The 10 Biggest Nintendo Direct Moments of the Switch Generation - Article
by Mark Nielsen , posted on 26 June 2024 / 4,683 Views
Last week Nintendo held this year's surprisingly packed not-E3 Direct; with a full schedule for this year and a vague promise of a console successor next year, it's very possible that we've now seen our final Nintendo Switch Direct, or at least one with major first party reveals. That makes this a good time to sit back and reflect on a generation of Direct moments, from the shocking and surprising, to the joyous and exhilarating - and, quite often, all at once.
Banjo & Kazooie Smash Reveal
While many a Smash reveal could potentially have a claim on this list, Banjo & Kazooie stands out as a truly special event, whether you were a fan of that series or not. Not only was this loveable duo among the most heavily requested characters, but this was also the first Banjo & Kazooie of any kind in many years. The series was MIA, and nobody knew if a character that belonged to a rival console maker was even possible in the Smash series, but here was our answer in a trailer that beautifully mirrored the King K. Rool reveal as a tribute to the Rare origins of both characters.
Metroid Dread Reveal
The Metroid Dread reveal in 2021 did have one mitigating factor that spoke against its inclusion here: namely the fact that they told us what they were about to show (a new 2D Metroid) before the trailer - a deadly sin of hypemanship. What made the reveal truly special anyways was one word - DREAD - glitching over our screens a minute in. Rarely does a game that has gone AWOL for 15 years arise from the dead. When you combine that with the finest looking Metroid gameplay the world had seen up until that point, the trailer ended up easily stealing the show regardless of how it was presented.
The Mario Movie Cast
While it's mostly the moments of hype and excitement we remember from Nintendo Directs, another way to make a strong impression is to convince the viewer they're in the weirdest of fever dreams. That's what the reveal of the Mario movie cast did, and whether or not one is a fan of the final product, I think we can agree on this: they certainly took us by surprise.
Pikmin 4 Reveal
This might be one of the more niche titles to make an appearance on this list, but goddamn it if Pikmin fans didn't wait a long time for this. If you ever made the unfortunate mistake of looking at the live chat during any Direct, screams for Pikmin 4 were a sporadic but fixed inclusion for over half a decade, mostly due to an unfortunate comment by Miyamoto in 2015 that Pikmin 4 was very close to completion (he was possibly referring to Hey! Pikmin, though this was never officially clarified). Regardless, it eventually did happen and its mere existence, combined with gorgeous visuals and new mechanics, was exactly the medicine that Pikmin fans needed.
"The Sequel to BotW is Now in Development"
While the game that would eventually become Tears of the Kingdom had more than one mysterious trailer that led to copious frame-by-frame analysis, it still has to be the initial and vaguest one that prompted the biggest reaction. "A sequel to the game that put the Switch on the map is coming and it's looking creepy" - that was all we needed to know back in 2019 to get our imaginations running wild for years to come.
Cosmic Year 20X9...
While you could argue the first reveal of merely a logo and the letter 4 was even more significant at the time, history has certainly put it in a bit of a different perspective knowing now that the game Nintendo first revealed technically never saw the light of day. But the Metroid Prime 4 dream didn't die, as development was restarted rather than scrapped, and a full 7 years later (the length of most console generations) we got the first proof that Prime 4 is indeed a reality.
Everyone is Here! (Including Ridley!)
This might technically be two separate moments, but I'm giving you two for the price of one because of how interlinked they were in the Smash-centered E3 2018 Direct. This was the same Direct that revealed the "Ultimate" subtitle. Nintendo wasn't pulling any punches to live up to that title from the get-go, bringing back not only every fighter the series had ever seen, but also the undeniably most infamous of requested additions - in a trailer that essentially killed Mario to boot. There's no denying this moment was too big not to include.
Is That Dinosaur Wearing a Hat?
While it might not have been our first look at Super Mario Odyssey (and the January 2017 presentation was equally exciting in its own right), it was the E3 2017 trailer that showed us the capture mechanic at the heart of the game. What better way to reveal it than with a complete fake-out of a realistic-looking T-Rex? This trailer showed things fans could scarcely have imagined in a Mario title, introduced the catchy theme song, and generally just did a damn good job of setting the tone for this joyous adventure.
Breath of the Wild E3 2016 Trailer
Now we get to the part where we have to cheat a little (again), since E3 2016 technically predates both the Switch and its first reveal, but I'll allow it here because it was announced at the time that the game would be coming to the mysterious "NX". While the first trailer for "Zelda Wii U" might have been in 2014, it was this 2016 trailer that first gave us the Breath of the Wild name and encapsulated what the final game would become, with all its freedom and sense of wonder. While it would be hard for any trailer to capture just how groundbreaking this entry would be for the series, this showing came about as close as was possible.
...What's That Logo?
The third Smash Bros.-related entry on this list, and if this was an actual ranked list one could within reason argue the case that they should make up the top three between them. Smash Bros. is in a league of its own when it comes to making the crowd go wild and this trailer was a work of art when it came to exactly, first teasing us that it was a trailer for more Splatoon, before we eventually see a familiar logo of flame reflected in the eye of an appropriately-overwhelmed Inkling. As we switch to flame-lit silhouettes of Mario and Link the hype density becomes so high that even the camera man can't maintain focus; finally, the letters "Super Smash Bros." storm the screen from all directions and it's revealed that the game is coming THAT YEAR.
On its own it was a masterclass in game reveals, but being set almost immediately after a legendary 2017 it was also the trailer that fully cemented that Nintendo wasn't kidding around this generation - that's why it had to be given the honor of being the final spot on this list.
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Solid picks, but I have to disagree with the Breath of the Wild trailer choice, not only because the 2016 trailer pre-dates the Switch's announcement, but mainly because I personally consider the 2017 Switch Presentation trailer to be one of the greatest trailers ever made, and I believe it was the main driving factor for the hype surrouding both the game and the system itself.
That's fair, they were both incredible. One reason I went with this is that the 2017 Switch Presentation was a live show rather than a Direct, but either way I had to cheat a little to include one of them (which I of course had to).
Great article
yes, a fun article, i enjoyed it
My fav memory - Metroid Prime Remastered "Available on eShop at the end of this presentation".
That was a massive surprise. The Big Bang. I don't know how they managed to keep it a secret.
There were a few Metroid announcements that I will always remember like January 2019 announcement that Nintendo has rebooted the development and gave it back to Retro (if it can be called a direct). I suppose it is a direct message that came from Nintendo, if that half-counts.
Or the E3 2017 MP4 Announcement (I know its not a direct), and the Metroid Dread announcement & the recent MP4 trailer like the article mentions above.
It's been a generation of Metroid anticipation that I will always remember.
Some other cool ones:
Links Awakening Remake got people crying.
N64 featuring Ocarina of Time coming to NSO
DenpaMen didn’t make the cut?!
My personal rankings….
10. TTYD Remake (Sept 2023)
9. Echoes of Wisdom (Jun 2024)
8. King K Rool/Banjo/Piranha Plant/Story Mode Reveal (2018)
7. Pikmin 4 Teaser (Sept 2022)
6. MP Remaster Shadowdrop (Feb 2023)
5. Everyone is Here! (E3 2018)
4. TotK Final Trailer (Apr 2023)
3. Mario Odyssey Reveal/Trailer (Jan/E3 2017)
2. BotW Final Trailer (Jan 2017)
1. Smash Bros Teaser (Mar 2018)
Note on bias: I have nostalgia for 2017/2018 because I was 13/14/15yo (i.e. I was still a child lol).
Ridley's reveal is still terrifying to this day, especially because it goes deeper into his homicidal madman personality than his other appearances.
Essay Pro