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

Nintendo Switch Online was updated while we all slept last night. Three games were added to the NES part of the virtual library, and while you might think there’s nothing else to put there, Nintendo pulled some surprisingly good choices that somehow hadn’t made it yet.

First off, they’ve completed the Ninja Gaiden trilogy with part III, The Ancient Ship Of Doom. This time, Ryu Hayabusa is out for revenge: he’s heard that his enemies just murdered his love interest Irene Lew! The Ninja Gaiden series is unlike most other NES action games in that it made heavy use of cutscenes, so when Ryu finds out Irene is “dead,” it hit the players as well. Note the quote marks. There’s more going on here. Like its predecessors, Ancient Ship Of Doom is hair-pullingly hard, but NSO’s ability to rewind and use save states should save you many times.

Rare’s RC Pro-Am II has also been added. The original Pro-Am was one of the console’s best racing games AND multiplayer titles. This sequel adds support for FOUR players simultaneously — a rarity on a system that only had room for so many sprites per screen. Rare, programming wizards they were, was able to pull it off.

Finally, an early one arrives with 1987’s Ikari Warriors. It’s a run-and-gun based on the arcade game of the same name, and it had two sequels on the NES. It’s also a tough one, but just remember….A B B A grants you infinite lives (well, with save states that’s not so useful anymore). Also, it was programmed terribly, as this educational YouTube video demonstrates.

All three are now available on Nintendo Switch Online. Japan got a fourth game, Dragon Buster, in place of RC Pro-Am II.