Everything announced at the June 2024 Nintendo Direct

By Tomas Franzese Published June 18, 2024

The key art for the June 18, 2024 Nintendo Direct. — Nintendo

What may be one of the last Nintendo Direct presentations entirely focused on the Nintendo Switch has arrived. While Nintendo was still not ready to talk about its popular platform’s successor just yet, this Direct showed that there are still plenty of compelling Nintendo Switch games on the way. We already knew about titles like Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD and Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition, but we also learned about new games like Mario & Luigi: Brothership, Super Mario Party Jamboree, and The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom.

We also finally got a look at Metroid Prime 4, which now has the full title of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. Third-party companies showed up as well, with Square Enix unveiling some HD-2D remakes of Dragon Quest games and Capcom revealing Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics. To help you keep track of everything that got announced, here’s a full recap of everything shown during the June 2024 Nintendo Direct.

Nintendo Direct 6.18.2024 – Nintendo Switch

The Mario & Luigi series returns with Brothership

Mario & Luigi: Brothership – Announcement Trailer – Nintendo Switch

Nintendo’s Mario & Luigi series had been on hiatus since developer Alpha Dream closed, but it’s finally making a comeback. Mario & Luigi: Brothership kicked off this Nintendo Direct with a trailer that showed a mix of cinematics, conversations, and gameplay. It looks to once again be an RPG where players control Mario and Luigi, whose actions are mapped to different buttons. Mario & Luigi: Brothership will be released on November 7.

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Donkey Kong Country Returns is coming to Nintendo Switch

Donkey Kong Country Returns HD – Announcement Trailer – Nintendo Switch

Nintendo announced Donkey Kong Country Returns HD partway into the Nintendo Direct. Donkey Kong Country Returns was originally released on the Wii and later came to the 3DS. The Nintendo Switch remaster finds the middle ground between the two as it has both local co-op and additional levels from the 3DS release. Donkey Kong Country Returns HD launches on January 16, 2025.

Square Enix unveils beautiful remakes for 3 classic Dragon Quest games

Square Enix first teased an HD-2D remake of NES RPG classic Dragon Quest III several years ago, but we hadn’t seen it in action again until now. Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake will launch for Nintendo Switch on November 14. We also learned that Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake is also in the works and will come out sometime in 2025.

Super Mario Party Jamboree launches on October 17

Super Mario Party Jamboree – Announcement Trailer – Nintendo Switch

Nintendo announced the next entry in the Mario Party series today. It’s called Super Mario Party Jamboree and features several new creative party boards with more dynamic gameplay elements. Mario’s Rainbow Castle and Western Land, both of which are courses from previous Mario Party games, will also make their return here. There will be over 110 minigames and a 20-player multiplayer Koopathalon mode. Super Mario Party Jamboree launches on October 17.

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom stars Zelda, not Link

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom – Announcement Trailer – Nintendo Switch

Nintendo is finally making a The Legend of Zelda game starring Zelda instead of Link. It has a similar visual style to The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening remake and is called The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom. The main gameplay gimmick is that Zelda can create “echoes” of objects and enemies she comes across, which can help her navigate and solve puzzles in the game’s overworld. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom comes out for Nintendo Switch on September 26, and it will get a themed Nintendo Switch Lite system.

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond comes out next year

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond – Announcement Trailer – Nintendo Switch

To close out the Nintendo Direct, we got our first look at Metroid Prime 4. Nintendo wasted almost no time getting right into gameplay, showing Samus as she enters a fortress under siege. We see her spar against Sylux, who seems to be using Metroids for something. We learned that the game’s full title is Metroid Prime 4: Beyond and that it won’t be out until sometime in 2025. Although that’s disappointing for fans hoping it would be out soon, it’s also nice to see Metroid Prime 4 in action for the first time since its announcement in 2017.

Everything else

Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition got an overview ahead of its release next month
Fairy Tail 2 was announced and launches this winter.
Apple Arcade exclusive Fantasian is finally coming to Nintendo Switch. It now has the subtitle Neo Dimension and launches later this year.
Basketball is coming to Nintendo Switch Sports as part of a free update this summer.
Mio: Memories in Orbit was unveiled and launches in 2025.
Disney Illusion Island is getting an update later today.
Hello Kitty: Island Adventures comes to Nintendo Switch in 2025.
Looney Tunes: Wacky World of Sports launches this fall.
A free Among Us update comes out later today.
Marvelous USA revealed Farmagia. It comes out on November 1.
Funko Fusion got a dedicated Nintendo Direct segment.
Nintendo showed off Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD ahead of its June 27 launch.
The New Denpa Men was announced. It launches for free on July 22.
Metal Slug Attack Reloaded got a surprise announcement and release today.
Darkest Dungeon II is coming to Nintendo Switch.
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and Four Swords, Metroid: Zero Mission, Turok: Dinosaur Hunter, and Perfect Dark are all coming to Nintendo Switch Online today.
Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero comes out in 2025.
Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics brings several classic Marvel Comics games from Capcom to Nintendo Switch sometime later this year.
Just Dance: 2025 Edition received a trailer.
Nintendo reaffirmed that Lego Horizon Adventures is coming to Nintendo Switch.
Stray comes to Nintendo Switch sometime later this year.
Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of the Rings Game comes to Switch later this year.
Ace Attorney Investigations Collection launches on September 6.
The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy was announced and received an early 2025 release window.
Romancing SaGa 2 is getting a full remake. It’s called Revenge of the Seven and comes out on October 24.

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Gaming Staff Writer

As a Gaming Staff Writer at Digital Trends, Tomas Franzese reports on and reviews the latest releases and exciting…

Gaming

Nintendo World Championships turned me into a Super Mario Bros. god

Box art for super mario bros shows fire Mario running.

The newly released Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition is all about mastery. The retro microgame collection takes 13 NES classics and breaks them down into bite-sized speedrunning challenges that beg players to replay them over and over to lower their best time. That process all leads to the package's big event, the titular Nintendo World Championships. Every week, players all submit their best times for five specific challenges and fight for a top ranking come Monday morning.

I had no idea how I'd fare against hundreds of thousands of people in the game's first week. While I'd been sharpening my skills during the review period for the game, I still didn't have much confidence that I could make a splash in games like Super Mario Bros. that have been mapped out to perfection already.

Gaming

What’s new in July 2024: 7 upcoming games to check out this month

Key art for Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess.

This month is deceptively packed with games. It might lack a true AAA standout game, but there are plenty of more experimental games and indie titles coming out over the course of July. On the multiplayer front, games like Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail, The First Descendant, and Zenless Zone Zero will offer new ways to play games with friends. On the single-player front, games like Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess, Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn, and Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure will be playing around with more experimental gameplay flows and ideas.

If you know where to look, you definitely won't be spoiled for choice when it comes to finding new games to play throughout this month. To help you sift through all of these game launches, I'm highlighting seven of the most prominent releases of July 2024 that you should keep on your radar. At the end of this article, you can also find a list of even more games that you can keep track of as they come out.
Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail (July 2)

Gaming

Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD gives a 3DS classic the treatment it deserves

Luigi, scared, closes a door in Luigi's Mansion 2 HD.

I got into Nintendo games during an era that's considered to be the company's weakest. In retrospect, the 3DS and Wii U era was poor for Nintendo, serving as a low point between the successes of the Wii and Switch. Despite that, this is when I went all-in on playing almost every new Nintendo game after getting both a 3DS and Wii U. And looking back, Nintendo was still putting out some great games during this era. One such title was Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, a sequel to a GameCube launch title that took the series to portables and added 3D. It was the flagship game in the now infamous "Year of Luigi" and positioned the series for success with Luigi's Mansion 3.

Ahead of an end-of-generation blowout for Switch, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon is getting rereleased as Luigi's Mansion 2 HD. I've been replaying the game on Switch over the past couple of weeks and comparing it to my time with the 3DS version. It's less robust of a refurbishment than the one Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door received last month, but if you skipped out on the 3DS era of Nintendo and never checked Dark Moon out, then Luigi's Mansion 2 HD is worth your attention -- especially now that it's no longer possible to easily get the original.
Bite-sized ghosts
Luigi's Mansion 2 HD follows Luigi as he recovers pieces of the Dark Moon that gave the 3DS game its namesake. The McGuffin kept ghosts calm, but that peace ended when King Boo shattered it. Professor E. Gadd recruits Luigi (somewhat against his will) to explore the mansion, capture ghosts with an upgraded Poltergust 5000, and recover pieces of the Dark Moon. While the original Luigi's Mansion was all set in one mansion, this sequel was designed for a handheld platform, so its structure is a lot more segmented.

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