It's time for the Japanese chart results from Media Create, and this week there are some interesting releases making their mark, including the '2D' return of an iconic franchise that typically struggles in Japan.

We're referring to the rather brilliant Metroid: Samus Returns, which has delivered a new 2D Metroid at long last; its chart debut in Japan is not bad, landing in third place with 30,855 sales. This is less than Metroid: Other M shifted on its debut with 45,398 sales in 2010, but we should also remember that Metroid Prime: Federation Force on 3DS suffered the indignity of failing to chart at all last year. It's a series that typically performs better in the West than Japan, but at least this new entry hasn't flopped as badly as 2016's Prime spin-off.

Elsewhere Splatoon 2 continues to tick along rather nicely in second place; a new release of note was Champion Jockey Special on Switch, which had a pretty poor launch down in 20th place.

[PS4] Pro Evolution Soccer 2018 (Konami, 09/14/17) – 64,342 (New) [NSW] Splatoon 2 (Nintendo, 07/21/17) – 37,481 (1,138,962) [3DS] Metroid: Samus Returns (Nintendo, 09/15/17) (Limited Edition Included) – 30,855 (New) [PS4] Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (SIE, 09/14/17) – 23,131 (New) [PS4] Destiny 2 (SIE, 09/06/17) – 20,018 (70,281) [PS4] Everybody’s Golf (SIE, 08/31/17) – 13,487 (136,694) [PS3] Pro Evolution Soccer 2018 (Konami, 09/14/17) – 12,777 (New) [NSW] Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Nintendo, 04,28,17) – 10,971 (694,185) [3DS] Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age (Square Enix, 07/29/17) – 10,525 (1,720,431) [NSW] Monster Hunter XX Nintendo Switch Ver. (Capcom, 08/25/17) – 9,414 (133,621) [PS4] F1 2017 (Ubisoft, 09/14/17) – 7,190 (New) [3DS] The Snack World: Trejarers (Level-5, 08/10/17) – 6,658 (161,807) [PS4] Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age (Square Enix, 07/29/17) – 5,877 (1,343,479) [NSW] The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Limited Edition Included) (Nintendo, 03/03/17) – 5,000 (585,553) [3DS] Animal Crossing: New Leaf Amiibo+ (Nintendo, 11/23/16) – 3,840 (239,954) [NSW] Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 for Nintendo Switch (Bandai Namco, 09/07/17) – 3,782 (27,827) [NSW] Arms (Nintendo, 06/16/17) – 3,589 (221,700) [PSV] Minecraft: PS Vita Edition (SIE, 03/19/15) – 3,160 (1,208,116) [3DS] Etrian Mystery Dungeon 2 (Limited Edition Included) (Atlus, 08/31/17) – 3,057 (38,653) [NSW] Champion Jockey Special (Koei Tecmo, 09/14/17) – 2,626 (New)

In terms of hardware sales it's very much a case of 'as you were', with the Nintendo Switch comfortably out in the lead. Results are below with last week's sales in brackets.

Switch – 44,052 (45,439) PlayStation 4 – 19,322 (18,483) New 3DS LL – 10,650 (9,628) New 2DS LL – 8,761 (9,403) PlayStation 4 Pro – 5,338 (10,999) PlayStation Vita – 3,847 (3,913) 2DS – 1,726 (1,772) New 3DS – 428 (331) PlayStation 3 – 99 (115) Wii U – 86 (90) Xbox One – 57 (63)

Overall it's pleasing to see the ongoing demand for Switch hardware, and while Metroid: Samus Returns didn't set the charts alight it didn't completely flop, either. Perhaps that has to be good enough after the woes of the previous major Metroid release on 3DS.