The moment I’ve been waiting for is about to arrive: starting late October, I’ll finally be able to play The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time on my Nintendo Switch — along with a slew of other classics.
Nintendo today announced Switch Online+, an expansion plan for its current online subscription that adds a variety of games from both the Nintendo 64 and… the Sega Genesis. I guess Nintendoes what Genesis did?
The first batch of N64 games to be included with the plan includes a sweet set of classics:
- Super Mario 64
- Mario Kart 64
- Star Fox 64
- Yoshi’s Story
- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
- WinBack: Covert Operations
- Dr. Mario 64
- Sin and Punishment
- Mario Tennis 64
Other N64 classics confirmed to be coming to Switch Online+ after the initial batch
- Banjo-Kazooie
- Pokemon Snap
- The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask
- Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards
- Mario Golf
- Paper Mario
- F-Zero X
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I spent countless hours with the vast majority of those titles, so I can already feel the nostalgia pulling my hand towards my wallet.
As for the Genesis titles, these are the launch titles:
- Castlevania: Bloodlines
- Contra: Hard Corps
- Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine
- Ecco the Dolphin
- Golden Axe
- Gunstar Heroes
- Phantasy Star IV
- Ristar
- Shining Force
- Sonic the Hedgehog 2
- Streets of Rage 2
- M.U.S.H.A.
- Phantasy Star 4
- Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master
- Strider
Nintendo hasn’t yet announced a price for the new plan, but I’d expect it to be at least another 5 bucks over the existing $5 plan. The plan is slated to be available in late October.
To really send old-school gamers down memory lane, Nintendo also plans to sell wireless versions of the N64 and Genesis controllers to play these classics.
Is an outdated controller from a 1996 console worth $50? Probably not. Will I still buy it? You bet.
But wait, there’s more! Nintendo also confirmed a release date for the Mario movie (December 21, 2022), it announced a new 3D Kirby game, it finally provided a trailer for Bayonetta 3, and more.
You can watch the full Nintendo Direct below:
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