Nintendo Expands Switch Online's Virtual Boy And GBA Library With Three More Titles

Wish they’d do the gba Mario tennis and golf games.

Since we just got the remake of Mario vs. Donkey Kong a couple years ago, I didn't think the original GBA version would ever come to NSO--at least, not within the next 5 years or more. Does this mean the SNES version of Super Mario RPG could be on its way soon??

Edit: This also means Mario finally says, "Come back-a here, you big-eh monkey!" in a Switch game. Life is finally worth living again.

As a Mario Bros. fan, Mario Clash should be intriguing, and it should become my second favorite VB game behind Wario Land.

But the GBA version of Mario vs. Donkey Kong is a cool surprise! The Switch remake is all well and good, but even though it's definitely aged with its pre-rendered graphics, there's still some things the GBA original did better. Charles Marinet's many voiced lines are personally classic. I like how the music for Fire Mountain and Twilight City is more bombastic or ominous when it's more subdued or completely different in the remake, not to mention The Final, Really Final Battle hitting way harder!

Wonder if Mario vs DK will feature the e-reader levels just like SMA4

What I find interesting is NST gets a special shout in the legal

Hmm to sum up this update… I think Bill Withers put it best.

Sweet! Now people can play the better version of MvDK(in terms of gameplay at least).

@theberrage yeah there really ain't no sunshine when Mario is gone...

@AG_Awesome Baffling they’re not there already, there’s an argument to be made that they’re the best entries in each series. Toadstool Tour is up there too.

I am ready to enter the 3rd dimension!

Keep hoping for SMB Deluxe, but glad we got something. Though I played through Mario vs. DK on my 3DS late last year and wound up absolutely hating it so not super enthused about it personally, but happy for its fans that don't want to shell out for the remake.

Mario tennis for vb, was waiting for that. Amazing game.

@nessisonett Two of their all time best. Hopefully someday they give em to us. 🤞

You had me at Mario Clash, the only one from this batch that I don't own. I have 2 copies of Mario's Tennis in my collection and Mario vs. Donkey Kong is on my Wii U.

@Not_Soos Maybe?? I was just saying the other day there seems to be a pattern of not getting the original versions on NSO if they've released a re-make on Switch, but guess I'll eat my words. Wonder if we'll see Advance Wars some time too?

Opened my VB last weekend and got half an hour of pinball and wario land. Cannot wait to try out Mario’s tennis once I’m home from work. I still can’t believe I’m playing virtual boy lol, I love it. Bring on the games

I just want them to let us play virtual boy games without the need for the headset accessory, but I can tell they push that as a requirement so they can sell them.

@JayJ I mean you can play the game just the "screen" is really really small I got through the first level of Wario like that

@rvcolem1
I don't have the Expansion Pass so I can't test it myself, but the Switch does support zooming-in the screen with the accessibility options. Maybe zooming into the small VB display can help?

@EarthboundBenjy oh yeah good idea. I mean worth a shot, and yes I am being cheap

@Not_Soos I do agree that would be cool, but that would probably depend on how Square is willing to play with the NSO service, which considering they haven't, I doubt it will be coming over anytime soon, although I do feel that would be good to have both

I remember hearing about MvDK thru kiosk demo discs, it's kinda wild that Nintendo had this game running on the GameCube back in 2004 where PC emulators still required an excessive amount of power to reach full speed.

That work made its way into Pokemon Box, so they certainly got mileage out of it, even though only 3 people actually used it to play Ruby/Sapphire on the TV.

@JayJ almost guarantee they're holding off to add that until all the games are added

Awesome additions!! I love all 3 of these!!

Still no DK64 or Smash 64.

@FernandoMachado Sadly, I doubt it. They didn't do that for F-Zero GP Legend.

Now we just have to wait for the 10th of Warch in order to get the original Wario Land on NSO.

Mario Clash is a lot of fun, I'm glad to see it available.

@LastFootnote SML3: Wario Land is available, but for the life of me I can't figure out why Wario Land II has yet to appear. 3 and 4 are already available, too.

...I just realized we're a week away from Mar10 Day. Where is 2026 going?!

@Dev-N The worst thing about the remake is they got rid of the three star scoring system which killed a lot of the remake value

My guess is that they are saving the unrelease F-Zero VR game (Zero Racer) for last since there's only 16 games on VB. They could had easily make a Virtual Boy Mini with those same 16 games and choose not to. Sadly we won't get the impressive Street Fighter II Hyper Fighting Virtual Boy port on here since that one is fan made and not by Capcom.

I'll be playing all three of these! I've long been curious about VB Mario Tennis. Emphasis on the "long."

Awesome. Loved the remake of Mario vs. DK. Love these kind of games. I have nearly finished Spanky's Quest and was wanting another puzzler platformer.

@rvcolem1 So, if we download the Virtual Boy onto the Switch, we can still get them to load and start, even if it’s under less-than-ideal conditions?

@LastFootnote 🤣
Wario needs no date though. He was not even in the announced pecking order of initial GC titles. True to character, he just showed up and barged his way ahead of the queue. Hopefully he will do so again soon with more!

I expected Super Mario Sunshine.

The inclusion of Mario vs. Donkey Kong opens a lot of doors!
Hopefully we'll eventually see things like Metroid Prime and the Pikmin games though I suppose they were always on the table with the leaks and whatnot.

@MeloMan SML3: Wario Land isn't actually available on NSO despite being pushed out on 3DS fairly quickly so while it is only a matter of time, I'm surprised we've had to wait this long!

Nintendo, that's not how you spell Super Mario Land 3.

They (I mean Nintendo, the source of the images) be showing you screenshots of VB games in 2D while you can't play them that way with the app.

What's up with that Nintendo? I want to be able to enjoy them on my TV when the 3D is just a gimmick like in Wario Land. It's perfectly enjoyable in 2D IMHO.

So, for those of us who don't care about shelling out for the Virtual Boy peripheral...

Two nothing burgers and a game that already has a remake on Switch.

Aight.

Cool to get M Vs DK.
It's the kind of game I'll absolutely try when it is included in a subscription but I would never have shelled out for.

With all the cool GBA games they could add, they went with the one with a remake already playable on the console...

the original version of Mario Vs DK is a nice novelty but honestly if you want to play that game just play the remake, the only thing the original does better are the funny voice lines, otherwise the remake does everything else better, ESPECIALLY the controls

@Not_Soos @Ethereal_NZ Link's Awakening came to NSO despite there being a remake four years after the remake released. With Mario vs Donkey Kong I expected it to just take a bit longer.

Edit: Also Pokémon Mystery Dungeon is there too, despite the remake.

I did enjoy the basic concept of Mario vs DK, taking the puzzle/platformer of GameBoy DK and amplifying it with an almost Lemmings-like mechanic.

BUT..
They didn't do anything different than that in future instalments.
It's like they got stuck with the Minis and never quite got out of it.
Could've been a whole series of different puzzle mechanics for each game, but instead, future games in the series were stunted.
Bah, humbug, etc.

@rvcolem1 @EarthboundBenjy Zoom is disabled in the app

Ah! That breaks the unwritten "No re-released game will go on NSO" rule…

@Suketoudara
If they had left that enabled people could comfortably play the games handheld and not waste money on future dust collecting e-waste so of course the knew to specifically disable a freaking accessibility option.

@MeloMan

Wario Land is not on there yet.

Wasn't expecting Mario VS Donkey Kong to be there but I'm glad it is.

@The21zonz fairly sure links awakening did that a long time ago when it comes to Switch re-releases.

NSO itself even has the NES Mario games, also on the SNES and their GBA versions including the GBA version of Yoshi's Island from the SNES.

The NSO snake is eating its' own tail!! 😅

@The21zonz That's happened before like Mario 64/Link's Awakening/Pokemon Mystery Dungeon.

It's the reverse that's never happened before. So far if a game releases on NSO, that means it's never getting a port/remaster/remake. Like if that Walmart Prime 2 GCN NSO rumour is true, then that rules out Prime 2 Remastered.

@AlienX I had (have) Pokemon box and I wasn’t even one of those 3 people. It required you to use the GBA link cable. And of course you could only play Pokemon. And not that we knew the intricacies of this back in 2004, but software emulation is just not as great as real hardware. The game boy player let you play any game, only needed you to stick the cartridge in the system, and had real game boy guts… that was simply the better option!

Nice. Mario clash is was my most played vb game on the 3ds (viper).

Wish they'd put some good games on this service

Btw. Is gale of darkness coming mar 10 as well? Didn’t see a date in that video

@AlienX on my imac in 2004 it was no problem. Gba emulation wasquite excellent from the start.

Woooo! More games you'll never own and be happy to rent forever!

@romanista We do not know. It is just in March.
My guess will be that it is last half of March.

@Suketoudara If I remember correctly, getting three stars on the GBA game meant completing a level under a certain time limit. The Switch version does have a time trial mode as a separate mode.

The nice thing about the GBA version is you might get three stars on your first run. So then you don’t have to play it a second time.

For me, though, I usually don’t care about time trial achievements.

EDIT: Looks like the GBA game has one star for each level and you need to get a certain score, which is improved by finishing the level quickly.

@romanista Oh, I meant that because PC emulators at the time required a lot of power they would never run well on the GameCube, see VBAGX, it barely runs well on the Wii.

@Nintoz @Uncle_Franklin Ugh, thank you. Doesn't pay to think when you're tired. Unbelievable NEITHER are there!

Not to be a downer but this is why I’ve abandoned the service and started buying carts. Look, I 100% acknowledge this service is undoubtedly one of the best deals in gaming, but it’s always just too little, too late. Also, that grating having to check each NSO app in every week is annoying as hell. I got burned not once but twice because I took my switch lite with me on a plane and because I didn’t check EACH APP IN SEPARATELY BEFOREHAND, I couldn’t play some of the games I wanted to play on the flight. No internet = no check in = no games. If you don’t play it regularly it’s extremely time consuming opening each beforehand and having to sit through each one updating serially. I really wish they’d just require one check in and have that register across each NSO app.
So here I am collecting old carts again and frankly I’m having tons of fun with that even though I’m ultimately spending more money.

All that being said, these are some great games this release! No experience with the virtual boy games but I’m sure they are a lot of fun.

@Serpenterror

"Easily" is quite a stretch. Yeah, a VB Mini could be done, but it'd be quite a bit more expensive. You'd need at least the same chips and silicon as an SNES Mini ( which would itself cost more these days than when the SNES Mini was made ). . . only you'd also need screens and optics, as well as a generally larger and more complex form factor. My guess is that a standalone VB Mini would have to retail at about twice the cost of an SNES Classic, and that would almost certainly doom it

Oh boy, I'm super grateful Nintendo has added yet another platform to extend the drip feed, spending time adding Virtual Boy games instead of the 3~ platforms I care most about.

@BTB20 I always forget that the GB Links Awakening is on there, that's a good point!

@Ethereal_NZ Btw I forgot, the first Pokémon Mystery Dungeon is on NSO too.

These guys will do anything but add Sunshine. Pack it up, it's time to pay reseller prices for Super Mario 3D All-Stars

Thank you for this birthday gift Nintendo. I mean it's not Sunshine, or Twilight Princess but I'm happy that you remembered.

Seriously? Still no Super Mario Land 3: Wario Land and Wario Land 2? Come on. I don't get why these games were not brought out on Switch years ago considering how popular they were and they are first party games Nintendo owns.

Maybe there is some problem with the music rights because it makes no sense why they still haven't put them on there.

@Broch83 yeah i guess you're right, just a bit of a confusing annoucenment, since it was announced earlier... now it looks like non virtual boy addon owners only get one in march. when it is two

(and you wonder if it wasn't competing with mario sushine as well for mario day)

Why isn't every VB game on the system?

@DollyrotsFan1 They want big name games to release later too. They aren’t going to release their biggest games first and have nothing good to release later. That would be good for us but not for them.

@Misima They want you to come back and keep using the Virtual Boy later. Plus not all VB games will return because of licensing reasons, disinterest from third party publishers and closure of old developers. Nintendo are releasing everything they are able to but aren’t able to release everything.

@Bass_X0 yeah that clocks. Greedy ***** aren't happy with nearly 250 bucks in profit. They have to try and milk it more. Great. I already had the best 4 VB games and the one I haven't played up now isn't worth even 15 minutes. I really screwed up by giving them money.

Never forget corporations are never your friend.

Taking a break from losing at Mario Tennis Fever to try my hand at losing at Mario Tennis VB. Can't wait!

@Not_Soos The difference is that Mario vs. Donkey Kong GB is an in-house developed game, and Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars is a Squaresoft developed game.

It's easier to rerelease the latter on a per-sale basis than as part of a subscription service because Nintendo has to pay royalties of some sort to Squeenix.

Enix is more cooperative with Nintendo noawadays, but it's still a LOT easier to re-master Mario RPG and sell it individually than to include it in Nintendo Classics.

@FernandoMachado the western NSO release sadly doesn't, but the Japanese one does. Or at least levels e-1 to e-6 are available from the get go. I'm currently playing to see if completing them unlocks e-7 to e-12.

Drip feeding a small library of games for a failed system is on brand for Nintendo.

@HammerGalladeBro thanks for the heads up! I’ll check the Japanese app!

@Misima I play Virtual Boy on Switch looking through a magnifying glass I happened to have already. No need to buy a headset, although obviously I don’t see the games in 3D.

Already played through and beat the remake of Mario Vs. DK on Switch, which I loved....but doing it it all again in this GBA version. Tremendous game.

@Bass_X0 I mean... Ok. There's not much reason to play these games without it. Every single good VB game has another version of it without 3d that's technically a better game. Red Alert has Starfox, Tennis has Tennis, Wario has 4 Wario land games, and Teleroboxer has Punch out. The 3D is fun and worth playing but not for 200 bucks, unless you're buying the actual VB for collecting as well.

I was always a proponent of the VB but Nintendo really should just give us every game on a cartridge for 200 bucks. It's greed to make this a subscription and I regret acting on it. I just paid my credit card and cringe at 250 bucks spent getting a GameCube switch controller, the VB and a year of online. Wtf was I thinking?!

About Mario vs. Donkey Kong, I'm hopeful that the more people play it and see/hear the opening, the more people will be aware of the Spanish audio of "dos cero tres ochenta y ocho". Maybe that way I can finally find its origin and the full audio.

Other places where I've heard it: Space Ghost: Coast to Coast (from here I know it's a long audio), Shaq Fu's commercial and apparently was also used in the Mexican movie known as "Amores Perros", though I've read that a later edit removed it.

I noticed they corrected the release year for Mr. Driller 2. It was released in Japan in 2001 and in America in 2005. It was showing as 2001 on NSO but has now been updated to 2005.