6 new Nintendo Switch games we want to see

We can guarantee 2017 is going to be at least a little bit better than 2016 for one simple reason - the Nintendo Switch.

The house of Mario will be releasing its next console in March, and as we all know by now, it's got massive pocket gaming potential.

We know that Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is coming, but most of what we're hearing is rumour and work-in-progress stuff. Let's cut through the chatter, then, and compile our wish list for new Nintendo Switch games.

If (when?) all of these appear, the Switch could well become our favourite Nintendo console ever.

The first two Metroid Prime games were two of the best games on Nintendo's underselling but much-loved GameCube console. They bravely redefined an established series, switching from the 2D platforming of Super Metroid to a first-person adventure game.

Metroid Prime 3 completed the trilogy on Wii, but that was back in 2007. Since then, the Metroid series as seemingly lost its focus with a handful of divisive, underwhelming sub-Prime efforts.

What we want is a Metroid Prime 4 on the Switch. The thought of a return to the elegant, isolated beauty of the first game with the benefit of bags more power is almost too much to contemplate.

I have a guilty confession to make. I thought Super Mario 3D World on the Wii U was merely good. Oh, sure, it was bright and immediate and full of countless clever little ideas. But for me, something crucial was lacking. Ambition.

Compared to the two Super Mario Galaxy games for the original Wii, Super Mario 3D World simply feels lightweight. When you've shot and bounded around dozens of distinct planetoids, each with their own pliable gravity field, Super Mario 3D World's restrictive hubs felt distinctly... 2D.

The prospect of the two Super Mario Galaxy games being given a 1080p Switch relaunch makes me feel a little gooey inside. But a proper threequel? Be still my beating heart.

This one's as inevitable as a new Zelda or a new Mario platformer. If Nintendo launches a new platform, there will be a new Mario Kart game for it.

Still, we can't help but pine. Mario's joyful brand of GP racing scratches an itch that no other game manages. Even Sonic's recent karting games, though wonderful, feel a little different.

Some kind of Mario Kart was used to illustrate the Switch's local multiplayer-on-the-go potential, which offers the most tantalising proposal - a Mario Kart game that isn't just dependably awesome, but actually offers something fresh.

Even the biggest Nintendo apologist has to hold their hand up and admit that the Wii U wasn't one of Nintendo's finest moments. Which is why I feel more than a little sorry for Splatoon.

This was, to my mind, the finest thing to come out of the whole Wii U affair by a long stretch, and Nintendo's freshest mainline console game since Pikmin.

It's an inventive team-based shooter in which you must literally paint the levels your team's colour. It's glorious, icky fun that really deserves a speedy follow-up. Given the presence of the original in the Switch announcement video, it seems a good bet too.

Die-hard Nintendo purists might turn their noses up at this, but we're genuinely intrigued to see what a Wii Sports made for the Switch would look like.

Wii Sports pretty much defined the Wii with its uniquely powerful demonstration of the potential of the Wiimote. Perhaps unwittingly, Wii Sports Club did the same for the Wii U - a hodge-podge remix of the original with new bits stuck on.

So what would Wii Sports Switch look like? I have to think that it would capitalise on the portability factor, perhaps with some kind of step or location-tracking ability. Plus, of course, its detachable controllers will likely be motion sensitive, and probably more sensitive on that front than the original Wiimotes, so expect some enhanced tennis and bowling action.

In the Nintendo factory, Pikmin is like that strange but likeable cousin who turns up to family parties infrequently and quietly charms everyone, while Mario and Link eye it warily over the buffet table.

It's Nintendo doing real time squad-based strategy, with a healthy dash of time management. It still feels a bit weird even three highly similar games in to the series.

But we love it. Ordering little plant-like minions around to lift and battle for you, collecting real-life knick-knacks like they were ancient artefacts... wonderful. Pikmin 4 can't come soon enough.