Nintendo Expands Switch Online's NES & Game Boy Library With Three More Classics

This is actually an AWESOME update. Love to see it.

Funny enough just earlier today I was wondering why on earth they hadn't put up Murasame Castle ages ago.

That's a good lineup of games!

Woohoo awesome! I’ve wanted to try Murasame’s Castle for a long time.

I might actually try all 3 of these out

I can’t remember the last update that was this fantastic - finally!

This is very cool but also weird. 5 years after NES NSO started and 2 years after Smash Ultimate ended, we get 2 1st party NES games on NSO that are most well known because of Smash (Devil and Takamaru are assist trophies). We're also coming up to the 5th anniversary of Smash Ultimate.

Fighters Pass 3 announcement at the Game Awards perhaps?

Nice, two well regarded Japanese exclusives coming west for close to the first time (Murasame Castle was on the 3DS Virtual Console and Devil World was on the PAL Wii Virtual Console but not the North American one) and the only Game Boy Castlevania not included in the Castlevania Anniversary Collection (I've heard bad things about Castlevania Legends, but it's good to have it if for no other reason than that it was left off of that collection).

@Grumblevolcano I kind of doubt Smash Bros. really has anything to do with it, especially since Takamaru's had prominence in other things (Mario Maker and Samurai Warriors specifically), but there HAVE been rumblings about something being in the works on it and they will need to if nothing else patch in functionality for the Sora Amiibo so never say never I guess.

And here I was just thinking of Castlevania Legends out of the blue.

It may be time to renew the expansion family plan now.

Pokemon Red and Blue when?

Oh wow. That's an excellent update. Guess I know what I am doing.

Awesome games. Still wondering where the heck Super Mario Land is.

Legends - nice. I didn't hate that game like a lot of people seem to. I mean, it's decent enough. It was a shame that Konaimi had basically disowned it. I look forward to playing it.

Hey, a Castlevania game I actually haven't played.

Cool, always wanted to try Devil World and Castlevania Legends.

Devil world is a really great game, the other two are also good.

Oddly enough, I discovered Devil world as a kid thanks to a bootleg plug n play game my parents got me for Christmas.

I'm gonna play that Murasame castle game!

Nice, I was wondering when/if they'll ever put Devil World on the NSO. Glad that The Mysterious Murasame Castle is also coming. Now, how about Mach Rider?

No comments on Castlevania, though.

@Dakotastomp same here. In fact, that's how I got to know about Castlevania, Balloon Fight, Clu Clu Land, Ice Climber, Mach Rider, Duck Hunt, Wild Gunman, Hogan's Alley, Circus Charlie and Antarctic Adventure. I think it was called Powerstation.

Haven't seen anyone else point out that this is the 3rd Castlevania game that came out on GB - they sure are odd with only releasing certain games in series. The first one is by far the worst, and people like the design of the second one the most generally. Nice to have Legends available, but just odd! Like usual!

Spooky games! Cool to see Devil World get a release date and Murasame Castle still holds up well from my time with it on 3DS.

A nice little surprise.

I might check out Castlevania Legends, as well as The Mysterious Murasame Castle.

...could they have chosen any games that I could care about less? I'm a very casual gamer and none of these appeal to me. I want Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow (or Gold/Silver/Crystal because I missed those ones growing up). Why not the original Mario Land!? I get that these are important games in Nintendo's history that probably have some fans but still.

At least they added Mario Party 3.

@stereobread Devil World had a physical PAL release on the NES in 1987. To call it a Japanese exclusive at all is kind of misleading.

Castlevania legends is actually pretty decent. Sure it's no Belmonts revenge and i hear it was removed from series Canon but it's not as awful as the first Gameboy Castlevania.

@Markiemania95 Oh really? I didn't know that. It's always interesting to see the differences between what got the PAL and NTSC libraries.

@SykoMuffin Maybe it's a good opportunity to try less famous games?

@Markiemania95 From what I've heard the PAL version wasn't very widespread. Maybe Scandinavia, which I heard had a larger Nintendo fanbase than the rest of the continent in the NES and SNES days. So even around the time of the Wii VC, the PAL cartridge was already a "rare expensive" game while the Famicom cart was pretty cheap loose.
Still though, not that it's a game that couldn't be imported and played easily internationally (as I did in the early 2000s).

@Bolt_Strike Probably around the same time Smash 64 shows up.

So, never basically.

@stereobread Even on the Wii VC (where the Japanese and European eShops got it), Nintendo didn't want to even mention the game to North America for fear of people taking its theme too sensitively.

@KingMike
That's true. I can't say I hate something unless I try it. I gave Panel De Pon a try (on NSO) and became completely addicted despite not knowing what it was.

Imagine if nintendo released a n64 cartridge with n64 controller bundle, how great that would be. (Next best thing to a n64 mini)

THIS ISN'T GOONIES 2.

...it's actually a pretty dang decent update. I'm excited to finally be able to play these two games after seeing them referenced in other Nintendo media for so many years. But still... BRING US GOONIES 2.

I’d rather purchase Legends and play indefinitely. Let me know when they decide to offer more options than subscribing to an online service.

Damn it Nintendo.. Super Mario Land! Where is it? I'm mean I'm happy about these... But why no Super Mario Land?!?

@Bolt_Strike : I'd kill for a physical compilation of the classics.

I'll buy two copies if it includes local wireless multiplayer.

@TruthisRare : I assume you mean a Switch cartridge with N64 games + controller.

And yes, that would be absolutely fantastic.

I wish they would do that for all of their vintage hardware.

So with Joy Mech Fight, Murasame Castle and Devil World we have the trinity of obscure Famicom games with assist trophies in Smash being added to NSO a comically long time later. Weird

@PoeTheLizard They did RBY on VC, I don't see why they can't do it again on NSO.

@HaileySheridon and the game Pokemon trading card game 2 in English. Tried it, it's as fun as it could get, because 2 islands, more cards, and slot machines. So possibly never...

Murasame Castle Time! I really wish Nintendo would figure out some way to bring that IP back.

Rare NES NSO W. Two actual games that are both games people are still interested in and aren't re-released (outside of Japan at least) on every single Nintendo system ever.

...not that Rare, much as it would rule to see Cobra Triangle or Battletoads on this...

Also, thank you for another Castlevania game. I dunno if this one is any good but so many major 3rd party series are mostly if not entirely absent from consoles that defined them on NSO, which is one of the big reasons (especially early on) it felt like a really underwhelming VC replacement (though let's be fair, almost none of those games would've been on a Switch Virtual Console either). But having even a couple of Castlevania games to play, especially ones I've never played at all, makes the service make more sense existing as a retro game service instead of just being an excuse to charge for online.

Nice now if only we also get Splatterhouse 2 for the Sega Genesis NSO.

It's nice to see The Mysterious Murasame Castle get another release. This is only its second release outside of Japan after its 3DS Virtual Console release.

@Bolt_Strike Because the Switch entries are making more money than God and Nintendo's not going to want to undermine that in any way. This is the same company that refuses to even acknowledge that the Switch has a successor in the works because of the fact it's printing money still.

I wish there’s an option to purchase all three titles on the Switch.

Interesting titles, I’ll definitely try em out later.

@PoeTheLizard So has Mario Kart but they still put SMK, MK64, and MKSC on NSO. Sales of the new games is clearly not the issue.

@SykoMuffin I am with you. I’d prefer more mainstream games. DK 94, Alleyway, Super Mario Land, Qix, Kwirk, Lock ‘n’ Chase, Mario Golf (GBC or GBA), Metroid Zero Mission, Golden Sun, Drill Dozer, etc.

I am happy for those that enjoy these additions. Why not both? Add the mainstream titles along with the deep cuts.

I am grateful for what we got, such as the Oracle games. However, they should ramp up the GB/GBC/GBA listings to catch up with the NES/SNES collections.

Maybe DK 94 gets added to help promote Mario vs Donkey Kong? 🤞

Glad to see Castlevnia Legends, since they decided that wasn't good enough to include on either of the Castlevania collections

Cool, Castlevania Legends get some recognition of existing. Though it looks odd seeing it in Game Boy colors since I originally played it on Game Boy Color.

@Bolt_Strike Didn't Nintendo also release the 2nd Gen G/S/C on the 3DS VC after the Switch launched or am I misremembering?

NSO still has that awful border and Mii logo which makes impossible to play these games…

Neat. Will check them out.

@arekdougy the other two gameboy games are being sold as part of the castlevania collection. This one was left out as apparently its not considered canon anymore.

Looks like an update to Smash Bros! Murasame Castle will be the only game I'll put time into.

Even though I love retro games, the other two will be too primitive for me.

Legends ain't the greatest Castlevania game haha. In fact it's one of the worst ones.
I hope that it doesn't put people off the series, and maybe prompts people intro trying the Anniversary or Advance collections. A little bit annoyed that they also didn't update Anniversary Collection to include this game too, haha. (and that wouldn't be unprecedented - there's a Namco collection with NES Xevious on it, and an SNK collection with Crystalis on it, so games included in collections can absolutely still be on NSO too...)

But I guess I'm glad this rare GB game has finally been rereleased for the first time ever!

A couple of former Japan-exclusives (I'm a sucker for those but these are 2 are legit famous ones) and a Castlevania game.

How could anyone complain about this?

Devil World famously never got a North American release because of the "Satanic Panic" at the time, religious imagery, crosses, actual devils etc.

The Mysterious Murasame Castle didn't get a North American release until 9 years ago!

Happy Halloween everybody!

Ah, this is why i like NSO (sorry @sykomuffin, hope you get the games you want too.. DK94 would be lovely)... some nes games i heard and wanted to try but never did, and a castlevania game i didn't know existed, which also makes the GB line seem more balanced...

@DwaynesGames Qix is a good call... not what i would call mainstream, but people forget what gameboy gaming in '91 was like.. everbody had smland, and some obscure little puzzlers like Qix .. ( burgertime also falls into this category..,. and i bought bubble ghost on jap import as first game, since a shop in amsterdam sold those..)

Now this is a sweet update.

I was hoping for Wario Land 2, oh well.

@SykoMuffin try something new? Why keep playing the same games again?

Pretty happy with that. Nearly bought Muramasa Castle before the 3DS closed, so glad to see it here. And cool to see a Castlevania game on here despite Konami bringing out their own dedicated collections

Well this is a nice surprise!

Great update! I like the surprise approach Nintendo have adopted with these updates. I know many people want more games, higher frequency or at the very least some sort of consistency... but I disagree. I have more than enough games to play already. I like the surprise approach.

So Konami actually took note of Legends not being included in the Anniversary Collection and rectified that. Well done Konami. Gives me some hope that maybe they'll put Castlevania 64 and/or Legacy of Darkness on NSO.

@HammerGalladeBro mine was called the Super joy, shaped like a N64 controller, and the actual game included was one of those exagerated 77,000 games in one collections, but in actuality it was the same 88 games repeated. Fun times. Seriously, that's what the title screen says.

So now the only missing NES first party games on NSO are Startropics 2, Yoshi's Cookie and the NES Zapper games?

Great news! The biggest surprise to me is Castlevania Legends, because this is the first time a Castlevania game is released on NSO (whereas many other Castlevania are available on eShop and this game became non-canon).

I already bought The Mysterious Marasame Castle on 3DS, but did'nt really play it, so maybe this time I'll do it.

It is the first time I hear about The Devil World. I'll take a look on this game too.

@Roibeard64 I totally forgot. That adds up!

So, an old-as-dirt NES game that has never yet been released, and features the inspiration for Yoshi as its main character, and a Samurai hack-n-slasher from the olden days of around the time LoZ came out. Awesome!

Sonia who? Seriously, whose idea was it to chuck Legends at us? Put it back in the void, please.

Ha, that Devil World is intriguing. Looks really ancient though.

Think the term “classic” is thrown around way too loosely now.

@sForzan you are "spending money on it" but now you are only renting. You are renting something you already own! It's your money, all good.

@croz I don’t have a problem with the borders. You shouldn’t let such petty meaningless things get to you like that.

@Bass_X0 I know… but it does 😂