With the Switch’s successor set to be revealed before March of next year, Nintendo seems intent on sending the original console out in style. During the June Nintendo Direct, the company revealed a remake of Dragon Quest 3, the long-anticipated Metroid Prime 4, and a Legend of Zelda game that finally makes Zelda the hero. Old-school Nintendo fans have plenty to look forward to as well, with the announcement of a few classic Game Boy Advance and Nintendo 64 games heading to the Switch Online retro collection today.
On the Game Boy Advance side, Nintendo is adding The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past Four Swords and Metroid: Zero Mission. The Nintendo 64 collection will be getting Turok: Dinosaur Hunter and Perfect Dark. Like all Game Boy Advance and Nintendo 64 titles on Switch Online, players will need to be subscribed to the optional Expansion Pass to access the new titles. The Nintendo 64 releases are also the first entries coming to a new Switch app specifically for games rated Mature.
In addition to being some of the most beloved games for their respective consoles, almost all the new games coming to Switch Online are also setting the stage for new entries in their series (sorry, Turok). Both The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom and Metroid Prime 4 were announced at the Nintendo Direct today and got some of the biggest responses from the online audience. A new Perfect Dark game is also on the way, after a long development cycle — though it’s only coming to Xbox Series X/S and PC, and not the Nintendo Switch. The Perfect Dark sequel showed its first gameplay less than two weeks ago during the Xbox Games Showcase.
Two of the four games coming to Switch Online today also offer multiplayer support, both with novel game modes. The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords lets up to four players join a campaign together, each playing as a copy of Link. The players work together to make their way through dungeons while also fighting to claim the most rupees in order to be crowned the round’s winner. Each time you dive into a dungeon, its map is randomized, which encouraging playing through the mode again and again. Four Swords also inspired The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures for the GameCube, an innovative multiplayer game that used Game Boy Advance handhelds as controllers.
Perfect Dark may be even more inventive when it comes to multiplayer modes. Its competitive modes include common multiplayer games like capture the flag and a deathmatch, but it also lets players choose what weapons appear along with other customization options. The most interesting part of Perfect Dark’s multiplayer comes from its two-player modes. In addition to a co-op campaign that has players tackling stages together, it also offers the unique Counter Operative mode. In this mode, one player attempts to finish levels as protagonist Joanna Dark, while another controls an enemy trying to stop, jumping into another enemy’s body if they’re defeated.
Since its launch, Nintendo Switch Online has varied greatly in the new games it adds. While there’s definitely some value in offering less-popular games to give players a chance to experience forgotten gems, subscribers understandably prefer when the service adds already beloved games. These latest additions represent some of the biggest games ever added to Switch Online, and the fact that they’re keeping a few idiosyncratic multiplayer modes alive at the same time just sweetens the deal.
Overall, today’s Direct shows that Nintendo isn’t slacking in the leadup to the Switch 2’s reveal. With sequels to some of its most beloved franchises and revivals of a handful of older classics, it looks like Nintendo’s goal with this Direct was to make sure players remember what makes the Switch one of the all-time great consoles.
