By Chris Pereira , Steve Watts , and Gabe Gurwin on February 10, 2023 at 2:14PM PST
The most recent Nintendo Direct finally delivered on a long-awaited request for Nintendo Switch Online, bringing both Game Boy and Game Boy Advance games to the service's classic games library. Standard Game Boy games are available with the lower tier of Switch Online, while you'll need to subscribe to the more expensive Expansion Pack version for access to GBA games. Only a limited number of both are available at this point, though some of the platforms' best are represented, including Wario Land 3, Metroid II: Return of Samus, WarioWare, Inc. Mega Microgames, and The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap. Uk Socket
This isn't the extent of what we can expect--Nintendo has already confirmed a number of additional games are coming, including Golden Sun and the Zelda Oracle games. We've listed everything available on and confirmed to be coming below, but naturally the confirmation of Game Boy and Game Boy Advance support got us thinking about what else we'd love to see released. So we racked our aging brains (did you know GB and GBA turn 34 and 22 this year?) for some of our favorite games that we want to see arrive on Switch Online. Be sure to also check out our lists of the best Game Boy games, best Game Boy Color games, and best Game Boy Advance games for more.
Game Boy games confirmed for Nintendo Switch Online
Game Boy Advance games confirmed for Nintendo Switch Online
The Game Boy iteration of Donkey Kong could have been another attempt to recreate the arcade classic with some simple compromises to fit within the scope of a Game Boy cartridge. That's how the game presents itself at first, until a pitch-perfect fake-out ending gives way to a completely different game type entirely. Donkey Kong GB is lengthy puzzle-platformer full of traps, and the predecessor to later games like March of the Minis. It's one of the best, constantly surprising games in the entire Game Boy library, and absolutely deserves a spot in the Switch collection. -- Steve Watts
The Mario Tennis series has been one of Nintendo's longest-running spin-offs, but most of the attention has been on the console games through the years. One shining diamond in the rough--or clay, as it were--is the Game Boy Color's Mario Tennis. Part sports game and part role-playing game, the main mode barely features any Mario characters at all, instead focusing on a new tennis academy student named Alex as he learns the sports' basics and climbs up the ladder. Disappointing as the lack of Mario may seem at first, Mario Tennis on Game Boy Color is shockingly good, with great and relatively simple tennis mechanics that players of all ages can enjoy. That soundtrack also goes hard as hell for no reason, which is just an added bonus. -- Gabe Gurwin
Mega Man was a bona fide action star on the NES, but his Game Boy offerings were essentially just bite-sized ports that approximated them for Mega Man fans on the go. Mega Man 5 was the lone exception, breaking the mold and making its own unique Mega Man game that could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with some of the best in the series. Part of this identity change was swapping the usual variety of bosses like Frog Man and Gemini Man for a single unified theme. The Stardroids were named after celestial bodies like Pluto and Mars, which made it tougher to guess their rock-paper-scissors weaknesses. The level design was clever and challenging while feeling correctly scoped for the Game Boy's specs. It's a gem of a Mega Man game and should be the one to make it onto Nintendo Switch, if any of them do. -- Steve Watts
Holding the dubious honor of the absolutely strangest mainline Mario game, Super Mario Land hails from an era when Nintendo hadn't quite nailed down what a Mario game even was. This was just a year after the company rebranded Doki Doki Panic as Super Mario Bros. 2 in the West. That uncertainty shows through in Super Mario Land, which features an absolutely itty-bitty Mario with a sense of weight and momentum that feels even heavier than the original Super Mario Bros. The game is full of odd settings and enemies, from Koopa-Troopa-like enemies who drop bombs when they die to giant Easter Island heads. Mario pilots a submarine and a fighter jet, and the boss of the whole affair is a space alien. It's not the best Mario game, but it is interesting in its weirdness, and more people should get to experience why. -- Steve Watts
(Image: Logan Benjamin on YouTube)
Final Fantasy Tactics on the PlayStation was an opus of strategy game design and sharp, operatic storytelling. I was a huge fan of FFT, which had the unfortunate side effect of making me disappointed in the Game Boy Advance spin-offs. Their stories were simpler and their battles were generally smaller in scope. That said, with the benefit of hindsight I can say I didn't give these a fair shake. They were something different than I expected, but by all accounts they were solid bite-sized tactical experiences. The new Judge mechanic provides some clever twists by placing constraints on a battle, forcing you to think differently about your approach. And their art style was especially vibrant and colorful, taking full advantage of the GBA's bright palette. I'd love to see these again, in part so I can give them the reevaluation they deserve. -- Steve Watts
(Image: World of Longplays on YouTube)
The Fire Emblem series' first Western release--just called Fire Emblem over here--was a great introduction to the tactical-RPG franchise, but it was the next game that really showed its true potential. Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones took the same basic framework of the previous game but introduced a new level of player-choice, letting you pick different upgrade paths for the various characters and even choosing to accompany one of two twins in their perilous journey. By the modern games' standards, it's brutally difficult, and it lacks the "casual" no-permadeath setting we expect these days, but Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones is such a well-designed strategy gem that it demands inclusion on Nintendo Switch Online. -- Gabe Gurwin
Nothing needs to be said in favor of A Link to the Past, but both because its quality is unquestioned and because the original SNES version is already available through Switch Online. But the Four Swords version released for GBA included not just that game, but an entirely new one, which, as the name suggests, represented Nintendo's first foray into multiplayer Zelda. (It also featured an additional unlockable dungeon in A Link to the Past.) But despite this notable status, it's a game largely lost to time--good luck finding multiple other people with access to the game and necessary hardware to play together in-person. Briefly available DSiWare and 3DS eShop versions can no longer be obtained, so Switch Online, with the added benefit of permitting easy online multiplayer support, would be a great way to provide access to this forgotten gem. And with any luck, that can help to eventually tee up Switch Online support for GameCube games and Four Swords' sequel, Four Swords Adventure. -- Chris Pereira
You can never have enough Metal Slug, so I'd be happy to see Metal Slug Advance join the NSO library. While GBA was home to many ports of things like Mario games, Metal Slug Advance was an entirely original entry. It maintains the basic Metal Slug formula and look, but it introduced things like a health meter and collectible cards, the latter of which added a high level of optional difficulty--they can be collected during a level, but you need to avoid dying for the remainder of it in order to successfully claim it. Doing so oftentimes served only as an achievement for managing this (no easy feat, as decades of playing Metal Slug games have made me no less terrible at them), but some also unlocked permanent upgrades. As with several of the other games I've nominated here, Metal Slug lends itself to relatively short play sessions that I find ideal for Switch Online, but I certainly wouldn't mind having access to its Rewind feature to help me finally see my way through all of Metal Slug Advance. -- Chris Pereira
(Image: World of Longplays on YouTube)
I admit, I'm calling for Rhythm Tengoku to be added despite never having played it. The first entry in what would later be known as the Rhythm Heaven series, Rhythm Tengoku was never released outside of Japan. (Shockingly, it's a GBA game released in 2006, almost two full years after the Nintendo DS launched.) As such, bringing it to Switch Online would be a great opportunity to offer the game to a brand-new audience, even if some of its content may have later ended up in the 3DS's Rhythm Heaven Megamix. It's not entirely dissimilar from the aforementioned WarioWare, offering a series of minigames with oftentimes silly premises, but with a rhythm-centric hook to the goal of what you set out to accomplish.
As much as I appreciate having great, longer experiences like The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap and Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga available on Switch Online, more often than not when I turn to the classic games catalog on Switch, I'm looking for a quick fix. Games like Rhythm Tengoku where you can jump in, play a level, and be done in a few minutes are the ideal match for what I want out of the service. -- Chris Pereira
The initial batch of GBA games on Switch Online thankfully includes one WarioWare game, but why not more? Twisted was another GBA gem, thanks not just to the timeless WarioWare formula--a rapid series of "microgames" that last only a few seconds and have you doing things like catching objects or picking your nose--but the novelty of its unique gameplay. As its name suggests, Twisted often revolved around twisting the system in your hands to interact with it, made possible by a built-in gyro sensor. It was like very little else at the time, and with the recent WarioWare games centering around button-based controls, it would be fun to mix up the formula with what Twisted brought to the table. You can never have enough WarioWare, and fleshing out the catalog would keep me coming back--and subscribing--to Switch Online for a long time. -- Chris Pereira
118 Wall Switch (Image: Mariofan98 Longplays on YouTube)