Looking back at the great year in console gaming that was 2020, Nintendo standpoint it also ushered in the triumphant return of several iconic IPs and franchises. Excellent new entries for Animal Crossing and Paper Mario, along with the enhanced Deluxe port of Pikmin 3, graced the Switch in the past year, gifting long-dormant and beloved series to a new generation of players.

However, there is still a slew of Nintendo’s best and most unique franchises that have yet to make an appearance on the almost 4-year-old Switch. Of the entries below only one has been officially announced as an upcoming Switch title (with no release date), while the rest are based on rumors, hearsay, and plain-old wishful thinking. Will 2021 change that? Hopefully, the list you’re about to read grows shorter than a Toad before the end of this new year.

10 Star Fox

No, Starlink doesn’t count. Ubisoft’s open-world space action title gave Switch players their first real taste of Star Fox action by adding Fox McCloud (and his teammates) as console-exclusive content. However, there hasn’t been an official Nintendo-published release since 2016’s Wii U title, Star Fox Zero, which itself was 10 years after Star Fox Command on the DS.

Here’s hoping Nintendo can channel the experiences and successes creating their own exceptional open-world in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild into a true sandbox Star Fox, sprinkled with roguelike elements à la No Man’s Sky. Or that Star Fox Grand Prix that’s been rumored for years…

9 Kid Icarus

One of Nintendo’s smaller franchises with 3 installments, the Kid Icarus series returned to Nintendo platforms after a 20-year hiatus with 2012’s Kid Icarus: Uprising on 3DS. Prior to that, the series’ angelic protagonist Pit appeared as a playable fighter in 2008’s Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and his 3D redesign raised speculation at the time that Kid Icarus would make a comeback.

With Masahiro Sakurai and his team at Sora Ltd hard at work on the final 3 DLC fighters for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, don’t bet on a new Kid Icarus entry (or even a Switch version of Uprising) anytime soon.

8 WarioWare

A multiplayer and party-friendly console like the Switch would be the perfect vessel for a new game in the WarioWare series. We last saw Wario don his fluorescent biker gear and bombard us with his bite-sized microgames in 2018’s WarioWare Gold on 3DS.

Of course, Wario was also the star, or more accurately, the anti-hero, of his own acclaimed series of platformers under the Wario Land banner, so a return to his 2D roots would certainly be welcome.

7 Sin & Punishment

Developed by Treasure and published by Nintendo, Sin & Punishment is an arcade-style rail shooter often regarded as one of the N64’s best games. Initially a Japan-only release in 2000, import gamers contributed to its grand cult following across the globe, and the game finally made its worldwide debut in 2007 via Wii’s Virtual Console. A sequel for the Wii, Sin & Punishment: Star Successor, launched in 2009 (2010 for Europe and North America) to similar acclaim and fanfare.

A third entry on the Switch would be a wise move for Nintendo and Treasure, potentially incorporating motion controls, gyro aiming, HD rumble, and all the bells-and-whistles of Nintendo’s hybrid console. Or at the very least, a straight port of the original would be a perfect and doable placeholder, given its status as a Virtual Console title.

6 Nintendogs

If the Switch wasn’t made for adorable pet sims like Nintendogs, honestly what’s the point? Considering the DS original and its 3DS sequel Nintendogs + Cats have combined to sell over 28 million copies worldwide, it should be a no-brainer for Nintendo to throw Nintendogs a well-deserved bone in 2021.

If nothing else, Smash Ultimate players still get to summon arguably the cutest Assist Trophy: the Toy Poodle who happily blocks the screen to “play” with us. Aww, good boy!

5 F-Zero

The patience of F-Zero fans must be whittled down to nothing by now, as there hasn’t been a new entry to the popular futuristic racing series in roughly 18 years. F-Zero GX for GameCube remains the franchise’s last worldwide release from all the way back in summer 2003, while Japan received the 2004 GBA-exclusive F-Zero Climax.

Togishiro Nagoshi, current Sega CCO and GX’s co-producer, recently said he’d be open to working on a new entry if Nintendo approached him. Considering that GX sold over 1.5 million copies while garnering significant acclaim, Nagoshi’s statements imply Nintendo is either keeping future F-Zero development in-house or (the more likely option) there is nothing in the works.

4 Eternal Darkness

The only entry that isn’t a proper franchise, but certainly deserves to be, Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem is a beloved psychological horror game and cult classic on GameCube. Alongside its mysterious occult narrative, Eternal Darkness is also well-regarded for its multiple playable characters, impressively complex Magick system, and fourth wall-breaking Sanity Effects.

Writer/director Denis Dyack has attempted to continue the series through spiritual successor Shadow of the Eternals, but unfortunately several Kickstarter campaigns failed to generate sufficient interest or funds. Nintendo owns the rights to Eternal Darkness and the “Sanity Meter,” so they have the power to bring it back, perhaps even a simple HD remaster.

3 1080° Snowboarding / Wave Race

Two of Nintendo’s best-known sports franchises not to feature Mario, 1080° Snowboarding and Wave Race have endured similar trajectories. Both had critically-acclaimed and commercially-successful entries on Nintendo 64 before fizzling out after less-than-stellar reception of their GameCube sequels.

Wave Race: Blue Storm has a solid 80 on Metacritic, though many reviews criticize twitchy controls, low poly graphics, and courses too similar to Wave Race 64. 1080° Avalanche was crushed critically and financially by its competition at the time, EA Sports’ SSX 3. But now in 2021, who wouldn’t welcome a return to the lush blue waves or the crisp snowy mountainside?

2 Earthbound (Mother)

Earthbound (Mother 2 in Japan) remains one of the rarest gems of Nintendo’s collection, as the satirical, hysterical, and utterly brilliant SNES RPG can only be played on SNES Mini and Wii U/New 3DS’ Virtual Console. The first Mother is rarer still as it’s currently only available in the West on Wii U as Earthbound Beginnings, while Mother 3 (2006) has never been released outside of Japan.

Nintendo’s next move for the franchise should be, at the very least, to add Mother 1 & 2 to Switch Online alongside an English localization of Mother 3 or release all three together as an All-Stars collection for Mother’s 35th anniversary in 2024. A cool idea would be a remake of Earthbound in a claymation art style (as seen in its Player’s Guide), and aesthetically similar to the Switch version of Link’s Awakening.

1 Metroid

As alluded to in the introduction, Metroid is the only series on this list that has a confirmed game coming to Switch. Originally announced at E3 2017, production of Metroid Prime 4 was cancelled and restarted in January 2019 after the original developer, Bandai Namco, didn’t meet Nintendo’s high standards. Now with Retro Studios - the geniuses behind Prime 1-3 - back in the saddle, the franchise is in fantastic hands.

Figuring out when players will get their hands on it is still anyone’s guess. Until then, Nintendo could easily hold fans over with an HD re-release of the Wii’s Metroid Prime Trilogy, or even a brand-new 2D Metroid which has been rumored for a year now.

NEXT: The 10 Biggest 2021 Switch Games To Look Forward To (In The First 3 Months)