2020 may have gotten most of us through the wringer to some degree, but it’s been a surprisingly strong year from a games perspective.
Of course in recent years it has become Nintendo’s MO to focus the discussion on projects it has in the pipeline for the year in question, so while we’re all desperate for big future games like Metroid Prime 4 and Breath of the Wild 2, we don’t expect to get tough details on that for a few months.
While this quiet approach may be frustrating, it has also led to some delightful surprises this year, with excellent games like Paper Mario: The Origami King and Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity announced and released in a relatively short time.
In the article below, we’ll summarize some of the most important stories and games of 2020 covered by our main news and review teams, and the most popular Nintendo Life article and review from each month of this long, long year. (You can check out longer reads from the past twelve months by checking out our Best of 2020 feature selection).
So while you might be hesitant to take a trip through Recent Memory Lane, we promise this 2020 recap will include mostly positive memories. That said, there will also be a few inevitable negatives to touch on – we’ll try not to dwell.
So buckle up and let’s look back on an eventful twelve months.
January – Pokémon Direct, Byleth Direct, but not a ‘real’ Direct
The Pokémon CompanyLooking at Nintendo’s 2020 slate, it was Brain training at the beginning of the year, Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore postponed in mid-January Animal Crossing is coming in March … and not much else on the horizon. While many were hungry for a full-fledged Nintendo Direct (something we wouldn’t actually see all year long), the January Pokémon Direct revealed a plethora of details about the Sword & Shield Expansion Pass, Pokémon HOME, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX and more with over 200 ancient ‘mon returning to the extensive Galar National Dex.
Elsewhere, Byleth was revealed as the 5th DLC fighter for Smash Bros. Ultimate (as well as an all new Fighter’s Pass), Bethesda’s retro DOOMs got an update making them essential rip-and-tearer purchases, Masahiro Sakurai revealed he’d played an awful lot of PlayStation games in 2019, suggested a prolific leaker we’d later see a Paper Mario game and a 2D Metroid game in the year (we’re still waiting for the last one, of course), and Hideki Kamiya started the year well with his take on the Switch Home menu (and Switch fans started their own theme and map ideas).
January games include the excellent Kentucky Route Zero: TV edition, the also-excellent 198X, and the triple excellent To the moon.
Most popular news article: Remember Zelda: Breath Of The Wild Clone That Killed A PS4? It comes to switch
Most Popular Review: SD Gundam G Generation Cross Rays – Brilliant strategic RPG action packed with content
February – Wonderful 101 returns as we wait for the big …
© Platinum GamesThe same leaker who mentioned a Paper Mario release was referring diagonally to a planned Holiday 2020 release with ‘tires’ in it – not really much to go on, but Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit finally came out in November. Platinum Games teased The Wonderful 101: Remastered Just before the official announcement, Nintendo was optimistic about the upcoming competition from next-gen consoles, and Sakurai responded to allegations of too many Fire Emblem characters in Smash by pointing the finger at Nintendo.
Elsewhere, we wondered where in the world Pikmin 4 has gone, and NL readers voted for their favorite Pokémon starters ever (with somewhat predictable results!). More details about Animal Crossing surfaced, people got nervous about the lack of Nintendo Direct, Witcher 3 on Switch got an impressive update, and a Nintendo customer support story that went above and beyond for an older Tetris fan gave us all the warm fuzzies.
Most popular News Item: Nintendo and The Pokémon Company release a joint statement about Sword and Shield Leaker
Most Popular Review: Two Point Hospital – arguably the best version of an acclaimed modern classic
March – A sweet old favorite reappears in the nick of time
NintendoThe gravity of the global situation that would dominate the rest of the year began to become apparent as events began to be postponed, adjusted or canceled. We got an Indie World Showcase, the Nintendo PlayStation was sold at auction, Nintendo hit a legal bump in the ongoing Joy-Con drift fiasco and everyone and their dog tried to get their hands on it Ring Fit Adventure ahead of the lockdown and the gaming events calendar took a big hit as E3 2020 was canceled three months after its scheduled closing period in June.
It wasn’t all bad news in the gaming world, though. March heralded the significant and very welcome return of an old favorite around these parts: we’re of course referring to the resurrection of our beloved sister site, Pure Xbox. Nice to have you back, old friend.
In other news: Nintendo released a random little life simulation where you talk about not doing much. All eyes followed except those on other platforms that were on DOOM Eternal, and even those who were occasionally distracted by the delightful Doomguy / Isabelle fan art and memes.
Yes, Animal Crossing: New Horizons would go on to dominate the news cycle for a few months, fueled partly by its awe-inspiring nature and partly by global circumstances that led millions to find comfort and escape to Nook’s escape island. Islands full of critters, the ability to poop, Isabelle and the Doom Slayer in animated form – you name it, Animal Crossing features.
Most popular News Item: Fan-made website that allows you to create and share Animal Crossing Town Tunes
Most Popular Review: Animal Crossing: New Horizons – An Accessible and Addictive Masterpiece
April – Lockdown, review bombing and a return to the Streets of Rage
DotemuAnimal Crossing fever took over and people started showcasing their talents with incredible island projects and custom designs (and wailing Bunny Day). The beginning of April was also filled with usual pranks, Super Mario Maker 2 received its ‘latest’ update, thousands of Nintendo accounts are said to have been compromised, and Lord of the Rings star and all-round good egg Elijah Wood visited randoms on the internet to get his turn.
A slew of summer 2020 online presentations have been announced to fill the vacuum left by the cancellation of E3 2020. Japanese rating agency CERO temporarily halted when the world responded to COVID-19, although Nintendo’s biggest release of the year couldn’t stop making headlines, with the game making the front page of the Financial Times among all the sobering pandemic-related news.
In terms of game, Jupiter released his 472nd Picross title, Trials of Mana delivered a much-loved and long-missing RPG classic to the West in redesigned 3D form, Sam Barlow continued to push the boundaries of the FMV detective genre with Telling lies, and Dotemu, Guard Crush Games and Lizardcube took us back to the 90s in the brilliant retro revival Streets of Rage 4.
Most popular News Item: A month later, Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ review bombing only gets worse
Most Popular Review: Cooking Mama: Cookstar – Definitely needs more time in the oven
May – Surprise announcements as the Animal Crossing mania has the world in its grip
Nintendo posted some very healthy sales figures and also revealed Paper Mario: The Origami King scheduled for release in July. The Nintendo Switch Online offering was expanded with four more titles, Pikmin 3 rumors bubbled away, and the company also leaked tons of development material.
However, the news was dominated by Animal Crossing as the game exceeded Nintendo’s predictions in the first six weeks of sales. Toom Nook grabbed the zeitgeist by the throat and didn’t want to let go, with Gary Whitta’s Animal Talking chat show attracting major celebrities, artists re-imagining characters as humans, players exploiting glitches before they were patched, and even the person who wrote the sea bass joke admit he got tired of it.
Elsewhere Pac-Man turned 40, Indivisible sneaked into the Switch eShop without the developer’s knowledge, and Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition launched at the end of the month.
Most popular News Item: Ever wondered why a villager left your island in Animal Crossing? This latest datamine reveals everything
Most Popular Review: The Elder Scrolls: Blades – A Grindy Free-To-Play Bastardization Of Bethesda’s RPG Classic
June – The Isle of Armor, Clubhouse Games, LEGO Mario and, yes, more Animal Crossing
NintendoA Pokémon Presents broadcast (the first of two, in fact, although the second was a bit of a damp cop) accompanied the release of the first Isle of Armor DLC for Pokémon Sword and Shield and unveiled a host of new Pokémon-related games and products (including New Pokémon Snap). People got a little confused as to which DLC to buy, but the expansion itself was pretty good.
In other news: Min Min was revealed as the next Smash fighter, the Joy-Con drift saga continued, the opening of Super Nintendo World was delayed until 2021, delivery restrictions hampering Switch production took off a bit and Nintendo and Lego lifted the lid on their Super Mario collaboration.
Fans started creating their own Direct presentation, Ori developer Moon Studios threw us off the scent of a Switch port from Will of the Wisps, EarthBound turned 25 in the US, and Sega unveiled the impossibly cute (and utterly useless) Game Gear Micro. And Animal Crossing continued its frenzy over news counters, with a host of brands hopping on Nook’s tire wagon.
Nintendo’s Clubhouse Games: 51 Global Classics came out on Switch in June, as did the free downloadable title Jump rope challenge to help you stay active during lockdown. Other notable releases included XCOM 2, Bioshock: The Collection and the Borderlands Legendary Collection.
Most popular News Item: Here are the seven EA games that will reportedly switch in the coming year
Most Popular Review: The Outer Worlds – Obsidian’s Fallout-Style RPG is worth checking out