2020 may have put most of us in trouble to a greater or lesser extent, but it has been a surprisingly strong year from a gaming perspective.
Of course, it has become Nintendo’s MO in recent years to focus the discussion on projects that are underway for the year in question, so while we’re all desperate to hear about great future games like Metroid Prime 4 and Breath of the Wild 2, we don’t expect to get complicated details about them until a few months are left.
While this quiet approach can be frustrating, it has also generated some delicious surprises this year, with great games like Paper Mario: The Origami King and Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity announced and launched in relatively short succession.
In the article below, we’ll recap some of the most significant stories and games from 2020 covered by our top news and review teams, as well as highlight the most popular article and review on Nintendo Life each month this year, big ones year. (You can check out longer readings from the past twelve months by examining our selection of the Best of 2020 features).
So while you may be hesitant to take a trip down the recent Memory Lane, we promise that this 2020 recap will include mostly positive memories. That said, there will be some inevitable negatives to address as well – we will try not to insist.
So get ready and let’s look back at twelve hectic months.
January – Pokémon Direct, Byleth Direct, but no ‘suitable’ Direct
The Pokémon CompanyLooking at the Nintendo slate for 2020, there were Brain training earlier this year, Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore in mid-January, the Cross between animals coming in March … and not much else on the horizon. While many were hungry for a fat-filled Nintendo Direct (something we wouldn’t end up seeing all year round, in fact), January’s Pokémon Direct revealed a plethora of details surrounding the Sword & Shield Expansion Pass, Pokémon HOME, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX and more, with over 200 old mons returning to the expanded Galar National Dex.
Elsewhere, Byleth was revealed as the 5th DLC fighter for Smash Bros. Ultimate (as well as a new Fighter’s Pass), Bethesda’s retro DOOMs received an update that made them essential purchases for rip-and-tearers, Masahiro Sakurai revealed that he played many Playstation games in 2019, suggested a prolific leaker we would see a Paper Mario game and a Metroid 2D game at the end of the year (we’re still waiting for the last one, of course), and Hideki Kamiya started the year in good shape with his take on the Switch Home menu (and Switch fans started creating their own themes and folder ideas).
The January games included the excellent Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition, also excellent 198X, and the triple excellent To the moon.
Most popular news article: Remember that Zelda: Breath Of The Wild Clone that killed a PS4? It’s coming to change
Most popular review: SD Gundam G Generation Cross Rays – brilliant, content-filled strategy RPG
February – Wonderful 101 returns while we wait for the big month to come …
© Platinum GamesThe same leak that mentioned a Paper Mario release made an indirect reference to a planned 2020 vacation launch with “tires” on it – not exactly much to go on, but Mario Kart Live: home circuit ended up being released in November. Platinum games provoked The Wonderful 101: Remastered just before its official announcement, Nintendo was optimistic about the future competition for next generation consoles and Sakurai responded to the accusations of many Fire Emblem characters in Smash by pointing a finger at Nintendo.
Elsewhere, we wondered where in the world Pikmin 4 ended up and NL readers voted for their favorite starter Pokémon of all time (with somewhat predictable results!). More details about Animal Crossing were coming up, people were getting impatient with the lack of Nintendo Direct, Witcher 3 On Switch had an impressive update, and a story about Nintendo Customer Support going one step further for an elderly Tetris fan gave us a warm feeling.
Most popular News Article: Nintendo and The Pokémon Company launch joint statement on Sword And Shield Leaker
Most Popular Criticism: Colon Hospital – arguably the best version of an acclaimed modern classic
March – An old and beloved favorite reappears just in time
NintendoThe seriousness of the global situation that would dominate the rest of the year began to become evident as events began to be postponed, adapted or canceled. We got an Indie World Showcase, the Nintendo PlayStation was sold at auction, Nintendo hit a legal hurdle in the ongoing Joy-Con drift fiasco, and everyone and their dogs were trying to get their hands on Ring Fit Adventure before the blockade and the calendar of game events suffered a significant blow, as E3 2020 was canceled three months before the scheduled time for June.
However, not all news was bad for the gaming world. March announced the significant and very welcome return of an old favorite here: we are, of course, referring to the resurrection of our beloved sister site, Pure Xbox. It’s good to have you back, old friend.
In other news, Nintendo has launched a small random life simulator where you think about not doing much. All eyes were following, except those on other platforms that were DOOM Eternal, and even those were occasionally distracted by Doomguy / Isabelle’s delicious fan art and memes.
Yes, Animal Crossing: New Horizons would come to dominate the news cycle for a few months, fueled in part by its grandeur and in part by global circumstances that led millions to find comfort and escape to the island of Nook. Islands full of creatures, the ability to poop, Isabelle and the Doom Slayer in animated form – you choose, Animal Crossing provided.
Most popular News Article: The fan-made site allows you to create and share Animal Crossing Town songs
Most Popular Review: Animal Crossing: New Horizons – An affordable and addictive masterpiece
April – Lockdown, revision-bombing and a return to the Streets of Rage
DotemuThe Animal Crossing fever took over and people were busy displaying their talents with incredible island designs and custom designs (and regretting Rabbit Day). The beginning of April was also full of usual antics, Super Mario Maker 2 received its ‘final’ update, thousands of Nintendo accounts have been compromised, and The Lord of the Rings star and the all-time excellent egg, Elijah Wood, visited randoms on the internet to flog his turnips.
A series of summer 2020 online presentations has been announced to fill the void left by the cancellation of E3 2020. Japanese rating organization CERO temporarily closed while the world reacted to COVID-19, although the biggest Nintendo launch of the year could not stop make headlines, with the game coming off the front page of the Financial Times among all the worrying news related to the pandemic articles.
In terms of games, Jupiter launched its 472nd Picross title, Mana Evidence delivered a beloved and long-gone classic RPG to the West in a reimagined 3D form, Sam Barlow continued to push the limits of the detective genre FMV with Telling liesand Dotemu, Guard Crush Games and Lizardcube took us back to the 90s in a brilliant retro revival Streets of Rage 4.
Most popular News Article: A month later, Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ Review – the bombing is only getting worse
Most popular review: Cooking Mama: Cookstar – Definitly Needed More Time In the Fven
May – Amazing announcements when the Animal Crossing craze takes over the world
Nintendo published some very healthy sales figures and also revealed Paper Mario: The Origami King scheduled for launch in July. The Nintendo Switch Online offering was expanded with four more titles, rumors of Pikmin 3 bubbled up and the company also suffered a massive leak of development material.
The news, however, was dominated by Animal Crossing, as the game exceeded Nintendo’s lifetime sales forecasts for the first six weeks of sale. Toom Nook grabbed the zeitgeist by the throat and didn’t let go, with Gary Whitta’s Animal Talking chat program attracting big celebrities, artists reimagining characters as humans, players exploring flaws before they were fixed and even the person who wrote the joke of Sea Bass admitting he was getting tired of it.
Elsewhere, Pac-Man turned 40, Indivisible escaped to the Switch eShop without the developer’s knowledge, and Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition released at the end of the month.
Most popular News Article: Ever wonder why a villager left his island in Animal Crossing? This last datamine reveals everything
Most Popular Review: The Elder Scrolls: Blades – A Grindy Bastardization Free-To-Play from Classic Bethesda RPG
June – The Isle of Armor, Clubhouse Games, LEGO Mario and, yes, more Animal Crossing
NintendoA transmission of Pokémon Presents (the first of two, in fact, although the second was a kind of wet abortion) accompanied the launch of the first Isle of Armor DLC for Pokémon sword and shield and unveiled a series of new Pokémon-related games and products (including New Pokémon Snap) People were a little confused about which DLC they should buy, but the expansion itself was quite good.
In other news, Min Min was revealed as the next Smash Fighter, the Joy-Con drift saga continued, the opening of the Super Nintendo World was postponed to 2021, the supply restrictions that hindered the production of the Switch have eased slightly and Nintendo and Lego have suspended their collaboration with Super Mario.
Fans started creating their own Direct presentation, Ori’s developer Moon Studios took the smell out of a Wisps will, EarthBound turned 25 in the United States, and Sega revealed the incredibly cute (and totally useless) Game Gear Micro. And Animal Crossing continued its buzz in newsrooms, with a series of brands bouncing on Nook’s band car.
Nintendo’s Clubhouse Games: 51 World Classics arrived on Switch in June, as well as the title for free download Jump Rope Challenge to help you stay active during the block. Other notable releases included XCOM 2, Bioshock: the collection and the Legendary Borderlands Collection.
Most popular News Article: Here are the seven EA games that are supposed to change next year
Most popular review: The Outer Worlds – Obsidian’s Fallout-Style RPG is worth looking at on the switch