The Nintendo Switch has just seen three new games added to its Nintendo Switch Online service, in the form of Congo’s Caper and Rival Turf! for the SNES library, and Pinball for the NES library. The new additions will be available to both standard and Expansion Pack subscribers, marking the first ream of new content for standard subscribers since March 30.
Releasing in Japan way back in 1984, Pinball for the Nintendo Entertainment System was an early programming project of the late fourth President of Nintendo Satoru Iwata, co-developed with Satoshi Matsuoka. The game is technically a Mario title, as it features Mario rescuing Pauline with his mighty Breakout-esque paddle.
Congo’s Caper was released by the now-defunct Data East back in 1992, and was deemed by Nintendo Power to not “do anything that Super Mario World and countless other games have done just as well.” Similarly, 1992’s Rival Turf! comes from the now-defunct Jaleco and was scathingly ruled by NintendoLife as “inferior [to Final Fight] in practically every single way imaginable.”
Subscribers with a Japanese Nintendo Switch Online account saw a different title in the place of Congo’s Caper – 1994’s Umihara Kawasa. The game entails you playing as a little sushi cook in a seemingly terrifying sealife-dominated world where you use your fishing rod to defeat enemies and traverse platforming challenges with rope physics.
It’s a little hard to muster enthusiasm over the latest additions, particularly with Sony revealing the PS Plus Extra and Premium games list and the Xbox Game Pass June 2022 list showcasing a mix of new games like Escape Academy and heavy-hitters like Assassin’s Creed Origins. Fans on Twitter have also continued to clamber for a higher quality of titles from the service, with Nintendo-published games like Super Mario RPG remaining ever-elusive from the handheld.
However, an upside of the Nintendo Switch Online’s catalogue in the face of its rivals is that it doesn’t lose titles so easily – or at all, so far as we’ve seen in the nearly four years since the service’s launch. Seemingly what it lacks in punchy updates it makes up for with consistency, so at least you can expect Pinball to stick around long enough for you to get your kicks from it.