NES vs Famicom Switch Online apps – January 2019 update

January has arrived and with it comes the biggest difference yet between the NES and Famicom apps of the Nintendo Switch. On November, the Famicom version of the app got one more SP version that NES didn’t get, but it was also because it didn’t need it. This time, though, Japanese users will get one extra game.

Below is the full list of games added on the Nintendo Entertainment System – Nintendo Switch Online app.

  • Blaster Master
  • Zelda 2
  • (SP) Ninja Gaiden (Starts on stage 6-4, right before the final boss.)
  • (SP) Ghosts’n Goblins (Starts on stage 6 of the first run.)

And here’s the list of games added on the Family Computer – Nintendo Switch Online app.

  • Blaster Master
  • Joy Mech Fight [ジョイメカファイト]
  • Zelda 2 (Famicom Disk System version)
  • (SP) Ninja Gaiden (Same as above.)
  • (SP) Ghosts’n Goblins (Same as above.)

As you can see, Japan got the usual three games, but one of them was never released outside of the region. So instead of replacing the game for a different one, Nintendo simply decided to just omit it and leave it to just two new games for the people using the NES version.

NES vs Famicom Switch Online apps – December update

A bit late but still in time as it’s still December (and 2018) while I’m publishing this. 😅 Anyway, this time there wasn’t much difference between the two apps.

The main difference this time is that the Famicom app got (for obvious reasons) the Famicom Disk version of SP Metroid instead of the cartridge version. So you have enhanced sound effects in the Japanese version compared the NES one. (Including Ridley sound effects whenever he’s hurt)

Besides that, the differences are simple. Adventures of Lolo levels seem to be harder in the Famicom and SP Dr. Mario starts from a slightly different save state due to the random nature of the game.