If anything, Nintendo has proven massively unpredictable when it comes to their Switch Online service. One might assume updates would slow down in the final months of the Switch’s life, but they’re actually speeding up. Today’s is the largest dump of games in one single category since the service’s launch.
The update, for the NES section, seems like two intended updates mashed together: half classics from Rare and half Black Box titles from early in the console’s existence, plus one untranslated Famicom game to mix things up. We’ve got:
Cobra Triangle and Solar Jetman: These were pretty original in their day, with Cobra Triangle being half racer, half vehicular combat ON BOATS (plus the Loch Ness Monster) and Solar Jetman being Rare’s followup to Jetpac on the Spectrum. They’re still fun, and now you don’t need Rare Replay and an Xbox One to play ’em.
Urban Champion, Golf, Mach Rider: The Black Box titles. Urban Champion has never been anyone’s favorite, a very very early example of a street brawler that hasn’t aged well and wasn’t that great new. Golf is….golf. Mach Rider is a typical example of an 8-bit racing game with a faux 3D perspective faked by line scrolling tricks. If you choose to ignore them, I won’t mind.
Donkey Kong Jr Math: I guess the time has come! One of Nintendo’s most unusual NES originals, this was introduced as part of the launch lineup so they could claim the machine was partly educational. They promised more “smart” games were on the way, but since no one bought this one, that never happened…although Mario and Luigi did star in a couple third-party edutainment games late in the NES’s life.
The Mystery Of Atlantis: This is the Famicom game. An adventure platformer where you move a little guy forward through the titular lost city and avoid monsters. It’s from 1986, so don’t expect the MMC-enabled flair later NES games had.
All seven of these are now live on Nintendo Switch Online.
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