Nintendo Switch Adds 2 Free Games, Includes Mario Spin-Off

Nintendo’s output has a timelessness to it. There are so many releases of yesteryear which still hold up brilliantly today.

It’s with this in mind that I’m thrilled to see that two free Game Boy classics have now debuted on Nintendo Switch Online.

As a reminder, access to the Game Boy catalogue is available to all Nintendo Switch Online subscribers, so you don’t need an Expansion Pack subscription.

As of today, subscribers can enjoy the excellent Yoshi and Balloon Kid at no extra cost - and that former title could’t have arrived at a better time.

Celebrate Mario’s 40th Anniversary With 1991’s Yoshi

Yoshi is, unsurprisingly, a spin-off of the Mario series that focuses on everyone’s favourite green dinosaur.

It landed in Japan in 1991, arriving in North America and Europe one year later in 1992.

It’s essentially a puzzle-based game where players have to clear the screen of foes which fall from the top.

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The idea is that you want to match up foes next to one another to clear them so that the stack doesn’t get too high as that marks game over.

Yoshi, Credit / Nintendo

It’s a fun little gameplay loop that you’ll keep returning to thanks to its moreish nature.

Balloon Kid is similarly enjoyable, even if this one may not be an instantly recognisable title for everyone.

Balloon Kid first landed in 1990; it’s a side scroller where players control a girl by the name of Alice who must travel from the start to the end of the course by collecting balloons.

Think of it as not too dissimilar from an early Flappy Bird.

Again, it’s not the type of thing you’re going to play for hours on end, but both of these titles offer a rapid dose of fun and whimsy.

I’d love to tell you that Nintendo Switch Online users are full of joy at the sudden addition of these two classics.

Unfortunately, I cannot. It looks as if everyone is just listing what they’d rather be added instead, sigh.

“WHERE IS DONKEY KONG 64 NINTENDO?” shouted Twitter/X user Yiga_CC.

“I know I ask this all the time but Nintendo PLEASE,” added Gilition with the same request.

There was some elation scattered between demands.

“BALLOON KID? I love that game,” wrote Manny_GM, while KongGokGunzer said, “Playing Yoshi on Switch 2? That’s gonna be amazing.”

Well, my friends, you can dive into both games right now.