With the Nintendo Switch Online service recently celebrating its two-year anniversary, many fans are expecting a new game console to launch on the service in the same manner that the NES and SNES consoles came to the service in 2018 and 2019, respectively. While many fans are expecting that the Nintendo 64 is next to launch on the online service, some think otherwise and are confident that the Nintendo Game Boy, along with the Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance, are next up instead.
But if the Game Boy line of handhelds were to arrive on the Switch Online service, which games would fans most likely see arrive? Over the course of roughly 15 years, the Nintendo Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance collectively saw the release of over 2,000 licensed games, with tons of stand-out titles. Here are just some Game Boy titles that seem to be the most likely to arrive on the service.
Mario and Friends
The most obvious games that should probably be included in the Game Boy Switch Online service are some titles featuring Nintendo's main mascot, Mario. After all, there are plenty of other great Mario games that have yet to become available on the Switch.
Game Boy originals Super Mario Land and Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, as well as the GBA game Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga are the biggest stand-out Mario titles as on the handhelds; however, the Game Boy Advance games Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Mario Golf: Advance Tour, and Mario Tennis: Advance Tour would all make for great inclusions as well. If only a couple of Mario's handhelds could be included, the first two Mario Land titles would probably be the best picks.
Pokemon and Other RPGs
The Game Boy line of handhelds featured countless classics across more gaming genres to count, but perhaps the very best category of games that received the most love was the RPG genre. There were tons of amazing RPG games on the Game Boy Advance particularly, with the most obvious one—the Pokemon franchise—becoming the must-have title across the Game Boy, the Game Boy Color, and the Game Boy Advance. Including at least one Pokemon game is a must for the Game Boy Switch Online app, with the most obvious entry to include being either Pokemon Red or Blue, or their respective remakes Pokemon FireRed or LeafGreen which launched on the GBA. FireRed may make the most sense, as the title improves upon the original Game Boy classic in nearly every way and features sharper graphics.
Outside of Pokemon, there were many other must-have RPG titles that released for the Game Boy Advance including the Fire Emblem series, the Golden Sun series, the Advanced War series, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Megan Man Battle Network, Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis and more. But the one other stand-out RPG that needs to make its way onto the Switch Online service above all else has to be Mother 3 for the GBA, which famously only ever came to Japanese systems. Mother 3 is one of the most highly requested localization in all of gaming history, and to this day, it has still never made its way outside of Japan in any official form. Localizing Mother 3 would easily be a massive selling point for any Switch owners that are still on the fence about purchasing a Switch Online subscription.
Wario Gets the Spotlight
Interestingly enough, the Game Boy and Game Boy Advance featured plenty of titles that showcased Mario's evil counterpart, Wario. First introduced in Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, Wario got his own series of platforming titles with Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3, and then Wario Land 2 and 3, respectively. Wario got a fourth entry on the Game Boy Advance, and it would honestly be great to see all four of these games come to the Switch Online service. If only able to pick one Wario Land game, the second entry might make for the best choice, but any one of them would be great inclusions for the service.
Additionally, the Game Boy Advance gave birth to the WarioWare franchise, which is now a cult classic that has made its way to most other Nintendo consoles including the GameCube, DS, 3DS, and Wii. It would be lovely to see WarioWare, Inc: Mega Microgame$! and its sequel WarioWare: Twisted! both make their ways to the service as well. The first title would probably make more sense to be included in the service day-one, as it is the original, however the motion-controlled micro-games featured in Twisted! would be ridiculously fun to play on the Switch handheld also.
Platformers Galore
The Game Boy line of handhelds exceeded when it came to 2D platformers, and there is certainly no shortage of great titles that could come to the online service. As far as titles on the original Game Boy goes, Metroid 2: Samus Returns, Donkey Kong Land and Kirby's Dream Land are all clear picks. Moving on to the Game Boy Advance, the list is far harder to narrow down with so many excellent titles to choose from. Some of the handheld's highlights include Metroid Fusion, Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, Kirby & the Amazing Mirror, Mega Man Zero, Drill Dozer, and much more. If only able to select one of these titles, it would have to be Metroid Fusion, as the game is regard by many fans to be the very best of the series. The title went on to further inspire many other 2D side-scrollers, and it would be great to see it made available on Nintendo's current console.
Other Classics
Outside of the previously discussed games, there are a few other titles that simply must come to the Game Boy Switch Online service. First and foremost, Tetris, which was the original system seller for the Game Boy, needs to be included. Whether it be the original Tetris or one of its many sequels or spin-offs, one of the Tetris games is a must-have. Additionally, The Legend of Zelda series has got to make an appearance on the service as well.
Though Link's Awakening was already fully remade for the Switch, seeing the original Game Boy or the Color's DX version come to the service would be quite nice. The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages are two other great Game Boy Color games that would be great to see come over as well. And of course, The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap for the Game Boy Advance, a title that's considered by many to be one of the very best games on the platform, is another must-have.
There are more classic Game Boy games to count, so it's hard to predict exactly which games Nintendo will be including in a supposed Game Boy Switch Online serivce app that may be coming sometime in the future. However, with such a long list of games, fans could probably expect at least some of these games to make the cut. It'll be interesting to see whether or not Nintendo decides to port the handheld's library over to the Switch, with an upcoming Nintendo Direct rumored to be coming before the end of the year. Fans will just have to wait and see.