Nintendo's latest Direct came with a lot of important announcements. For one thing, the company announced that games originally released for the N64 would soon become available on the Nintendo Switch Online library through a purchasable expansion pack, adding a crucial generation of games to NSO's retro library. For another, fans of Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. series of fighting games learned when Nintendo plans to announce the last Super Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC fighter. These were only two big announcements in a Direct stuffed full of news, giving fans an excellent picture of what Nintendo plans to do with the Switch in the coming months.
N64 games coming to Switch is definitely great news. The initial pool of games will be pretty small, but Nintendo has plans to add more N64 games over time. One wonders if Nintendo will add the original Super Smash Bros. from the N64 to Nintendo Switch Online. Although the NSO game library tends to favor singleplayer games, it's become increasingly friendly to online multiplayer. Online multiplayer was initially a major selling point for the N64 and Sega Genesis games joining NSO. If that's the case, it'd be fantastic to get an NSO re-release of Super Smash Bros. with online multiplayer.
Super Smash Bros. On NSO Just Makes Sense
The first Super Smash Bros. game, also known as Smash 64, could use official online multiplayer now more than ever. Now that the Super Smash Bros. franchise has blossomed into a huge success, fans who got into the franchise in later entries are expressing increasing interest in Smash's roots. Smash fans famously love the highly technical Super Smash Bros. Melee, but fans have started looking toward Smash 64 too, modding it, and making their own online multiplayer. That establishes pretty clearly that there's interest in playing Smash 64 online.
Nintendo just so happens to have the perfect venue to deliver Smash 64 with online multiplayer. Nintendo Switch Online may not always have perfect connection, but it still serves two fantastic purposes: Making retro games available to Switch owners, and enhancing those games with new ways to save and new online components.
The latest Nintendo Direct showed that NSO's version of Star Fox 64 will have online multiplayer, so giving Smash 64 the same treatment should be pretty easy. Besides, since Smash 64 was one of the N64's best-selling games, it just seems logical that it'd join the fun alongside other N64 classics like Super Mario 64 and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, both of which are bound for NSO.
Now Is A Great Time To Experience Smash 64
Smash 64 is a very different game from every other Smash game. There's only twelve characters, there's no side specials, grabs have vastly reduced functionality, and so on. None of these things are negative, though. They just show how far Smash has come. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate can only be as sprawling and complicated as it is because Smash 64 walked so that it could run. If Smash 64 comes to NSO now, it could have a renaissance, as Smash players from all generations of the franchise return to the game's roots, play it online, and appreciate the game that started it all.
Nintendo may not have announced Smash 64's inclusion in the N64 NSO expansion yet, but it seems pretty likely. The first Super Smash Bros. is such an important part of the N64's legacy that it's hard to imagine Nintendo skipping the game as it expands NSO's library. Since there's other N64 games confirmed to join NSO after the N64 expansion launches, it could take a few months to show up, but ideally it'll arrive sooner or later. With Smash Ultimate finishing its DLC lineup, Nintendo would be wise to offer fans some classic Smash to celebrate Smash Ultimate's success.
Super Smash Bros. released in 1999 for the Nintendo 64.