I’d been waiting to see how Nintendo would be handling NES Online reveals going into the New Year — and two of my worst fears have now been realized. The first is that, as-is, we only know what’s coming in January. When the service debuted, we knew what was coming all the way ’til the end of the year, plus that big initial batch of titles. Looks like it’ll be a slow burn from month to month to find out what we’re gonna get.
The other, more blatant oddity is that this time around we’re only getting two games. Blaster Master’s a cool surprise and Zelda II was a given in time, but it seems odd that there’s no known third game. Except in Japan, that is. By the look of things, our first missing title in the US is Joy Mech Fight, Nintendo’s early fighting game and home of recent Smash Ultimate Assist Trophy Sukapon.
With how many NES and Famicom games there were that weren’t localized one way or the other, it’s a shame we’re already feeling that loss. It was bound to happen whenever a Fire Emblem or Mother made its way to the service, but the fact that it’s costing us an obscure game like Joy Mech Fight hurts. Thanks to the Switch’s region-free nature, it’ll still be playable, but it could’ve been great to see Nintendo go out on a limb to promote this limbless game.
Written by Ricky Berg
When he isn’t writing for Nintendo Wire, Ricky’s anticipating the next Kirby, Fire Emblem, or if the stars ever align, Mother 3 to be released. Till then he’ll have the warm comfort of Super Smash Bros. to keep him going.
