Nintendo Indie World Roundup April 2021
Nintendo was back this week with an Indie World presentation, which I always look forward to as the presentation always throws up some gems coming soon, or if we’re lucky, available on the same day. This was a jam-packed show full of details, so let’s go over some of the indie coming (and some others that have already arrived).
A couple of games were released shortly after the presentation itself. The legendary Fez, one of the stars of Indie Games The Movie is now available on Nintendo Switch. Fez is one of the games that fueled the rise of indie popularity in 2012 (also Braid, Super Meat Boy etc). The Longing is also available right now. This is one of the most unique games I can recall, and I interviewed the developer for This Week In Video Games back in early 2020 just before the PC release. It’s a beautiful game with a unique art style, and also unique gameplay mechanics where you have to wait for 400 actual days to find out the ending. There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension from Draw Me A Pixel is a comedy adventure game that is also available right now.
There are a few games coming soon like Aerial Knight’s Never Yield, which is a runner game coming to Nintendo Switch on May 19. This is a futuristic runner game with vivid colours and awesome music. Slightly later out in July, we have Cris Tales, which saw a good release on PC in 2020 and now coming to Nintendo Switch. Last Stop, an adventure game from Variable State and Annapurna Interactive, is also coming in July.
A little bit later out, with undisclosed release dates, we have Road 96 from DigixArt, which is a unique looking road trip game. One of my most anticipated games of the year, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge has been confirmed for the Switch, which is fantastic news and it’ll fit perfectly on the console. Aztech Forgotten Gods look like an action-adventure game inspired by the Aztecs. Skul: The Hero Slayer from South Paw Games is a platformer with more than 90 (count them, yes 90) playable characters.
Olli Olli World by Roll7 is the latest in the open-world skateboarding series which is coming out in the later stages of the year. Hindsight is a new indie puzzle adventure from game developer Joel McDonald about an older woman reminiscing about her family, coming out later in the year. Coming in 2022 we have GetsuFumaDen: Undying World from Konami and GuruGuru. This one combines skill-based combat with a fantastic Japanese art aesthetic sometime in 2022. The one more thing was Oxenfree II: Lost Signals which is Night School Studios’ sequel landing on Switch in 2021.
The announcement I was most excited about was probably Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles coming to Nintendo Switch. We knew the game was coming, since the announcement a few weeks ago, however, this is the confirmation it’s coming to the Switch, which is great news! This type of scrolling beat em up in a pixel art style will be perfect on the Switch.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge is reported to be taking us on a tour of classic TMNT locations, which includes the sewers of New York City and Dimension X. The old school baddies are back with Shredder, Krang, Bebop and Rocksteady as well as their base The Technodrome!
This is very much a scrolling beat ’em up with 16-bit pixel art graphics. You can play up to 4 player co-op battling the Foot through various locations. Hopefully, we’ll be able to play online co-op much as we did with Streets of Rage 4. Specific features haven’t yet been announced, with the release date and precise platforms also not known to the public yet.
As well as Leonardo, Donatello, Michaelangelo and Raphael the trailer features Splinter and April O’Neil, looking like they’re getting ready for combat. There’s no word yet on playable characters, but we’d assume at the start at least all 4 turtles will be playable, and then perhaps another character will be able to unlock like April, Splinter and maybe even Casey Jones… although Casey isn’t anywhere to be seen in the trailer which is an odd omission.
Cris Tales is a great looking game and Fez is an absolute classic, if you missed it the first time around then it’s definitely one to check out. The Longing is also a very interesting game. It’s probably not for everyone, but the music, the concept, the artwork are all very impressive and if you’d like to check out the interview I did with the creator then check it out on YouTube.
Let me know what you think of the Indie World Showcase down in the comments.
