Pokémon Stadium 2 officially announced for Nintendo Switch, available today

If you didn’t tune into today’s Pokémon Presents, you’ll may have missed the two new Pokemon games coming to Nintendo Switch Online.

A lot was talked about during the Pokémon presentation, like a closer look at Detective Pikachu Returns which releases later this year, DLC news for Pokémon Scarlet & Violet, and updates for side projects like Pokémon Sleep, Pokémon Unite, etc. However, one announcement revealed an outstanding legacy title has returned for the Nintendo Switch.

Check out the announcement for Pokémon Scarlet & Violet DLC below!

That’s right, Pokémon Stadium 2 is now available on the Switch, provided you’ve got the right Nintendo Switch Online membership. The Pokémon Trading Card Game for the original Game Boy is also being added.

Since it’s a Nintendo 64 game, players will need to spend a bit more for the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack, which includes N64 titles, Game Boy Advance titles and some bonus extras for certain online Switch games.

Like its predecessor, Pokémon Stadium 2 puts fan-favourite pocket-monsters from the Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver games in head-to-head battles, rendered in 3D.

Players will take part in standard battles with AI or friends, take on the Gym leader challenge, play minigames and much more.

While the original release on the Nintendo 64 was compatible with the Game Boy games, provided you had the right adaptor, the Nintendo Switch version has no functionality with other titles, which I’m sure will disappoint fans.

Despite including several titles from the Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance consoles, Nintendo Switch Online is yet to add any of the classic Pokémon games to the line-up. It also hasn’t allowed compatibility with Pokémon Home for either of the Pokémon Stadium games, which means you’re stuck with the rentable Pokémon rather than you’re own.

Regardless, it’s great to see more classic titles being added to the service, and it’s only a matter of time before they’re joined by the beloved Game Boy RPGs.

Pokémon Stadium 2 is available to play right now with active Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack membership.