by Jason Parker (Ragachak)

Now, there’s no official word one way or another if we’ll see SNES games on the Nintendo Switch Online service, but there’s been a lot of chatter in regards to data mining. While personally, I don’t care for data mining, this is something I would be very excited for, as a Switch owner, and as a retro games enthusiast. So I spent some time thinking about what games would be interesting to see on the Switch Online service. I tried to avoid the games that have been data mined, which you can find at this helpful link from Tech Raptor. This isn’t a new link (in fact, it’s from January), but it was something I really found myself thinking about this morning. There are games that aren’t on this list, that probably should be.

Culex, the real Final Boss.

Games like Super Mario RPG, Final Fantasy IV and VI, Chrono Trigger. Why aren’t these represented? Because honestly, I have no doubt they’d show up. These are timeless classics, alongside the greatest RPG hits, such as EarthBound. That’s another that you won’t find on this list, despite me loving the game with all my heart. It’s available on the SNES Mini, so anything is possible. It’s seen several digital re-releases, so I’m confident it would make it there. Some of the games on this list are probably not possible or are unlikely, but it would be an interesting precedent. So, let’s get started!

5. Super Punch-Out! – Super Punch-Out! is incredible, and though I’m mediocre at it at best, it really ignited my love for the series. I didn’t really play the arcade release or much of Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!, instead really starting with the SNES release. The characters were interesting, and it really teaches some clever ways to get the quick knock-outs – if you’re paying attention. Honestly, I’d rather see the Wii release of Punch-Out! get ported, because I’m way better at that one. But Super Punch-Out! without a doubt deserves a place on this list. They could even do special releases where you start at the Bruiser Brothers and get battered senseless for a while.

4. Super Turrican: Super Turrican is one of the few games on this list I owned as a kid, and it was hard to pick between this and Donkey Kong Country. That’s one I think will just be there if this goes through. Super Turrican was an exciting run and gun/platforming shooter, with incredible, varied attacks, gigantic bosses, and really took advantage of the SNES’ capabilities. Far from perfect, it was still an absolute blast, and though the sequels didn’t get much love, this was my first and favorite Turrican.

3. Tetris Attack: The NES/SNES had some really great puzzle games, but it also had some that I thought were just boring. Tetris Attack was one of those really cool ones, that tried to shake up how Tetris was played. It would take a while for us to get some of the truly spectacular Tetris titles, or the Puyo Puyo games on a Nintendo console, but Tetris Attack was just awesome. Almost everyone I knew that played it is amazing, so potential rematches would be stellar. Instead of the wacky shapes, it featured colored blocks of varied types and was pretty hype just all around.

2. TMNT: Turtles in Time: This was the defining side-scrolling beat ’em up for the SNES. Can you think of a better one? Gonna pull Aliens vs. Predator out of nowhere? Nah, the SNES version was awful (trust me, I know). It may not be as good as the arcade release, but this is to this day, one of the best (if not the best) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games of all time. All four Turtles are playable, the bosses are recognizable (lookin’ at you, TMNT 1), and didn’t feel sluggish and slow like TMNT 2: The Arcade Game on the NES. That’s more the NES’ fault than the developers though. Want to throw Foot Soldiers at the screen? Got ya covered. Annoying traps? Got those too. Want to have a friend that steals all the pizza on every single stage? Well, I have that.

1. Super Gameboy: Now I realize this isn’t a game per se’, but it would lead to having the original Gameboy Games playable on the Switch through some Inception-level nonsense. This is a fantastic concept though, and there were at least dozens of Gameboy games that are still worthy of being played today. Granted, these are mostly found in the Super Mario and Final Fantasy categories in America, but I’d really just like to see if this would happen on the Switch. It would be easy to just fill this top five with RPGs because there were so damn many that are remarkable on the SNES, but today, I wanted to focus on the stuff I just thought would be interesting to see.