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Awesome video games are usually preceded by awesome announcements, and Nintendo Directs are pretty good at delivering awesome announcements. To keep overlap with the Moment of Awesome pages of the various games mentioned throughout this list to a minimum, this page doesn't include franchise-specific Directs.
2013
- As stated on the main page, the "Wii U Direct of January 2013
" was a full-on Wham Episode meant to turn the tide of the Wii U, which was failing out of the gate. Enter the return of Virtual Console, new information about The Wonderful 101 and Bayonetta 2, confirmation on the development of what would become Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, Super Mario 3D World and Mario Kart 8, and the reveals of what would become Yoshi's Woolly World, Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE, and Xenoblade Chronicles X, in addition to a HD remake of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.
2014
- "Nintendo Digital Event @ E3 2014" was yet another Wham Episode. Nintendo hoped to still garner interest in their failing home console, or at the very least, needed to satisfy the audience that had purchased the system and were wondering where all the games were. With a Direct bookended with brand-new Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U news and character reveals (The Miis, Palutena, and Pac-Man, with a cameo from Dark Pit during Palutena’s trailer), they certainly tried their hardest. Yoshi's Woolly World made its reappearance after being missing-in-action for eighteen months. The beloved "Captain Toad" levels got the Spin-Off treatment in Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker. We our first look at then-untitled The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and a new trailer for Hyrule Warriors, with news that Bayonetta 1 would ship in a two-pack with the upcoming sequel squeezed in-between. We had a return to stylus gameplay in the form of Kirby and the Rainbow Curse alongside footage of Xenoblade Chronicles X. We witnessed the birth of future Cash-Cow Franchise Splatoon and got a stealth reveal of Star Fox Zero via blurry cam. All this interspersed with various Robot Chicken skits mocking game journalists, Nintendo fans, and Nintendo themselves, as well as short "developer story" segments. Oh, and Iwata and Reggie fought each other to the death to reveal the Mii Fighters. Combined with the excellent Treehouse coverage, while Nintendo didn't Win Back the Crowd for the Wii U in the long term, the presentation was loved to the point where 4chan's /v/ board actually made a gigantic Thank You card and sent it to the company. Not a bad showing for Nintendo's worst-selling console.
2017
- During the "Nintendo Spotlight: E3 2017" segment, they showed several well-received trailers for many Nintendo Switch games, including Super Mario Odyssey, Splatoon 2, Fire Emblem Warriors, what would become Kirby Star Allies and Yoshi's Crafted World, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, and third-party favorite Rocket League, in addition to the announcement that a core Pokémon RPG was coming to the Switch after fans worried where the future of the series was in context of the Switch's hybrid nature. That all pales to the real firestarter, though, which was a 43 second teaser showing only two words and the number "4". The announcement tripled as a Tearjerker and a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming, with many people overjoyed to see Samus Aran returning to a Nintendo console for the first time in years, especially considering the low note she left on last time. Investors were pleased too, as Nintendo's stock rose to new heights following the show.
- The Nintendo Direct of September 2017 was a mostly low-key affair, reiterating Nintendo's Fall lineup and introduced a few more minor titles. But a bombshell was dropped in the middle of it all — ports of Doom (2016) and Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus for the Nintendo Switch, which (up until that point) many people had believed were too powerful to ever be adapted for the system."Whoa... Holy SHIT!"
"Holy crap!"
2018
- The March 2018 Nintendo Direct served as this for both the Splatoon 2 and Super Smash Bros. communities. Splatoon fans got two things that they've been craving for since the original game launched back in 2015: a new single-player campaign starring the rival Octoling species and the ability to play as an Octoling online, which is unlocked after beating this new story campaign, called the Octo Expansion. Shortly afterwards, Smash Bros. fans got a shock when what seemed to be just additional news concerning Splatoon ending up being a character announcement trailer. The Inklings are coming to Smash and a new installment is on the horizon, coming out later that year.
- The "September 2018 Direct" had one for Final Fantasy fans, with the announcements that the previously Sony console-exclusive Final Fantasies VII, IX,X/X-2, and XII would be coming to the Nintendo Switch early the following year, marking the first time that a Nintendo platform has seen a new mainline Final Fantasy game in any form since 1994.note Extra fan attention was given to VII in particular, as that was the game which led to Square famously breaking off a long-standing relationship with Nintendo to release the game on the PlayStation instead, due to that console using CD-ROMs while the Nintendo 64 stuck with cartridges.
- Two words: Animal Crossing. While Isabelle getting into Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was a nice surprise, Animal Crossing fans once again felt a bit mislead by her reveal trailer, as they've spent the past few years hoping for a brand new console entry, especially since they felt similarly fooled by the trailer for a Spin-Off title in the franchise years prior. A spin-off that ended up being... poorly-received upon release. So you can only imagine the joy when the Smash Bros. announcement was causally followed by Tom Nook telling the audience that a new Animal Crossing was coming to the Nintendo Switch in 2019.
2019
- February 2019's Direct bookended itself with two major announcements, in addition to giving us a nice dose of Fire Emblem: Three Houses news. The show opened with Super Mario Maker 2, a game that Mario fans have wondering about since the launch of the Nintendo Switch, considering how the first game was one of the few that made heavy use of the Wii U's Gamepad. Some fans wondered if Nintendo would attempt to port it over or make a sequel, and lo and behold, not only is this sequel happening and adding tons of new features such as the much wanted slopes, but it's releasing in just four months. Then there was the unexpected announcement of PlatinumGames' brand-new science-fiction action game Astral Chain, coming exclusively for the Switch in just six months. And then the show ended with the long-awaited announcement of the next 2D The Legend of Zelda game, which turned out to be the equally long-awaited announcement of a remake of the critically-acclaimed Link's Awakening, introduced by a beautifully-animated recreation of the opening cutscene.
- The Spring 2019 Nindie Showcase also bookended itself quite nicely. The direct opened up by announcing that Cuphead would be coming to the Nintendo Switch, something that had been rumored for a while thanks to many game journalists talking about how Microsoft and Nintendo had been talking a lot recently. But it's the end of the direct that arguably delivered the bigger news: Nintendo was letting an indie developer use one of their IPs, and not just as DLC either. Nope, Cadence of Hyrule, the sequel to Crypt of the NecroDancer, doubles as a full-fledged Spin-Off entry in the The Legend of Zelda franchise. The fact that they urged a small Canadian team of less than a dozen people with only a single released game to their name to take their turn with one of their most popular franchises shocked absolutely everyone. Yes, urged. Brace Yourself Games just wanted to have Zelda characters as DLC for the original game, but Nintendo was so interested by the idea that they pushed for a full-on title.
- Compared to other recent Directs, the Nintendo E3 2019 Direct was relatively tame, though there were still a few standout moments. A Switch version of The Witcher 3 was shown, setting a new high water mark for how capable the hybrid console could perform, while a remake of Panzer Dragoon and the announcement of No More Heroes III thrilled fans of those series. But the biggest screams of excitement came from the one-two punch at the end — the debut of nostalgic characters Banjo and Kazooie in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, followed by confirmation that a sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was on the way.
- By most accounts, the September 2019 Nintendo Direct was a boon for die-hard fans of obscure and offbeat games. Western players were ambushed by the announcement of Deadly Premonition 2, a sequel to the quirky Twin Peaks-style Deadly Premonition adventure game, as well as Overwatch finally coming to the Switch. Meanwhile, Japanese gamers were greeted with news of remakes of the first two Famicom Detective Club games. But the biggest news was arguably the Switch release of the cult classic "anti-RPG" Moon: Remix RPG Adventure, along with news that it would — after 22 years — finally be officially localized and released worldwide.
2020
- Despite foregoing General Directs this year due to the COVID-19 Pandemic hurting first-party development, Nintendo continued to give us Indie and Partner Directs. The first of these Partner Showcases revealed that Cadence of Hyrule would be getting a litany of DLC, including more characters and a campaign starring fan-favourite Skull Kid. But the true focus of the show was the Shin Megami Tensei series: Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne was announced to be getting a remaster, followed-up by the first trailer for Shin Megami Tensei V since the game's 2017 announcement, revealing that would have a simultaneous worldwide launch! Not bad, Atlus. Not bad at all.
2021
- After the COVID-19 Pandemic resulted in a year of no General Directs, the format returned in February 2021 with an onslaught of new games and reveals. The show opened with Pyra and Mythra getting invited to Smash Ultimate over Rex, popular multiplayer game Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout was announced to get a Switch version, No More Heroes III and the the remakes of the first two Famicom Detective Club games got release dates (the latter turning out to be an example of Remade for the Export and getting a global release date), remasters of Legend of Mana, Miitopia, and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword were revealed, and we got new games in Mario Golf: Super Rush and Triangle Strategy. But for many, the jaw-dropping announcement was the reveal that Splatoon fans wouldn't have to wait until Nintendo's next console for the third entry!
- While most of the other E3 presentations were seen as middling at best and downright insulting at worst among gaming enthusiasts, Nintendo's E3 2021 satisfied many Nintendo fans. From Kazuya Mishima coming to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, to a new WarioWare game, to WayForward Technologies making a compilation remake of the two Game Boy Advance Advance Wars games for Nintendo Switch, to an actual release date and gameplay footage for Shin Megami Tensei V, to the Danganronpa games making their much anticipated Nintendo debut. However, the two biggest things to come out of the presentation were a brief gameplay teaser for the sequel to Breath of the Wild, and the completely out-of-left-field announcement that Metroid Dread, a game that had been rumored about amongst Metroid fans since 2005, was now very much real and very much releasing in a mere four months.
- The Japanese version of the Direct also had a special treat of its own; the announcement of Super Robot Wars 30, the 30th Anniversary Celebration game for Super Robot Wars. Yeah, you read that right; A Super Robot Wars game got announced on a Nintendo Direct (When the developers for the series usually prefer to announce them on their own) - and for E3, no less!
2022
- The February 2022 Direct made sure the year went off on a great start. The Mario Strikers series was announced to be making its return after nearly a decade. A Square Enix classic in Live A Live would finally be released to the West (and remade in the HD-2D style of Octopath Traveler, no less); see that thing with Moon: Remix RPG Adventure being localized after 22 years? Yeah, this game is 6 years older. They're also releasing an HD remaster of Chrono Cross that will be compiled with the previously Satellaview-only Radical Dreamers too! Meanwhile, Valve dropped in with an unexpected surprise in the form of the award-winning puzzlers Portal and Portal 2 coming to Switch as the "Companion Collection", and Nintendo closed out the show by letting us know we'd be playing Xenoblade Chronicles 3 before years' end.
- After the previous ones failed to impress, not many people had high hopes for the June 2022 Partner Direct. And yet the presentation more than delivered, with beloved titles like NieR: Automata, Pac-Man World, and a Legacy Collection of the Mega Man Battle Network games finally coming to Switch, along with a new life sim/action RPG hybrid from Square Enix called Harvestella that definitely caught gamers' attention. However nothing could compare to the end, where after years of requests, Persona 5 Royal will finally come to Switch, and it's bringing P4 Golden and P3 Portable with it.
- For fans of JRPGs and farming sims, the September 2022 Direct was absolutely full to bursting with them! Fire Emblem Engage gets officially announced for an early 2023 release. A remake of Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life in the works; Rune Factory 3 getting a remaster, along with the announcement of a new RF game being in development; some new information on Harvestella; Tales of Symphonia getting a port to the Switch coming next year; Octopath Traveler getting a sequel; Pikmin 4 really does exist and is coming out next year; and to finish it off, the Breath of the Wild sequel finally has a name: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
2023
- Many went into the February 2023 Direct expecting little else beyond a proper Tears of the Kingdom trailer and a release date for Pikmin 4. And we did get those things... in addition to a slew of franchise revivals, remakes, and remasters. New Samba de Amigo and Professor Layton games. DLC for Splatoon 3. Remasters of Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective, the first three Etrian Odyssey games, Metroid Prime (which released immediately after the Direct, no less) and both Baten Kaitos games. Oh, and Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp was finally re-dated after suddenly being removed from the release calendar a year prior. Throw in Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance games coming to NSO that day as well, and it was more than enough for Nintendo fans to feel that the system was on track to have a fantastic 7th year.
- One specific aspect of the direct that was noted by fans was that there were three Level-5 games revealed in it, those being the aforementioned Professor Layton and the New World of Steam, as well as Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time and a new IP in the form of DecaPolice. Given that it was initially assumed that Level-5 had ended their operations in North America, seeing them announcing these three games for an international release was satisfying to many of their longtime fans, calling it a return to form for them.
- Fans went into the June 2023 Direct with many questions, as Nintendo's first-party lineup for the rest of the year being completely unknown outside Pikmin 4 and miscellaneous DLC, some wondered if the second half of the year would be barren. Thankfully, that wasn't the case. In addition to more news about Pikmin 4 and that various DLC, Nintendo themselves would drop HD ports of the first two Pikmin games immediately after the show, finally re-announce the Detective Pikachu sequel (now titled Detective Pikachu Returns), and give us a second WarioWare Switch entry in WarioWare: Move It, a direct sequel to Smooth Moves on the Wii. On the third party side, we got a new Dragon Quest Monsters in The Dark Prince, a HD-2D remake of Star Ocean: The Second Story, a Batman: Arkham Trilogy collection, confirmation that the Switch would also be receiving Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1, and a first look at Penny's Big Breakaway, the first original game from the development team behind Sonic Mania.
- However, it's the Mario fans who got the most out of this Direct. A remake of the much-beloved Super Mario RPG, with composer Yoko Shimomura returning to compose the soundtrack? A teaser for a new game starring Princess Peach!? A HD remaster of Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon!?! And a new 2D Mario game with a gorgeous new art-style, vibrant animation, and a playable Daisy!?!? With all this news coming off the back of The Super Mario Bros. Movie's success earlier that year, the future of the franchise is looking even better than ever before!
- The September Direct was fairly light on new game announcements. What was announced, however, was still hype worthy. A full trailer for Splatoon 3 Side Order DLC, revealing a more roguelike style direction for the series. A detailed look at Princess Peach: Showtime! showing the princess' first solo outing since Super Princess Peach. The return of the F-Zero series in the form of a battle royale game.
- Normally, a remake wouldn't really warrant being left as the last reveal for a direct. Those are usually announced in the middle of the runtime. But when said remake is of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door? Fans most certainly believe it deserves the spot, especially for those who have been disappointed with the modern installments of the franchise, and can finally breath easy to see a graphically updated version of the best RPG in the Paper Mario series.
