Fans of Smash Bros. and Final Fantasy should prepare themselves, because Nintendo has announced a crossover of epic proportions. Cloud is joining the Super Smash Bros. roster on Wii U and 3DS, and he’s bringing summons and a new stage with him.

With classic Final Fantasy VII battle music playing in the background, the reveal video showcases two different Cloud skins: his default FF VII appearance, and his look from Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. It also shows a brand new stage featuring FF VII’s iconic city of Midgar.

Cloud is apparently able to throw down with summons like Odin, Bahamut, Ramuh, and Leviathan, though it isn’t exactly clear how these moves are triggered. Folding in another classic element from Final Fantasy, Cloud can use the limit break Omnislash as his final smash.

The handheld fate of Dragon Quest VII and VIII have been uncertain for North America, but the Nintendo confirmed that both RPGs are making their way to 3DS in 2016.

Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past is coming in early summer 2016. The next installment, Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King, currently only has an ambiguous release of sometime next year.

Considering that support for this series has been less reliable here than in Japan, it’s great to see that Nintendo and Square Enix aren’t neglecting fans of the series.

A female version of Link named Linkle will join the roster of Hyrule Warriors Legends when the 3DS port comes out March 25, 2016. Nintendo announced the new character and release date today during its Nintendo Direct.

Last year, a Hyrule Warriors artbook included pictures of Linkle, hinting at her future inclusion. The green-clad heroine dual-wields crossbows and unleashes spin kicks to take down bokoblins and other Zelda baddies. As with previously announced characters Tetra, Toon Link, King of Hyrule, and Skull Kid, players will be able to transfer Linkle to the game's original Wii U version.

In a move that many long-time Pokémon fans have begged for, the original Red, Blue, and Yellow versions are finally coming to the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console. All three titles release February 27 – the date of Red/Blue’s original Japanese launch.

Red, Blue, and Yellow play exactly as you remember, but players won’t have to worry about pesky link cables to battle and trade with friends. The 3DS’s Wi-Fi takes care of that nuisance. 

Over a year ago, we interviewed Pokémon's principal minds asking why the old games haven't appeared on Virtual Console. Perhaps not releasing a new Pokémon title this year allowed them to port the Game Boy titles.

Nintendo announced a new search feature for Super Mario Maker custom levels in Thursday’s Nintendo Direct. Players can now access a new online search portal to list criteria and find appropriate courses to play.

The portal, which can be reached either on smartphones or on a PC, allows players to list criteria like difficulty level and more. Players can also sync courses to their game from the portal for later use.

The portal site is expected to launch sometime next month, and not a minute too soon. According to Nintendo, over three million courses have already been created by players.

We’ve known that the upcoming Fire Emblem release would be split into two alternate versions, but has Nintendo released some info about how exactly the distribution of these iterations will roll out.

Birthright and Conquest present two takes on the same story, so you may only want to purchase one. However, players who get one version (which costs $40) will be able to download the other for a discounted $20.

Beyond those, a third epilogue chapter, entitled Revelation, will come out after Birthright and Conquest release. If you absolutely must have the complete experience, you should get the $80 special edition, which includes Birthright, Conquest, Revelation, an art book, and a pouch for your 3DS.

Final Fantasy Explorers is coming to North America on January 26, 2016, and everyone that picks it up will receive all of the current DLC offerings from the Japanese version of the game at no additional cost.

The upcoming 1-4 player 3DS Final Fantasy Explorers will feature 20 job professions to help players get the most out of the fast-paced action take on the iconic franchise. Players can transform into legendary characters from the series such as Cecil, Terra, Lightning, and more during combat, and if you don't feel like playing with friends on local or wi-fi connections, you'll also be able to fill your party slots with monster assistants if you want to get that "full party" feeling and an extra edge in combat.

Nintendo announced the release date for the fifth title in the Mario & Luigi series at today’s Nintendo Direct. New details on usable Amiibo were also revealed.

Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam is scheduled to release on January 22 next year for the 3DS. In addition to the release date, Nintendo also announced that the six second generation Amiibo (Bowser, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toad, and Yoshi) released alongside Mario Party 10 are compatible with the game. Utilizing the Amiibo during battle in-game unlocks various cards that can be used as power-ups.

For more, check out our full preview of the game here.

After being delayed out of 2015,  we now know when players can climb into the cockpit of the Arwing. Star Fox Zero has a new release date of April 22, 2016.

The news comes courtesy of this afternoon’s Nintendo Direct. For more on Star Fox Zero, check out our hands-on impressions from E3 2015 and our Star Fox chat with Shigeru Miyamoto. 

A new free-to-play (or free-to-start, as Nintendo prefers) Picross and Pokémon mash-up is coming in December.

Along with your standard Picross puzzle mechanics, the game also has some light collecting mechanics as completing the pictures puzzles of the Pokémon means you collect that Pokémon to your collection.

The game will be available in early December for 3DS. It's unclear how the game will be monetized.