What classic franchise could return on the Switch 2?

The Switch 2 is now a few months old, and exclusives like Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza are making the console an appealing prospect for many gamers. However, the list of exclusives isn’t as deep and varied as some would hope. Titles on the horizon include Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, Kirby Air Riders, Pokémon Legends Z-A, and the highly anticipated Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. Those are some big hitters and will no doubt boost system sales. A revival of the Metroid Prime series, and a sequel to a classic GameCube racing game (Kirby Air Riders) show that Nintendo isn’t afraid to revive old, classic series. When we include the upcoming games, the Switch 2 lineup is impressive. However, what can we expect next year and beyond? Nintendo has spent over 35 years developing classic games. These titles could potentially be brought into the modern age. We look closely at five dormant franchises that could potentially make a return.

F-Zero

The F-Zero series has produced some of the best futuristic racing games on each platform that they’ve appeared on. F-Zero X on N64 sacrificed good textures for nail-biting speed and became a must-have game on the N64. F-Zero GX perfected the hypersonic speed of its predecessor and, graphically, still holds up today. Since the GameCube era, we haven’t seen much of F-Zero. However, F-Zero 99, an online multiplayer SNES-inspired F-Zero game, appeared on Switch in 2023. In terms of a new, fully fledged entry, there have been rumours as recently as last year. It would have been great to have had an F-Zero entry on 3DS that took advantage of that console’s stereoscopic 3D. Unfortunately, that never happened. Could 2026 be the year that we get a full high-definition F-Zero game? The existence of Kirby Air Riders, while great that that series has had a resurrection, has probably made a new F-Zero even less likely, since Nintendo won’t want to stagnate the market with too many racing games.

Kid Icarus

The Kid Icarus series has its origins all the way back in 1986 on the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was a platformer that borrowed elements from the Metroid series. It had a sequel on the Game Boy, and then the series lay dormant for around two decades. Kid Icarus: Uprising on 3DS revived the series. The game was a shooter with third-person sections. It was developed by Masahiro Sakurai. The graphics and mix of gameplay styles drew acclaim from fans and the media. However, the controls were criticised. The game was sold with a stand to help use a stylus for the shooting sections. The game would have been a top-tier experience if only they had nailed the controls. Since Uprising, we haven’t seen any more Kid Icarus games. It has come out that Retro Studios was at one point developing a Kid Icarus third-person adventure game for Wii that was eventually canceled. The chances of a new Kid Icarus game appearing are medium. Sakurai may be working on a port or sequel to Uprising, or a completely new project could be in the works. Nintendo likes to build relationships with developers that they like by letting them use their IPs, and Kid Icarus is a likely IP option to be loaned out.

Punch-Out

The Punch-Out series are boxing games where the key to victory is learning the enemy’s attack pattern and exploiting their weaknesses to your advantage. The series appeared on the NES and SNES. These early entries used the NES and SNES’s limited graphical power to maximise the atmosphere of the boxing. Large sprites were used, and the art style created caricatures of the boxers. While some of the characters could be described as racial stereotypes, the charm of the games shone through. The series most recently appeared on the Wii in 2009. The Wii entry used 3D graphics and brought the series into the modern age. Little Mac, the player character, has even appeared in Smash Bros. Most recently, he appeared in Smash Bros Ultimate on Nintendo Switch. Of all the series in this list, Punch Out is probably the least requested by fans. However, many people are nostalgic for the series. The relatively new Nintendo series Arms may fill the same role as Punch-Out, and its existence means that we are unlikely to get a new Punch-Out, especially if Arms 2 ever releases.

Mother

The Mother or Earthbound series inspires true passion from fans because of how deep the storytelling and world-building are in the games. Shigesato Itoi is the creator of the series. The first entry was released on the NES, originally in Japan only. Eventually, it was released in the West. The SNES entry Earthbound is the game most people in Europe and the US are familiar with. Mother 3 went through development hell and was eventually released on the GBA in Japan only. To this day, Mother 3 has never been released in the West. The games are turn-based role-playing games, where the setting is based on life in the US as a kid. It parodies and uncovers much of the irony and hypocrisy linked to life in a Western town. Some of the writing is very well done, and the way that the gameplay mixes with world-building creates a truly unique experience. This is true of all three of the games. Despite fans wanting a new entry, because Itoi apparently doesn’t want to make any new Mother games, it is very unlikely that we’ll see a new entry. A remake may be a possibility, however.

Star Fox

The Star Fox series is well-known due to its iconic anthropomorphic cast of characters. The series was made popular with its on-rails shooter gameplay, but other iterations in the series include a Zelda-like role-playing game, other types of shooters, as well as hybrid-style games. The series last appeared on Wii-U with Star Fox Zero, which underperformed both commercially and critically. The other recent entry includes a remake of Star Fox 64 on 3DS. There have also been rumors associated with the series. A popular rumor about a Star Fox racing game was going around a few years ago, but it turned out that there was no truth to it. Overall, a Star Fox revival is one of the most likely possibilities on this list. Star Fox is a well-known series that has been damaged by unsuccessful entries, but a new game could change all of that.

Summary

Nintendo, as a company with a long history, has many franchises that remain dormant, and it would be possible to write another article with more dormant franchises. The ones included here are some of the most popular with fans. F-Zero and Star Fox for example are core Nintendo franchises, despite not having new entries in 10 years or more.

The mystery of what Nintendo will release next is part of what makes gaming fun, and no matter what they do, they almost always end up surprising us. The big three franchises, Mario, Zelda, Pokémon will continue to get yearly or bi-yearly releases. Nintendo may have a dozen or so smaller franchises that occasionally get new instalments. Whether it is a spin-off, remake, or sequel, we will likely get at least one or two new games from dormant franchises in 2026. Some titles, like a new Mother game, would have many fans screaming for joy. Will 2026 be the year that your favorite franchise is resurrected? Only time will tell. Happy Gaming!

Daniel Leal Contributor

Daniel’s an avid Zelda fan who also likes the odd game of Smash. When not playing or writing about games he’s usually reading or writing about human evolution, hoping to one day gain a doctorate on the origins of language. His interests in gaming are broad but he loves a good Metroidvania or action RPG.