The latest round of Nintendo Switch Online games has been revealed, and Fatal Fury 2, Super Ninja Boy, and Sutte Hakkun are joining the SNES library. While those titles might not have topped too many wishlists for the service, I am absolutely delighted that Nintendo’s tossing a bone to the retro gaming sickos.
Fatal Fury 2 is certainly the most well-known of the games on this list, as the second entry in a long-running fighting game series that’s about to get a new sequel later this year. These days, you’d probably prefer to play the original Neo Geo arcade version of Fatal Fury 2 rather than this SNES home port, but, either way, it’s notable for introducing the world to Mai Shiranui.
Super Ninja Boy is a bit of an odd duck, it looks, at a glance, like a traditional JRPG with a top-down perspective and random battles, but once you enter combat the game turns into a real-time beat-em-up. This is an entry in the surprisingly prolific Super Chinese series, originally loosely based on the classical Chinese novel Journey to the West, though this localized version obviously muddies the game’s setting.
But the real highlight of this lineup is Sutte Hakkun, an obscure puzzle game published by Nintendo exclusively in Japan. The game was originally released via the Satellaview, a modem accessory for the Super Famicom that let players download games via satellite broadcast. These days, the Satellaview is best known for its role in distributing a handful of obscure Zelda titles, but it also saw the publication of numerous original games.
Sutte Hakkun was among the best-loved Satellaview titles by those who originally made use of the service. It’s a puzzle platformer where you play as a birdlike little guy with a needle beak able to absorb blocks as liquid and spit them out where you want. The game quickly developed a cult following after its original release, garnering multiple Satellaview follow-ups and the eventual cartridge release which the Switch Online version appears to be based on.
Like yeah, sure, it’s nice that Nintendo Switch Online has given us a convenient way to play the old Mario Party games, but personally I’m far more interested in whatever obscurities Nintendo is willing to drag out of the deepest part of the vault. Give me the Iggy’s Reckin’ Balls and the Wrecking Crew ’98s of the world. With stuff like Sutte Hakkun getting the spotlight, my retro sicko heart has never been more full.
There’s still a massive library out there beyond merely the best SNES games.
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