News emerged yesterday that Nintendo is reportedly soon adding Game Boy and Game Boy Color titles to Nintendo Switch Online, bypassing the N64 entirely. I'm sure that iconic console will get its chance - although our own Cian Maher argued back in January that the Game Boy was the only sensible choice - so for now let's concentrate on the Game Boy itself. It might just be the greatest handheld console of all time, with most of its challengers being other Nintendo products that owe their existence to the Game Boy's foundations. It has a legendary back catalogue, but the most interesting choice for Nintendo Switch Online would be the vastly underappreciated Tomb Raider games - Tomb Raider GBC and Tomb Raider: Curse of the Sword.
Sure, Pokemon would be very cool. It's weird that Nintendo isn't making sure fire hits like RBY or GSC are readily available to anyone who wants them. Golden Sun, another game we've gone to bat for previously, would be another solid choice. Mario, Zelda, Kirby, and Metroid all have their fair share of legendary titles on the Game Boy too, while Wario Land, Mole Mania, Kid Dracula, and Duck Tales would all be equally fantastic choices. I'm not arguing against any of these - I'll probably spend a million hours playing Pokemon Gold if it comes to Nintendo Switch Online, and spend a million hours more writing about how great it is. But come on, everyone wants there to be Pokemon, and while again, it's odd that Nintendo makes its old games unnecessarily difficult to play, we have - deep breath now - Pokemon Let's Go, Pokemon SwSh, Pokemon Unite, New Pokemon Snap, Pokemon Cafe, Pokemon Quest, Pokemon Home, Pokken Tournament, and Pokemon Mystery Dungeon on the Switch, soon to be joined by Pokemon BDSP and Pokemon: Legends Arceus. You are not starved for Pokemon on the Nintendo Switch.
For some other series, and yeah, you have a point. They should have more love on the Switch. Bring back Mole Mania, am I right? But the Tomb Raider Game Boy titles feel like forgotten relics, despite the enduring popularity of the main series. Unlike other console hits, like Tony Hawk's, Spyro the Dragon, and Crash Bandicoot, Tomb Raider's Game Boy spin-offs were great games in their own right too, not just Game Boy versions of great games. Lara doesn't have the level of personality she does in the mainline games, owing to the lack of voice acting and limited text on the Game Boy Color, but the gameplay itself was brilliant and deserves another shot at the spotlight, especially with the 25th anniversary of Tomb Raider right around the corner.
Ideally, it would be a double-header of both games. My personal preference would be Curse of the Sword, but I think the first game is the most likely, although I will admit the odds are slim on either. These games are nowhere near as beloved as any of the mainline games, not even the divisive Angel of Darkness or the lukewarm Shadow. But they are an important piece of Lara history, and one that sees her embrace an entirely new genre she's well suited to.
By necessity of the technical limitations of the Game Boy, Lara's adventures are transformed into a series of Metroidvania dungeons, complete with jumping, swinging, shooting, and swimming. All the basics from the classic Tomb Raider outings are there, concentrated around the most key elements of the series. The puzzles are less complex than anything in Tomb Raider: Legend, while the enemy encounters are less visceral and nuanced than anything in Rise of the Tomb Raider, because of course they are. If these games do come to the Nintendo Switch, it will not be 'a Tomb Raider game' on the Switch. As a side note, yes, we obviously need that, but these are not typical Tomb Raider games. They're very specifically Lara Croft Metroidvanias, and on a console full of Metroidvanias - including both Metroid and Castlevania - they still manage to shine. They don't quite rebel against what they are, as they do embrace the conventions of the genre, but they are acutely aware that they are stand-ins for more advanced games, and don't always think like Metroidvanias, especially in terms of level layout.
They feel less like video games designed to give you seven different options per screen and more like actual dungeons that someone might actually have built, assuming they had billions of dollars, access to ancient artefacts, and a very evil laugh. At the time, this earned a bit of criticism - other Metroidvanias did it better. But bringing them back these days, when modern Metroidvanias are far less dominant in the gaming landscape, might give Tomb Raider GBC and Curse of the Sword a chance to be recognised for what they are, rather than being criticised for what they're not.
Look, it might not happen, and bringing back Mole Mania would soften the blow, but we need Tomb Raider on the Nintendo Switch. A 'leak' suggested it would be arriving on August 27, 2020, and I know we've had a pandemic and everything, but like, we're quite a way past that now, aren't we? Tomb Raider GBC and Curse of the Sword have an outside chance though, and hopefully when the Game Boy lands on the Switch, Lara Croft will be ready and waiting.