Nintendo announced its Switch Online Expansion Pack earlier this year, revealing that the higher tier subscription service would include N64 and Sega Genesis games. A number of titles from both consoles were added to both, and as has been the case for the NES and SNES libraries available through a regular NSO subscription, more games have been and will continue to be added over time.
The Genesis actually received five new titles late last week, all of which are available to play right now if you are subscribed to the Expansion Pack. Dynamite Headdy, Toejam & Earl, Thunder Force 2, Sword of Vermilion, and the iconic Altered Beast. The five titles join the likes of Streets of Rage and Sonic the Hedgehog which have been playable through the expanded service since it launched.
Few games exemplified the vivid graphics and the realistic sound introduced by the Genesis quite like Altered Beast, Nintendo's press release reads. It also notes that this is the first time Thunder Force 2 has been available in the US since it first launched more than 30 years ago. The quintet of games added last week brings the NSO Expansion Pack's running total of Genesis games up to 19. If a datamine from back in October is anything to go by, at least 52 Genesis games will be added to the service.
The further expansion of the N64 arm of the Expansion Pack has already begun. Paper Mario joined the service this month, and Nintendo revealed that Banjo-Kazooie will get in on the fun next month. It will join Mario Kart 64, Yoshi's Story, and some other classic N64 titles that are already available.
The complaints surrounding the Expansion Pack at launch appear to have eased somewhat. Some of the first to play the games weren't all that impressed with the quality, even showing off comparison videos demonstrating official ports available on older consoles that looked and played better. Most, if not all of those complaints appeared to be directed at the N64 games available. There has been little negativity aimed at the Genesis games. Hopefully that will continue via these latest five games and beyond.