In its continuing attempt to add more value to its online services for the Switch, Nintendo has announced its lineup of free-to-subscribers Nintendo Entertainmemt System/Famicom games for the month of January.
The service has previously seen several Nintendo developed-classics, a questionable amount of dated sports titles, and is rounded out by third-party classics to a current list of 29 titles. Launching with 20 titles, three titles have typically been released every month since. January, however, will only see two: 1987’s Zelda II: The Adventure of Link and 1988’s Blaster Master.
Zelda II is an often unjustly maligned sequel to the original Legend of Zelda, mostly due to a difficulty level that leaves it inaccessible to most. It is still a Nintendo classic, and any collection of NES games such as this service would be incomplete without it.
Blaster Master is a Sunsoft developed adventure platformer that recently saw a retro-styled follow-up in Blaster Master Zero during the Switch launch window in early 2017. A well-regarded classic in its own right, Blaster Master still has a difficulty curve that can be off-putting to new players.
Both are great games that slot nicely into the current line-up within Nintendo Switch Online’s NES/Famicom collection and will hit the service on January 16th.
Allen Christian