There are now three more reasons to pay the £20 per year for Switch Online membership, as Nintendo has announced that more NES games will be joining the service on June 12.
By far the most interesting of these is Double Dragon II: The Revenge. A side-scrolling beat-em-up in the same vein as Streets of Rage, it attracted pretty positive reviews back in 1988 from various publications, and has since been released as a downloadable title for Wii 3DS and Wii U. Just stay away from the Xbox 360 reimagining which was, uh, less well received.
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Next up is City Connection, a game that it’s probably fair to say is less fondly remembered. The platforming gameplay involves painting highways across 12 cities while avoiding the chasing police cars. Reception was mixed even at the time, so it’s a curious choice for Nintendo to revive now. Computer Entertainer said it was “enjoyable in the short run, but we doubt that it has sufficient staying power to keep most gamers playing it over and over again.” So odd that Nintendo are giving us that opportunity 34 years later.
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Finally, there’s Volleyball – another member of the NES sports series. Afraid this is widely regarded as the weakest title in the series, so you’ll very likely just be checking in for curiosity before moving on to more interesting things.
Okay, so none of these games are likely to push more Switch Online subscriptions, but it’s worth remembering that the whole NES arcade – which hosts stone-cold classics like Mario 3 and The Legend of Zelda – is an additional perk rather than the main reason to subscribe. The main appeal remains the ability to play Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate online, as well as the option to back up your saved games to the cloud.
If you happen to spend more than a couple of hours playing old NES games, well, that’s just a bonus.
What do you think of the new games Nintendo has added to the NES arcade? Let us know on Twitter: @TrustedReviews.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
