September's Nintendo Direct was jam-packed with a plethora of announcements to excite fans of Nintendo's many first-party franchises. Alongside the announcement of highly anticipated titles like Kirby and the Forgotten Land and Bayonetta 3, Nintendo officially announced that Nintendo 64 games would be joining the Nintendo Switch Online line-up with nine classic titles launching with the service's expansion pack. Nintendo has since announced through Twitter that those titles would be receiving a major quality-of-life improvement through the service.
Nintendo officially announced the line-up of titles that would be joining the service on launch as well as a selection of titles currently planned to be added. The service is planned to launch in late October and will include popular N64 staples like Super Mario 64 and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time alongside more obscure titles like the Japan-only cult classic Sin and Punishment. Titles like Banjo-Kazooie and Paper Mario were confirmed to be coming in the future and the iconic developer announced today that these games would be optimized for the Switch.
The official Twitter account of Nintendo UK announced earlier this morning that all Nintendo 64 games coming to the console can be played in 60hz English versions. Some of the titles included with the expansion pack will also be able to be played in the original PAL versions with options for different languages. The upgrade ensures that every game added to the service will be able to be experienced in 60 hz rather than the PAL versions' standard 50 hz. The inclusion of English versions also confirms the return of Sin & Punishment's English version, previously limited to the Wii and Wii U Virtual Console.
Nintendo Switch Online's upgraded expansion pack was also announced to be adding a small selection of SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive titles. The initial release will feature some iconic titles from the 16-bit SEGA console like Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Golden Axe, and Ecco The Dolphin. Nintendo did not announce the official price of the expansion pack during the Direct, but did mention that existing Nintendo Switch Online members will be able to upgrade for a discount.
The September Nintendo Direct was filled with plenty of major announcements and iconic Nintendo franchises. Between new trailers for the now-released Metroid Dread and the highly-anticipated Splatoon 3, Nintendo made several other announcements that got fans talking from a new Smash character (now revealed to be Sora from Kingdom Hearts) to the cast of Illumination's Mario movie. The addition of Nintendo 64 games to Nintendo Switch Online was a welcome addition to the service's library and will ensure the classic titles can be experienced by a new generation of Nintendo fans.