SuperZeldaSmashWright: Nintendo Direct Recap

October 2, 2013

In stark contrast to recent Nintendo Directs, which focussed on one or two titles, last night’s Nintendo Direct went broad, providing updates on 12 upcoming titles for the Wii U and 3DS.

To begin, Nintnedo President Satoru Iwata unveiled a new Super Mario 3D World trailer, which showed off a variety of new suits and items, including the Cherry, which creates duplicates of your character, and a portable Piranha Plant to take out enemies. For full effect, check out the trailer below. The game will be released in Europe on November 29.

The Legend Of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds will not be as linear as typical Zelda games. Iwata explained that the two unwritten rules of past Zelda adventures — “You could only get a new item at a new dungeon and…puzzles in that dungeon would primarily be solved with this new item” — are being reconsidered for the upcoming 3DS title. Players will instead be able to purchase any item they can afford early on, allowing flexibility in the order in which dungeons are encountered. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds will be available from November 22.

Iwata also teased a new sidescrolling Kirby title. It planned for release on the 3DS in 2014.

After Iwata’s piece, Nintendo of Europe’s President Satoru Shibata showed off some English footage of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies. It will launch exclusively on the Nintendo eShop on October 24; a demo is currently available to download. Shibata also announced that a localised version of Bravely Default: Flying Fairy will be released on December 6 from both retail and the Nintendo eShop.

To sum up the other announcements from this Nintendo Direct:
- Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze has been delayed until 2014.
- Sonic will, once again, appear as a guest character in the upcoming Super Smash Bros. games.
- Wii Karaoke U will be released in Europe on October 4. It will come with a free hour of access to the 1,500 song launch library. Further access can be purchased with tickets ranging from one hour (£1.79) to 30 days (£13.49)
- The minigame compilation Wii Party U will be available on October 25, and will include a Wii Remote Plus and a stand so you can lay your Wii U Gamepad flat for some of the minigames.
- Pikmin 3‘s first Mission Mode pack will be available for £1.79.