This Week’s NSO Update Is Surprisingly Solid All-Around

The excitement around the NES additions feels a bit misplaced to me. While it's nice to see some classics making their way to Nintendo Switch Online, I'm surprised no one is mentioning how shallow their selection often is compared to the vast library of forgotten gems from that era. I'd much rather see them focus on titles that not only shaped gaming but also offer unique mechanics or narratives, like "Shadow of the Ninja" or "Crystalis." Instead, we get another round of the same familiar faces that everyone already has access to. It raises the question of whether they're really committed to enriching the catalog or just playing it safe.

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Finally Ninja Gaiden III is here, I been waiting for this one so long. That cutscene with Irene is still one of the most shocking moments in NES history for me, even now I remember how confused I was as a kid thinking she really died. The rewind feature is going to help a lot because this game punishes you hard for small mistakes. I still remember dying on the same spot for hours back in the day. Nice to see Nintendo taking care of these classics properly instead of just dumping random titles nobody asks for.

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RC Pro-Am II with four players is actually a big deal, people don't talk about this enough. Most NES games could barely handle two player split screen without slowing down, so four cars racing at once is impressive work from Rare. I used to play the first Pro-Am with my brother and it was already fun with two, so this one sounds like chaos in the best way.

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Ikari Warriors is rough honestly, the movement feels stiff and enemies spawn right on top of you sometimes. Cool that it is here for history reasons but I don't think many people will enjoy playing it seriously in 2026.

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I clicked on this expecting nothing special and got surprised. Three solid additions in one update is rare for NSO lately, they usually give us one good game and two filler ones. Ninja Gaiden III finishing the trilogy feels like the right move, they should have added this ages ago honestly.

not gonna lie i only care about ninja gaiden 3, been waiting since part 2 dropped. irene twist still gets me every time even knowing whats coming

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Ikari Warriors being "programmed terribly" checks out, I remember reading about the enemy AI being basically broken in that game. Still cool to have it for preservation purposes even if the gameplay didn't age that well. At least save states fix the annoying parts now.

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This update shows Nintendo still has decent NES titles left in the vault, makes me wonder what else they are holding back. RC Pro-Am II and Ikari Warriors both had strong arcade reputations so seeing them officially preserved is a good move for accessibility, younger players who never touched original hardware get a legit way to experience this stuff now.

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