Mario Tennis Fever, Super Mario Bros. Wonder Switch 2, and Virtual Boy previews

GameCentral gets to try out Nintendo’s February and March first party line-up, as well as an impressive port of Capcom’s Resident Evil Requiem.

After kicking off the Nintendo Switch 2 generation with Mario Kart World, Donkey Kong Bananza, and Metroid Prime 4, it’s fair to wonder what 2026 will hold for Nintendo fans.

Nintendo has announced very little so far, just Yoshi And The Mysterious Book for this spring and Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave sometime later in the year. Beyond that we know virtually nothing about their long-term plans, as while FromSoftware’s The Duskbloods is supposed to be out this year that’s not guaranteed for Splatoon Raiders.

In the short term though, they do have a busy few months coming up and we recently went hands-on with a selection of soon-to-be-released games, including Mario’s latest sporting endeavour, a 90s hardware revival, and a side-helping of Capcom’s biggest game of the year.

Mario Tennis Fever

12th February 2026

You know what you’re getting with a Mario sports game, as over-the-top abilities and special moves are added to the core back and forth of the sport. Mario Tennis Fever has that same tone and feel, but there are a few ways that it expands on Mario Tennis Aces.

There’s a huge line-up of Mario characters that is second only to Mario Kart World, including the brand new addition of Baby Waluigi. Each has their particular style of play, but special shots now depend on the Fever Racket you pick instead of being tied to the character, and there are dozens of rackets to choose from.

After a brief tutorial, our hands-on was all about the multiplayer side of the game, and this is where it can really shine. The various abilities of the Fever Rackets made things complete chaos, especially in doubles, as you throw whirlwinds, fire bombs, summon shadowy doubles, splash screen-blocking ink around, and much more.

Then there’s the Special Matches, which bring different courts and rules, such as the Wonder Court having transformations inspired by Super Mario Bros. Wonder or the Racket Factory spawning randomised rackets for you to grab. It’s frantic, it’s daft, and it’s sure to be a fun family party game, even if it’s not a serious tennis sim.

Virtual Boy

17th February 2026

Surprisingly, Nintendo does have a new hardware release planned this month, in the form of a recreation of the infamous Virtual Boy console. From the shape of the plastic shell to the way it stands at a fixed height on its angle legs, it’s certainly an authentic recreation of one of Nintendo’s biggest flops, but that does mean it’s as clunky to use now as it was 31 years ago.

Virtual Boy Wario Land will be the main highlight: a side-scrolling platformer cousin to his Game Boy debut, but the Virtual Boy lends a 3D depth to it that sees spiked balls swinging towards you, and has you jumping between foreground and background planes.

We also sampled Teleroboxer, which is a simple Punch-Out!! clone with an admittedly quite nice parallax effect to your opponent. Unfortunately, though, Galactic Pinball makes its tables feel distant and pixellated, while Red Alarm blends a Star Fox style rail shooter with a wireframe aesthetic more reminiscent of spiritual predecessor Starglider.

With seven games being added to the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack library this month, and more throughout the year, this is one for the game preservationists. Thankfully, the more casually curious can opt for the cheaper Virtual Boy (Cardboard Edition), as without at least that you won’t get the 3D effect.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Meetup In Bellabel Park

26th March 2026

The original Switch 1 version of Super Mario Bros. Wonder was a truly joyfully return to the 2D platformer series, but if there’s one area it didn’t necessarily excel at, it was multiplayer. The Switch 2 Edition upgrade, and its Meetup in Bellabel Park expansion, goes a long way to change that.

However, the game maintains the strange divide where you can only play online against player ghosts, with the full suite of multiplayer options only available locally. Nintendo likes to highlight that Switch 2 GameShare will now let you stream the Local Multiplayer Plaza experience remotely but it’s a compromise, albeit one that bring with it some inventive new takes on multiplayer platforming.

There’re 17 stages to play locally. Bob-omb Relay, for example, demands co-operation, as you carry a very fussy explosive through to a cannon at the end of the stage, regularly having to pass it to whichever player the bomb cries out for, or the fuse will burn and you’ll blow up.

Other modes include a blend of Prop Hunt and Tag, a level where some players are drawing temporary platforms (with mouse mode support) to help the rest of the team get through, and a scramble to feed your Baby Yoshi more apples than everyone else.

Over in the Game Room Plaza, there’re six game modes that support up to 12 players in online ghost races, adapting some of the Wonder Flower transformations from the main game. So, for example, you might be glued to a giant bouncy ball, needing to hit angled platforms and avoid others to keep your momentum high, or you can be on a Propeller Flower, dodging hazards as you race to the finish line.

There will be some new challenges for solo players to complete as well, but Meetup In Bellabel Park really is all about these multiplayer modes.

Resident Evil Requiem – 27th February 2026

Capcom is all-in on the Nintendo Switch 2 in 2026, bringing both Resident Evil Requiem and the sci-fi action of Pragmata to the console at launch, right alongside the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC versions. Going hands-on, it’s surprising how well the Switch 2 is able to handle these ports.

Resident Evil Requiem could be a great fit for the handheld, even if we could see where Capcom has pared back the graphics settings and effects compared to the more powerful consoles. It’s still a great looking game, and there’s plenty of terror waiting for Grace as she creeps through dark and dingy hotel rooms trying to avoid the huge monster.

Pragmata – 24th April 2026

By contrast, the sterile, shiny environments of Pragmata showed more of the console’s limits and where effects need to be cut back. This is most obvious when playing on TV, while shifting to handheld mode helps to mask the changes, but Pragmata still plays well in both situations.

The quick hacking puzzle game blended with combat makes this one of the more intriguing games of 2026, although it’s still too early to say how well it will all hang together.

Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter.

To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here.

For more stories like this, check our Gaming page.

Comments


Add as preferred source