In case you missed it, the Nintendo Switch could possibly be adding Game Boy titles to its online service in the near future.
Following on from the initial "leak", a list of games apparently tested for the service has now been shared online by Twitter user and dataminer MondoMega. The games highlighted in yellow in the list below have supposedly been in the ROM folder "at some point" but have not appeared in the leaked build of the Game Boy Advance emulator codenamed "Sloop".
The same source also explains how these games have only been "tested". In other words, there's no guarantee all of them will necessarily receive a release in the future - even if a GBA service is announced.
As you can see, there are all sorts of GBA classics mentioned such as The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, Metroid Fusion, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, F-Zero: Maximum Velocity, and the fantastic Golden Sun games.
@Mondo_Mega - "The library of GBA games they've tested for this thing is massive. Tested is the key word; doesn't mean they'll all actually launch on the service. Yellow = in the rom folder at some point but not in the leaked build. There's one other game with evidence of being tested though-"
The same source also revealed Pokémon Ruby / Sapphire / Emerald link cable emulation "testing" has likely taken place:
"There are multiple screenshots of different berry tag screens from Pokemon Ruby / Sapphire / Emerald saved in the emulator; most likely taken during link cable emulation testing."
While there's not quite as much to talk about the Game Boy and Game Boy Color emulation - codenamed "Hiyoko", GBC titles will apparently run as separate apps. The ones spotted so far include Super Mario Land, The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX, Tetris and Qix.
"Not much to talk about with GB(C) though. The build of Hiyoko we have here is in an earlier state than Sloop; each game is a seperate app and there's only four of them: Super Mario Land, Link's Awakening DX, Tetris, Qix"
Game Boy emulators for Switch were first discovered in a 2019 datamine. This was followed by various reports last year about Nintendo's classic handheld libraries coming to Switch's online service at some point in the future.
If we hear any other developments, we'll be sure to let you know.
[source twitter.com, via nintendoeverything.com]
Comments (81)
Castlevania: Aira of Sorrow has to be my favourite.
It might be illuminating if we saw a detailed spreadsheet tracking the accuracy of these rumours. Beyond a simple accuracy percentage, it might be nice to know which sources are accurate, and at which times of year. Are "leaks" in a fairly dry period like April more accurate than, say, pre-E3 rumours?
EDIT: I've been lost in Excel all day. HELP
Im honestly surprised Mother 3 isn't here as a Japan exclusive
Why Battle Network 2 and 5 and not, I don't know, the first one?
While all various games have their individual value being in here, I'd say the most useful GBA games they could get on here would be picking up where the 3DS dropped off and get the gen 3 Pokemon games up on here. Which of course are not the Pokemon games on the list. Oh well. They got as far as gen 2 with Crystal on the 3DS before, which while appreciated are now going away themselves. Which in Game Freak's rare defense, is not on them this time.
If for no other reason other than the typical game preservation reasoning, to give those Battle Frontier fans that have been pining for it since Pokemon Emerald, to get it back in some form. Because we're not realistically expecting it in gen 9 if it hasn't been a thing thus far. That and hey, if everything Kanto-related as far as Pokemon merch is involved is FireRed/LeafGreen based, might as well have it be playable on something more recent than a device from 2004, you know?
Both Metroid GBA games are on here. Just need Metroid 2! If true...
It’d be cool if Drill Dozer took advantage of the switch’s HD rumble
That's a very solid lineup! And that's just a select test on GBA not even including GB or GBC. I'm sure we're gonna get a lot more, pretty much everything is guaranteed except maybe mainline Pokemon and Mother 3.
@PokemonDMG I'd love to play the full lineup of Metroid games on Switch and I'll bet we get classic Metroid 2 on the GB emulator.
My preferred dedicated handheld ever on my preferred console ever.
So much love!
If Metroid and Zelda are there, I'm in.
Pretty good list for gba.
Superstar Saga!!!
Super Circuit!!!
WarioWare!!!
Mario vs. Donkey Kong!!!
Minish Cap!!!
Amazing Mirror!!!
This is definitely a solid list, though I'd expect more to come eventually. GBA isn't exactly one of my favorite software libraries, so I don't know how much is missing. Some games that come to mind off the top of my head are Mario Pinball Land, Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, and the Donkey Kong Country ports (my dad loved the fishing minigame in the first one that wasn't on SNES). Four Swords would be awesome if they can make it so you can connect multiple Switch systems together wirelessly. Would be amazing for other games too, like Super Circuit. They could also localize the original Rythm Heaven or something--that'd be really cool and scratch a certain itch for people.
The third-party stuff is a pleasant surprise. If they partnered with Square to get a Kingdom Hearts game, then Super Mario RPG is inevitable...right? Then you have Mega Man Battle Network, which is one of my former friends' favorite series. We had a falling out a few years back, but I'm happy for him. I'll probably give it a try, as well as some other stuff I missed like Golden Sun. Oooh, and those e-Reader levels in Mario 3!!!
I HAVE EXCITEMENT!
Great game list! Will look stunning on the Switch OLED. Always found the colours very washed out my New 2DS XL.
@Farts_Ahoy No offense meant: I dislike your username. Particularly when thinking about a rumbling controller.
mother 3 baby make it happen
The hell with that mother 3 there's nothing special to that game still don't understand the hype over that game.. since it's just meh. Golden sun on the other hand is great if this is true.
Yes, both Astro Boy: Omega Factor and Ninja Five-0 makes it worth getting NSO if this is true. Two hidden gems that never got re-release anywhere.
@CANOEberry it gets worse once you realize I’ve also ruined your favorite chocolate chip cookies…
ASTRO BOY: OMEGA FACTOR is all I needed to see. My copy was stolen with my SP out of my car, so it would be nice to play it again.
Friends of Mineral Town would be a very weird one to include given the remake, though I'd still love to have it. Not a huge difference between them mechanically - some things I think the GBA one does better, some the Switch, though mostly they're pretty interchangeable - but I do kind of prefer the GBA one's aesthetics.
Who wants to bet if this is real or not?
I very much look forward to these dropping at an irregular and snail-like pace...
I laughed so hard when I saw Kingdom Hearts, no way square enix much less Disney would allow that.
But megaman battle network caught my attention
It’s a long shot. Maybe impossible based on rights holders and all that… but I want fire pro GBA on the switch so badly. I’ll buy whatever service I have to.
List looks too good to be true.
Nah, that list looks to heavenly. Not believing this in it's entirety
@AnnoyingFrenzy Seriously thats so weird. Lol
@liljmoore not the only odd thing I noticed either. Why Fire Emblem Sacred Stones and not the more popular "original" Fire Emblem? Why Super Mario Advance 3 when Yoshis Island is already on SNES online?
Doesn’t stack up to the Wii U GBA VC. But Nintendo would tell us that the only games that matter are the games in their subscription service. But no Klonoa would be really bad..
I have a LOT of these already but if this leak is true this is great for people who missed out. I still play on my GBA today very often and I often enjoy playing the Sonic Advance games.
@Not_Soos Although I would love to see Nightmare in Dreamland if this ever becomes real, they might not add it due to Kirby's Adventure already being on NSO.
I see no FF Tactics Advance on there.
Not that I was expecting it but it would be a damn shame if Square Enix and Nintendo couldn't make it happen.
On that note, Super Mario RPG??
FE SACRED STONES?!?
MINISH CAP?!?
KINGDOM HEARTS?!?
Sacred stones was my first fire emblem game so if they add that to the service I can finally beat it along with minish cap!
@AnnoyingFrenzy Was trying to figure out the same, though two was my favorite it feels weird to just start there. Hopefully 1 is inbound as well (assuming this is all true to begin with)
@iaLgan where does your profile pic come from?
RIP the Sonic Advance series, I swear if they added Chao trading... this service would be 0.102 better.
Good list, but Sacred Stones instead of Blazing Blade is an outrage, lol
Really odd they omitted the Sonic Advance series. Those are some of the purest distillations of a Sonic game, so it’ll be a loss as a service.
I would like this to be true. Would like to see the KH GBA game ofc. and others.
Not getting it for castlevania tho. The Advance collection exists for that reason.
@PBNightmare Indeed, list looks like "all the games we want on GBA". So this literally makes it unbelievable.
I'm shocked and amazed to see Fire Emblem and SRW OG on that list. (Catslevania too, but that's in a Konami Collection, very unlikely it will get into this set unless it's gonna be part of the Expansiom too)
Super Mario Bros Advance 4: Super Mario Bros 3 aside from being the greatest named video game ever, came with all the e-reader levels when they released it for VC on the Wii-U. If the NSO version does the same and we get Wind Waker Hd port it'll be time to pack up my Wii U for good
Not gonna lie, I would probably upgrade my NSO for Minish Cap.
I already have it through 3DS but only got around halfway or so before I stopped playing it. I'd pay to not drag out my 3DS even though it's a great console and I have many, many games downloaded on it.
Edit: And my 3DS is only about 20 feet away from me in a drawer in the Living Rooms entertainment center. Lol
@JakedaArbok @AlienX I've heard their may be some copyright issues with the Sonic Advance games as THQ published them in America :-/
Folks, there is no way the full GBA list here is all coming to NSO. Some of these are separately being sold, such as the Castlevanis games. Tempering expectations is advised.
Would be interesting if they put the original gameboy pokemon games (r/b/y G/s/p Ruby/Sapphire) on this and let us move pokemon via home with them.
Hopefully they bring Golden Sun but it’ll have to be both. The second game is better and it’s essentially 1 game over 2 carts. Can’t wait if I’m honest, was such a good console.
Where is Megaman Battle Network 3 and 4?
I will just subscribe for Astoboy Omega Force. Still have the original cart. One of the best games on GBA.
I hope they rerelease a small Gameboy device that can play all of their Retro Console libraries & sell it for $99 bucks. I'd buy that up right away. Having the option to actually buy and own those titles would be a massive money maker. I have a Switch Lite too but it isn't really portable unless I carry a bag with me too.
Astro Boy was such a great game
Wishlist:
The Sims games
Spyro games
Crash games
That list almost looks too suss but damn if every single one of those games isn’t a stone cold classic I’d play in a heartbeat.
My assumption is GBA games will get added to the premium sub but GBC titles (here’s hoping for MGS) will be with the base sub.
There's a hope for Wario Ware Twisted support. The Switch is in a unique position to support it properly.
I'm just here to remind people Camelot's masterpiece is Shining Force and Golden Sun is overrated.
Thank you for listening.
There will be no mainline Pokémon game.
im in the same situation i was with the NES/SNES/N64 games, as in there are many games on this list that i would be more than happy to buy if there was the option to however they will more than likely be part of the whole "games as service" thing and i don't really like putting time into single player games where access to them is reliant on an online service as in when it closes you cant play the games, no safety net like with the VC where you can still play the games you downloaded.
I do wish it had a "buy and keep" option like gamepass does (along with some screen and control options) since nintendo has a very strong library of legacy content across its systems from both first and third parties.
I would love to try out an older Fire Emblem game
@rushiosan
I don’t see why not. They put the first two gen games on VC. Maybe the Advance Pokémon games will be purchase only?
I hope gba is included in the $20 plan. Also I want double dragon gba advance version in there, that game is great 😃
I don't normally comment on rumors like this but oml, Battle Network?? That would get me to instantly throw down the money for this. I LIVED for the Battle Network series when I was younger and still have all my games, even got the DS dual title from GameStop in early 2020. KH Chain of Memories was the first KH game I ever played and it would be wild to revisit it on the Switch.
I really hope we get announcement of this expansion soon so I can prepare my wallet haha.
I'm only buying this if Mother 3 comes here with this, otherwise, It's not really that worth it for me.
A constant pummeling of classic titles... plus Qix for GB
If Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga Comes to Switch, I'll go insane
If you want to own and control your games, either buy OG hardware, or play via emulation. Use your brains people, THINK. Don't let this be our future, however good it actually is. If emulation is your only option, DO IT! It isn't illegal! Don't be sheeple.
This is cool and all, but where's CDI games for the switch? Come on Nintendo, CDI is what we really want.
@DannyBoi L + Don't care
Hope that they’ll put spyro games but it seems like they mostly put 3rd party games if thier character got in smash
I'd much rather have these as virtual consoles/eshop titles or physical collections rather than NSO. I have NSO online but I hate that they would be pay locked. TBH most of these games I already own carts of, Astro Boy, Kirby etc. But it would be great for a wider audience! Most everything on this list is a banger, only a handful I haven't played. Would be great to get main line pokemon on there.
If I had to guess? The ones in yellow will be their typical, 'announced for a later date at launch but drip fed until they get more stuff ready' line up.
I'd hope that RSE & FRLG not being on here means that they're trying to do more than just adding a one-way trip to Home to the ROMS. Maybe the ability to send them to Home then back to another compatible game, or online Trading with people on your Friends List.
With the whole $50 expansion pass being out, there is definitely some hope that the GBA Expansion Pack could become a reality. Like before, nah. But now? Maybe.
I wonder if this will be part of the Expansion Pak or as part of a new Advance Pak.
So many good games that I haven’t played. This would be great to have. GBA makes me warm inside. Thinking of all the games I played. Boktail always springs to mind and Minish cap. But mario and luigi was also so good. And the castlevania games
I mean they currently have room for like 3 more systems in their listing where the other systems are enabled in the database. It only makes sense that they would add these.
I have been selling my GBA games because they're worth a ton of money complete inbox and I used that to buy my MiSTer.
However this is creating more value to the service so hopefully they keep it up and then I might get it next year.
And theres the zelda games for this year. Fyi, its not just gba games, there will also be “normal” gameboy games to
@Don They did that to celebrate Pokémon's 20th anniversary, and clearly stated that wasn't the norm, remakes were their priority instead of ports. No GBA mainline Pokémon ever hit the Wii U store. I find it very unlikely to have those games re-released for Switch Online, but I hope I'm wrong.
@Greatluigi Anime i think Rosario Vampire but you won't find this picture unless you download from here since i got this from event.
From Rosario Vampire i think. Anime but you won't get this since i got this from event unless you download from here. But it's resized to fit here on profile.
How much ultra microssdxc 200 cost these days ? Just wondering.
@Not_Soos This probs will come eventually but no way is all of this on launch
I’m just not sure about going digital so I have been buying physical games. I would rather have less games but know they are mine and I won’t have to spend even more on in game purchases.
@RubyCarbuncle I wish I still had my gba lmao. I broke my sp back when I was 7 ):
@DAHstroy 50$ a year for Gba/ A solid list of n64 games that we have now and Nes/snes games + sega stuff is really Good. I just wish we were also allowed to buy these games and maybe nso subscribers could get like a 10% discount
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