The Nintendo Switch is nearly upon us, and fans already have a lot to look forward to in the form of both 1st party games, 3rd party games, and a nice slew of indie titles. And with E3 around the corner, you know there’s going to be more games announced, even if they’re not in the “immediate” future. While that’s great, it’s important that the Switch does other things too. As I personally noted in our “Nintendo Draft” on the Nintendo Entertainment Podcast earlier in the year, Nintendo should try and reach deep into their vast library of titles to pull out potential big hits for the Nintendo Switch.
How deep you ask? Well, the Switch has the potential to reach not only console games, but the handheld market too, and that opens them up for titles that before may not have been considered. But also, there are some franchises that are ripe for picking and deserve to be brought back to fans. As such, I’m pulling 3 “cult classic” Nintendo franchises that deserve to be on the Switch.
1. Luigi’s Mansion
Luigi has often been considered the “punching bag” of Nintendo. He’s often shown as a cowardly idiot (and he is in many ways to be fair), and to further add to that, he’s only had supporting roles in many games. Yet, when the Gamecube came out, Nintendo changed that by putting Luigi in a starring role. Enter, Luigi’s Mansion.
In one game, Luigi had become more relevant than he had ever been before, and yes, that includes his inclusion in Super Smash Bros. Because Luigi’s Mansion was something very unique. It wasn’t a “Mario game starring Luigi”, it was a pure Luigi game, and fans loved it! In fact, it’s one of the many highlights of the Gamecube’s library, not bad for a “second rate” character huh?
So much was that game loved, that we got a sequel in the form of Dark Moon on the 3DS. It offered more ghostbusting action and was another big hit. In fact, it’s estimated to have sold (as best as we can find) close to 5 million copies. Just for Dark Moon!
With the Nintendo Switch being the ultimate local multiplayer platform, why not bring Luigi’s Mansion back for a 3rd outing? It can be even bigger, have more features, and more ways to play via the Switch’s various control schemes and options.
Now, I know some people wouldn’t call this a “cult classic” franchise because of Luigi. But it’s only had two games, and there’s a lot of people who don’t respect this series as it should be respected. Thus, why it should be brought to the Switch.
2. Kid Icarus
Full disclosure, I had no idea who Pit was until Super Smash Bros. Brawl. But once I saw him, I wanted to learn more. So I did some research, and to my surprise, Pit was one of the original headliners for Nintendo. No, seriously! He was on par with Mario, Link, and Samus for a while, but then he disappeared. Until Brawl came out…and then until this came out…
In one game, Nintendo did their best to bring Pit and the Kid Icarus franchise back into the limelight, and for my money, they succeeded. While the game had flaws (mainly in its control scheme), the title itself was brilliant and used the 3DS to great effect. From its intense gameplay, its fun story, numerous jokes both at itself and at Nintendo, it was one of the more unique titles Nintendo has made.
Then, in the most recent Super Smash Bros., we got not only Pit, but Dark Pit (who debuted in Uprising), and Palutena in the game, which shows that Nintendo still loves this franchise. But, they haven’t announced a new game since Kid Icarus: Uprising, which is very sad to me. Well, with the Nintendo Switch, they have the opportunity to bring it back in a big way once again, and potentially put it back in the upper echelon of Nintendo titles.
The best part is that they don’t have to tweak the formula too much. Keep the gameplay like it was in Uprising, just make a few tweaks to make it fresh for the Switch. Keep the style of story they did in Uprising, but make it even bigger, even more grand, something worthy of a console. Then, add some new modes, update the graphics to match the HD potential of the Switch (Unreal Engine 4 anyone?), and you got a hit through and through.
People love Kid Icarus, and many have waited for his true return. Uprising and Smash Bros was the beginning, let’s keep it going! To tweak what the goddess Palutena once said…
“Hurry Pit! The people need you on Nintendo Switch!”
3. Golden Sun
I CANNOT stress enough how much people want Golden Sun back, and it’s the true epitomy of “cult classic”.
Why? Because the three titles that were made in the Golden Sun series were held as not only RPG classics when played by players, but were lauded as some of the best RPG’s around. In fact, the first two Golden Sun games were dubbed some of the best games on the Game Boy Advance, and that system had some great games.
When Dark Dawn came out 6 years after the release of The Lost Age, fans thought this would be the next beginning of the series, sadly, we never got that.
Now, while it’s true that Nintendo does have a lot of RPG titles, Golden Sun is in a class all its own, especially if they get Camelot to do the game again. If they can’t? Well, there are other qualified developers out there, as long as they keep the Golden Sun charm, it’ll be great.
And remember this, Golden Sun has only been on handhelds, imagine what it’ll be like with the power of the Nintendo Switch behind it.
Oh, and fun fact, the last two Smash Bros games? Isaac (the main character of the series in many respects) has been one of the most requested characters to be put in to the roster. You can’t get that claim unless you got a fanbase behind you. And yes, I know Nintendo didn’t listen, that’s not the point!!!!
Bring In All The Titles
Look, in the conclusion, I really do think the Nintendo Switch is going to be great. But, there’s a difference between being great, and being legendary. The SNES was legendary, the N64 was legendary, the Wii was legendary, and the reasons for that was in part because of the library of titles they had. I want the Switch to be legendary, but I also want the console to bring back some franchises that aren’t the most popular, ones that could make players try them out because they aren’t the “established” series.
Give Luigi’s Mansion, Kid Icarus, and Golden Sun another chance to shine Nintendo. You might just be surprised with the sales you get.
