Best retro Nintendo games to play on Switch 2 and Switch

When you think of Nintendo Switch 2, you’re probably thinking of all the new games confirmed for the system – and that’s completely understandable. Generally speaking, Nintendo releases one new major title per month to spread them out. If you’ve played tons of Nintendo Switch games and finished the latest Switch 2 game, what are you supposed to play in the time between? That’s where Switch Online’s Nintendo Classic range comes in.

Nintendo has added a lot of games to their NES, SNES, Nintendo 64, Game Boy, and Game Boy Advance platforms, and it’s a great idea to try out some older titles while you wait for the next new one. Their lineup of retro games is about to get a whole lot better, too: not only are GameCube games starting to release on the system, but it’s also got a built-in microphone, which theoretically makes Nintendo DS games possible as well. So today, we’re going over some of the best offerings on Nintendo Switch Online plus some new games Nintendo could realistically add over the Switch 2’s (hopefully) long lifespan.

NES games

In our opinion, the best offerings in the NES section are Super Mario Bros. 3 and Kirby’s Adventure. These are easily some of the most polished games on the system, and graphics aside, Super Mario Bros. 3 feels surprisingly modern even though its Super Mario All-Stars remake also exists. Kirby’s Adventure can feel a little dated especially when it lags, but it’s amazing that they got a full Copy Ability system working on a console like the NES. You can’t go wrong with the original Super Mario Bros., either. It might not hold your attention for as long as Super Mario Bros. 3 or Kirby’s Adventure could, but it’s still nice to see where Mario’s first big adventure started. Tetris is as addictive as ever here too, though there are plenty of other ways to play it.

Nintendo has actually covered most of their bases with the NES, and not many major titles are missing. You could count Yoshi’s Cookie, but that’s about it! One game we’d recommend trying is EarthBound Beginnings, but only if you’re a big fan of RPGs – the gameplay is kind of rough in the modern day, but made much better by rewind. Plus, the story and music are pretty solid for being an NES game!

SNES games

The SNES app contains tons of excellent games, and many of them hold up particularly well. Super Mario World, Yoshi’s Island, Zelda: A Link to the Past, Super Metroid, and EarthBound are all absolute must-plays. Nintendo Switch Online’s rewind feature also helps out big time. SNES games sometimes get a little bit difficult near the end, and rewind helps save a whole bunch of time. Of course, if you’d rather not take that route, all of the titles are perfectly playable without it. Super Mario All-Stars is another great game included here; it’s got remakes of the original Super Mario Bros., The Lost Levels, Super Mario Bros. 2, and Super Mario Bros. 3. That should keep you occupied for a while! The iconic Donkey Kong Country games are here too, and the aforementioned rewind feature works great for some of their tougher levels.

The only big game missing from the SNES Nintendo Classics app is Super Mario RPG, but we kind of see why that’s the case. The remake may be $60 (and it is), but it’s a really good one at that – certainly the definitive way to play the game. The original Super Mario RPG does have some charm to it in its graphical style, and it does hold up decently well in the modern day. Maybe in a few years, we could see Nintendo add Super Mario RPG kind of like how they added Link’s Awakening DX to the Game Boy app despite the existence of its remake.

Game Boy games

There are plenty of Game Boy games available to play here, too. Our favorites are Donkey Kong (94), Super Mario Land 2, and Link’s Awakening DX. Standard picks for sure, but ones that hold up well nonetheless. You can also play Zelda: Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons here, which utilize a unique password system to connect with each other. Though typing in passwords can get convoluted (remember to make plenty of save states), both games are solid and very underrated entries in the Zelda series. They’re worth a look, even if you don’t manage to beat them in the end.

Nintendo has been pretty good about adding Game Boy games, but a few of them are still missing: mainly Kirby’s Block Ball, Kirby’s Pinball Land, Super Mario Bros. Deluxe, and a couple Wario Land games. We don’t have Mole Mania, either! We’re sure that Nintendo will add at least a few of these in the coming months. Mole Mania is particularly underrated and has received no attention from Nintendo whatsoever other than a 3DS Virtual Console release.

Game Boy Advance games

Game Boy Advance is where the games start getting longer. Many of our favorites from this section are 15 hours or more, so if you’re going to play one of these games make sure you’ve got time to spare! Zelda: The Minish Cap is one of the greatest games on the console, and although it’s rather long by Game Boy game standards, it holds up extremely well. Many titles on GBA have overly bright colors to account for the lack of backlight, but The Minish Cap is one of the most visually appealing games from the portable you’ll ever see. Not to mention it’s got solid gameplay, plenty of puzzles, and some long dungeons. Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga and Metroid Fusion are must-plays, too. All four Super Mario Advance titles are available here as well, but generally, they aren’t must-plays – we think their SNES versions are better in terms of graphical and audio quality.

We’re still missing a couple of key Game Boy Advance games, but not too many. Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, WarioWare: Twisted, and Mario Pinball Land are all nowhere to be found, for instance. The GBA versions of Mario Tennis and Mario Golf aren’t here either, nor is Yoshi Topsy-Turvy – but on second thought, we’re actually completely fine if Nintendo never adds Yoshi Topsy-Turvy. Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land absolutely seems like a lock at some point, though at the time of writing we have no idea when or if it’s coming.

Nintendo 64 games

Nintendo 64 games have additional functionality on Nintendo Switch 2: rewind! Indeed, you can only use plain old save states on Nintendo Switch 1. That’s great and all, but rewind makes many of them much more accessible. Have you ever wanted to unlock Star Fox 64’s hidden multiplayer mode? That’s extremely difficult even with save states, because you have to get gold medals on every stage. Rewind will make that much easier! The Nintendo 64 app has Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, Super Mario 64, Paper Mario, and Mario Party 2, which are all must-plays if you haven’t checked them out just yet.

There’s one glaring, empty spot in the Nintendo 64 app’s game lineup, though: where is the original Super Smash Bros.? It was released on the Wii Virtual Console at around the same time Super Smash Bros. Brawl was available, but not on the Wii U Virtual Console. Despite being the first game in the series, it’s still good fun and playing it online with friends would be a good way to pass the time. Fingers crossed that we’ll see it soon! Donkey Kong 64 and Diddy Kong Racing are nowhere to be found, either, so hopefully we’ll see those soon as well.

GameCube games

In something of a surprise move, Nintendo has started to release GameCube games for Switch 2 via Nintendo Switch Online. The reason this is unexpected is because many GameCube games were released on Switch in some way, shape, or form – Super Mario 3D All-Stars, Pikmin 1 + 2, Metroid Prime Remastered, and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, for instance. So far, Nintendo has confirmed the following games for the service: Zelda: The Wind Waker, F-Zero GX, Soulcalibur 2, Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, Super Mario Sunshine, Super Mario Strikers, Pokemon Colosseum, Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness, Luigi’s Mansion, and Chibi-Robo. Only a few are out so far, but there’s a huge amount of potential here. We made a big list of Switch 2 GameCube game predictions, and you can check that out here if you’re interested.

At the time of writing, no additional platforms have been confirmed for Nintendo Switch Online for Switch 2. That being said, we think Nintendo DS is likely. The Wii U included DS games on its Virtual Console, and since Nintendo Switch 2 has a built-in microphone, it could theoretically support them too. We’re not sure how exactly it would support touch screen controls in docked mode, but maybe mouse mode or something of the sort would work. We could see games like Mario Kart DS, Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story, Kirby Super Star Ultra, and more.

Wii games, however, are a bit more complicated. As seen in the Super Mario 3D All-Stars port of Super Mario Galaxy, the Joy-Con motion controls can be a decent substitute for Wii motion controls. But mouse controls could work, too. That being said, Wii games are generally of a much larger size. For example, Kirby’s Epic Yarn, Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, and Wario Land: Shake It are roughly 4 GB each. Most big Wii games are at least 1 GB, so a Nintendo Switch Online app with a ton of Wii games probably isn’t a good idea for storage space. Still, Nintendo could theoretically remaster Wii games instead. Super Mario Galaxy 2, Kirby’s Epic Yarn, and Super Paper Mario would all be great candidates!

The point is, though, that Nintendo created a very good system with Nintendo Switch Online. All of the existing libraries carry over, which means this is the first new console where you don’t have to repurchase or replay any retro games. You technically didn’t have to pay for Switch Online games themselves, only the subscription. But Nintendo has a huge retro library going into Switch 2, and it’s only going to get bigger over time.