But, the handheld-focused, pick-up-and-play titles have been lacking. Nintendo has done an excellent job releasing huge console-caliber adventures for Switch that can be played on the go. The Switch's appeal is its hybrid design and how it brings together home consoles and handheld gaming. Plus, the Switch needs some more Nintendo titles that play best in short-bursts. Considering how creative Nintendo’s teams are, allowing its developers to explore ideas at all price points again will lead to some truly fresh ideas. It's hard to justify an Ice Climber roguelike at $60, but it makes far more sense as a download-only title.
#Nintendo nes ice climber full#
Titles like this allow Nintendo's teams to experiment with wackier ideas that don't make sense at full price. It's time for Nintendo to try and recapture that space. From Dillon's Rolling Western to Pocket Card Jockey and everything in-between, these were some of the most interesting last-gen Nintendo titles.
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While the Switch era has seen some publishing partnerships for smaller titles like The Stretchers or Good Job, and HAL Laboratory put out BOXBOY + BOXGIRL, the Switch doesn't have the vibrant selection of unique downloadable titles that its predecessors had. RELATED: The Microsoft & Nintendo Partnership Is Opening New Doors The Importance of eShop Exclusivesĭuring the Wii U and 3DS era, Nintendo did a lot of this. Returning to how this game could diversify Nintendo's catalog, it would also allow the company to get back to releasing smaller-scale digital titles that supplement larger ones. Coming in around the $20 price point, an Ice Climber roguelike could be supremely competitive with other titles in the genre, especially with the first-party polish the community has come to expect.
![nintendo nes ice climber nintendo nes ice climber](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/43/9c/6c/439c6c5d9d9f344256118eb1da634dfc.jpg)
Its success would be even more likely if Nintendo positioned this as an eShop only title. With how popular this genre has become, a well-made Ice Climber roguelike could become a gigantic hit. It would be fascinating to see how Nintendo would approach the genre with AAA sensibilities and the company's charm.
![nintendo nes ice climber nintendo nes ice climber](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/vxllzaQvkDA/maxresdefault.jpg)
The indie roguelike scene is booming and full of compelling titles. Nintendo doesn't have a roguelike title of its own, instead of relying on indie titles like Hades to fill that space. This would also be a great way for Nintendo to use its dormant IP to make the Switch's catalog more diverse. On the whole, though, a roguelike Ice Climber game would be able to almost retain the spirit and structure of the original completely while repurposing it for a modern audience. RELATED: Nintendo Switch: Classic Games That NEED to Be Added to the Console Building Out Nintendo's Library These would have to be updated, but that's to be expected when reworking an NES game from 1985. The physics in Ice Climber are incredibly stiff. The mechanics, though, would definitely need a bit of work. It wouldn't require a radical design overhaul. In many ways, adding roguelike elements would require minimal tweaking of the existing Ice Climber framework.
![nintendo nes ice climber nintendo nes ice climber](https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/wu4AAOSwnZVgkxcF/s-l1600.jpg)
In many ways, an Ice Climber roguelike would be an inverted take on Moppin and Devolver Digital's excellent Downwell.Īfter failing, you could trade some of the vegetables you collected during the run for persistent upgrades that better equip Popo and Nana for subsequent attempts at the mountain. Perhaps there could even be little base camps on the periphery here and there to visit and buy equipment and items from. However, now the mountains could be procedurally generated, becoming more and more demanding as you ascend. You'd still play as Popo and Nana, working your way up vertically constructed mountains to bonk condors and recover stolen vegetables. Essentially, it could retain the vertical structure of the original NES title.