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There was a time when Nintendo had a white-knuckle grip on its franchises. The chances of another studio catching a whiff of Mario or Link were next to none and while the games industry flourished with games that paid homage to Nintendo’s greats, those names themselves stayed in the House of Nintendo.
But things have changed. Yes, Nintendo is still extremely protective of its properties, but we are increasingly seeing its babies entrusted to other studios. We live in a time when Mario has a gun and Link has rhythm. Heck, the last two 2D Metroids were made in Madrid.
Sure, Nintendo still has a way to go as far as highlighting developers pre-release is concerned, but there is now more chance than ever for a prospective game studio to get their hands on some familiar faces and give them a unique twist.
And so, with that in mind, we started to think about the developers that we would love to see tackle a Nintendo franchise and share off the dust by putting a new genre spin on an established series. There will be many, many, possibilities besides the ones we have dreamt up below — be sure to share some of your picks with us in the comments — but for now, here is a handful of studios that we feel would make a fine fit for some of our favourite franchises…
Level-5’s Mario Murder Mystery
Captain Toad is dead and it’s up to you, private detective Mario, to track down the killer. A little too dark? Maybe. But Mario has appeared in just about every genre there is by this point, so we’re keen to think outside the box. A black and white noir thriller starring Mario, anyone? Moir-io? Ahem, sorry.
In this Professor Layton-style puzzle game, you would explore the Mushroom Kingdom, talking to the residents and solving mysteries along the way. We’d be keen for things to not get too dark — a Detective Pikachu-level of peril feels about right — but with a series as stuffed to the brim with colourful characters as Mario, we’re sure that a team like Level-5 would have more than enough puzzle inspiration for some killer plot twists here and there. Bowser was Captain Toad’s father?!
From Captain Toad to Captain Obvious…
Evil Empire’s Metroid Roguelike
MercurySteam has been doing a fine job already, of course, but wouldn’t it be cool to see a Metroid game change up the formula ever so slightly while still maintaining its combat and adventure foundations? That’s right, we’re picturing a Metroid Pinball game Metroid roguelike.
There are a bunch of talented roguelike/lite devs out there, but we’d throw a team like Evil Empire into the ring for this one. Just picture it: Samus has to make her way further into the depths of a mysterious pinball machine/ship/planet, but the only healing point is on the surface. With each run, you collect energy tokens which can be cashed in at the start for suit upgrades. Oh! and in classic Metroid fashion, there are hidden passageways and collectibles to make your next run easier. Yep, it’s Dread Cells (sorry).
Although this might have to wait, as rumour has it that Evil Empire is otherwise engaged with another long-running franchise right now…
Ghost Town Games’ Animal Crossing Couch Co-Op
As anyone who has played the brilliant Animal Crossing fruit minigame on the Wii U’s Nintendo Land will tell you, this is a series that lends itself to some party fun. So let’s see what that looks like when the usual chill vibes are subbed out for some Overcooked-style stress.
The crafting bench in Animal Crossing is usually nothing more than a brief pit stop, but we’re picturing Ghost Town Games turning the crafting mechanic into the central gameplay hook. You are provided with the necessary materials to complete orders and then have to keep up with your villagers’ demands for increasingly complex items of furniture, tools, and clothing. At the end of each level, Tom Nook appears on screen and tells you how you could have saved money with better efficiency.
It might not be quite as chilled as the normal seashell-collecting gameplay, but it would be a cute enough way to put your relationships to the test.
Sabotage Studios’ Kirby RPG
Come on, Kirby is the walking embodiment of a job system.
Bring in a team like Sea of Stars‘ Sabotage Studios to provide some gorgeous pixel art and then design a deep RPG around the central mechanic of Kirby being able to take on different roles by inhaling various members of his team. It sounds sinister when we phrase it like that, but it’s meant to be cute. Trust us.
We can picture a vast top-down view of Dream Land, where Kirby walks between kingdoms to settle disputes and recruit new Waddle Dees into his party. The battles would be turn-based (naturally) and the studio could deploy some of that Mario & Luigi-style timed button action again to really keep things feeling retro.
FromSoftware’s Soulsborne Zelda
Now this is on the obvious side, we know — especially since you can spot Zelda DNA in every FromSoft project from Bloodborne to Elden Ring — but we really, really like the idea of a Zelda game with a healthy dose of peril.
The enemies of Hyrule would be beefed up. Dungeons would be giant mazes. All of Link’s rupees would drop to the ground on each and every death. Oof. Honestly, this feels like one of the neater match-ups out there. Nintendo has nailed the sense of wonder in the Zelda series of late and a batch of FromSoft’s signature difficulty and combat could bring us up to a SpaceWorld demo-level of action/adventure.
Let’s just ensure that Link doesn’t make a “Hyyyaaagh” sound every time we dodge roll. For all our sanities.
Brace Yourself Games’ Luigi’s Rhythm Mansion
We were humming the Luigi’s Mansion theme to ourselves as we pondered the best genre route that this series could take when we were reminded of just how banging that tune is. What if you could still bust ghosts and solve puzzles, but all to the rhythm of those funky beats?
Yes, this is all very ‘Cadence of Hyrule but Luigi,’ though we’re picturing room for developer Brace Yourself Games to try something a bit different from its former projects. Vacuuming ghosts could come with its own rhythmic challenges, stages could illuminate as you traverse them to maintain the horror.
It seems like an unlikely departure, but so did Cadence of Hyrule and we all know how well that crossover turned out.
ConcernedApe’s Yoshi Farm Sim
Look, Yoshi is one of those little guys that just needs to be cosy. Sure, the accessible platformer structure has worked for a while, but the time has come. We want change. We want a taste of the good life. We want to see Yoshi in a little straw hat.
We’re envisaging a Stardew Valley-esque farm sim, where you (Yoshi) start out with an island all of your own, but you gradually grow a community of Yoshis thanks to the simple joys of fruit and veg. You could pick your produce with your tongue, explore new areas with a flutter jump, and watch eggs hatch into little baby Yoshis which run around your farm while you work.
What? We’re not crying. You’re crying!
Hello Games’ Star Fox Adventure
We tried to go against the grain here, really we did, but in truth, we can’t think of a studio that we’d rather see blast Star Fox into the modern day more than No Man’s Sky‘s Hello Games.
A vast open universe, spaceship battles, room for drama outside of the cockpit á la Star Fox Adventures — Hello Games seems made for tackling the McCloud company. Heck, the studio’s founder Sean Murray even told us that this would be the Nintendo franchise that he would bring into No Man’s Sky, if given the chance.
D-Pad Studios’ Kid Icarus Platform Shooter
Kid Icarus is hardly Nintendo’s most prolific franchise and even from its limited entries, we have seen it try out two vastly different genres in the shape of a platformer and a third-person shooter. In fact, the series has been given so little space to grow that we’d be hesitant to throw it into a completely different format so quickly. But some fine-tuning tweaks couldn’t hurt, eh?
Let’s combine Kid Icarus’ platforming routes with its Uprising originality to make a pixel art platform shooter á la D-Pad Studios’ Savant Ascent. It makes sense that Kid Icarus game should have a level of verticality to it and this reboot would see you helping Pit on his return journey to Elysium, dispatching any pesky foes that attempt to get in his way.
Sure, the links to D-Pad’s Owlboy protagonist, Otus, might be a little on the nose (beak?), but that would all be overlooked if the game had Uprising’s dynamic action with much-improved controls.
Moon Studios’ Donkey Kong Metroidvania
Yes, Playtonic might be the more obvious choice here given that it’s made up of Rare alumni, but we’d rather push things a little bit further. What if Moon Studios could lend their Ori minds to the Donkey Kong Country universe and turn the whole thing into a jungle-exploring Metroidvania?
We’re picturing the beautiful environments. We’re visualising the inventive level designs. We’re stressing over potential boss battles. Okay, we’re getting over-excited.
It has been too long since we last saw an original take on DK and, honestly, the Metroidvania format just feels right. The jungle setting would feel tough to navigate at first, but this is a character that lends himself to a bunch of unlockable abilities like a swing, roll, double jump, or cannonball. Why not go completely bananas and let Moon Studios throw in another heartfelt story about parenthood too? Any excuse to bring in some of the other Kongs, eh?
Subset Games’ Turn-Based Pikmin
At its core, Pikmin’s take on the RTS genre has always been kinda puzzle-y — get the required number of Pikmin to the fruit and manoeuvre it back to your ship — it is also very, very tactical — do all that before sundown or you will be eaten — so why not go all out on the tactics and conquer the wild world from the turn-based realm?
Think of Subset Games’ Into The Breach but instead of dropping mechs onto a Vek-infested planet, you are Olimar throwing Pikmin into a Bulborb-covered battlefield. On your turn, you choose which Pikmin to throw where, each of which has a unique ability and can be used to either take on foes, navigate the terrain, or collect juicy fruit. The casualties are permanent, but you can sprout more allies by bringing the items back to base.
Hey! Pikmin might have ruined all chances of this series ever stepping into another genre again, but we’d love the chance to see things get a boost in the tactics department (at least, anything more considered than chucking all your Rock Pikmin at one enemy while you run in the opposite direction).
Hazelight’s Ice Climber Co-op Adventure
This one might be a little closer to the realms of ‘Just make your game again, but with Nintendo characters’ but hear us out. Ice Climber, were it ever to come back, would need to do so in a big way. So why not entrust it in the more-than-capable hands of It Takes Two‘s Hazelight?
It has been so long since we have seen Nintendo’s mountain explorers that we are well within reboot territory. This 2D platformer could become a 3D co-op adventure, where your journey up to the frozen peak is as much about your teamwork as it is about platforming prowess. With its TGA GOTY award in amongst its gear, Hazelight has the tools to take on this climb.
Extremely OK Games’ Splatoon Platformer
We have been banging on about our desire for more single-player action in Splatoon for years now, so why not switch up the formula altogether and see how the squid kids would work in a totally different format — say, a punishing yet gorgeous 2D platformer?
We know that a developer like Extremely OK Games can weave a beautiful story around a simple structure and the Splatoon universe is up to the gills in untapped lore potential just waiting for a chance to shine.
Instead of being all about combat, the challenge of this platformer would be in how you use your kid-to-squid transforming abilities to navigate your environment. The shooting and inking would all still be there, but the focus would be on movement and flow instead of damage. Oh, and it would need a banging chip-tune soundtrack too, of course.
There are some of our developer/franchise mash-ups, but which ones can you envisage? Let us know which Nintendo series you’d like to see in the hands of another studio and share your own dream developers.