What we could see in a potential February 2025 Nintendo Direct

Today, we’re looking at the potential announcements we could see if we were to get a final Switch-centered Nintendo Direct in February 2025.

At the time of writing, we don’t currently have any sort of confirmation that we’re actually getting a presentation next month. That said, we’re arguably due for one. Other than Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition, we don’t have any concrete release dates for remaining Nintendo Switch titles. We do know that Metroid Prime 4: Beyond launches sometime this year, but we’re still missing a defined release window. Additionally, if you remember the transition from the 3DS to the Switch, Nintendo continued to publish a number of ports on the dedicated handheld during Switch’s early years. We wouldn’t be surprised if we saw a similar approach here, and if it winds up being true, it means we might still have a remake or two bound for the original Nintendo Switch sometime this year. 

One rumor we’ve heard lately is that Kirby: Planet Robobot is supposedly receiving an HD port on Nintendo Switch. This is definitely one of the highest-acclaimed Kirby games; before Kirby and the Forgotten Land, it was often topping players’ lists of favorite games in the series. Even now, you could argue Kirby: Planet Robobot has some merit over Forgotten Land – its tried-and-true 2D platforming is incredibly solid, and the Robobot Armor adds an extra layer of strategy to the gameplay without feeling like a tacked-on gimmick. We’re not sure that HAL Laboratory would be handling this theoretical port – it could be a new outsourcing studio, considering that Vanpool (the developers of Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe) closed its doors in 2023. A Kirby: Planet Robobot port also makes sense because we haven’t seen a new Kirby game since Return to Dream Land Deluxe. It’s been two years now, and releasing a port of one of Kirby’s most beloved games to fill up time seems like a sensible move.

Considering this would almost certainly be the final Nintendo Switch Direct, we may need to temper our expectations a little. Personally, if we do get a February Direct, we think there could be two (or a maximum of three) announcements for ports or remasters. Nothing too crazy; just enough announcements to close up release gaps prior to the Nintendo Switch 2’s release. There are a few potential candidates for these remakes or remasters. We don’t expect we’ll be getting all of these – maybe one or two if we’re really lucky. A great candidate would be Metroid Prime 2 or Metroid Prime 3. Retro Studios released the excellent Metroid Prime Remastered in 2023 – they’re hard at work on Metroid Prime 4: Beyond now, though, which means if we do get Prime 2 or 3 they may not be ports on the same level as Metroid Prime Remastered. Still, we think having a way to play the entire Metroid Prime series on one console is important. If we get straight ports of Prime 2 and 3 with enhanced controls, that’s fine with us – especially if it’s a two-in-one deal.

Another option is a Zelda game. We’d be shocked if Nintendo Switch 2 received a new Zelda title during its first year – Tears of the Kingdom released in 2023, and it took over seven years to develop. There’s no way the Zelda team was working on two games at once, which means the series will likely be absent from Nintendo Switch 2 upon its release. An easy way to fix that would be releasing a Zelda remaster on the current Nintendo Switch so that you can technically play a new Zelda on Switch 2 through backwards compatibility. There have been rumors about Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess HD coming to the console for years now – they’ve always been considered potential filler releases, and this is the perfect time for them. Alternatively, something like an HD remake of Ocarina of Time or Majora’s Mask could be a cool option. Though those two games are already playable on Nintendo Switch Online.

Another oddball idea for a port is Kid Icarus: Uprising. This is one of the most beloved games on Nintendo 3DS, and it has a cult following to this day. When you look at 3DS games that would work great on Nintendo Switch, this is one that comes to mind immediately. For being a niche franchise that hadn’t had any games in 25 years, Kid Icarus: Uprising sold decently well on the system with about 1.3 million units shipped. It’d no doubt sell even better on Nintendo Switch, especially with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s financial success. In a perfect world where we receive ports of both Kirby: Planet Robobot and Kid Icarus: Uprising on Nintendo’s current console, we’ll have two of the greatest 3DS games playable not just on Switch but on Switch 2 as well. An HD port is also a perfect opportunity to fix Uprising’s controls. Dual-stick aiming would go a long way, and we think it’d make people appreciate this game even more. You’d have to get rid of the AR Card functionality, considering the Switch doesn’t support it, but that’s a small price to pay.

We’re also bound to see plenty of updates on Nintendo Switch games we already know about. It’ll be interesting to see if Nintendo says anything about Splatoon 3, for instance – some players speculate that we could still receive third kits for every weapon. If a February Direct happens and we do not get any word about Splatoon 3, that could be an indicator that Splatoon 4 is coming sooner than we may think (even if it’s 2026). If we do hear something about Splatoon 3, then it’s theoretically more likely that Splatoon 4 is a bit far off. We’ll also no doubt receive a small update on Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition and a release date for Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. As for Pokemon Legends: Z-A, we may get a passing mention of it, but Pokemon generally does its own thing. They’ll almost certainly show off the game on Pokemon Day at the end of February. Pair all these potential announcements with plenty of info on new third-party and indie games, and you’ll probably have a presentation that’s of a decent length.

What would you most want to see from a February Nintendo Direct? Again, nothing’s confirmed just yet, but previous years have set a precedent that Nintendo usually hosts presentations at around this time. We don’t expect much in terms of brand-new games – those are almost certainly being saved for Switch 2.

Speaking of, the big Nintendo Switch 2 presentation goes live on April 2, 2025. If you want to watch the Switch 2’s reveal trailer, you can do so here.