Fun fact – Nintendo owns A LOT of IPs. They have so many in fact, they often don’t know what to do with them all. Often there are glaring emissions on certain consoles. No Metroid on N64, no Kirby on GameCube, no Star Fox on Wii, no Animal Crossing on Wii U (Amiibo Festival most certainly does NOT count). Plus, some series are exclusive to handhelds, like the main Pokemon series. It seemed unlikely there would ever be a Nintendo console in which all of their main IPs would be represented.

Then came the Switch…

Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Animal Crossing, Pokemon, Kirby, even Metroid after such a long hiatus. Contrary to popular belief however, there are still Nintendo properties that are yet to make the jump to the Switch. Is there still a chance for these series? Let’s find out!

Star Fox

This is an interesting one. There is a game called Starlink: Battle for Atlas which is a cross platform game HOWEVER you can play as Star Fox characters in the Nintendo Switch version. Despite being a decent substitute for Star Fox, this does not stop the fact that this is not a Star Fox game.

On top of that, for the longest time there was a game rumoured to be coming to the Switch called Star Fox: Grand Prix. This was possibly being worked on by Retro Studios, and possibly scrapped in favour of development of Metroid Prime 4, but that is all speculative and to be taken with a huge pinch of salt.

Finally, Star Fox Grand Prix is one of the few Wii U games not to be ported to Switch. This is likely due to a combination of how vital the gamepad was to that game, and also the poor reception that game received.

Star Fox definitely seems like one of those series that Nintendo is just unsure as to what to do next. Unfortunately, due to that and also because there technically is some Star Fox representation on Switch, I think it’s unlikely this one will make the cut. Sorry guys. *Sad barrel roll*

I HAD to mention F-Zero. F-Zero had been dormant since the GameCube / GBA Advance days. It has become infamous for being the series most requested by Nintendo fans. Obviously, due to the long hiatus, it seems super unlikely that it will come to the Switch… which is why I am saying that F-Zero WILL come to the Switch. You heard it first here folks!

I have ZERO reasoning behind this decision, other than the fact that Nintendo is most definitely aware that fans want a new game, and it just seems like the time is right. There’s been lots of projects rumoured to be in development throughout the years, and I believe there’s one in development right now, just wait and see!

Earthbound / Mother

Mother 3 never left Japan and the creator of the series has expressed that he has no interest in creating a 4th game, so yeah, this one speaks for itself unfortunately. I will however, say this, I believe that Mother 3 will be released outside of Japan when GBA games finally come to the Nintendo Switch Online service. Am I crazy for thinking that? Probably, but I’m sticking to it! It’s gotta happen eventually right… right?!

Wario Land

When Mario made the jump to 3D, Nintendo used Wario Land to hold down the 2D platforming fort. The last Wario Land game was released in 2008, almost 15 years ago. It seems unlikely that we’ll see another Wario Land game, not anytime soon anyway. This is because the WarioWare series seems to be where Nintendo likes to put Wario to work these days. Also, with the plethora of 2D Mario experiences (including 2 on the Switch alone) it seems Nintendo may find the franchise irrelevant. That certainly is not the case however, as Wario Land added it’s own unique flair to the platforming genre, and the art style on the last game in particular was incredible! I’m hopeful this series will return, but not on the Switch.

Kid Icarus

There have only been 3 games in this series. The first 2 released on the NES and then the GameBoy with the third (and currently final) instalment being released on the 3DS. Kid Icarus: Uprising has been a game I have often heard requested for a Switch port, but Nintendo doesn’t seem particularly interested in upgrading their 3DS games, not at the moment anyway. Masahiro Sakurai, the legend himself, is the man behind Kid Icarus, but sadly he is oft kept busy with Smash Bros. Unfortunately, this is another series that will likely skip the Switch.

Punch-Out

The final game on my list, and another banger. For whatever reason, Nintendo seems to view this series as more of a “throwback.” The last game released on Wii was fantastic, but relied heavily on the original NES game and wasn’t very innovative. Most of us however, didn’t care, it was just nice to get a new entry in this series. With the exception of Mother, this is the series I feel is the least likely to come back at all, but certainly it would seem the Switch will be missed again.

In Summary…

I think the Switch will be the console to bring back F-Zero, and that Mother 3 will finally leave Japan when GBA games are introduced to the service, but other than that, we could be waiting quite some time before we see a proper revival for most of these series. Still, if Metroid has taught us anything, it’s that Nintendo can forget about you for well over a decade and then put 2 brand new games into development without so much of a second thought. There is hope my friends…

What game would you most like to see come to the Switch?