Dark Souls, Donkey Kong Country lead a wave of Nintendo Switch ports

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After gently teasing fans all week, Nintendo suddenly threw up a bevy of Nintendo Switch announcements via a “Nintendo Direct Mini” video presentation this morning. Nintendo and Japanese third-party partners seem eager to provide the millions of Switch owners out there with quickly available, prepackaged content in the form of ports of games from older consoles (the kind we’ve been wondering about for months).

The 14-minute trailer-packed video is filled with new footage and information, but we’ve condensed the important news down below if you can’t watch right now:

Ports

  • Dark Souls Remastered: No gameplay details were provided for this one, but given the title, it’ll surely be a graphically touched-up version of From Software’s hard-as-nails, 2011 dungeon crawler. Release date is set for May 25, and PS4, XB1 and PC versions will also be available.
  • The World Ends with You Final Remix: Square Enix’s Nintendo DS cult classic Japanese action RPG gets an HD remaster that includes a new scenario “that gets to the heart of the story.” Arriving some time this year.
  • Hyrule Warriors Definitive Edition: This Zelda-themed version of the Dynasty Warriors design combines all the maps and missions from the Wii U and 3DS versions of the game and adds new Breath of the Wild costumes for Link and Zelda. Coming some time this spring.
  • Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze: The tough-but-fun Wii U platform game comes to Switch with Funky Kong as a new playable character, capable of a double hover jump and “infinite rolls.” Coming May 4.
  • Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA: A port of the game that recently revived the dormant, long-running Japanese RPG series comes to the Nintendo Switch this summer.

New game announcements

  • Mario Tennis Aces brings back the fast-paced, over-the-top, super-ability-infused sporting franchise with a new Story Mode that includes specific missions and bosses to face. Coming this spring.
  • SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy looks like a female-fighter-focused version of the popular King of Fighters franchise, with new Dream Finish moves to round things out a bit. Coming this summer.

DLC

  • Super Mario Odyssey gets a new “Luigi’s Balloon World” online hide-and-seek mode as part of a free update in February. One player has 30 seconds to hide a balloon somewhere in the level, and another player has to track it down with the help of a guiding arrow. New costumes and photo filters will also be available.
  • Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle will get Donkey Kong as a playable character alongside themed content in a paid update this spring.
  • Pokken Tournament DX will see new characters and moves as part of a paid DLC Battle Pack.

Other

  • Air-dashing 2D platformer Celeste is coming January 25.
  • 3D platformer Fe is coming February 16.
  • 4-player co-op platformer Kirby Star Allies is coming March 16.
  • Payday 2 is (still) coming to Switch February 27.
  • A demo for Dragon Quest Builders hits the eShop today.

https://arstechnica.com/?p=1242687