Nintendo has updated two Nintendo Switch Online Expansion pack games with online multiplayer.
Both are found on the Nintendo 64 app, and are only available if you get the Switch Online Expansion pack.
Extreme-G is a futuristic racer in the same vein as F-Zero and Wipeout. The game was developed by Probe Entertainment and originally published all the way back in 1997. It arrived on the Nintendo 64 a full year before F-Zero 64, and received enough positive buzz from reviews to become a critical success.
Playing it today, it still has a pretty fun premise that also works well on multiplayer. Racing on plasma powered bikes, you run across courses that feel like roller coasters, and you can also pick up a variety of offensive and defensive weapons through each lap.
These weapons are pretty much the things that you would expect, such as homing missiles, mines, shield boosts, as well as some powerful bonuses like invisibility and the Wally-Warp. When used against you, it will teleport you immediately to the back of the race.
Iggy’s Reckin’ Balls is a far out game concept, that could possibly be revived as a mobile game today, but definitely shows its vintage as a 90s racer. In this one, you play as ball shaped monsters, who race each other in these small obstacle courses in a 3/4ths perspective.
Each ball monster has their own grappling hook, which they use to climb up each new elevation of the obstacle course. They can also use these grappling hooks to slow each other down ,or pick up special items for temporary powers.
Iggy’s Reckin’ Balls happens to be the brainchild of one Jools Watsham, who would later gain fame as co-founder of independent studio Renegade Kid. Renegade Kid’s curriculum vitae includes the likes of Dementium: The Ward, the FPS Moon, Mutant Mudds, and Xeodrifter.
Starting today, April 24, 2024, you will be able to play multiplayer on these titles, for local or online.
As some fans do rightly point out, these aren’t necessarily the most well-known games in Nintendo’s library, but their inclusion really stems from the games being licensed by the current IP owner, Throwback. As people who grew up with these games can also attest to, they are both very good hidden gems for the system.
While I myself pine for some deep cuts in the Nintendo 64 library (Tetrisphere would be a huge one), that shouldn’t take away from how impressive it is that we got these titles at all.
