Nintendo Adds New NES Games And SP Versions To Switch Online Earlier Than Planned

Is star topics really that good a game?

Oooh yay! My facourite NES games.

I'm currently on the final part of Zelda II but this would have been a great way to get me to play it had I not already got to the end.

Honestly this makes me happy, if only because we can look forward to Danny doing a second superpowered playthrough of Zelda 2 on Game Grumps, like they did with the original Zelda SP.

@jobvd In the beginning it is, but once the difficulty ratchets up, look out.

Take it from me having played and exhaustively beaten it on Wii U VC.

@ReaderRagfihs Double-thick plaid socks! Just in time for winter!
Though at least I’ll play more than a few minutes of Zelda II now.

@jobvd

Yes - played it on the NES classic for the first time and loved every minute! Great game - it is now one of my favorite Nes games!

Startropics is a fantastic game. On the other hand, we could start receiving SNES games already

Hah, I called the Zelda II SP version. It basically gives you access to the "New Game +".

Oh hey, a playable version of Zelda II

Huh, instant extra mode on Kirby's Adventure is the first SP game I'll play.

Imagine if they would've localized and released fire emblem to the west instead of just releasing it in Japan. One can only dream.

Startropics is great, been looking forward to playing that again. Kid Icarus is a whole lot of meh.

Can we have some Japan only games

I couldn’t care less at this point.

Might finally try and complete Zelda II this way now. I have probably started it over a dozen times throughout my life and never gotten past the half way point. Might finally cross the second to last Zelda game (no I do not count the CDi games) off my beaten list. Skyward Sword will be the final one for me and once that shiny switch re-release (please!) is released I will complete the series!

I try to champion StarTropics EVERY CHANCE I get as a person who played it way back when it first came out on NES. It will always be a game that flies under the radar, but I will do all I can to make sure as many people play this gem as possible. * Starts humming Sub-C theme *

@jobvd oh hell yeah. If you like top down Zelda, Star tropics is must play.

Star Tropics 2 is too.

Now I can finnally try this fabled startropics game!

"Quiz time! Do you know which town names in this game appear as key characters in a different game within the Legend of Zelda series?"

All of them except Kasuto.

I know this is an exhausted point by now, but see if they would just put SNES games up, I would lose hours and hours to that, I would instantly change from a monthly to a yearly subscription, I would be much more appreciative frankly.

@NintendoFan4Lyf I remember playing Zelda II way back as a young kid and never finished it. I got stuck, wasn't "gud" enough, and had to return to it later (an older kid) to beat it, but yeah, it had me raging and tearing up as well. I was emotional when I finally beat it, palms sweaty and all, punishing that damned shadow. Good times
As an extension to that story, I played Zelda II again "for old times sake" when the Zelda Collection came out on GCN and... I absolutely destroyed it :/ ...Go figure...

I haven't really played any NES games for a while. I took a quick look at the games available and was reminded that there are multiple games I haven't played/finished before now. I guess I'll play some of them soon. Also took a look at the Japanese app but it hasn't updated yet. I want to try out Fire Emblem.

Isn't it weird that StarTropics was released only in the West? (Great game, BTW.)

I beat Kirby's Adventure before the SP edition came out but I don't have the "Extra Game". Do I have to 100% it? (It's at about 75%.)

ON EDIT: I do wish manuals were included somehow. I hate futzing my way through games.

I can't wait to play star tropics. Tonight. Only had it on the nes classic but having it on the go ill finish it for sure.

The menu gets really cluttery with all these SP "versions". I wish we could hide them or something

@ALinkttPresent I know you can rearrange them all at the bottom if you'd like (but there's a limit for how many in a row, of course; think it's like 8 or something).

One day... we'll get an SP version of Super Mario Bros. 3 with a Level Select enabled. One day.

Maybe.

I guess.

Probably not.

@AlexSora89 you could create your own with save states. Also, acquiring the warp whistles isn't too hard.

So...

Tetris 99 is still the better game.

...good to know!

@jobvd Yes.

I might give Zelda II SP a try. I have never beaten Zelda II but a head start in stats will help a little.

Kid Icarus looks like it would be fun

I probably won't - the app finds no updates here. Even the Famicom one doesn't.

Little interest in the specials, but the first Kid Icarus game and an action adventure are a neat combo to get in one month. And while it would take a big dreamer to remotely expect an original Fire Emblem's localisation (especially years after Shadow Dragon happened), I still find myself with legal paid access to this game at long last, so hey. I doubt 3DS VC would ever let me do that easily. XD

@andrew20
Download the Jap App and you'll get their games

@jobvd YES

Startropics is an absolute cracker of a game. To be honest it doesn’t get much better than that so we may as well move on to SNES and N64 now 😁

@frabbit Just get a couple friends/family members in on a family plan with you. I'm only paying about $10 a year personally (which is why I rarely complain about the service's shortcomings). And getting free NES games--when they're of Startropics and Zelda II calibur--is awesome.

Hard pass for me.

I haven't played Kid Icarus since I was a kid. I can't wait to load it up and get my butt handed to me as I attempt to get anywhere lol. These old NES games are so brutally hard to beat lol.

every time i see new games added to switch online, i rush in hoping to see solar jetman. -runs in, checks, sighs in corner-

Not gonna lie. Hyped for the SP zelda 2 game. It's the only game I never finished from the series. This makes it so much better. I quit this game too many times.

Give Kid Icarus a chance. The first three levels are the hardest (because Pit is at his weakest). Once you get upgrades, it is more forgiving (save states help too).

Also, once you get the flow of platforming levels folllowed by a dungeon exploration level, it is quite fun and unique. Part Mario style, part Zelda style.

SNES games now please! Or N64.. or Gamecube. . . . .

I wish y'all would stop saying you are getting free games. You are "getting" nothing for free. You are renting the games and every year or month or whatever you are still paying for the same ones over and over. If we had the option like VC to purchase and play these games for as long as we desired that would be one thing.

Woohoo! Can't wait to play Star Tropics when I get home!

The only thing that really bothers me is that we're already down to two games a month while Japan is still getting three. I mean, there is plenty left to release so why reduce the already-slow drip feed?

Yup, more NES games. Not that I don't like 'em, but at this rate, we don't have to expect GameCube games, or perhaps not even N64 games, before 2024...

@AlexSora89 An SP version of Super Mario Bros. 3 will be you starting the game with lots of P-Wings.

@Illusion
Sure, but it can't really beat this.

@retro_player_22
Now that would be neato.

One day early. I’ll try it next month when they add 2 more games

Anyone else not got the games yet? Doesn’t seem to be any way of updating when I use or restart the app?

@frabbit, you realize your spending up to $50 a year that way.

Zelda 2 and Kid Icarus are intriguing. Still, I am sick of NES games. Even though I prefer them over what PS Plus gives out and Xbox.

If the drip feed was dripped weekly I probably wouldn't mind (more than two at a time would be nice, but still).

Once upon a time, I had a copy of Kid Icarus on the NES and could never get passed the first level. Ended up returning it to the Funcoland (back when those were a thing)

Then, fast forward a decade or two, and Kid Icarus Uprising had a free "3D Classics" version of the original on the 3DS. And then I still couldn't beat the first level. Eventually I got through it and then reached the dungeon stage. The dungeon stages were SO MUCH MORE FUN! And once you get more HP and better weaponry, the game actually becomes a lot easier, and the final stages are a breeze. There's a decent game buried under that learning curve. Give it a shot and stick to it!

(Star Tropics is fantastic though. If you haven't played it yet, then go try that one first)

@GameOtaku

So you would rather buy the games again everytime there is a new Nintendo console til the end of time at say £3 a game? Rather than pay £18 for the year just so you 'own' them.

@GameOtaku people are paying mostly for the chance to play online games (Mario Kart, Splatoon, etc.)
The "free" games is mostly a plus...

Nice! I may try to fire these up later tonight!! Although, I was secretly kinda hoping they'd sneak out SNES classic too. Que lastima.

As for the reused names from Zelda II....let's see....

Ruto, Saria, Mido, Midoro (Swamp), Nabooru, and Daruina.

Lemme know if I made any mistakes. I don't recall seeing Rauru or Kasuto in more recent Zelda games. But I suppose I wouldn't be surprised if they were used, and I'm just blanking.

Cheers!

@Desrever And if I remember correctly, the dungeons are small enough that you can kick it old school and map them out on graph paper as you explore them.

@NerdNoiseRadio Kasuto hasn't been used (though I wouldn't be surprised if some forest or hill in BotW used its name) but Rauru was the old dude from OoT who is the first sage waiting for you once you reach the Light World. Also, he's the owl? I think? Been a while since my last play-through.

@Tandy255 Yes! Somewhere buried under all the junk I left at my parents house, I have notebooks filled with poorly drawn maps which could more or less get you to Ganon and Mother Brain, though they weren't completely accurate.

The shop feature in Kid Icarus was also pretty great, since you really had to be smart about your purchases. I never read the instruction manual, so I was buying most items just out of curiosity alone.

@Desrever, ach verdammt! That's right! I was soooooo close!!

Gonna beat the dead horse again and ask "SNES, Game Boy, GBA, N64 games when?"

So... When?

Great, more dated NES games. I loved the NES and the NES Classic Edition has given me hours of fun, but Nintendo seriously needs to update the online infrastructure. Outsource it to a third party and get it up to date. Make it so friend codes are no longer needed. Make it so voice chat isn't a big chore to do. Make it so the Virtual Console returns with an iTunes style infrastructure that allows users to download games from the NES, SNES, N64, GameCube, Game Boy Advance, 3DS, Sega Genesis, Neo Geo, TurboGrafix and select Arcade titles. Why is this so hard to do? They have a wide library of titles. The Switch is amazing and so much fun, but this flaw is more apparent with each passing day.

Some goofy things with Kid Icarus (if I remember correctly):

— Hearts are currency, not your life meter

— Verical levels don’t scroll backwards (so you can die trying to go back to a platform you were just on)

— Pushing down on certain platforms causes you to drop down (even though you intended to just duck down)

Why would you play Kirby on a harder difficulty if you can't even beat the easier difficult needed to unlock it?

@dazzleshell
The account system now in place should allow us to download games again like that in the future, heck my 3ds is linked to my account so it shouldn't be that big a stretch to have access to VC games and play them anytime I want till the end of time for one fee rather than paying year after year for games the big n chooses to put out for us to sample.

I give the SP versions a lot of crap, but I’ll play this Zelda II. I’ve never gotten through that game, so I’ll accept the cheats.

Why are we adding "out" to verbs that imply an "out" by their very defintion? Tweet out, separate out, swap out (the most infuriating) and now copied out. You don't copy out anything. You copy it. If anything, you've copied in!

As for NES Online, this slow release (or, is that release out?) of tired, old games won't ever get me to join. More new games like Tetris 99 will.

@Tandy255
Also, you want to progress slowly to get the maximum amount of enemies to spawn (to collect more hearts to spend at the shop).

Kirby's Adventure will always be my favorite game, and while I could already access Extra mode on the 3D Classics and NES mini versions, it's nice to see the SP version will let you access it from the get-go. I think it's the first SP version of a game to make it more difficult.

Two NES games a month is kind of pathetic. I mean, I'll get the online service for pokemon once it comes out, but between poor netcode for smash and these paltry NES offerings(what few there are) I'm content playing single player games and local smash games with friends. Sorry Nintendo, try harder. 2 NES games, 2 SNES games, and 1 N64/gamecube game a month might turn some heads however. But bringing a handful of 8 bit era games to the switch is not impressive.

I tried to update the app yesterday evening and it said I already had the latest version. Weird.

@BispoSnake Does Rick want his Szechuan Sauce, too?

@HalBailman This comment you've "spoken out" speaks to me personally, lmao. I felt like I was reading something I wrote! English is a beautiful descriptive language, but watching it become corrupted and reductive over time in the internet age is brutal.

i think nintendo said there look at improving this service a year after launch which would be September.So hopefully than we get Snes games, I know its much cheaper than ps plus etc and yes you are paying a little bit for there so called free games on ps plus or xbox. But when you see the quality of the stuff offered you don't really care, Nintendo need to do something soon to improve it and yes i will be happy waiting Sept. what with Mario maker 2 etc coming out before than i be happy in june for the online service. At the moment i hardly use my sub but when that mario maker 2 comes out you better believe I use it.

@jobvd Its good but flawed.

@mikegamer I love when people with an Ironicly Ugly Link avatar, make a blank statement with no factual input to substantiate it. Any opinions to shine some light upon this revelation??

@HalBailman you can "release in" in lots of situations and scenarios.