Every N64 launch game for Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack
The Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pass launches on the Nintendo Switch today, October 25. It comes out alongside the SEGA channel and will also offer benefits like free access to the excellent looking Happy Home Paradise for Animal Crossing: New Horizons. When the system launches, the following games will be made available out the gate:
- Super Mario 64
- Mario Kart 64
- Starfox 64
- Yoshi’s Story
- Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
- Winback: Covert Operations
- Mario Tennis
- Dr. Mario 64
- Sin and Punishment
The following will be a quick rundown of each game just to remind you of what you’ll be getting.
Super Mario 64
This was Mario’s first foray into a three-dimensional world with the ability to run in all directions and, for its time, it was phenomenal. It was a little all over the place narratively but that was part of the charm. You could follow up a stage in which you navigate a battlefield betwixt two warring factions of Bob-ombs and then find yourself trying to get a baby penguin to its mama mostly via the power of Mario’s friction-free backside.
You’ve also more than likely played this as it’s been rereleased and remade multiple times. The Super Mario 3D All-Stars game had a really cleaned up version of the original. The 3DS released a superior version in which the graphics looked better, you could also play as Luigi, Yoshi and even Wario, each with different abilities, and gave you mini-games mostly dealt by a tuxedo-wearing Luigi.
But if you want to remove years and years of quality of life additions, multiple characters, graphical upgrades and more and go back to the original, then you’re going to be very happy with this.
The game itself isn’t bad but, many video games are a lot like classic literature. Pride and Prejudice (which I feel like I’m going to oddly reference again at the end of the list) is an example of a book that helped change the landscape for literature but it is an absolute slog to read despite English programs insistence of it. This is like that. Mario 64 changed our perception of how platformers could be played and then the next two decades built on that and made it better.
There are still fun concepts but be ready to scream as you find yourself struggling with the game’s biggest enemy, Lakitu the camera turtle. Though, I will say, when you encounter a hall of mirrors in Bowser’s castle and you can actually see Lakitu hovering behind you with a camera? *chef’s kiss*