Nintendo Direct showcases Pac-Man, Persona, Portal and more Mario for Switch

The Nintendo Direct Mini: Partner Showcase has now taken place with numerous new game  announcements made, including news on Mario, Sonic, Persona, Portal, Pac-Man, Mega Man, Monster Hunter, Monkey Island and more.

Ahead of the event, Nintendo confirmed that the focus would be on third-party titles coming to Nintendo Switch with many of the big studios showing up. One of the biggest announcements was confirmation that Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope will be released on October 20th, 2022, following Ubisoft's leak of the date ahead of the Nintendo Direct. 

Next to this, Persona 3 Portable, Persona 4 Golden and Persona 5 Royal were all revealed to be coming to Nintendo Switch. The trilogy was previously announced for PS5, Xbox and PC so while this one felt somewhat inevitable, it will still come as a huge win for JRPG fans. Persona 5 Royal will launch on October 21st with a Persona 3 and Persona 4 release date coming at a later time.

Over 20 games were either premiered or given new looks during the Nintendo Direct Mini: Partner Showcase. Watch the full video below:

Two big back-to-back announcements came in the form of Super Bomberman R 2 and the Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection. Both of which are set to launch in 2023. The new Bomberman game brings back the classic arcade-maze gameplay with a new Castle Mode and up to 15 players able to join the battle. Mega Man, meanwhile, is made up of 10 Battle Networks games that were originally released for the Game Boy Advance, now coming to Switch (as well as PS4 and PC) for the first time.

Return to Monkey Island was certainly one of the highlights, having been announced in April this year, it's now been confirmed that the swashbuckling adventure game will arrive on console first with Nintendo Switch. The new trailer gave us a better look at the delightful art style and quirky nature of the game. Return to Monkey Island will launch sometime in 2022.

Square Enix also revealed Harvestella, a new life-simulation experience coming to Switch on November 4th, 2022. Furthermore, Dragon Quest Treasures was confirmed as exclusive to Switch, according to the official Dragon Quest site. It will launch in December 2022. 

Additionally, the Portal: Companion Collection – which is comprised of Portal and Portal 2 – was unveiled to be coming to Nintendo Switch today. The award-winning titles see players break the laws of spatial physics in ways with a highly experimental portal device, alongside solving mind-bending bizarre puzzles and facing off against a lethally inventive, power-mad A.I. named GLaDOS.

A selection of images from the Nintendo Direct can be found below:

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Sonic Frontiers was another 2022 game to receive a trailer, giving us a first look at Cyberspace levels. These stages take place away from the main open-zone area of Starfall Island and look reminiscent of Empire City from Sonic Unleashed and Green Hill Zone from Sonic Generations. Sonic Frontiers is set to launch holiday 2022.

Finally, one of the most unexpected announcements of the event was Pac-Man World Re-Pac, a remake of the 1999 3D platformer that was made for the original PlayStation. A welcome surprise to be sure, this one has my attention when it releases on August 26th, 2022.

Looking for something new to play now? Check out this selection of perfect summer Switch games to play during the heatwave. Also, check out T3's Mario Strikers: Battle League review to see whether the Mushroom Kingdom and football mix. Before you buy a new game, take a look at our Nintendo discount codes to save on your order.