2024 Has Been The Busiest Year Yet For Nintendo Switch Online In North America

Too bad people will still complain.

NSO has been great for me personally.

Hey, I actually like Alleyway! A nice, little Nintendo version of an old PC game.

But, yeah, a solid year overall by NSO’s standards. I hope Donkey Kong 64 and Diddy Kong Racing come next year, and the GBA gets more attention. No telling how Switch 2 will really change things until they show it, but I’m still happy NSO will carry over all the same.

I've spent well over 700 hours total on these apps. I really appreciate the frequent updates.

My basic membership just ran out (I started in 2018 with Smash Ultimate) and I'm temporarily pausing. Debating if I want to upgrade to NSO+ starting next year. The service has a bunch of games now that I do really want to play and I'll probably work out a group plan with friends to make it cheaper.

@Axecon same thing happened to me like 2 years ago and I switched. if you can hop on a family plan for the +expansion pass. If you can get 8 people you got yourself the whole gambit for $10 a year. Super worth it. Otherwise anything passed like 4 people also makes it way affordable. I love the Genesis app the most out of the expansion pack but the N64 and GBA are bomb as well.

I think I will start collecting old games again. For some reason I have been in the mood for Pokemon Snap for a while now.

The lack of mainline Pokémon games is still so disappointing. Those were the only games I've ever played on the GBC and GBA.

Golden Sun has been a great discovery though. Unfortunately my subscription ran out before I got too far in though

I just renewed my subscription(expansion pack). No regrets, has been totally worth it for me.

Hopefully they keep up that pace. While I've had some fun perusing Nintendo's history in the current library, I'm really just waiting for them to burn through their pre-2000's catalogue and move on to my first home console; the GameCube. Either that, or maybe they'll finally crack open the Game Freak vault and start giving us mainline Pokemon games. They're not getting me to buy the expansion pack without at least one of those.

Been very much enjoying NSO as well. Sure the dripfeed sucks but there's a good amount on there already.

I just hope that they'll introduce folders into these apps sometime. A way to better categorize them for yourself. Right now, especially for the ones with a lot of games, it can be a bit hard to navigate the wall of boxarts.

That’s quite a lot!

I remember when they introduced the Expansion Pack and all the negative reception that it got upon the reveal with its limited game library, but it’s nice to hear that over a few years the service improved and now boasts a lot of amazing and iconic games and supports more retro game systems. I remember having a blast with the N64 Expansion Pack when I had it. I wonder what games they’ll be adding to the service next year...just thinking about that is exciting!

I’ve kept more of a watchful eye on Nintendo Switch Online releases this year. Still tough for me to really make use of the catalogue, but from this year’s releases, I finished Alleyway, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past + Four Swords and Cosmo Gang the Puzzle.

Yeah, the output of NSO games has been pretty solid this year, but I feel like there weren't as many heavy-hitters. Some big ones that come to mind are Metroid: Zero Mission, Four Swords, Donkey Kong Land I-III, the Starfy series, Super Mario Land, Mario Tennis/Golf GBC, and Banjo-Tooie.

But the majority of these games are short experiences that can be beaten in just a couple hours. This year's lineup pales in comparison to the first year of N64 when we got Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Paper Mario, Banjo-Kazooie, Kirby 64, all those initial Genesis games, Animal Crossing Happy Home DLC, etc. I'd argue the launch years for SNES and GB/GBA NSO were also better.

The weaker lineup this year isn't just because we didn't get a new platform added this year though, as there are still many more quality games they can put on the service. I can't believe it's taking this long to get Diddy Kong Racing, Donkey Kong 64, and Super Smash Bros. It's been three years now. It's also frustrating we don't have the other Wario Land games yet.

This was a good year for NSO when it comes to archiving games that are historically important but not necessarily ones that people are dying to play, like Mach Rider and Donkey Kong Jr. Math. I can appreciate they're on the service for preservation purposes, but they're more of a novelty than anything. There was also no big DLC expansion, since the Mario Kart 8 Booster Course Pass already wrapped up in 2023. Not even the Splatoon 3 Side Order DLC was included.

So yeah, I appreciate the output, as it didn't feel like we were waiting for ages for something new to drop. But this year probably had the least-compelling additions to the service since the abysmal 2018 when it was just NES games. 2020 might have also been worse, as I only really remember Donkey Kong Country 1-3, Super Mario All-Stars, and Super Mario 35. But this was like the third-worst year overall, and the worst year for Expansion Pass subscribers, imo.

I still really like the service, but I'm hoping for more in 2025. If we don't get a new platform like GameCube or DS games, then I really hope we get the above-mentioned titles that are still missing, as well as WarioWare: Twisted, Kirby Nightmare in Dream Land, Kirby Block Ball, DK '94, DK King of Swing, Super Mario Bros. DX, Mario Party Advance, Mario Golf Advance Tour, Mario Tennis Power Tour, and Mario Pinball Land.

Makes sense due to the lack of great AAA Nintendo games this year compared to previous ones. Yesterday's TGA just exposed how bad we need Switch 2 to come out.
And I still think that even though it is the cheapest, the value compared to Game Pass and PS Plus Extra f.ex is the lowest by far. (I have both NSO Expansion Pass and PS Plus Extra Yearly Subscriptions and have used the later subscription much much much more)

I agree about the DLC. I was hoping some if not all of their DLC offerings would be available for subscribers at no extra charge. It would be cool if we at least got more on that side of things. It's a neat idea.

Also, I think it's been 4 straight weeks with a new addition to the service? Which is kinda awesome. Like the Wii days! I'm curious to see if that continues, even if it is just 1 title each week.

I’ve been super happy with the Rareware games added this year - Blast Corps, Jet Force Gemini, and Banjo Tooie.

Só quero Smash Bros 64 e Conkers!!!

@KY502ShinyHunter agreed, I get my hopes up every February that something will come up but no dice so far.

I wonder if game break thinks they could make more money releasing them individually or something on the e-shop and I'm all for it man, I can pay for that. I do feel like the aspect ratio of GB games is pretty strange on the switch, especially in handheld, I wish I could flip it 90 degrees to make at least look a little nicer.

Getting Banjo Tooie was amazing. I just want DK64 though!!

@Ryu_Niiyama People complain because it is still just a drip feed. Many of the NES and Gameboy games you can beat in a few hours. The SNES ones, a little longer save for the RPGs. You often have to wait weeks or more to get certain consoles when there is a vast library, many of which are first party games.

NSO has been amazing for me the past two years - played so many games I've wanted to for ages.
I think we will receive at least one or two more games before the year is out - last few months think we've been getting at least 4 a month from what I recall.

To me NSO is already worth it for the cloud saves, because I travel a lot for work. But all these games are huge benefits for me as well . Love the complete franchise collections Nintendo is slowly but surely building on the Switch. Via NSO and rereleases

That's fine? But it's nowhere near where it should be. That entire NES/SNES/Genesis/Master System/Game Boy/Game Boy/Game Boy Advance/N64 Color back catalog needs to be ready to go yesterday.

With the Nintendo premium on lots of games, I'd expect some of this stuff (e.g. cloud saves and online gaming) to be free

Yet somehow still incredibly underwhelming.

And I like NSO!

I've gotten my money's worth and then some every year but especially this year. I have no shortage of ways to play all these games but the slick interface and vivid OLED+great form factor with the split grip pro on the curated lists is just top notch. If these carry over exactly into the next console I'll definitely be keeping my subscription.

give me back my virtual console!

Alleyway is awesome, one of my all-time favorite Game Boy games.

@Ryu_Niiyama Too bad people aren't allowed to critique a paid service /s

NSO mileage varies for all of us, but I'm more satisfied than mad. And right now, this one week drop makes me happier than the "one sweet day" drop method. I hope it continues and hope that multi-game one week drops are next. So much library, so much time.
On a side note, maybe we'll finally see StarTropics II-- Insane that hasn't come yet when the first dropped so early.

I feel like they might drop DK64 for Christmas next week.

Looks like they're saving more of the heavily requested games for next year. Everyone wants Diddy Kong Racing and DK64, both of which would be perfect for all the Donkey Kong hype that's been going on leading up to Donkey Kong Country Returns HD, but I don't think we're getting any more NSO games before the end of the year.