What will happen to 2D Nintendo games

By 2D, I mean 2D iterations of existing franchises. Namely, Mario, Zelda and Metroid.

Back when Nintendo first made its leap towards 3D with N64, these three franchises with 2D roots made the jump as well (Metroid a bit later). And they also re-imagined a lot of those franchises in 2D form later, with enhanced technology.

But those came when Nintendo made two consoles: home console and a handheld. It made sense to put the less complicated and expensive-to-produce 2D iterations at a reduced price on handheld. Now, Switch fused both, presumably a sequel machine to 3DS not in production, we have a situation here where 2nd tier and 1st tier (purely from marketing standpoint) are all mixed in one big thing.

Now, games like DKC and Kirby, despite being 2D gameplay on home console, don't suffer the same dilemma because they are not being compared with bigger siblings. But say, you have to market both LBW and BOTW on same bloody thing. It's weird.

Or is it? Nintendo didn't hesitate to make Super Mario Maker on Wii U, by adding new fundamental elements to the 2D gameplay. Yes, it's on a failed console, they may have not been thinking straight. But really, where will this go?

1. They will make them downloadable (which presents further problem of pricing)
2. They won't care or they will make some fundamental changes to gameplay to distinguish them from 3D iteration
3. Nope, Samus Returns is the last f*cking 2D Metroid we getting and Nintendo has doomed us all so eat shit and die sheep

What are you talking about? I don't see this seperation at all. There were 2D games on consoles (like New Super Mario Bros) and 3D games on the 3DS (like Super Mario 3D Land). So yeah, I'm pretty sure we'll continue to see 2D and 3D games on the Switch as long as they sell.

2D games sell well, so they will keep making them.

Eh, I kinda see where the TC is coming from to be honest. There are different expectations from a handheld title vs a console title, not to mention the massively increased graphical fidelity will cause the required budget to increase alongside it.

I'd seriously love a 2D Zelda on Switch though.

I hope they keep 2D going - even if it's creating something like SE's retro rpg offshoot studio to do it. Axiom Verge is on sale, btw, although not a great sale

I hope they keep making them. The 2d action platformer genre is still incredible... Maybe perfect landscape for exciting gaming. Same with top down, Zelda or smash TV style gaming... Perfect.

My favorite aspects of the new Mario is coming across the Retro 2d style sections baked into the levels... Its outstanding game design woven together.

Given the technology is now there, I'm surprised Nintendo hasn't gone back to miyamotos original Mario sketches for a 2d platformer, Ala Cuphead. The 3d stuff for the "NEW" Super Mario Bros looks half assed.

They just did Samus returns, I dont see them letting go of 2d just yet

They typically sell very well and they do a good job of filling in the blanks between bigger releases (though I wish they weren't treated as a side show sometimes).

I'd expect them to stick around, shit, we might even see them more frequently. It's not like Nintendo is unaware of their own platform being a hybrid box, lots of owners being on-the-go gamers craving those kinds of games. Guess we'll get a better idea of how this pans out over the next year now that the biggest of the big guns are out of the way.

Of course it being Nintendo, you never know wtf they'll do.

Do they sell well tho? Other than NSMB

The 2D Super Mario games on both the Wii and the Wii U consoles sold more than the 3D Mario games on those same consoles, so unless Nintendo just hates money, I think that it is a safe bet that they will continue to make 2D games especially from the Super Mario franchise.

Nintendo does 2D exceptionally well and if they start losing their way maybe they can look at Xbox for some inspiration. Assuming Will of the Wisp turns out just as great as the first Ori game, we have CupHead that just released. 2D is still a thing even smaller releases like that Mummy Demastered can be nice little distractions from time to time. I know the PS4 has a nice library of those as well.

i dont think 2D is going anywhere on the nintendo front. internally nintendo dont expect every game they make to be a silicon busting AAA budget beast. they have released 2D games on consoles as recently as the wiiu to great success. they also put 2D nes mario sections into odyssey.

what i think they will need to get right is the pricing though. a 2D top down zelda or 2D mario platformer at handheld game prices would be welcome i think. charging 59.99 or 69.99 for them....yeah not so much.

but speaking in a broader sense for a sec: 2D games are doing just fine as long as they are good games. plenty of people have used their beastly 1080TI SLI, 32GB ram and core i9 super beast PCs to play the likes stardew valley and undertale. games like pillars of eternity are making a nice comback and, again, they are played on PCs ranging from meh to LOOOOK AT IT!!! a good game is a good game is a good game. most people dont care if the game is making its host hardware burn into slag trying to run it or if every single cycle in the cpu and GPU is being used to its max potential. they just want to have fun.

.....just at the right price. stardew valley wouldnt be the success it is if it was launched at 69.99 :S.

lol I completely forgot NSMB was on Wii

I guess my point is on 2D Zelda and 2D Metroid then

Cuphead has proved 2D still has a place...

Wow geez thanks for answering without reading OP

Was it really hard to comprehend? I will try better next time.

There are literally hundreds of great 2D games on Steam.

All they have to do is sell the 2D games at a reduced price (say $39.99), and then the expectation will change. There's no real need to develop handheld-specific titles anymore.

There are plenty of 2D games on consoles, not just from Nintendo but throughout the industry. NSMBU is proof that a 2D HD game can get good reviews and sell a lot of copies, too.

it's not 2D...it's called "top down"

Are you one of those people that says 2.5D

no, i'm one of those people who say "top down"

how is it not 2D

Thing is, nothing prevents Nintendo from doing a smaller, possibly even 2D styled game, and charging less for it. There’s precedent on Wii U for it with Captain Toad and Kirby. Hell they’ve got two announced with Yoshi and Kirby.

We’ll be fine,

It's not top down... it's "top-down". Yeah, I can do it too.

Plenty of examples of modern 2D games doing well. 2D has its place still.

but dss, that's not what I'm talking about.

@funsohng: it’s not traditional 2D..and you’re able to do a lot more in a game like A link to the past than you are in super Mario Bros which goes just left to right screen

@jcrame10: what you are describing is side-scrolling

2D means two dimensional, where action occurs on 2 axes: this case x and y. In Mario they are horizontal movement back and forth (x-axis) + vertical jumping and falling (y-axis). In top-down Zelda, its moving north, south (y-axis) and west, east (x-axis).