Skip to main content

Nintendo is going mature with new Switch Online collection

Perfect Dark, Metroid: Zero Mission and more join Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack!
Summer Gaming Marathon Feature Image
This story is part of our Summer Gaming Marathon series.

Nintendo and its consoles are known for being family-friendly, but the company is bringing some games for older audiences to its Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscription service with its first “mature” collection.

Announced during June 2024’s Nintendo Direct, the collection will start off with two games from the Nintendo 64: Perfect Dark (with online multiplayer) and Turok: Dinosaur Hunter. The former is a first-person shooter from Rare, the company behind GoldenEye 007, which is also available with an Expansion Pack membership.

You must be 17 years or older to purchase the collection, which will be available today, June 18, following the announcement.

Besides the mature collection, Nintendo announced two other classics coming to the service. One is  The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and Four Swords, which differs from the 1992 SNES version of A Link to the Past that was already available for members. This is the 2002 Game Boy Advance port, which added multiplayer and other small changes. Keeping in line with the Switch Online part of the subscription, Nintendo has added online multiplayer for up to four friends.

Then there’s Metroid: Zero Mission for the Game Boy Advance, which is a remake of the first Metroid. Nintendo didn’t reveal if it received any tweaks for its new release. Both games are available today.

As a reminder, to get access to the collection, you must have a Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscription, which costs $50 per year for an individual plan or $80 per year for a family membership that allows you to share with up to eight other players. You’ll get access to a bunch of other games from retro consoles, including the NES, SNES, Sega Genesis, and more.

If you don’t want to sign up, Xbox is working with Crystal Dynamics on a modern reboot of Perfect Dark. While the game has reportedly had a troubled development, Xbox released a new trailer for it during its June showcase.

Carli Velocci
Carli is a technology, culture, and games editor and journalist. They were the Gaming Lead and Copy Chief at Windows Central…
Volgarr the Viking 2 will take you back to your Ghosts ‘n Goblins days
A viking slashes a tree in Volgarr the Viking 2.

Developer Digital Eclipse is working on a surprising project: Volgarr the Viking 2. The 2D retro sequel will launch on August 6 for PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

The news is an out of left field reveal. The first Volgarr the Viking game released in 2013 and was made as an ode to 1080s classics like Ghosts 'n Goblins. Despite being a small release, it sold over 1 million copies over the past decade. As revealed during today's Guerrilla Collective stream, the series is coming back with a new sequel by Digital Eclipse, the team behind this year's Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story.

Read more
3 Days of Play PS Plus games to try this weekend (June 7-9)
Key art for Streets of Rage 4.

June 2024 is shaping up to be a pretty great month for PlayStation players. Not only are we coming off an entertaining State of Play showcase, but a new Days of Play initiative surrounding all the video game showcases this month is bringing a lot of new PS Plus additions with it. Many of those games hit PS Plus this week, and three in particular stand out to us.

For owners of Sony's oft-neglected PlayStation VR2, the first game is one of its rare exclusives that take full advantage of the headset's eye-tracking by seeing how often players blink. The next is a new PS Plus Essential game that's a revival of Sega's classic beat-'em-up series for the modern gaming era. Finally, the last title is an atmospheric and eerie fishing game that should entice fans of Lovecraftian horror.
Before Your Eyes

Read more
3 first-party Xbox Game Pass games to try this weekend (June 7-9)
Gears 5 Kait Hero Close Up

Microsoft will hold an Xbox Games Showcase and Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Direct. this Sunday. These shows will provide a much better idea of what to expect from Xbox over the course of the next year or two. That's really needed right now, as Microsoft has struggled to keep online discussions around Xbox positive as it went multiplatform with some games, laid off thousands of developers, and outright shut down the developers of Hi-Fi Rush and Redfall. Based on leaks and my personal expectations for the showcase, there are three games you can play on Xbox Game Pass this weekend to prepare for the event.

The first is the latest first-person shooter in a long-running series by id Software that might be getting a medieval-set spinoff. After that, we have the fifth entry in a sci-fi Xbox series that still looks fantastic on Xbox Series X/S even though it came out in 2019. Finally, you can prepare for Avowed with the latest RPG from Obsidian Entertainment, a satirical sci-fi game where player choice is critical.
Doom Eternal

Read more