I’ve never owned a Sega. From a very early age, I’ve just always been been a Nintendo fan. I had the NES. I had the Super Nintendo. And starting with Nintendo 64 back in 1996, I began buying each new console right after it launched.
Buying those consoles was never about having the latest, greatest video game system, though. It was about the games. Specifically, the first-party Nintendo games available at launch and soon thereafter. Mario, Zelda, Metroid—these are among my favorite things in the entire world. So if there is a promise of new games in those franchises coming out, and I need to buy a new system to play them, that’s what I’ll do.
So, when Nintendo Switch 2 was finally made official a few weeks back, I was a little let down. Metroid Prime 4, which was first announced in 2017, was coming but didn’t have a release date. A new Mario Kart game was exciting, but I’ve always been more of a Mario sans Kart guy. And then there was this Donkey Kong game, Bananza, that sort of looked like a Mario game, but with Donkey Kong.
Each one was intriguing, but nothing screamed to me, “Get a Switch 2 asap.” So when Nintendo reached out about attending a demo event, that was my goal. Play some games and decide if any of them were worth the hassle of once again trying to get a system at launch. (Plus, my colleagues on the tech side already did so much great coverage about every other little thing Switch-related. Click all those links.)
So did any of the games make it seem worth it? Yes, of course. The headline already spoiled the answer. Donkey Kong Bananza is, from the 20 minutes we played on the first two levels, a potential classic. It’s the new, open world (inside a level) Mario game I’ve been waiting years for. It just happens to star Donkey Kong which, it turns out, makes things even more exciting.
That’s because not only are you fully able to explore each level however you want, Donkey Kong smashes everything. And I do mean everything. See a wall? Smash it and see how deep it goes. Standing on the ground? Not anymore. Smash it and see how far down it goes. You can grab rocks out of the side of a mountain and throw them. Climb walls and smash while you do that. And these mechanics mean that every level is exponentially bigger than what it looks like on the surface because you can also explore inside and under all of it.
Basically, in the 20 minutes I played I barely got beyond the first few platforms because I was having so much fun breaking shit. With each new piece of destruction, new rooms or items would emerge. It made me feel like the possibilities were endless and, when I had to stop playing, I knew I was sold. I’d be buying a Switch 2 ASAP to play this game from beginning to end.
Of course, Donkey Kong Bananza will not be available when Switch 2 is released June 5. It comes out a month later, on July 17. The same goes for Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, which was playable at the event, but still doesn’t have a release date. Thankfully, whenever that date is, I’ll be grabbing it immediately. The game puts you back behind the visor of Samus Aran as you blast away bad guys, roll around as a ball, and pump missiles into metroids. We played the first 10 minutes or so of the game and it was like visiting an old friend. Nothing too surprising but just plain great.
Which I can also say about Mario Kart World. This was the big showcase at the event since it’s the only official launch title, and though Mario Kart isn’t my favorite Mario franchise, I’ve been known to drift boost from time to time. And that’s back with so much more in World. The game is massive, and that goes for the tracks you drive through as well as the vast variety of characters, karts, outfits, and power-ups available. Things then get taken up another notch in knockout mode, as you race to stay above a certain place in the race as the number of races dwindles with each lap. It’s very intense and very fun.
The best part, though, was the free roam. In Mario Kart World, you don’t have to race, you can just drive around and this to me felt like an old school Mario game. There are power-ups to be found, new and different terrains to explore, and even super cool jumps to do if you just drive around off track. I especially liked just turning around and going backwards to see what else was happening in the world.
Like Metroid, I found Mario Kart World to be exactly what I was expecting. An awesome Mario Kart game with a bunch of new bells and whistles. Nothing groundbreaking, but super cool and fun nonetheless.
By this point, I was sold. A Switch 2 will be mine. But then, just to add to it, I had to play the sequel to another one of my favorite games: Hades II. This, of course, has been available on PC for a while but has yet to make an official console port. That’ll happen with Switch 2 at some point, and after dying twice on my latest quest, I put the controller down. I wanted to keep going. Wanted to beat the game 100 times like I did the original. But I had to restrain myself and say, “I’ll do this later.”
There were other games at the event too, but these were the ones I most wanted to dive into. I’m glad I did. Each game left me more and more convinced that the Switch 2 may sound like a sequel, but its games will make it a star. The Nintendo Switch 2 will be out June 5.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
