Category: News Commentary

NES vs Famicom Switch Online apps – November update

With the latest update of the NES and Famicom applications on Nintendo Switch, the first noticeable difference has actually appeared. Previously, most of the differences were just in the language. This time, though, the Japanese application got one more game that is not available on the NES application.

The November update for the NES Nintendo Switch Online included the following games:

  • (SP) Gradius: Gradius but, by default, it loads a save state in which you are fully powered up and start on stage 5 (if I recall correctly)
  • Metroid: Regular NES Metroid, password functionality works the same way to the point that you can crash it with the right code.
  • Mighty Bomb Jack: Another regular NES game.
  • TwinBee: Regular NES TwinBee.

You can see each of the games in action in the video below:

In Japan, though, they got the following:

  • (SP) Gradius: Same special version as above, just in the Japanese release.
  • Metroid: The Famicom Disk version of Metroid. This includes enhanced music and a save file system similar to The Legend of Zelda.
  • Mighty Bomb Jack: Same as above, just in the Japanese release.
  • TwinBee: Same as above, Japanese release.
  • (SP) Mario Open Golf: A special version of the Japanese release of NES Open Tournament Golf. This version starts by default with a save data where everything is already unlocked.

As you can see, the Famicom Nintendo Switch Online application actually got one more game in the latest update compared to the NES version. The biggest reason why this happened is because Mario Open Golf is quite different to NES Open Tournament Golf in its contents.

The first difference and main reason why there’s no SP version is that NES Open Tournament Golf has everything already unlocked by default. In Mario Open Golf, Japan is the only course available at the start and the rest need to be unlocked. There’s also the fact that the Japanese version has a few more courses available and the overall game is harder. Similar to Super Mario Bros. 2, it was one of those games that Nintendo thought it would be too hard for players outside of Japan. In this case, they did release the same game but with a simplified and lower number of courses.

Mario Tennis Aces keeps being amazing

And yes, that’s a sarcasm. The following video was recorded from the latest version that was just released. (v 2.0.1)

Yes, the Boo co-op challenge is over now. But instead of getting an in-game error telling you that the event is over, the game just crashes. ?

How not to promote the Nintendo Switch Online service

Aka, Nintendo of America’s recent tweet foolishness.

Nintendo of America recently posted this on their Twitter to promote the upcoming Nintendo Switch Online service:

So their telling us that, with the new Nintendo Switch Online, we’ll be able to play Super Mario Bros. 3 online. A game where the two player mode is not simultaneous but instead is by turns.

Checking the full list of the first 20 titles that will be available, they could have selected either:

  • Soccer
  • Tennis
  • Mario Bros.
  • Balloon Fight
  • Ice Climber
  • Dr. Mario

All of those games have simultaneous multiplayer mode which would actually show the online service much better. But instead, they go with a game that goes by turns when switching player.

The only way NoA could have made this worse would have been if they had tweeted about playing The Legend of Zelda online.

(Btw, if you look carefully at Nintendo’s screenshot, the game isn’t even being played online but in single player mode, as noted by the player icons on the left. An actual online screenshot is at the bottom of this page.)

A scene that Pokémon Let’s Go made me remember

Yep, catching doesn’t work like that. Even the anime knows it and since the first episode.

Thankfully, the games are spin-off titles and not part of the main games.

And here’s some quick facts that people may not know yet about the game but that are already confirmed:

  • There’s no wild pokémon battles at all. No option to do it in any way. You don’t even choose a pokémon whenever you encounter a wild pokémon.
  • Only the first 151 pokémon available plus Alolan pokémon that have alolan form and an a new 8th gen pokémon.
  • There’s no online at all. I don’t think there’s even local wireless even. At least it doesn’t seem to exist either. It seems there was a miscommunication (translation error, I guess). There is online and local for both battle and trading. It just won’t be using the Nintendo Switch Online service. (Battles and its levels are based on the Pokémon Go CP system, though)
  • When in two player mode, battles against NPC trainers will be 2 vs 1, with the players having an obvious advantage. Catching in 2 player mode also seems to give you some sort of benefits so catching is easier. This means that you could simply grab the second joycon yourself and make the game easier.
  • The Pokéball Plus controller can also work as a Pokémon Go Plus. Its battery only lasts 3 hours, though.

Overall, the games seem to be more like an expansion to Pokémon Go than anything else.