Nintendo Switch Online Adds 2 Iconic GBA RPGs

17.01.2024 - 10:45 / gamerant.com / Dominik Bo / Nintendo

Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack members can play Golden Sun and Golden Sun: The Lost Age as of today. These iconic GBA RPGs are the first new arrivals to the service since December, when Nintendo Switch Online surprised fans with three N64 games: Jet Force Gemini, 1080 Snowboarding, and Harvest Moon 64.

Nintendo has been updating the NSO catalog roughly once per month since first launching its subscription offering in September 2018. However, individual platform libraries are revised less frequently, especially when it comes to titles from classic consoles such as the Game Boy Advance that are exclusive to the Expansion Pack tier of the service. For example, the platform's last GBA update happened in late September 2023, when Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack added Kirby and the Amazing Mirror.

Three and a half months later, Nintendo's subscription catalog expanded to include two beloved GBA RPGs: Golden Sun and Golden Sun: The Lost Age. While the Switch maker routinely adds NSO titles out of the blue, that wasn't the case this time around, as these classic GBA RPGs were already confirmed to be coming to Nintendo Switch Online last week.

Both games were developed by Camelot Software Planning, a Japanese studio that's nowadays best known as the developer of various sports-themed Mario titles, including those from the Mario Golf and Mario Tennis series. However, back in the early aughts, the company also treated the GBA to two Golden Sun RPGs, the first of which is still touted as one of the best games ever made for the handheld console. Both were lauded for pushing the limits of the GBA hardware, in addition to receiving widespread praise for their fast-paced gameplay and deliberate world design that represented the pinnacle of what turn-based JRPGs had to offer at the time.

While the 2002 sequel did little to improve on the original's formula, it still received overwhelmingly positive reviews, and is frequently described as the equivalent of required reading for JRPG aficionados. Following these mid-January additions to the Nintendo Switch Online library, Camelot's iconic RPG series has but one other game that is currently unavailable on the hit hybrid console, the 2010 DS exclusive Golden Sun: Dark Dawn.

The likelihood of Dark Dawn making its way to the Switch is slim, not least because NSO doesn't support DS games. That notwithstanding, some fans are hoping that this January update to Nintendo Switch Online will kick off a chain reaction and possibly serve as a precursor for the revival of Camelot's long-dormant franchise, or at the very least mark the start of another great year for Switch JRPGs.

Nintendo's newest system features a vibrant 7-inch OLED screen, a wide adjustable stand, a dock