Nintendo Switch Online has been relatively static, as a service, for quite some time. We’ve had a bit of rotation of free online games, most recently with Pac-Man 99, and a slow, steady influx of NES and SNES titles, but overall it’s been a quiet time. Aside from some often-required stand-outs that remain absent, NES and SNES apps have seemed pretty devoid of ideas, adding little-known games that are certainly worth playing, but ultimately don’t get the pulse rate. .
Because Switch sells so well and the company is in a ridiculously strong financial position, Nintendo isn’t exactly under pressure to win headlines and win long-time fans with month retro games in NSO. Still, the Game Boy and Game Boy Color reports on the way soon aren’t necessarily surprising: the emulation of these titles won’t present any problems and will help change the narrative a bit around the service. You can follow a pattern similar to that seen with NES and SNES applications, moving away from the past of the virtual console, where the original GB and its Color brothers appeared in 3DS, and into the world of subscription applications.
Of course, many will want to continue wanting Nintendo 64 and GameCube, but let’s leave it at the moment, because, let’s be honest, it’s clear that Nintendo is in no hurry to offer these libraries, at least not beyond the limited point versions.
Game Boy Advance, however, will be a disappointing absentee if it turns out to be missing in a possible update in the coming months. The online talk is that GBA is not expected to reach the side of its predecessors, which would be a missed opportunity for several reasons. One great the reason is Metroid Dread.
Nintendo is about to give Metroid Dread a major marketing boost ahead of its release on October 8, and is likely to accelerate closer to launch. Much of the marketing has been the periodic “reports” that provide background on the series, mechanics, and tradition. These reports are so remarkable that the most recent trailer was directly related to one of them, focusing on some of the enemies that came to Dread.
What is clear in marketing and promotion is that Metroid Dread, also called “Metroid 5”, will follow directly from “Metroid 4” or Metroid Fusion, as most of us know it.
With Dread probably at a distance, Metroid’s best-selling game, courtesy of a desperate wear and tear from an audience interested in Switch with possibly more “basic” players than any Nintendo console from the SNES, it makes sense that newcomers they also want to play through the game’s predecessors. You can currently play “Metroid 1” and “Metroid 3” on Switch using the online service: Metroid and Super Metroid, that is, and Yes Game Boy arrives, Nintendo could add the original 8-bit sequel, Metroid II: Return of Samus.
Now, the previous MercurySteam developer title before Dread, Metroid: Samus Returns (a remake of 2) will likely have stylistic and traditional ties to Dread, but the Fusion link is the most direct. However, if the rumors are correct, we could have access to all Metroid games with many traditions except Fusion to Switch and potentially before the release of Dread. If you want to play Fusion on modern hardware, you must remove a Wii U for the virtual console version or receive it as part of the “Ambassador Program” on 3DS. It seems like a rather silly state of affairs.
But this is Nintendo, so who knows. Suddenly, you might decide to fix the situation by not only adding Game Boy titles using Switch Online apps, but also dropping a GBA’s Fusion port / ROM into the eShop. The reaction on social media would certainly be fun if that happened.
GBA would be a wonderful addition to the Switch Online service. It was home to many high quality games, with deliciously varied exclusives, ports and remasters
Beyond our obsession with Metroid – Hey, it’s been a long time, okay? – The GBA would be a wonderful addition to the Switch Online service. It was home to many high quality games, with deliciously varied exclusives, ports and remasters. At the time it was considered almost like a portable Super NES, it wasn’t quite exact, but attracted a library suitable for this state. You can scroll completely through our list of the best Game Boy Advance games and get an idea of the good level you had to the fullest. And yes, I had Mother 3 and a whole bunch of exceptional role-playing games.
So if GBA doesn’t get to Switch Online soon, why would it? Well, as mentioned before, it is not uncommon to know that Nintendo is in a hurry with product launches, especially when it expands its online service. Nor do we know if any later reboot of that era would cause Nintendo to hold back; after all, we had the reboot of The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening last year, which may or may not have put GB on the backburner, while in December we received a double GBA remaster with Advance Wars 1 + 2: Re-Boot Camp.
That said, if a select Advance library finally arrives, it’s a retro platform that will adapt very well to the Switch. Its resolution and screen dimensions are better suited to the 16: 9 version, but not perfectly better than the original Game Boy library. The GBA library has also aged well and is full of excellent first-hand titles that would generate a big hype among online fans.
All this assuming, of course, that the virtual console, as a concept, should remain seamless, which seems to be the case. Needless to say, there are still some who would prefer the option to buy individual favorites from Nintendo’s later catalog than wait for them to be released gradually as part of Switch Online. But, well, it doesn’t seem likely.
In any case, if we get Game Boy / Game Boy Color it will soon get headlines, and many old and new Nintendo fans will have some retro classics to enjoy. As is tradition, however, we are likely to be left wanting more.
Let us know below which GBA games you want to review on Switch once you get the chance.
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