Three Sega Genesis / Mega Drive Games Have Been Added To Switch Online's Expansion Pack

At least you get one good game…

At least their adding games at a regular clip. I’m still not interested in upgrading.

EA sports titles were the best thing about the Genesis in the early to mid-90s. I’d love to be able to fire up a quick game of NHL 94 or Madden 93 on my switch someday. I suppose I’ll keep dreaming though! Ahhh!

Sonic Spinball is real?!?!

I want Sonic 3D Blast Flickies island to be added, it’s the only reason I’m still keeping Sega Mega Genesis Drive Classic’s.

I am always down for Sonic Spinball so happy enough with these. I also had no idea they made a sequel to Space Harrier...though I must say the clip here makes it look the exact same as the first one, lol

Fun fact, the old Shining Force games were made by Camelot before they were Camelot.

Very nice, keep 'em coming.

So glad that we got (insert game here) and (insert game here) and even (insert game here).

@Pandy-the-Panda I think we will soon. Since Origins is coming in 2 months I doubt we'll see Sonic 1 on the service for awhile which only leaves 1 Sonic game they can release now.

That Classic Tails plushie is super adorable.

This is a very good update. I’m a fan of all of these. Huge fan of Spinball, and even huge-er fan of Shining Force 2, and a casual fan of Space Harrier 2.
This is a very “Segarific” update!

All these are already on the Sega Genesis Classics Collection so if you hadn't own that yet then yeah having these on NSO is okay but if you already got the collection I would just play it on that instead. Still surprise how Rocket Knight Adventures ain't here yet.

All three already available to own on sega collection :-/

Shining Force II is top-tier gaming.

Shining Force II! HUZZAH! I've always loved all the Shining Force games. Also, Sonic Spinball is a great addition as well.

Guess I better get to shining force 1 hey 🥴

shining force is my childhood!

Nice! Always good to have more games and ways to play them with less input lag.

C'mon!!! (spits water everywhere) Your Honor!!

Guess I'll keep waiting for General Chaos and Skitchin'...

I have Sonic Spinball already so I'm still not interested in upgrading.

Surely a contender with game pass now!

I played a bit of shining force 1 is the sequel any better?

@Specter_of-the_OLED

Rocket Knight never had a re-release, so it should be no surprise he won't get one on the Switch. The most he got was a mediocre sequel in 2010. Konami is more interested in milking more popular franchises like Castlevania and Contra...oh, and Ninja Turtles. If Konami re-releases Rocket Knight games on modern hardware, I'd be shocked they would do such a thing.

@MortalKombat2007 But with Konami now releasing retro games again we may get it once NSO got more titles coming. Hopefully Nintendo doesn't end it too soon like they did the Virtual Console.

@Specter_of-the_OLED that collection is unplayable because of massive input lag.

Shining force 2 is the best rpg ever made. Sega need to bring back the shining force series, none of this shining soul or resonance.

Is m2 doing these ports?

Play Shining Force.

@Kvnc77 Best/Closest I could see happening are Mutant League Football & Hockey.

@Specter_of-the_OLED yry3 they are but I've always found the lag between pressing the button and the game responding to be terrible in the mega drive collection yet it is far better on NSO.

Cool, unless we're not getting new NES & SNES games this month.

I wonder how much cost is added to the Expansion pass for games that get released on all platforms in collections.

I wish we could get some more games that aren't already in the classics collection.

I'm only interested upgrading my subs if nintendo starts adding gamecube and wii games.

@arnold337
That collection uses the very outdated Java based jEnesis emulator in a Unity frontend so input lag is horrific.

The Sega Genesis Classics Collection is on Switch and has some crazy number of games. This branch of NSO still feels supremely superfluous as a result.

@Specter_of-the_OLED The complete lack of re-releases for Rocket Knight Adventures is a crime, really. One of the best games on the Genesis, and, frankly, probably my favorite platformer from that generation.

@Specter_of-the_OLED

Konami will likely release their titles in compilations likes they have been doing with Castlevania and Contra. I don't think Konami has released a single game under Nintendo's online subscription service. Honestly, I would rather buy a Rocket Knight compilation anyways but I doubt that will ever happen because Konami pretty much abandoned the IP.

@MortalKombat2007 Contra: Hard Corps is on the Genesis NSO catalogue. So is Castlevania: Bloodlines

@CreatiScope

I didn't know that...perhaps I forgotten they released those. I have the Contra and Castlevania Collection as well as everything else they released on other platforms including the Genesis mini, so I am not exactly following the expansion pack unless they start releasing games not available elsewhere. I suppose there could a little hope for Rocket Knight but I am not raising my hopes up.

Good thing I already have these in Genesis Collection, otherwise I might be compelled to download them for free somewhere else.

If you play Shining Force II, be aware that the game was pretty rushed in development, and for whatever reason they decided to remove the ability to open treasure chests during battle.
This means that you have to finish a fight before opening chests, and this also means that there are certain chests that just cannot be opened at all, as they require a flying unit to reach, but once the battle is over you only control Bowie...
Yeah.

Shining Force 2 is one of my favorite games EVER! Try it out, guys, you might get a nice surprise! It's Fire Emblem but more RPG focused (you can travel around the world, visit towns and so). Fantastic.

Sonic Spinball is amazing! Looking forward to playing that!

Shining Force 2 is my fave srpg of all time. Irs so good

@SalvorHardin I didn’t know that about the emulator…the lag is truly atrocious in the Genesis/MD Classics Collection. I was so disappointed after buying it. Sonic 2 in that collection is the definition of “unplayable.” IMO it’s night and day compared to the NSO version.

@Kvnc77 Jeez, you are so right! Honestly, if EA want to put legacy content on Switch, bring their Megadrive Sports games to it

@Wyatt006 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xy80yF_RKY

A couple of good additions.

5 games I'd love to see added, off the top of my head...

Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe
Jungle Strike
Sensible Soccer
Wiz n Liz
Roadblasters

And if they ever add Mega CD support too, I hope to see Silpheed and Thunderhawk added.

So why are they even bothering with putting Genesis games on this expansion service that costs $50 when you can buy the whole collection on their own eShop (Sega Genesis Classics) for $30, or perhaps even cheaper elsewhere for a cartridge that’s yours forever? Doesn’t anyone at Nintendo realize how cheap, idiotic, and greedy that looks? 🤔

Sonic Spinball being added before Sonic 1 is hilarious. Apart from that, Shining Force II looks interesting enough and Star Harrier II gives me motion sickness so whoopee I guess.

Awesome! Now can we PLEASE get Gameboy/Gameboy Color/Gameboy Advance Games for Nintendo Switch Online Soon! Please and Thank You #Nintendo

Three!

Wow, Threeeeeeeeeeeee!

How many Nimons have you seen today?

Shinning Force 2 is awesome. It has aged well too. Sonic Spinball is solid as well.

Unfortunately most of the classics people are saying they want, will never be released on the Switch. Sorry to drop that reality check on some of you but it's the truth.

@Kiyata it does look strange to have so much overlap between the NSO genesis offerings and the Genesis classics collection. On paper, the latter is an amazing collection of games—but for folks sensitive to input lag (like me) the emulation is a huge disappointment. I haven’t clocked it but it feels like 0.5 seconds between pressing a button and Sonic jumping on screen. Whereas in the NSO version, the lag feels negligible. I have both, and I HATE the genesis classics version!! Wish I’d never bought it 😡

@SalvorHardin change it then

Wow, some actual good ones!

Cool stuff (Shining Force 2 is a classic and Sonic Spinball is damn fun) but not likely to guide my hand since I have all three games in Mega Drive Collection.

Three absolute bangers, I did not expect to wake up and see this. Nintendo just planned my weekend for me.

@SNES_Chalmers that’s very surprising! I have a switch lite, a switch OLED, and the original switch and I’ve experienced zero input lag or emulation issues of any kind with the Genesis classics collection on any of them, and I even play strictly in handheld mode which is even more of a strain on the processor.. Perhaps your game needs updated? Or maybe your system is old? Not sure why it would be so slow for you.

@Kiyata Interestong…I had just chalked it up to person-to-person variability…my wife doesn’t notice the lag (or any lag for that matter, like when we hook up our NES to a new TV…barf) and it makes me feel kinda crazy.
We have an OG switch and an OLED, and my experience is the same on both. Some others have the same complaint about the Genesis classics collection, so I do think it is a thing, for those that are irked by lag. I’m jealous…would love to be able to enjoy that collection. 🤷‍♂️

@SNES_Chalmers well, in my defense, I still have my original Genesis and many games I bought some 30+ years ago and it seems the same to me as the collection on the switch. I’m a very old school gamer, I even still play my old Intellivision and Atari from when I was young and those seem to feel the same to me as my Intellivision Lives set on DS and the two Atari ones on DS too. 😊

@Kiyata apologies- didn’t mean to imply anything! I don’t doubt you, and if you haven’t experienced lag issues with the collection then that’s great. At the same time I’m not the only one mentioning the lag issue with the classics collection— there’s like 4-5 other examples in these comments as well. I think we can both be right 😉

Ps I checked my software/hardware - both are the latest versions.

Both Shining Force II and Sonic Spinball are fun additions to the service, though I already have them via the Sega Genesis Classics collection.

And why would I want to buy these knowing I can get them from Steam? I mean let's look at the comparisons here shall we?

NSO: $50 every year, need to be connected online to play (games can be played while you are offline, but you must have an active membership and regularly verify your membership by connecting to the internet) meaning no internet connection for some time and it's bye bye, servers down means can't play the game.

Steam: has big sales every so often, can be played offline and with the new SteamDeck, pay once and own it for life.

Seriously, it's really a no brainer.

Spinball is the ideal kind of game for this kind of service I do reckon.
Probably wouldn't buy it, but I'll give it a go on a subscription service.

Shining Force II is one of the best games ever made.
Please bring back the Shining Force series. Why not start with a Shining Force III Complete Edition followed by Shining Force IV. 😉

@SNES_Chalmers it’s all good! 😀 I’m also one of the few that can actually see the “flicker” on an OLED switch screen too. My old eyes have peculiar sensitivities lol.

@Specter_of-the_OLED Can you rewind in that collection?

@BTB20
the existing mega drive/genesis collection on Switch has bad input delay, but yes it does include a rewind feature, which I guess kiiinda makes up for it (but not really). It also includes a fast-forward feature too which in my opinion is the ideal way to play Phantasy Star 2 and especially Phantasy Star 3, which are otherwise very slow-paced. I had my finger holding down that fast-forward button basically the whole time during my PSIII playthrough.

Shinning Force 2 is tight.

Now we just need a proper localization of Shinning Force CD.

@Kvnc77 No they weren't.

A while ago I googled for lists of the best Sega Genesis games. I looked for long lists each at least 50 games long, that were ranked. I assigned points based on rank and added them all up. I was left with 16 lists, 396 unique games and 1,465 total entries.

Shining Force II ended up #9.

I’ve played all three of these in the past. Actually owned all three on Genesis at one point.

Sonic Spinball: it’s a fun take on classic pinball, but unless you’re a fan of pinball there isn’t much there.

Space Harrier II: Game is trash. I’ve always thought it was trash. Hit detection is awful, the framerate is a chug fest, and it doesn’t even come close to Space Harrier Arcade. Do yourself a favor and buy the Arcade game from Sega Ages on Switch. That is how you play Space Harrier.

Shining Force II: Fantastic game that Sega ignores a lot in its collections in favor of just releasing the original. It builds on what made the first game great and adds a good number of features. Totally recommend.

@Wyatt006 Wait. This actually kinda cute. You thought it was made up?? Anyways if you do play it: Go straight to the options menu and turn Sonic from SLOW to FAST. Much better game that way.

@SonicTheHedgehogs Well you are not wrong. It's pretty much an expansion edition. Protip: Press "A" (or should I say "Y") at the start menu. Hidden menu comes up. Select rapid fire ON.

@Angelic_Lapras_King I think we will see Sonic 1 on NSO sooner rather than later. Sonic Origins does NOT contain the original roms like most people think. The 4:3 Classic Mode is ALSO remade. (These are taken from the iPad remasters because the iPad has a 4:3 screen.)

@thinkhector I knew it was real, I was referencing Scott The Woz's Sonic the Hedgehog 3 video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wgn4X44YogM

@MortalKombat2007 Is 3 games enough to make a collection?
(Rocket Knight and the SNES and Genesis versions of Sparkster)

I did buy the Genesis Collection on Switch, despite hearing it has bad emulation (and after buying the Sega Ages games long ago).
When it was reduced to like $12 on sale, that's low enough I might be willing to be more tolerant of bad emulation. That's like, what, a quarter per game or something like that?

@KingMike

Four is apparently enough since Konami released the Castlevania Advance Collection and there are four Rocket Knight games including the 2010 sequel on XBOX Live Arcade and PSN.

Have all these games on my pc and switch I guess I get them again sigh.