Nintendo just released three more games on their Nintendo Switch Online Game Boy app and one more game on their Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack’s Game Boy Advance app. Let’s have a look!
Game Boy App
| Game | Genre | # of Players | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fortified Zone | Top-Down Action | 1-2 Co-Op (Local Wireless / Online) | D |
tl;drSlow movement, overly-large characters, and repetitive environments make this an awkward take on the genre that’s just not very fun. | |||
| The Sword of Hope II | Graphic Adventure / Turn-Based RPG | 1 | C |
tl;drA marked improvement over the first Sword of Hope Game, but still stifled by the format, and made worse by grindy, simple combat with high encounter rates. | |||
| Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 | Platformer | 1 | B |
tl;drWario’s first game in a starring role is a solid Platformer with some similarities to the Mario series. It’s a bit slow-paced, but it’s still well worth playing if you can tolerate the monochrome graphics of the Game Boy | |||
Game Boy Advance App
| Game | Genre | # of Players | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dr. Mario & Puzzle League | Compilation / Endless Pattern Puzzle | 1-2 Competitive (Local Wireless / Online) | B+ |
tl;drThis is a very good version of Dr. Mario, and a very good version of Panel de Pon/Puzzle League. It lacks Dr. Mario 64’s 4-player mode and it lacks Panel de Pon’s color, characters, and wonderful soundtrack (though it copies over a few themes), but overall, the biggest fault I can point to here is that Nintendo Switch Online players already have access to multiple other versions of both games. | |||
This is a surprisingly interesting selection of games, but we’ll start with the obvious one: it has taken over three years since the Game Boy app was released on Nintendo Switch Online, but we’ve finally gotten the original Wario Land, a great game that has aged somewhat, but is nevertheless a staple of the original Game Boy.
Both Wario Land and Fortified Zone were reviewed previously among the list of Nintendo 3DS and Wii U Virtual Console Reviews, and Fortified Zone is pretty terrible, the lone stinker of this bunch. And while I wasn’t super-thrilled with the original Sword of Hope, I have to say that I think its sequel is definitely improved, though it still has some major problems.
Finally, there’s probably the best game of this lot, Dr. Mario & Puzzle League, though that really depends how you look at it. By this point, we have multiple versions of each of these two games on the various retro apps, and both the Dr. Mario half and Puzzle League half of this bundle have things going for and against them. This version of Dr. Mario is probably the best version of the game available on Nintendo Switch, with graphics that are more detailed than the NES version and less blurry than the N64 version… but I think the covers of the original game’s music here are lacking, and this version lacks the N64 version’s 4-player mode. Meanwhile, Puzzle League has a ton of options here, but lacks the character and great selection of music that the SNES version has (some of that music is accessible via the options menus, but not all). Overall, both games are generally good, but far from the uniquestionable definitive versions of the respective games.
Still, all things considered, this is a solid selection of releases – we have a true classic, a Compilation port with solid takes on both games, a niche but unique game that improves on its predecessor, and only one stinker. All in all, not bad.
tl;dr – The Game Boy app gets three games, Wario Land, Fortified Zone, and The Sword of Hope 2, while the Game Boy Advance app gets one game, Dr. Mario & Puzzle League. Of this group, the only true stinker is Fortified Zone. Meanwhile, Wario Land is a classic, Dr. Mario & Puzzle League is solid versions of both games, and The Sword of Hope 2 is a niche but flawed game that improves over its predecessor. All in all, a solid group of additions to the two apps.
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