Nintendo has made a surprise announcement that four more NES and SNES games will be available to Nintendo Switch Online subscribers in February, in the form of Pop'n TwinBee, Smash Tennis, Shadow of the Ninja, and Eliminator Boat Duel.
Nintendo used to give out NES games every month to Nintendo Switch Online subscribers, but the quality of these games dried up over time. The games were joined by twenty Super Nintendo games last September, including some of the biggest titles on the system, like Super Mario World and Super Metroid. Nintendo also announced that it would no longer give out games every month and new titles would be added without a set schedule.
The official Nintendo YouTube channel has revealed that four more games will be available to Nintendo Switch Online subscribers on February 19, 2020. These games include Pop'n TwinBee (a top-down shooter) and Smash Tennis (a fast-paced tennis game) for the Super Nintendo app, as well as Shadow of the Ninja (a side-on action game inspired by Castlevania and Ninja Gaiden), and Eliminator Boat Duel (a boat racing/battle game) for the NES app.
Fans have started to notice that Nintendo has been releasing these NES and SNES games to subscribers during quieter months, which makes sense, considering how dry the release schedule is in February. Tokyo Mirage Sessions was the big game in January and there are still a few weeks until Animal Crossing: New Horizons, so it makes sense for Nintendo to release Switch Online games to give fans some new content during the slow periods.
There are some good picks among the new crop of Switch Online games and the removal of the set schedule means that the fans won't have to endure announcements for subpar games in exchange for their subscriptions. We just hope that Nintendo announces a Direct soon in order to fill out the schedule for the rest of the year, so we can avoid NES and SNES games being the biggest titles of the month.
Pop'n TwinBee, Smash Tennis, Shadow of the Ninja, and Eliminator Boat Duel will be available for Nintendo Switch Online subscribers to download on February 19, 2020.
Source: YouTube