Nintendo recently held two Direct conferences, one focusing on third-party games, and the other on indie titles coming to the Switch and Switch 2.
While Nintendo failed to shed light on things like the Metroid Prime 4: Beyond release date, the company did announce the launch of one of 2024’s best games.
As part of the Nintendo Direct Indie World showcase, Nintendo confirmed that the superb UFO 50 is now available for the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2.
Originally launching for PC back in September 2024, UFO 50 features a whopping 50 retro-style video games in one package.
There’s everything from platformers and puzzle games, to surprisingly deep strategy games and even point and click adventures.
Even more amazing is that the titles aren’t bite-sized mini-games that are over in minutes, but full-fledged experiences with hours of gameplay.
There’s a famous (infamous) NES game called Action 52, which attempted something similar back in the 90s, but is largely considered to be one of the worst games ever made. UFO 50, on the other hand, is one of the best.
It’s so good that it currently sits in fifth place for the best games of 2024 on Metacritic, ranking just below heavyweights such as FF7 Rebirth, Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree, Astro Bot and Metaphor: ReFantazio.
I didn’t know much about UFO 50 when I picked it up around launch, and was blown away by how good some of the games are.
In a first playthrough intended to quickly sample as many games as possible, I ended up spending about three hours on Bug Hunter, which is just the second game listed when you play each title chronologically.
This would happen time and time again, which is why it took me an absolute age to finally try all of the games on offer.
The presentation is also top notch, positioning the games as the creation of a fictional video game company.
“According to the story of UFO 50, the games were all created by a fictional 80s video game company that was obscure but ahead of its time,” reads the official description.
“Some games are sequels to other games in the collection and various characters appear in multiple titles as part of a shared continuity.”
Perhaps best of all, however, is the price tag, which at just £20.99 on Steam, Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, is an absolute steal.
This bargain collection of instant classics is listed as a timed console exclusive for Nintendo Switch, which suggests that a PlayStation and Xbox release is on the way.
