Platform / Nintendo Switch Online

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Nintendo Switch Online is Nintendo's online multiplayer gaming subscription service for Nintendo Switch and the Nintendo Switch 2. It is the third online service Nintendo has made for their platforms, succeeding Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection (Nintendo DS and Wii) and Nintendo Network (Nintendo 3DS and Wii U). It also doubles as a successor to the Virtual Console by way of "Nintendo Classics", a library of classic games that is included as part of the subscription plan.

Unlike its predecessors, which offered online play at no extra cost, Nintendo Switch Online is a paid online service in the vein of Xbox Live and PlayStation Network. Notably, the service did not launch with the Nintendo Switch. Announced in the January 2017 Nintendo Switch Presentation event, NSO was originally planned to launch in December 2017, but was later delayed to September 2018 in order to improve the underlying infrastructure and firmly establish the planned benefits; as such, all online multiplayer was free for Switch users for the first 18 months of the system's life.

For $20 USD a year (or $35 USD for up to eight users via family membership), subscribers gain access to online play, cloud saves, exclusive games and avatars, time-limited free trials for games, a downloadable library of classic games referred to as "Nintendo Classics"^note (originally called "Nintendo Switch Online classic game libraries" prior to the Nintendo Switch 2; Sega Genesis games are known separately as "Sega Genesis/Mega Drive Classics") playable via emulation, a music streaming service called "Nintendo Music", and access to exclusive items on Nintendo's online store (mostly wireless Bluetooth reproduction controllers for the retro consoles available on NSO). At launch, the Nintendo Classics service only offered NES titles, with SNES titles being added in September 2019. A higher paid tier known as the "Expansion Pack" was introduced in October 2021 where, for $50 a year ($80 for a family plan), users get additional access to Nintendo 64 and Sega Genesis games, as well as the paid DLC of select games for no extra charge. In February 2023, Game Boy and Game Boy Color titles were made available to all subscribers as part of the base tier, while Game Boy Advance titles were made exclusive to the Expansion Pack tier. In June 2025, Nintendo GameCube titles were added to the Expansion Pack tier for Nintendo Switch 2 owners. In February 2026, Virtual Boy titles were added to the Expansion Pack tier for both platforms, though a VR goggle accessory is required to play the games due to their stereoscopic 3D nature.^note While only the Virtual Boy replica (and its handheld cardboard facsimile) sold by Nintendo are officially supported, the Nintendo Labo VR Kit and various third-party options can also be used. With that in mind, the system has no way of actually checking if it's within a headset, only that it isn't docked, meaning nothing prevents the user from using the application regardless. As of February 2026, there are currently 360+ games available across all console apps.

Players can make use of save files that are recorded independently from the games' embedded save features, which not only makes it possible to resume progress in games that lacked any saving at all (like the majority of NES and Game Boy games) but also set up failsafes in case an in-game file is accidentally erased. The apps also allow the player to instantly rewind during gameplay by rollbacking to a previous timeframe, though for the Nintendo 64 apps this is only possible when playing on the Nintendo Switch 2, and allow for control scheme remapping as well.

Due to how ratings boards give age ratings for applications as a whole based on the most explicit piece of content (which, in this case, has the side effect of rating the software catalogues with a higher-tier label that doesn't match the original ratings for the less explicit games included), the Nintendo 64 has a separate "Mature" app for ESRB M and CERO Z titles, so parental controls don't prevent children from playing games tailored for all-ages due to the presence of M-rated software. All remaining console apps, with the exception of Game Boy Advance, are rated T in North America and its equivalents in other regions.

On October 30th, 2024, Nintendo Music was introduced as a music streaming app, featuring a curated selection of soundtracks from several franchises and properties from the company, with the option to download songs for offline play as well as filter songs to prevent spoilers. Originally exclusively for smartphones, as part of its Version 1.6 update in June 2026, Nintendo also introduced a web player for internet browsers, as well as versions of the app for tablets, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

Released alongside the Nintendo Switch 2 for NSO subscribers was GameChat, a native voice and video chat feature for the console, though it was initially free until March 31, 2026. Accessed via the home menu or through the C Button on the controller, the feature not only allows voice chat with up to 12 people, but also video chat and screen-sharing with up to four. As an additional part of GameChat, players are able to use the system's GameShare feature—the ability to play local multiplayer using only a single copy of selected games with up to three other Switch 2 consoles, similar to Nintendo DS Download Play—with friends online as well.

Despite its low entry fee compared to its competitors, NSO has been heavily criticized on a number of fronts. To prevent cheating in multiplayer modes, a number of notable games (such as Animal Crossing and Pokémon) have cloud saving completely disabled. Social features such as messaging are completely absent, while others like voice chat were relegated to the phone app on the Switch 1 and continues to be limited to people on your friends list. The NSO legacy games service gained some initial criticism for marking the third time that Nintendo rebooted their retro library offerings from scratch, and the service's Nintendo 64 emulation remains a sticking point both quality-wise due to performance issues with framerate and/or visual effects in certain games; for the first four years of the service's existence, there was also a lack of a button-remapping options for any of the available systems, which was particularly frustrating in regards to titles that relied very closely on the unique control scheme of the N64's controllers. In addition, upon the confirmation of the first game removal from the legacy games service in March 2025 (Super Soccer for the SNES app), concerns about the long-term availability of third-party content were raised.

However, the biggest complaint is the lag and disconnections that can plague online play; while this is actually a hardware/software issue rather than an online infrastructure problem^note (hardware-wise, the Switch doesn't have the best Wi-Fi chip, in addition to the OLED model having the only dock with a built-in ethernet port; on the software side, Nintendo's own games tend to use a low tick rate in an attempt to reduce bandwidth for people on cellular hotspots or public Wi-Fi, which can increase latency on peer-to-peer connections), it nevertheless prompts players to wonder what exactly they're paying for if the titular selling point of Nintendo Switch Online—the online—is little better than the free online services of past Nintendo consoles.

Despite these criticisms, Nintendo Switch Online is still a major part of the console experience; as of September 2024, over 34 million Switch owners are subscribed to the service.

Games available on Nintendo Switch Online

Base Subscription - Original Titles

• F-Zero 99
• Pac-Man 99^note (Delisted October 2023)
• Super Mario Bros. 35^note (Delisted March 2021)
• Tetris 99

Base Subscription — Nintendo Classics

Expansion Pack - Downloadable Content

• Animal Crossing: New Horizons - Happy Home Paradise
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition Upgrade Pack
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition Upgrade Pack
• Mario Kart 8 Deluxe - Booster Course Pass
• Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion

Expansion Pack — Nintendo Classics

Soundtracks available on Nintendo Music

Tropes associated with Nintendo Switch Online include:

• The Artifact: Super Mario Galaxy's inclusion in Nintendo Music is a bit odd due to how it's decided whether to use the original or a rerelease. If an Updated Re-release has even one piece of additional music (such as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe or New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe), Nintendo Music will use that version as the basis, while games that even new versions don't add music (such as The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD or Metroid Prime: Remastered) will default to the original version. Whichever version is not chosen will instead be a redirect. Because Galaxy was added to Nintendo Music long before the standalone Switch version (which added an additional track for the new storybook pages), it is still treated as the original Wii game with a note on the track saying it is from the Nintendo Switch version. The same goes for Super Mario Galaxy 2, which is added on the app the same way to match.
• Author's Saving Throw: An upcoming update for the Virtual Boy app adds the ability to change the filters from red to a less eye-straining color, including green, yellow, and grayscale. The lack of color choice is a frequently criticized aspect of the original console.
• Call-Forward: On Nintendo Music, Red's team in the FireRed and LeafGreen soundtrack screenshots is the same team he uses as an NPC in Pokémon games from HeartGold and SoulSilver onwards.
• Cool, but Inefficient: The wireless reproduction controllers for the various consoles can be used with modern titles outside of those apps, and it can make for a novel experience, but there are games that require more input methods than what is available on even a GameCube controller, to say nothing of an NES or SNES gamepad, and none of them can use the Switch 2's system level button remapping.
• Dueling Works: Several titles can be purchased separately on the Nintendo eShop, often in the form of updated re-releases or remasters with quality-of-life enhancements. This includes several titles currently owned/published by Arc System Works (various games in the Double Dragon and Kunio-kun franchises), Bandai Namco Entertainment (the Namco Museum Archives compilations), Konami (the Castlevania and Contra compilations), Nightdive Studios (Turok: Dinosaur Hunter and Seeds of Evil, Shadow Man), Sega (the Sega Genesis Classics compilations, up until their delisting in December 2024), and even Nintendo themselves (Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine, via the now delisted Super Mario 3D All-Stars). Console Archives became this since February 2026 for NES games as well, with Ninja Gaiden II being available for both platforms.
• Easter Egg:
  • When opening the Game Boy/Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, or GameCube applications, tilting the left control stick as the apps start up will prompt those console's original bootup sequences, rather than the default Nintendo Classics splash screen and Mario coin sound.^note The GCN app had this at launch, while this was added in a later update for GB and GBA later that year, after the remaining NSO applications adopted the "Nintendo Classics" labeling.
  • The appearance of the Game Boy/Game Boy Color bootup easter egg will change to match the app's game screen setting (original, Pocket, and Color) as well as if the "reproduce classic feeling" toggle is on.
  • The GCN's own bootup easter eggs can also be activated by holding down R (or Z, if using a GameCube controller) when the "2" in the Switch 2's loading screen appears. Just like on the actual console, doing so on a single controller grants the laughter variant, while four controllers gives the taiko drum version.
  • When using an NSO controller that corresponds to its respective app (NES, Genesis, SNES, N64, or GameCube), the red banner in the app's interface will change colour, and the menu sounds are replaced with those from a game in the library. For example, using an NSO GameCube controller in the GameCube app changes the banner's colour to purple, and changes the menu sound effects to those from Super Mario Sunshine.
• Five-Second Foreshadowing: For its first year, Nintendo Music had a usual update time of Tuesdays at 10am JST, and when it was skipped without prior notice from the company, it was an indication that the upcoming update has been delayed to act as a tie-in for a game announcement or presentation later in the week (e.g. Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance joining Nintendo Classics). After a few instances of this, they would end up shifting the update time to Fridays at 10am JST to avoid this trope.
• Greatest Hits Album:
  • When selecting a game on Nintendo Music, the first soundtrack option is a curated "top tracks" playlist of that game, with the "all tracks" option placed just below in a deemphasized way.
  • The app offers "Selects" playlists of tracks from specific systems (NES, SNES, N64, Switch) and game series (e.g. Super Mario^note while it includes tracks from most Mario spin-offs like the RPGs and sport titles, it specifically skips games with different lead characters like DK, Luigi, Peach, or Toad. One notable omission is Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, which is considered part of the Yoshi series, The Legend of Zelda), as well as an overall playlist. These will be up to three from each game (increasing to four if there is a version for a Japanese and an International version, such as the vocal theme of Fire Emblem Engage or the title screen music for Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door).
• Hidden Track: Several soundtracks available on Nintendo Music contain music from Bonus Material or other promotional media. They are usually noticeable by their lack of associated screenshot, since they are from sources outside of the games proper.
  • Super Mario 64 includes a piano rendition of "Piranha Plant's Lullaby" that was present on the original CD release. Similarly, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker's OST has the full rendition of "Aryll's Theme" that was present on its soundtrack CD release. The soundtrack for Kirby and the Forgotten Land also has a Japanese recording of "Welcome to the New World!" included from the Complete Soundtrack CD release.
  • Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade has two bonus tracks taken from Mystery of the Emblem and Genealogy of the Holy War, that were only unlockable with special distribution discs in Japan and North America, and completely Dummied Out in Europe and Australia.
  • Multiple games contain tracks that were originally only used for their trailers, namely Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, and Donkey Kong Bananza.
• Late Export for You: Just like its predecessor, several games made their regional debuts through the Nintendo Classics libraries.
• Milestone Celebration: Some of the releases on Nintendo Music are done to tie in with major anniversaries.
  • The 42nd anniversary of the Famicom was celebrated with 26 NES games (specifically, from the first three years of the console aside from the already released Super Mario Bros.) in one day.
  • Fire Emblem Engage (which features many characters and music from prior installments) was added for the 35th anniversary of the Fire Emblem series.
  • Splatoon was added for the 10th anniversary of the Splatoon series.
  • Super Mario Galaxy 2 was added as part of the 40th anniversary of the Super Mario series.
  • Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen was added alongside the announcement of rereleases on the eShop for the 30th anniversary of Pokémon.
  • Super Metroid was added on the 32nd anniversary of its release.
  • Animal Crossing (2001) was added on the 25th anniversary of the Nintendo 64 version.
  • The Mario Kart World tracks from Super Mario 64, Mario Kart 64, and Yoshi's Story, as well as a playlist compiling the Nintendo 64 Select tracks, were added on the 30th anniversary of the system.
• No Dub for You:
  • Most of the former Japan-only games on the international Nintendo Classics libraries are not localized into English, specifically being chosen for Western release precisely because the gameplay and stories are simple enough for even young players to comprehend without knowledge of the language.
  • In a variant, on the Nintendo Music app, almost all screenshots are taken from the English version no matter which language the app is set to. The exceptions are title screens, credits, games only released in Japanese, and screenshots with regional exclusive music (such as the title screen music for Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and various tracks exclusive to certain versions of Tomodachi Life). Similarly, a vast majority of game soundtracks only have English and Japanese music titles, though soundtracks for software like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Mario Kart 7, StreetPass Mii Plaza, or Mario Kart World are exceptions.
• Oddball in the Series:
  • The Sega Genesis is the only non-Nintendo system to be a part of the Nintendo Switch Online classic game library.
  • Since the Virtual Boy app is intended to be used with a VR goggle accessory due to all of the games being rendered in stereoscopic 3D, none of its games can be played in TV Mode. Instead, the application boots up to a start screen, and continuing past it while the system is still docked will prompt a message asking the user to remove the console from the dock, with no option to see the game library. It is also the only system with a non-integrated controller to not have an official reproduction of said controller available for use with the application.
• Our Lawyers Advised This Trope: The N64 app's version of Mario Party begins with a warning each time the game is loaded, advising you not to use your palm to spin the control stick, which was a popular technique for certain minigames that resulted in people injuring their hands and taking legal action against Nintendo following the game's original release.
• Porting Disaster: The Nintendo 64 application has had a fair number of games suffer this to varying degrees. While most problems are generally negligible for casual players and only noticeable to longtime fans of the original games, the Nintendo Classics version of F-Zero X is infamous for being the most poorly emulated title on the entire service. The controls are over-sensitive, resulting in even machines with good grip stats to slide out of control, and instead of its intended 60fps gameplay (which was a selling point at the time of release) it now maxes out at 30fps, with occasional dips to sub-20fps.
• Screwed by the Lawyers:
  • On March 28, 2025, Super Soccer was removed from the SNES library due to the agreement between Nintendo and Human Entertainment expiring.
  • The Nintendo Music soundtrack for Kirby Air Riders excludes songs that originated from the Kirby: Right Back at Ya! anime, such as the "Checker Knights" course theme and various field event or Stadium themes for City Trial.
  • Due to the trademark being held by a digital casino game, Dragon Hopper had its originally planned Western title changed to D-Hopper.
• The Shelf of Movie Languishment: D-Hopper and Zero Racers are planned to be released for the Virtual Boy application in 2026. Both titles, alongside a game called Bound High!, were intended to serve as part of a soft relaunch for the original console back in late 1996 before being shelved once Nintendo decided to simply discontinue the system sometime after that year's Electronic Entertainment Expo.
• Temporary Online Content:
  • Super Mario Bros. 35 was released as a limited-time game that was available from September 2020 (the 35th anniversary of the Super Mario Bros. franchise) to March 2021 (the end of Nintendo's fiscal year).
  • The DK Challenge is a limited-time event for Switch 2 owners that ran from June 9 to September 1, 2026, where players can earn Challenge Cards for completing challenges of varying difficulty in the Donkey Kong games available on base-plan Nintendo Classics and Donkey Kong Bananza. The Nintendo Classics missions revolve around beating specific levels and stages; meanwhile, in addition to missions that also involve simply playing the game normally, Bananza has a slew of speedrun missions and "Developer Challenges'' requiring high-level play.
• Updated Re-release:
  • By default, every game supports online play with up to three other Nintendo Switch Online subscribers on the player's friend list.^note The majority of NES, SNES, Game Boy/Game Boy Color, and Sega Genesis titles only have two-player multiplayer, and so those applications only support one other user. If the game in question doesn't have a multiplayer mode, the other player(s) can still use a cursor to point things out on the screen to assist Player 1, or otherwise just watch them play the game.
  • Any game that has flashing or excessively bright lights has them slowed down, dimmed, or removed completely to reduce the risk of seizures in those with photosensitive epilepsy.
  • Excitebike, Mach Rider, and Wrecking Crew add the ability to save custom levels.
  • F-Zero: GP Legend (GBA) has all its e-Reader content unlocked by default in the Japanese and Chinese versions of the GBA application.
  • StarTropics has the yo-yo renamed to "Island Star", just like in previous Virtual Console releases.
  • Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 has all 38 e-Reader levels unlocked by default, like its Wii U Virtual Console release.
  • The Game Boy Color version of Mario Tennis has Yoshi, Bowser, Wario, and Waluigi unlocked by default, since to properly unlock them you originally needed to connect the game to its Nintendo 64 version via the Transfer Pak.
• Virtual Celebrity: Since most of the music in the Splatoon series is stated to be performed by different bands In-Universe, the various songs are organized by all the major and minor bands in the franchise, rather than individual characters (though they are still considered "character playlists" by the app). K.K. Slider is also treated as this, as well as being the only character to get two playlists (one for his live performances and one for his soundcheck versions).