Nintendo recap: New Pokémon revealed for Scarlet and Violet, plus a look at Sonic Frontiers gameplay

Hello and welcome to this week's Nintendo recap! This week is full to bursting with Switch news as we finally got a new trailer for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet that shows off new Legendaries, mechanics, and so much more. We also got a teaser trailer that gave us a quick look at Sonic Frontiers gameplay, and people's opinions are mixed. In other news, a Banjo-Kazooie fan made a fake trailer for a pretend sequel that has us swooning. Even more happened this week so let's dive on in.

New Pokémon, Legendaries, and release date revealed in Scarlet and Violet trailer

Thanks to the latest Pokémon Scarlet and Violet trailer that released Wednesday morning, we now know that Gen 9 is releasing on Nov. 18, 2022. Additionally, we got to see what the three starters actually look like in 3D since only 2D images had been released up to this point (along with some educated guesses).

Throughout the course of the video, we got to see some new Pokémon including the Electric-type Pawmi, which looks like it's trying to be this Gen's Pikachu. We also were shown the Grass/Normal-type Smoliv, with it's adorably worried face, but by far the fan-favorite of the new Pokémon as seen on Twitter was the adorable pig Normal-type, Lechonk. The trailer even ended by revealing the version-exclusive Legendaries, Koraidon and Miraidon, which appear on either version of the game. While rumors are flying around that Koraidon is a Dragon/Fighting type and Miraidon is a Dragon/Electric type, no official types have been confirmed for these two yet.

Additionally, we now know that players will have a different professor depending on which version they play, and that Gen 9 includes a new multiplayer aspect that allows up to four players to enjoy the game together. As part of that, players can explore the open world in any way they want to and don't have to follow a linear story. This is really shaping up to be a Pokémon game like no other and we at iMore cannot wait for it to release. Team Violet all the way!

Sonic Frontier's first gameplay revealed in teaser, sparks BotW comparisons...again

Sega released its first gameplay teaser trailer via IGN for Sonic Frontiers on Tuesday and then followed that up Friday with a 7 -minute trailer, which shows off how some of the fighting and exploration works. Something that really caught my attention was the somber music playing throughout the video. In the past, Sonic games have often featured fast-paced, upbeat techno music to promote the blue blur's fast take on life. These serious piano keys are in stark contrast to that.

Of course, every game these days seems to get compared to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (BotW), and this has been the case for Sonic Frontiers since it was first revealed. BotW started trending on Twitter shortly after the teaser released, with people comparing the sparse open-world with Link's last adventure. There are even comparisons between the game's moods with BotW focusing on the hero's failings and many wondering if the same has happened for Sonic and his friends.

Sega announced last month that it plans for Sonic Frontiers to be an influential game-changer like Sonic Adventure that sets the path for the next 20 years of Sonic games. We'll have to see if the Hedghog can live up to these plans.

At any rate, it looks like it's really going for that massive open-world experience. Considering the game is slated to release on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC as well as Nintendo Switch, it's possible we'll need to make a lot of room on our microSD cards to play it on the hybrid system.

Fan imagines a Banjo-Kazooie threequel that perfectly captures the platformer's spirit

Banjo-Kazooie was one of the best games to come out during the N64 era and has remained a popular classic over the last 24 years. As you might know, Microsoft acquired the bear and bird in 2002 and released the last game in the series, Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, in 2008, but hasn't done anything with the franchise since. This lack of activity probably has something to do with the fact that Nuts & Bolts wasn't received well at the time due to its major departure from its original platformer roots. Plus the fact that the people within Rare have moved on to other projects. Still, a dedicated fanbase remains hopeful for a new Banjo-Kazooie platformer.

This week, Project Dream on YouTube released a fake trailer for a pretend Banjo-Kazooie sequel titled Banjo-Threeie. As a long-time Banjo-Kazooie fan, I can say it perfectly captures the spirit of the first two games while providing brand new locations and playful mechanics that I would love to explore. There is even a scene where the bear and bird are seen with a sentient N64 console complete with those iconic eyeballs. If only it was real.

With any luck, Microsoft is aware of the upcoming Banjo-Kazooie 25th anniversary next year and will do something with these characters. There's definitely plenty of interest in them still as was seen when they were released as Super Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC fighters.

Mario Strikers will get additional characters after launch

As has been the case with many Nintendo games of late, Nintendo of America officially revealed via a Twitter post that Mario Strikers: Battle League will receive free post-launch updates and that some of those updates will include additional characters. Nintendo's post-launch strategy has received a lot of criticism from fans who feel like games should just launch whole from the start, but there's no denying that this slow drip gives prolonged life to games as it brings players back to check out the new content.

The question now is, which characters will be added in? Notable missing characters from past games include Bowser Jr., Diddy Kong, Petey Piranha, Birdo, and Daisy. There's a chance we'll get some new characters, too. For instance, Toadette didn't even exist at the time of the last Mario Strikers game, but she was added to Mario Golf Super Rush when it received post-launch updates. It would also be fun to see Kamek or Pauline on the field. While it would be awesome to see Nintendo characters from outside the Mushroom Kingdom, like Samus, Link, Zelda, Kirby, and more, that isn't likely.

Nintendo says it will fix Kirby 64's game-stopping glitch next week

Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards was the latest N64 game to release onto the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack. However, some players soon discovered that there was a glitch that prevented Kirby from recovering after taking a specific type of hit in certain underwater areas, and thus didn't allow players to progress further in the game when it happened.

After being made aware of the issue, Nintendo apologized and said it was working on a fix that will release next week. It's unclear when exactly this fix will release but it's good to see Nintendo responding so quickly to such a frustrating complication.

What to play this week

We've got a few months to go before Scarlet and Violet release in November so if you need to tide yourself over, I recommend playing one of the many Pokémon games on Switch. If you haven't already, you really ought to play Legends: Arceus and Sword or Shield.

Until next time.

- Rebecca Spear