Nintendo Direct Teases ‘Super Mario Galaxy Movie’ and Virtual Boy

As if the next few months weren’t packed enough for gamers with new entries of Ninja Gaiden, Call of Duty, and Battlefield, Nintendo decided to stoke their own hype with a wave of big announcements this morning. During an hourlong Nintendo Direct livestream, the company dumped tons of details, including new game reveals, release date confirmations for highly anticipated titles, and even a first look at the next Super Mario Bros. movie. But, being Nintendo, there were also plenty of bizarre bits tucked in too.

The stream kicked off with Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto discussing the 40th anniversary of the franchise, teasing all the new IRL ways to experience Nintendo via its Kyoto-based museum, Universal theme parks, and of course, movie theaters. But after the short introduction, the majority of the presentation focused on the real goods: games, games, games.

From surprising new entries in classic franchises to the resurrection of one gaming’s most notoriously awful consoles, here are all the biggest reveals from today’s Nintendo Direct.

The next Super Mario Bros movie gets a title

Miyamoto started the presentation with a brief overview of the 40th anniversary celebration for the original Super Mario Bros., from re-releases of Super Mario Galaxy and its sequel to a Switch 2 version of 2023’s excellent Super Mario Bros. Wonder, but the bombshell was a first look at the next movie in the franchise.

Titled The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, the animated feature from Illumination will be taking to the stars on April 26, 2026. While the first one broadly pulled inspiration from multiple games, including Mario Kart, the sequel is dialing in on the fan favorite duology of Wii games from 2007 and 2009. The 60-second clip shows off the Mushroom Kingdom as we saw it in the previous film before transitioning into the sky to show off a happy little Luma, the cutesy stars that populated the games. The film’s producer Chris Meledandri then confirmed the returning cast of Chris Pratt (Mario), Anya Taylor-Joy (Peach), Charlie Day (Luigi), Jack Black (Bowser), and Keegan-Michael Key as Toad. Fans will know that one big casting announcement looms large as the otherworldly princess of space Rosalina will be integral to a movie based on Galaxy.

Mario Tennis returns

Following the movie teaser, the stream shifted to new game announcements, the first of which being a brand-new entry in one of Nintendo’s best sports spin-offs, Mario Tennis. The next entry in the series is called Mario Tennis Fever, arriving for Nintendo Switch 2 on Feb. 12, 2026.

Footage of the game showed off its sleek new graphics, with a doubles match leaving Mario reeling to connect with a volley as his feet slip in realistic grass. With 38 playable characters, superpowered rackets that add different abilities, and tons of new game modes with special gimmicks, Mario Tennis Fever looks like a more fleshed out iteration of the game than its somewhat barebones predecessor, 2018’s Mario Tennis Aces. This time, the single-player Adventure Mode returns (made popular by the Game Boy Color version), starring baby versions of the core cast trying to take back their adult bodies. It’s weird!

A new Yoshi story

Capping off the Mario-centric portion of the stream was the reveal of a new game in the Yoshi’s Story franchise. The series consists of 2D kid-friendly platformers that (sort of) began back with 1995’s Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island before ditching baby Mario entirely to focus on his dinosaur buddy. Titled Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, the new entry continues the storybook aesthetic of the earlier games with a very trippy new look that resembles the choppy frames of stop-motion animation.

Like its predecessors, Yoshi and the Mysterious Book will likely be one of Nintendo’s more accessible games, filled with simple puzzles and exploration that don’t require much precision. But the game looks like a much-needed candy-coated reprieve from reality and arrives on Nintendo Switch 2 next spring.

Hades II gets a release date

After over a full year in early access for PC players only, Supergiant Games’ Hades II finally has an official release date for the full version. A timed console exclusive for Switch 2, the action roguelike will arrive very soon, hitting the digital eshop on Sept. 25.

Despite being unfinished, the early access build of Hades II was one of last year’s best games. Players take on the role of Melinoë, daughter of Hades and sister to the first game’s protagonist, Zagreus. With blistering combat, rich characters and interactions, and a lavish art design, it’s likely that the final version of the game will end up being one of this year’s gems too.

Virtual Boy is back?

One of the strangest pivots in the livestream was the announcement that Virtual Boy games will be making their way to Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 by way of the classic collections available through the platforms’ online subscription service. But you can’t just play them as normal (duh!); Virtual Boy games will require a fully usable recreation of the original device’s red goggle visor to make use of its stereoscopic 3D glasses.

Originally released 30 years ago, Virtual Boy was Nintendo’s first big failure at launching a new home console. The device famously introduced stereoscopic 3D, requiring players to strap into a clunky headset to experience its groundbreaking (and headache-inducing) parallax effects decades before the VR boom of the 2010s. Long considered the black sheep of the Nintendo line, it’s wild to see the company bringing back the system in earnest, not just its games. The new model opens up to insert a Switch to serve as the screen, but for those who don’t want to drop a ton of cash on a gimmick, there’s a more affordable cardboard cutout facsimile that will also be available.

First-party Nintendo games get confirmed dates

In an initially confusing teaser, Metroid heroine Samus Aran appeared in the direct riding a bad ass sci-fi motorcycle in what looked like an entirely new game. Turns out, it was just a look at one of the new features in this year’s Metroid Prime 4. The first-person shooter was originally announced back in 2017 before being scrapped and restarted entirely in 2020. Now, it’s finally got a legitimate release date: Dec. 4, 2025.

Another big release confirmed for this year is The Legend of Zelda spin-off Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, out Nov. 6, 2025. A sequel to the previous Hyrule Warriors game, Age of Calamity, it also serves as a prequel to the modern masterpiece Tears of the Kingdom, chronicling the time-jumping story of Princess Zelda that plays out as a side narrative in the 2023 game. Like its predecessor, Age of Imprisonment isn’t exactly a typical Zelda game, instead borrowing the design of musou series like Dynasty Warriors for hard-hitting combat against hordes of enemies.

Pokémon meets Animal Crossing

Although a new mainline entry in the Pokémon series is due out this year, Nintendo isn’t letting that stop them from pushing out more games next year timed to the series’ 30th anniversary in Japan. But this new game is, uh, something else entirely. Pokémon Pokopia, due out in 2026, looks like a blend of typical creature gathering and the pandemic-era darling Animal Crossing wherein players must build their own island community with the help of local pocket monsters.

The trailer shows the player character to be a simple Ditto, the amorphous blob Pokémon capable of copying others’ appearance, taking on the eerie form of a human girl before making its way into the world. The game looks to utilize many systems akin to Animal Crossing like resource collecting and management, as well as crafting to build out houses, gardens, and community areas. It’s kind of genius, really; combining the dedicated communities of both games seems like a no-brainer.

A new Fire Emblem sequel

The final trailer shown during the direct was for a game that fans have been murmuring about for a while. Fire Emblem Fortune’s Weave is the next entry in the tactical roleplaying series that’s become extremely popular in recent years. The teaser shows off the series’ anime-inspired visuals with a huge coliseum setting the stage for some kind of warrior’s tournament.

Previous games have usually centered on large scale wars between nations with operatic narratives. This one looks to retain the political intrigue aspect but positions these conflicts within the context of an organized form of a stadium competition. But even through just a few quick glimpses of the characters pontificating about their personal motivations, it’s clear that the dense, soapy theatrics of the franchise are intact. Fire Emblem Fortune’s Weave doesn’t yet have a release date.