I've been a huge fan of Nintendo Switch Online since it's arrival on the OG Switch back in 2018. I know a lot of you will be saying 'just emulate old games', but that's not something that everyone knows how to do or even wants to do. Plus, the fact that Nintendo are preserving old games that you can just dive into after playing major titles really sits well with me, especially when you consider the fact that we're getting to play games that never released outside of Japan.
How many of you have played Mario & Wario before? I know they each had their own 'Land' games for the Game Boy, but they actually teamed up in this Japanese puzzler on the SNES back in the early 90s. And another fact to blow your mind; this was the 5th game that Pokémon creators Game Freak ever made, coming two years after one of my favourite ever Game Boy games 'Yoshi'.
As you'll see from the launch video, you won't be playing as Mario or Wario, but rather a fairy by the name of Wanda. The game has a sort of feel of Lemmings crossed with the Mario vs DK games to it, with Wanda guiding Mario through each level and unlocking a path for him to safely get to the end. He can't see, so I suppose Wanda is less of a fairy and more of a guardian angel in that sense. Can you get Mario back to Luigi and thwart Wario?
Speaking of ol' Wazza, it's the first time that he appeared on home consoles. He'd already appeared in Super Mario Land 2 the year before on the Game Boy and would go on to get his own starring role in Super Mario Land 3 the year after, but this was his first home console role. As i've already said, many of you wouldn't know this as the game never released outside of Japan, but now a whole new generation of gamers get to experience it for the very first time.
Like Mario Paint which also recently arrived on the Nintendo Switch Online platform, you'll need mouse controls to make the game work. If you've got a Nintendo Switch 2, then you'll be able to just remove the right Joycon and start playing, but you'll need a mouse peripheral if you're still rocking the original Switch.
Joining Mario & Wario in the new SNES game drop is Bubsy In: Claws Encounters of The Furred Kind and Fatal Fury Special. Atari have been pushing the Bubsy Purrfect Collection for a while now, but having the original game on NSO as part of their existing subscription will give them an idea as to whether they want to grab the collection of all 4 games for the different platforms they launched on.
Fatal Fury Special is also a cracking game to have joining the roster too. We're not short of fighting games on NSO, but this updated version Fatal Fury 2 will definitely help you to destress after a stressful gaming session on Tears of the Kingdom or Metroid Prime Remastered, button mashing your way to glory with new characters that didn't appear in FF2.
Head to Nintendo Switch Online for more details or to start your subscription!
