专题：历经15年“直接送达”后，以下是史上最佳的 Nintendo Direct 时刻

That’s right, the humble news delivery machine that is the Nintendo Direct celebrates its 15th birthday on 21st October and to celebrate, we’re chronicling the 15 top moments from their illustrious history.

To do so, yours truly has scrubbed through dozens upon dozens of nearly hour-long videos packed full of games, announcements, skits, deep dives, questionable logo reveals, triumphant trailers and lead balloons, before brutally whittling away some treasures until we’re left with moments that were the best of the best. A few things to keep in mind with this list:

• I’m only counting proper Directs here. No Pokémon Presents, Nindies, Micro, or Minis, or a direct focused on one game or topic in particular (sorry, Zelda 40th). We’re talking the videos packed with many titles that we expect when we hear the words 'Nintendo Direct'
• Please understand, there’s a greater chance that your favourite moment is not in here than is. There’s been literally hundreds of announcements and any list of this nature will of course be mixed with personal preference, so please do let me know yours! I’m sure there’ll be some picks that surprise me

It’s been absolutely fascinating to watch through them in preparation for this. Nintendo Life has chronicled their evolution before, but watching it firsthand is a strange thing to behold. Let’s dive in.

15 Years of Nintendo Directs - Our Top Moments

#15 - Non-specific action figure (3rd June 2012)

The hero we never knew we needed. About 12 minutes into this Direct, we’re treated to a skit that highlights the functionality of Miiverse, and though NSAF has only become a minor cult figure in Nintendo culture, the legacy of the scene he appeared in is undeniable.

It’s the first truly oddball Direct skit and felt like a green light for Nintendo to get weird. And we love it when Nintendo gets weird. It’s well put together and still a funny watch - a definite highlight from the Direct back catalogue.

#14 - The Luigi Bros. (14th February 2013)

Good thing this fell on Valentine’s day, because I flipping love it.

The Direct opens with Iwata wearing a Luigi hat to celebrate the Year of Luigi. 'That’s a nice moment,' you might think to yourself, 'it will come off the next time it cuts back to him.'

Wrong. He’s just wearing the hat the entire time. Doesn’t reference it ever again. Just does the entire Direct, communicating clearly and concisely, in a cartoonish Luigi hat. Excellent.

The Japanese version goes a step further, with Miyamoto wandering into shot behind Iwata with a Poltergust strapped to his back, turning it on the president, who seems genuinely surprised to see him there, before gifting Miyamoto a Luigi hat of his own.

NSAF was the first oddball sketch, but this was the first time we saw the company’s president himself indulge in his silly side. It just feels like two naughty schoolboys having fun. A great moment.

#13 - Reggie, Bill & the doughnuts (12th November 2015 & 1st September 2016)

Not to be outdone by Iwata and Miyamoto, Reggie and Bill from NOA introduced a running saga 21 minutes into the last Direct of 2015.

Arriving first into a Very Important Meeting, Bill is possessed by a Yo-Kai and proceeds to devour the entire box of meeting doughnuts, much to Reggie’s chagrin.

This story then begins the September 2016 3DS Direct, with mini scenes sprinkled throughout. Highlights include the meeting notes on the board ‘Planning to plan’, the clearly uncomfortable genuine Nintendo employees roped into this nonsense, and the worst fake beard I’ve ever seen. Gold.

#12 - F-Zero returns (14th September 2023)

Potentially a bit left field, this, but trailers don’t have to be Triple-A to have an impact.

The announcement at 52 minutes that F-Zero, a series that had been dormant for nearly two decades, was returning was a thrill that no one anticipated. Sure, when the camera zoomed into the Blue Falcon we probably expected it to flit between its generational iterations before bursting into its newest incarnation, but the fact that it then pulled back out to reveal an F-Zero track in total chaos was a great bluff.

Arguably Nintendo’s best 99 entry to date, the game was also revealed to be playable with an NSO subscription and available straight after the presentation - always a winner.

#11 - The reveal of Smash reveals (11th June 2013)

Look - I can’t include Smash reveals on this list, otherwise this would basically just be a list of Smash reveals and nobody would agree on their order (even if the two reveals from E3 2019 are clearly the best), but the Smash 4 trailer 34 minutes into this Direct formalised the formula of bespoke, high-quality character trailers with its surprising reveal of Mega Man.

These reveals became a firm fixture of Directs going forward and have fuelled wild speculation and excitement whenever Smash Bros. is active. That began here with a genuinely magnificent showcase for the Blue Bomber - a truly special moment.

#10 - The Robot Chicken skits (10th June 2014)

Mario throwing a tantrum, Link berating Toon Link, Reggie fire-flowering a reporter for daring to mention Mother 3 - these stop-motion shorts in the style of Robot Chicken provided snippets of comedy and a moment to catch one’s breath between the relentless announcements of the 2014 Direct.

They perfectly encapsulate the character they ape in each instance and as a collective whole they make a great Direct moment.

#9 - The Mario Maker reveal (10th June 2014)

Another from E3 2014. I was so close to putting the Developer Story with Miyamoto and Tezuka from the 2015 E3 into this slot for the fascinating glimpse it gives into the duo’s early working relationship, but how could we not put in the reveal trailer for Mario Maker itself?

Appearing just past the half-hour mark, the sentence ‘Create your own custom Mario courses’ sent us into raptures - and that was before we knew the sheer scale of what there was to play with. Nobody could’ve anticipated it or how much it would dominate social media post-release, with timelines awash with bespoke Mario content. Incredible.

#8 - A Wonderful surprise (21st June 2023)

The success of Super Mario Maker and its sequel had led many people to speculate that 2D Mario was finished - with an essentially infinite number of courses to play at the touch of a button, why (or even how) could Nintendo possibly compete with that?

The answer was Mario Wonder. The trailer does an excellent job of demonstrating this by providing surreal and absurd moments - like some trippy Mario fever dream full of crawling warp pipes, elongated bodies and talking flowers, before treating us to the newest transformation, Elephant Mario.

However you feel about the game, and whether its impact has been lasting or not, this was certainly a delightful close to the show and a welcome return to Mario's roots.

#7 - Dread is real (15th June 2021)

Nintendo really did save some great E3 showcases, didn’t they? And their final one was no exception. 19 years on from the last original 2D Metroid, Samus thundered onto the screen after 12 minutes with a new suit and a terrifying enemy from which there seemed to be only one option - run!

The horror overtones, the music, ‘Dread’ crackling onto screen sending us true believers into pure ecstasy - the atmosphere it generated was absolutely electric. What a reveal. What a game!

The recent trailer for Ravenous was gorgeous, but the surprise of Dread with no hint of a leak ahead of time gives it the edge.

#6 - Ganondorf returns (11th June 2019)

"The sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is now in development." Chills.

How do you follow up possibly the greatest game of all time? With a trailer full of intrigue, suspense, and a smattering of few-second clips that generate frenzied speculation for months on end, topped off with a mummified Ganondorf’s eyes blazing into life.

Tears of the Kingdom’s reveal trailer told us very little about the game, but it’s a note-perfect reveal and an awesome closer for the show.

#5 - A glimpse of the Wild (10th June 2014)

Yet another entry from E3 2014 and the build-up throughout it is sublime.

20 minutes in, Aonuma discusses the freedom of earlier 2D Zelda games and the desire to replicate that, then clicks his fingers to reveal what BOTW would look like, casually dropping in that you could reach the mountains in the distance in-game and play in a non-linear fashion. This culminates in a Guardian attack where it completely eviscerates the land before Link looses an ancient arrow into it.

The nostalgia in me wanted to include the anime opening of the Link’s Awakening remake or even our glimpse at Ocarina of Time from this year’s June Direct, but no Zelda game has had a better Direct reveal than this. The whole thing was jaw-dropping.

#4 - Octo Expansion and Inkling in Smash (8th March 2018)

I expected Splatoon to feature somewhere on this list, but the whole build-up to the series was kind of a slow burner. So, instead we have a bit of a two-for-one here.

By this point, Splatoon was well established and this trailer just after 28 minutes has the confidence of a series that knows it's exploded onto the scene; it’s stylish, intriguing, and doesn’t need to explain itself.

Then the clincher - the take on the original trailer which morphs into the giant fireball Smash Bros. logo, simultaneously confirming a new Smash was in development much earlier than people expected, and the squid kids would be joining the party.

Still the best Smash moment for me - narrowly beating out the ‘everybody here’/Ridley reveal that generated so much buzz.

#3 - Virtual insanity (12th September 2025)

However you feel about the Virtual Boy (and my affection for the system has been well documented), this announcement 37 minutes into the direct was wild. There have been lots of NSO delights sprinkled throughout the years, but no one anticipated this.

Nintendo’s biggest failure, lambasted for generations across the web, returning triumphantly to sit alongside its brothers as a bespoke docking unit for the Switch 2 to authentically engage with its library.

And if that wasn’t enough, they also revealed a cardboard alternative in the post-LABO era! Those mad, mad geniuses. My favourite moment of the modern Direct era by a mile.

#2 - The big guns (10th June 2014)

The last entry from this legendary E3. We’ve had Iwata and Miyamoto, Reggie and Bill, but the best buddy duo has to be Iwata and Reggie.

The live-action fight sequence between the two after the Direct’s opening skit is perfection, playing on Reggie’s persona as a hulk who, to paraphrase the man himself, ‘kicks ass and takes names’ in stark contrast to Iwata’s calm and focused approach, utilising his ‘Direct’ hand gesture to power up his fighting abilities.

There’s flying fists and multiple backflips aplenty, and at the time it was so rare to see two bosses of a giant games company be so silly. It was truly the era of peak Nintendo Direct whimsy.

#1 - The Muppet show (16th June 2015)

The supreme example of said whimsy. Opening this E3 Direct is quite possibly the best skit Nintendo’s ever done. If you haven’t seen it, please watch it immediately.

The horns blaring out from Mario 3D World’s Bowser’s Lava Lake Keep, the puppets walking seriously down the hallway, Miyamoto emerging from a warp pipe in his lavishly decorated Mario-themed dressing room before sliding into the lineup, all leading up to their transformation into the Star Fox gang.

It’s bliss and even has other little puppet segments sprinkled throughout for good measure. It’s tinged with sadness as it was Iwata’s last Direct, but it’s so playful and fun - a fitting sign-off for the man who brought so much joy to Nintendo enthusiasts.

Poll - The pick of the bunch?

So there you have it, our 15 top Nintendo Direct moments to celebrate the format's 15th birthday. But what do you think? Did yours make the list? Is there a glaring omission that deserves a blast for me from Reggie’s laser eyes?

Let us know in the poll and comments below, and let’s hope for many moments like these to come!