Switch 2 Nintendo Switch Online GameCube game predictions

Today, we’re going over a bunch of popular GameCube games and how likely they are to come to Nintendo Switch Online on Nintendo Switch 2.

In somewhat of a surprise move, Nintendo recently announced that titles from that console are coming to Switch Online + Expansion Pack members exclusively on Switch 2. The reason this is surprising is that GameCube games on the service sort of run counter to Nintendo’s strategy with GameCube games on the current Switch. Up until now, Nintendo has been content to release individually-packaged GameCube games as standalone titles – or remake them altogether. Pikmin 1, Pikmin 2, Metroid Prime, and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door are all playable on Nintendo Switch already. That may knock out quite a few titles from Nintendo Switch Online, though it’s technically still possible that they could get a release later.

Before we begin, here’s a full list of every GameCube game coming to Nintendo Switch 2: F-Zero GX, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, and Soulcalibur II are its launch titles. Later on, we’ll get Super Mario Sunshine, Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, Pokemon Colosseum, Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness, Super Mario Strikers, Chibi-Robo, and Luigi’s Mansion. All of these titles will support online multiplayer, too… but you’ll notice that the best GameCube multiplayer games are missing from this list.

Starting alphabetically, we’re torn on whether the original Animal Crossing is a lock for Nintendo Switch Online. Animal Crossing: New Horizons sold well over 40 million units, so it’s clear that porting past Animal Crossing games would’ve printed tons of money as well. Nintendo hasn’t done that, though – the only precedent of Animal Crossing re-releases we have is the fact that Nintendo brought Animal Crossing: Wild World out as a Virtual Console on Wii U. The Wii U didn’t have its own Animal Crossing game for it to “compete” with, though. For the time being, we’ll remain neutral on Animal Crossing’s likelihood of coming to the service, but with a slight lean towards “maybe not”.

Kirby Air Ride is definitely, definitely not coming to Nintendo Switch Online anytime soon. We’d love to be proven wrong, but with Kirby Air Riders on Nintendo Switch 2 due out this year, it’s unlikely that it will launch on Nintendo Switch Online in the near future. That said, the original Kirby Air Ride only had 3.5 months of development time, whereas Kirby Air Riders has had over three years. We wonder if it’ll even be worth going back to the original game for any reason other than nostalgia!

Mario Kart: Double Dash is definitely coming to Nintendo Switch Online at some point, though Nintendo might hold off for a while so it doesn’t conflict with the upcoming Mario Kart World. Still, every other NSO platform has its respective Mario Kart game. We have Super Mario Kart, Mario Kart 64, and Mario Kart: Super Circuit so far, so Double Dash is very likely.

We’ll lump in all the Mario spin-offs in one here: Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, Mario Power Tennis, Mario Superstar Baseball, Mario Party 4, Mario Party 5, Mario Party 6, and Mario Party 7. We’d say these are a lock for Nintendo Switch Online at some point, though Nintendo may opt to wait a few months on Mario Party given that Super Mario Party Jamboree is receiving a paid Switch 2 Edition. As for the sports games, those could come anytime.

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes is kind of confusing. If we were going to get a remaster this year, we’d probably already know about it. Maybe Nintendo will release Metroid Prime 2 on Nintendo Switch Online after Metroid Prime 4: Beyond releases? But that leaves out Metroid Prime 3, which is only on the Wii. Who knows what Nintendo will wind up doing here.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Pikmin, and Pikmin 2 probably won’t make it to Nintendo Switch Online, if we had to guess. Pikmin and Pikmin 2 are still available for purchase both physically and digitally, and they’re not a limited-time release either. The Thousand-Year Door remake is the definitive way to play the game (except for frame rate, which could wind up patched on Switch 2), so we don’t expect to see the original here either.

We’d also be very surprised if Super Smash Bros. Melee is coming to Nintendo Switch Online. For reference, we got Nintendo 64 on Switch Online in 2021, and four years later we still don’t have the original Super Smash Bros. game nor any kind of confirmation or hint that it’s coming. Playing these two games online would be excellent, especially since Masahiro Sakurai is busy on Kirby Air Riders. You would think releasing Smash 64 and Super Smash Bros. Melee would be a great way to sell the Expansion Pack and tide over fans until whenever the next Smash game comes out, but we think this one is unlikely. Still, we’d be glad to be proven wrong!

Finally, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is also a lock. After years of rumors that we’d see The Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess HD on Switch, there’s a chance that may never happen. Kind of strange, given that Nintendo would likely value these remakes at full price, but on the other hand if you’re an Expansion Pack subscriber it means you don’t have to pay extra to play these two games. With Wind Waker and Twilight Princess on Switch, you’ll be able to play just about every Zelda game on Switch 2 – except for the Nintendo DS titles. Given that Nintendo Switch 2 has a built-in microphone now, we’d venture to guess we’ll eventually see a Nintendo DS division of Nintendo Switch Online before too long.

Are there any other GameCube games you’d like to see come to Nintendo Switch Online? Do you agree with our likelihood rating for each of the games we listed? Feel free to let us know in the comments down below. And if you want to learn more about Nintendo’s GameCube lineup on Switch 2, you can check out their official website here.