Yesterday Nintendo held an Indie World Showcase which was stuffed with game reveals from several of the most beloved indie game developers. You can watch the full video presentation here but continue reading for a rundown of the biggest Indie World Showcase announcements plus some commentary peppered in.
Sports Story
Nintendo began its video presentation with the reveal that Golf Story, the beloved golfing RPG that no one finished, is getting a sequel! Sports Story sees the main character playing a variety of different sports, including tennis, soccer, and volleyball. Gameplay variety is exactly what Golf Story needed and it looks like this one solves that problem to make a great game even better.
Streets of Rage 4
The first new entry in the historic beat ‘em up series in years. It upgrades from pixels to a beautiful hand-drawn art style, but will probably suffer from the shallow gameplay of all beat ‘em ups, a genre the video game industry has largely moved away from.
Gleemlight
The visuals so similar that at first I thought this was an unexpected follow-up to Hollow Knight, but I guess that’s not a bad thing since it’s a beautiful art style. For some reason, the trailer isn’t available as a standalone video, but you can find a video of the Showcase below that jumps to the moment Gleemlight is revealed.
Skatebird
There hasn’t been a major skateboarding video game released since the cash grab, thrown together Tony Hawk Pro Skater 5, so indie games have picked up the slack. Skatebird looks like a whimsical iteration of a sport known for being punk, and I can’t wait to play it.
Axiom Verge 2
The presentation ended with the announcement of a sequel to the game that reminded everyone, Nintendo included, how much demand there is for Metroid games. The 48-second trailer doesn’t reveal much, but still enough to wet fans appetites.
Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove
Surprisingly, Nintendo didn’t even mention Shovel Knight, even though Yacht Club Games released the title’s final DLC the same day as the Showcase. Shovel Knight is (I believe) the only indie game character to appear as a Super Smash Bros. game as an assist trophy and get an amiibo, so Nintendo clearly values the franchise.
I actually believed the presentation was scheduled to coincide with the Shovel Knight news. To be fair, Nintendo already had plenty of Indie World Showcase announcements. Even though the game wasn’t shown during the showcase, here’s the trailer for the Treasure Trove Edition below.
