The Nintendo Switch Online game library for subscribers grew into a pretty stable “best of” collection. Lots of hits are there, and occasionally we even see a more niche title. We also hit the point where Game Boy and Game Boy Advance titles are there to play as well. Since there’s so much to go through we decided it’d be a great time to recommend some Nintendo Switch Online games we like best.
Okay, so, my pick is a game that isn’t a part of the US Nintendo Switch Online game library. I’m so glad Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War is there. It’s part of the Super Famicom app in the Japanese eShop, and it’s wonderful that this title is so easily accessible via the service. The only thing better is if Nintendo would do with it what it did with Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light. That is, localize and release it digitally… but hopefully not for a limited time this time. — Jenni
In our age of wide emulation availability, the best part of Nintendo Switch Online’s retro apps is its easy online play. Given that, the best NSO games are fun ones that are also tough or impractical to play otherwise! My pick: Mario Kart: Super Circuit, an underappreciated entry in the world’s favorite franchise. It has the classic setup of the SNES original that just feels different from polygonal entries, and a ton of tracks to race. Most importantly, try as I might to change the whims of society, people just don’t carry around GBAs and link cables anymore. So this is a great way to play it, and also basically the only way.
On a similar note, don’t sleep on Kirby and the Amazing Mirror when that already-announced GBA game finally gets added. — Graham
I am tempted to say Phantasy Star IV, but since the game is also available through the SEGA Genesis Classics, my pick will go to a game that is available only through NSO: Wario Land 3. For a 23 year old portable game, Wario Land 3 sure feels modern and refreshing. The day and night cycle of each stage, all the different objectives, that game is a pure source of joy and dopamine. However, my answer will probably change (again,) once Nintendo drops Golden Sun and the two The Legend of Zelda Oracle games. — Daniel
One of the great things about the NSO library is its ability to bring over a bunch of import games that never originally released overseas. Since I’m in the UK, I’m very familiar with missing out on a bunch of these older games! For me, the poster child for this is EarthBound. In the SNES days, all the way up to the Wii U, it was a mythical game that we only knew about through Smash Bros. Now you can casually find it in a retro library on the Switch. As it should be, because EarthBound is a brilliant RPG full of charm and humor that we deserved to have 20 years earlier. Plus, with the Wii U eShop gone, this is now the only official way to play it in Europe, making it even more essential. Now we just need Mother 3 added to the GBA library and all will be right with the world. — Leigh
