If Nintendo Switch Online adds Game Boy, why not launch GBA too? – Talking point
Nintendo Switch Online has been relatively static, as a service, for quite some time. We’ve had some rotation of free online games, most recently with Pac-Man 99, and a slow and steady influx of NES and SNES titles, but overall it’s been a quiet time. Aside from a few highlights that are often in demand and which remain absent, the NES and SNES apps have been left quite devoid of ideas, adding little-known games that are certainly worth playing but ultimately don’t get your pulse racing. .
With the Switch selling so well and the company in a ridiculously strong financial position, Nintendo isn’t exactly under pressure to make headlines and win over longtime fans with plus retro games on NSO. However, reports that the Game Boy and Game Boy Color will be on the way soon aren’t necessarily surprising – emulating these titles won’t present any issues and will help change the narrative around the service a bit. It can follow a similar pattern to that seen with the NES and SNES apps, moving away from the Virtual Console past, where the original GB and its Color siblings appeared on 3DS, and into the world of subscription apps.
Of course, many will still want the Nintendo 64 and GameCube, but let’s leave that for now as, let’s be honest, Nintendo is clearly in no rush to offer those libraries, at least not beyond the one-time limited-time releases.
The 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 talk online is that GBA is not scheduled to arrive alongside its predecessors, which would be a missed opportunity for a number of reasons. One big the reason is Metroid Dread.
Nintendo is in the midst of giving Metroid Dread a major marketing boost ahead of its release on October 8, and it’s likely to ramp up even closer to launch. A big part of the marketing has been the regular ‘reports’ that provide background on the series, mechanics, and lore. These reports are so remarkable that the most recent trailer was tied directly to one of them, focusing on some of the enemies coming in Dread.
What has become clear from the marketing and promotion is that Metroid Dread, also called ‘Metroid 5’, will directly follow ‘Metroid 4’, or Metroid Fusion as most of us know it.
Given that Dread is likely to be the best-selling Metroid game by distance, courtesy of an anticipated hit from an eager Switch audience with possibly more ‘core’ players than any Nintendo console since the SNES, it makes sense that newcomers too. want to play. through the game’s predecessors. You can currently play ‘Metroid 1’ and ‘Metroid 3’ on Switch via the online service, i.e. Metroid and Super Metroid, and Yes Game Boy is here, Nintendo could add the original 8-bit sequel, Metroid II: Return of Samus.
Now the previous title from pre-Dread developer MercurySteam, Metroid: Samus Returns (a remake of 2) will likely have traditional and stylistic ties to Dread, but the Fusion link is the most direct. However, we could, if the rumors are correct, have access to all the Metroid games numbered by tradition. except Fusion on Switch, and potentially before the release of Dread. If you want to play Fusion on modern hardware, you should be looking for a Wii U for the virtual console version or have received it as part of the “Ambassador Program” on 3DS. It seems like a bit of a silly situation.
This is Nintendo though, so who knows. Suddenly, you might decide to remedy the situation by not only adding Game Boy titles through the Switch Online apps, but also by putting a GBA Fusion port / ROM in the eShop. The reaction on social media would certainly be funny 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.
Going beyond our obsession with Metroid – hey, it’s been a long time, okay? – 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 that time it was considered almost like a portable Super NES, that was not pretty accurate, but attracted a library commensurate with that status. You can scroll through our list of the best Game Boy Advance games and get an idea of how good it was in its heyday. And yes, it had Mother 3 and a ton of standout RPGs.
So if GBA isn’t coming soon for Switch Online, why would that be? Well, as mentioned above, Nintendo is often not known to rush with product launches, especially as it expands its service online. We also don’t know if more reboots from that era would lead Nintendo to halt; after all, we had the reboot of The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening last year which may have left GB in the background or not, while in December we will have a double remastering of GBA with Advance Wars 1 + 2: Re-Boot Camp.
All that said, if a select advanced library does finally arrive, it’s a retro rig that will suit the Switch very well. Its resolution and screen dimensions are better suited to modern 16: 9, not perfectly, but better than the original Game Boy library. The GBA library has also aged well and is filled with great titles of their own that would generate quite a stir amongst fans online.
All of this is assuming, of course, that the Virtual Console as a concept will remain inactive, which appears to be the case. Needless to say, there are still some who would prefer the option of purchasing individual favorites from Nintendo’s catalog rather than waiting for them to roll out gradually as part of Switch Online. But hey, that doesn’t seem likely.
In any case, if we have Game Boy / Game Boy Color soon, it will make headlines with good reason, and many Nintendo fans old and new will have some retro classics to enjoy. However, as is tradition, we are likely to want more.
Let us know below the GBA games you would like to revisit on Switch if you get the chance.
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