or something. Oh, and Mouse controls for terraforming, or building, or decorating?

Whatever form Animal Crossing shows up in on Switch 2, I’ll be there day 0.

Choice Pik (Gavin Lane, editor)

Pikmin somehow feels like an underdog in the Nintendo pantheon, to the point where every time I (re)play one of the games, I’m surprised by how much I adore it. The bigger-selling, iconic series occupy so much mindspace that their great moments tend to obscure sections that dragged, or entries which didn’t hit series-best heights.

Pikmin games, though (the mainline ones), are just incredibly, consistently brilliant. A recent playthrough of the original reminded me once again that it’s one of Nintendo’s absolute best. Even Pikmin 4, which suffers from a terribly slow tutorial section, almost edged out TOTK on my personal ranking of 2023 games. It’s phenomenal, as was its predecessor. And the two before that.

Pikmin isn’t a very ‘showy’ pick, but when it comes to consistent greatness, pound for pound, can it be beaten? I’m always surprised when I think about it, but it’s my favourite Nintendo series of them all. Roll on Pikmin 5.

Inkling Inspo (Jim Norman, staff writer)

Ever since I wrapped up the single-player campaign in Splatoon 3, I have been thinking about ‘Splatoon 4’. It feels like we are still in the infancy of this squid shooter series, but things just keep getting better and better — and you know Nintendo will be cooking up something special for the next entry.

Switch 2 feels made for Splatoon. We’ve got better social interaction with the camera and GameChat, shooters feel like the genre that will get the most out of Mouse Mode, and the beefed-up power means even more room for bright colours and explosions.

The thing I want most from the next entry is more on the single-player front (just pack in Side Order, for crying out loud), but even if Splatoon 4 is as iterative as they come while making the most of the hardware’s new features, there’s every chance it’ll still be the best Octoling outing to date.

Let’s Goo-igi (Ollie Reynolds, staff writer)

Even more than five years after its release, I still believe Luigi’s Mansion 3 is one of the best-looking games on the Switch. It’s absolutely stunning. Next Level really upped its game with the 2019 sequel, and I simply can’t wait to see what the team can cook up with some additional power.

I’ve already gone over where I think the next entry should take place, but I definitely think there’s a huge opportunity with ‘Luigi’s Mansion 4’ to do something a bit more ambitious with its environments. A hotel with different themed floors worked really well within the limitations of the original Switch, but let’s go wild with this one.

It’s funny to think that for a good decade or so, it felt like Luigi’s Mansion might have been a one-and-done thing. But I’m confident that the series’ growing popularity has guaranteed a new entry – it’s just a matter of time!

From F-Zero To F-Hero? (PJ O’Reilly, staff writer)

Yes, I’ll be somewhat obvious here, especially as an old person – I really need there to be a new F-Zero soon, folks, so make it happen on Switch 2, pretty please.

It’s been aeons since we had a new F-Zero (the incredible 99 aside), and I’ll be honest, replaying the oldies is starting to wear a little thin, no matter how great they are. Switch 2 could be the perfect place to resurrect this most beloved (and overlooked) of Nintendo franchises.

Just think of all the multiplayer fun we could have with our GameChat and fancy new cameras while we battle it out for first place on 4K revamps of classic F-Zero stadia. Heck, they could even throw in a 120fps/1080p mode for competitive play. We are taking it to the big leagues! Ok, look, just give us the game first, and then we’ll talk tourney money.

Now, I’m off to replay F-Zero Climax. 2004 was over 20 years ago, people. We need a new one.

Of course, it goes without saying that we’re jazzed for the new 3D Mario, excited to see where Zelda might go following TOTK and Echoes of Wisdom‘s take on the top-down formula, and we’ve got every available finger crossed for a Nintendo Switch 2 Edition of Rhythm Heaven Groove, because nothing less than the power of Switch 2 is good enough for that titanic series.

So those are our personal ‘most anticipated’s. And you can take it as read that any series not explicitly mentioned is something we actively despise and hope never again darkens the cart slot of a Nintendo console.*

Let us know which series you’re most interested to see return in 4K/60 with Mouse Mode mechanics and curious spins on NS2.

_{*This is 100% true. Star Fox, Yoshi, Wario, Xenoblade, Fire Emblem… can’t stand any of ’em.}