Nintendo surprise added a boatload of Game Boy and Game Boy Advance games to Nintendo Switch, during the Nintendo Direct on Wednesday. It’s welcome news, because porting over games from the Game Boy Advance will bring one of Nintendo’s finest catalogues of games onto one of the company’s most popular consoles.
Nintendo is starting off small — subscribers to Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack will be able to access six Game Boy Advance games, with more on the way. Highlights include one of the best Mario games ever, Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, and Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga.
Games like The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap have been hard to play on a modern console. If you didn’t have a Wii U, you were pretty much left to pay for a hard copy. For me, Minish Cap represented the height of stylized pixel-art from the graphics. It blended the look of classic 16-bit SNES Zelda games like A Link to the Past with a stunning, detailed, and delightfully cartoony art style reminiscent of The Wind Waker.
Then there is Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. The turn-based RPG with timed attacks introduced to me to one of Mario’s funniest franchises. It gave players cartoony and colorful pixel art, and paired it with a big dose of personality from Mario and Luigi. I’ll always remember it for serving us the biggest cry baby version of Luigi we’ve seen to date. Perfect!
And while I think I’d still prefer to own my games, I will certainly welcome Nintendo continuing to make what is one of its best catalogues available to more people. Nintendo announced Kuru Kuru Kururin, which had previously only been available in Japan. Bangers like Metroid Fusion and Kirby and the Amazing Mirror are already on the way. Now I’m just hoping we get a Pokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire port. (Or maybe you know, a Mother 3 one?) A girl can dream!
