In a presentation following the September 2019 Nintendo Direct, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate director Masahiro Sakurai detailed the game’s newest fighter: Banjo and Kazooie. The bird-and-bear pair, which are arriving in Ultimate today, bring with them a new stage, 10 music tracks, and a moveset that’s been faithfully adapted from the original Banjo games.
Sakurai gave a full rundown of Banjo and Kazooie’s moves and some strategies associated with them, which you can watch above. Highlights include their Down Special, a grenade egg that Kazooie can fire from behind (inspired by Banjo-Tooie’s egg selection); their sprint, which is a direct adaptation of the pair’s Talon Trot move, in which Kazooie comes out of the backpack to walk; and their Side Special, a Wonder Wing attack with limited uses per stock. Banjo and Kazooie’s Final Smash, the Final Jinjonator, is taken directly from the final boss fight in Banjo-Kazooie.
Their new stage is Spiral Mountain as it was in Banjo-Kazooie, complete with honeycomb pieces, the intact entrance to Grunty’s Lair, and Banjo’s house in the background. The stage rotates around the top of Spiral Mountain, and platforms will appear periodically. You can also spot a number of characters in the stage, including Bottles the mole, Banjo’s sister Tooty, the shaman Mumbo Jumbo, Jinjos, and Grunty herself.
As for music, Ultimate is getting 10 Banjo-inspired tracks, seven of which are new arrangements. Grant Kirkhope, who composed music for the original Banjo games, contributed to the arrangements. They include a number of tracks from Banjo-Kazooie–Mumbo’s Mountain, Gobi’s Valley, and Treasure Trove Cove, for example–as well as mini-boss themes from Banjo-Tooie, including Vs. Klungo.
Nintendo and Larian Studios announced and surprise-released Divinity: Original Sin 2 on Nintendo Switch today, September 4, and it includes what could be the first instance of a particular feature.
The game supports cross-saves between Nintendo Switch and Steam on PC. That is a big deal because it appears to be the first, or among the first Switch games, to allow that.
With cross-saves, people can play at home on PC and then pick up where they left off on Switch when they’re out and about. Divinity: Original Sin 2 is a very long game, so those who started on PC but didn’t finish, and now want to play on Switch, can do so as well keeping their saves.
Divinity: Original Sin 2 is out now on Switch, so players can start taking advantage of the cross-save functionality right away. For now, Divinity: Original Sin 2 only supports cross-saves between Switch and PC; there is no cross-save support with PlayStation 4 or Xbox One.
All Divinity: Original Sin 2 players are getting a special treat, as Larian Studios is handing out a “Gift Bag” of free DLC on every platform. The new gift bag, which follows a previous release earlier this year, comes with new recipes and items to craft, a new icon on the hotbar that lets you toggle sprint on and off, and an “Animal Empathy” feature that lets you talk to animals without spending talent points to do. Also new in the DLC is a Magic Mirror, located in the Arena of Fort Joy, that lets you respect before moving to a new act of the game. On top of this, Larian is giving everyone an increase to their base maximum action points to 8. Finally, there is now a herb garden in the game that players can use to grow plants.
It’s about time, Sans from Undertale has made it to the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate roster, sort of. During the latest Nintendo Direct, it was announced that Sans would be available as a Mii fighter. Sans gets his own custom outfit and uses the Gunner moveset. You also get a new arrangement of the iconic song “Megalovania” by Undertale creator himself, Toby Fox.
Along with several other Mii fighters (Team Rocket, Zero from Mega Man, and others), Sans will be available for $0.75 USD later today.
According to Smash Ultimate director and designer Masahiro Sakurai, Toby Fox visited his house and was able to keep up with him competitively; Sakurai admitted that they split matches with an even 50/50 win-loss ratio, being the best guest he has played.
For all the biggest Switch news from today, be sure to catch up with our Nintendo Direct news roundup or read up on all our stories below.
Plenty of new trailers, too, debuted during the Nintendo Direct. We’ve collected them all into one place here so you get a quick look at all the big new trailers from the show. We’ll keep adding more to this roundup as they become available.
Pokemon Sword & Shield
The new Sword & Shield trailer showed off more of the Galar region, Pokemon Camp, and the Surprise Trade feature for the upcoming Nintendo Switch role-playing game.
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Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield – Camping, Character Customization And New Pokemon Reveal Trailer
Metal Gear Solid, Gears 5, & Dead Cells Coming To Game Pass – GS News Update
Blizzard’s popular team-based shooter Overwatch is headed to Nintendo Switch in October. The Switch version comes with a special “Noire” skin for Widowmaker, as well as three months of Nintendo Switch Online (which you need to play the game). Overwatch comes to Switch on October 15.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Terry Bogard
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate‘s newest character, Terry Bogard, was announced during the September Nintendo Direct. He comes from SNK’s Fatal Fury series. A fighter himself, Terry appears to be a good match for the Smash series. He launches in November through the Fighters Pass.
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Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – Terry Bogard DLC Reveal Trailer
Metal Gear Solid, Gears 5, & Dead Cells Coming To Game Pass – GS News Update
Nintendo showcased the new Animal Crossing game for Nintendo Switch in a trailer show highlighted some of the things you can do in the new game. New Horizons invites players to enjoy the deserted island life, where they can fish, camp, and manage their gardens. It seems very tranquil. New Horizons launches on March 20, 2020.
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Animal Crossing: New Horizons – “Welcome To Island Life” Gameplay Trailer
Metal Gear Solid, Gears 5, & Dead Cells Coming To Game Pass – GS News Update
The original Xenoblade Chronicles from developer Monolith Soft is being remade with a definitive edition launching in 2020. Check out the brand-new trailer below.
For lots more on the September Nintendo Direct, check out all the news stories linked below.
As Nintendo’s Direct presentation came to a close, game director Masahiro Sakurai announced a new–and pretty much final–mode for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The Home Run Contest will make its return to the party-fighter in the newest software update, which is available today.
Sakurai said Home Run Contest has been “powered up in various ways compared to previous” iterations of the mode, but he didn’t clarify what these improvements are. This time, though, Home Run Contest can be played with two players, making the home run even more impressive.
In other Super Smash Bros. Ultimate news, the game’s third DLC character, Banjo-Kazooie, will be available later today. The fourth DLC character of the game’s Fighter Pass, Fatal Fury‘s Terry Bogard, is slated to join the roster this November. Though the Fighter Pass now has only one unannounced character left, Sakurai confirmed that more DLC characters outside of the Fighter Pass are on the way. Additionally, you can grab a new Spirit Board freebie for the party-fighter if you have an active Nintendo Switch Online subscription, and it comes with a smorgasbord of helpful items for the game’s Spirit Board mode.
Nintendo capped off its Direct presentation by announcing a remaster for the critically acclaimed Wii RPG, Xenoblade Chronicles. The upcoming remaster builds upon the original with completely redone graphics across both the game’s characters and world.
Aside from brief glimpses of a few in-game cutscenes, not much else was shown. But what little was revealed was enough to confirm a definite bump in visuals. Characters and environments both seem to have been given a facelift that’s quite a step up in graphical fidelity from the original.
Xenoblade Chronicles released on Wii in 2010; though, it took the game quite a while to release in the west, coming out in 2011 and 2012 in Europe and North America respectively. At launch, GameSpot reviewer Ashton Raze scored the game a 9/10, saying in his review: “Xenoblade Chronicles is a remarkable game. It drags the JRPG into the 21st century, modernising many of the genre’s traits and nailing a pace that outclasses the majority of its peers…It retains the traditions it wants to and modernises the aspects it needs to. It’s not only one of the best JRPGs in years; it’s also one of the best RPGs regardless of subgenre. Xenoblade Chronicles is a captivating, magical game which deserves to be hailed as the revolution it is.”
Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition is launching on Nintendo Switch sometime in 2020. Nintendo confirmed that more announcements concerning the game will be unveiled in the coming months.
First releasing in 2002, Jedi Outcast puts you in the shoes of Kyle Katarn, who finds himself facing off against dark Jedi Desann. Though a first-person shooter, Jedi Outcast does eventually give you the opportunity to play around with a lightsaber and use Force powers. The game was critically acclaimed for both its well-written single-player campaign and popular multiplayer. Unfortunately, only the single-player is being ported to the Switch version.
InGameSpot’sStar Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast review, Amer Ajami wrote, “[Jedi Outcast’s] strong points–especially its combat–overshadow whatever problems Jedi Outcast may have early on. It’s a very slick game that borrows the best elements from past shooters, introduces a number of its own great twists, and then combines these elements to make something that will be highly enjoyable both for those who like shooters and those who simply like Star Wars. And if you happen to like both, then you’ll be especially impressed. Jedi Outcast certainly becomes tough later on, but once you learn to master all your force powers and get a good grip on your lightsaber, you’ll feel unstoppable–the sight of Katarn effortlessly cutting through, leaping over, and pushing back crowds of enemies is a sight to behold. And once you finish the single-player game, the many multiplayer options will keep you coming back for more.”
Star Wars Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast is coming to Nintendo Switch on September 24.
Though not announced on the Direct, StarWars.com reports that Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy is coming to Nintendo Switch too. Another beloved Star Wars game, Jedi Academy won’t be coming to Switch until early 2020. Another shooter, Jedi Academy sees you take on the role of Kyle’s apprentice, Jaden Korr, who’s assigned to complete missions across the galaxy for both his master and Luke Skywalker.
