We are living in a virtual world, and I am a Virtual Boy: Nintendo Direct 9/12/25 Impressions

Now that we’ve had some time to sit with it, how do we feel about the tumbling shapes in the Direct waiting room? I know I’m not alone when I say I want to put that blue bouncing blob in my mouth. 

Early in the week, this showcase was being marketed as the “biggest” ever from Nintendo without a console reveal. I don’t think it’s the “best” ever, but honestly, if it’s the last one of these we get this year (from Nintendo specifically, we still have the Game Awards), I’m pretty satisfied. They even snuck in a couple deep cut announcements for degenerates like me. 

Here are my brief impressions of all my favorite things from today’s Nintendo Direct. 

Super Mario Bros. 40 Announcements

In the interest of time (and an already bloated word count), I’m going to take a shotgun approach to covering all the Mario 40th anniversary announcements. 

-The next Mario movie is going to be loosely based on Mario Galaxy. I have mixed feelings about the first film, but Galaxy is one of my favorite games and I have no doubt that the music is going to make me cry. Give it an Oscar nomination for best score. 

-Mario Galaxy and its sequel are getting ported to the Switch 2. Should I triple dip on the original, or just buy 2? 

-The Nintendo 64 iteration of Mario Tennis showed me that I could, in fact, enjoy sports games. Mario Tennis Fever, the new entry that was announced this morning, seems to be taking the more is more approach (multiple modes, a huge roster of characters, tons of rackets, etc.). It’s even set to include an adventure mode, which sounds fantastic on paper–I just hope it’s a little more substantial than the most recent Mario Golf.

-Oh great, everyone’s favorite part of Super Mario Bros. Wonder, the talking flowers, is getting a physical version. Apparently they’ll occasionally talk on their own? The perfect thing to wake you up at 3 a.m. and make you (Super Mario Bros.) wonder if you’re being haunted by an annoying ghost. 

-Super Mario Bros. Wonder is also getting a Switch 2 update next year. 

-Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, a new platformer, is set to be released in spring of next year. The Yoshi games have never managed to snare me with their sticky tongue (apologies for the image, unless you’re into that sort of thing) but similar to my feelings on the announcement of the new Mario movie, even if this game isn’t for me, the art will be phenomenal. If the stages that Nintendo is choosing to show us look this good, just imagine the stuff they’re holding back. 

Hades II

Speaking of stellar art.

Hades II looks incredible and its 1.0 goes live on September 25th (physical copies will be available in November).  

There are a lot of feet in this trailer–not that there’s anything wrong with that…

Dragon Quest VII Reimagined 

I’m extremely curious to see how they choose to adapt Dragon Quest VII (I’m guessing the use of Reimagined here isn’t meant to be a fun way of saying it’s a 1:1 remake). It’s already been remade once before for the 3DS and has a reputation for being both massive and taking its time with its story (HowLongToBeat estimates a playthrough lasting between 75 and 130 hours on the 3DS and 109 to 266 hours for the PlayStation original). 

Will we end up with a trilogy of very different versions of the same game? I would love to read/watch a deep dive from someone who’s more knowledgeable on the subject. 

Regardless, I like the graphical style the devs chose to go with. It makes sense for a “modern” Dragon Quest.

Nintendo Classics Virtual Boy

The only time I’ve ever been exposed to the Virtual Boy was through a demo kiosk at Toys R Us when it launched–and I was too short to comfortably reach the goggles. 

I’ve talked before about how I wanted Nintendo to bring back the Virtual Boy but I never thought it would actually happen. It’s a big day for the sicko community (a community I’m a proud member of). The plastic shell is the definition of something I don’t need–but I DO need it (it’s listed for $99.99–the cardboard alternative is $24.99). 

I feel obligated to review every one of these titles they drop on their service. Any bets on how my vision will hold up?

Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly Remake 

This was a really pleasant surprise. 

Fatal Frame is such a wonderful and terrifying series and I’m happy something so niche keeps chugging along. 

The first time I played Crimson Butterfly, the power went out during the final boss–at one in the morning. Stumbling through my pitch black house in search of candles and flashlights was a harrowing experience. 

Suika Game Planet

Welcome back Tetrisphere (just kidding, this doesn’t appear to play anything like that).

Suika Game is deceptively addicting (one of my sisters dumped tens of hours into both the Switch and browser versions). This appears to simply be a new spin on that–and I think that’s enough. 

Unrelated to today’s Direct, but I want to give a quick shout-out to PancitoMerge. If you’re a fan of the Suika gameplay, PancitoMerge replaces the falling fruit with Mexican baked goods and there’s a demo you can check out on Steam. 

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond

I’ve always been excited for Prime 4 because it’s more Metroid–but the inclusion of this motorcycle feels like a real evolution of the formula (crossing a vast wasteland between downed ships and dungeons). @IFinishedAGame on Twitter said they could see this working like Wind Waker and that tickled my brain with so many possibilities. 

We finally have a release date, December 4th, and that feels like a good spot for it. Samus can own the end of the year. 

However, it is a little insane to me that we’re not scheduled to get remasters or rereleases of Prime 2 and 3 before launch–maybe we’ll get lucky and Nintendo will add Echoes to the Classics catalog.

Will you be playing with mouse controls?

Donkey Kong Bananza - DK Island and Emerald Rush DLC

Hearing the beautiful remix of DK64’s overworld theme paired with seeing the island for the first time made me jump out of my seat. 

I’m literally only ten minutes into Bananza but this will be a sweet banana split dessert for when I’m finished. The Roguelike structure worked pretty well for Splatoon’s Side Order so it will be interesting to see how they’ve since refined that formula. 

The DLC is available today for $19.99.

Pokemon Pokopia

“Pokopia” is a terrible word. 

I love Pokemon and will always appreciate when there’s a new way to engage with the franchise. This appears to have a little Animal Crossing, a little Minecraft, and even a little Echoes of Wisdom DNA.

I vote that we name the little girl Goop. 

Danganronpa 2x2

I’m a huge fan of Danganronpa 2. Like with Mario Galaxy, the real question here is will I double dip? I’ve already experienced the story–but if the extra content is substantial, I love these characters enough I’d be willing to go for another spin. 

Nagito is the freaking best. 

Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection

An RPG that explores the world of Monster Hunter with Breath of the Wild style traversal is a really appealing prospect. The ability to swap between movement styles by seamlessly switching characters/monsters is also a clever design decision. 

I wish they weren’t called “monsties.”. Almost anything would be better. Not Pokopia, though. That would be worse. 

Resident Evil Requiem 

How Resident Evil trailers frame foyers is my love language. Literally, other than the menus that the Persona team puts together, they might be my favorite thing in all of gaming. I get chills every time. 

My hype for Resident Evil Requiem is well documented, but this trailer has a ton of new footage, so here we are again. 7 and 8 are also getting a Switch 2 release. So, if you’ve somehow avoided them up to this point, you’ll have yet another opportunity to play them in February. 

Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave

I’ve never played more than three hours of a Fire Emblem title but it’s been a franchise that I’ve admired from afar. I love the character designs and the soundtrack already sounds like it’s going to be a banger. Will I have more time to dedicate to the series in 2026? Probably not, but it’s important to have hope. 

Just in case you’ve come to this write up organically (in other words, not via social media), this is the 100th article I’ve written for Tactical Reload since starting the site last October. I still have a lot to do, but as someone who wasn’t sure they would ever finish another piece of writing after spending years working 100+ hour weeks, I’m going to do my best to celebrate this win. I truly believe I have a strong foundation so far, my only goal for the immediate future is to cover more of everything. 

More devs, more games, more people who play them. 

Thanks for reading. Thanks for sticking with me. And, as always, reject the notion that you don’t have time to play everything.