The announcement of Mega Drive games released in North America as SEGA Genesis is official, but we can report a leak in the case of the 8-bit NES.

Let’s start with the official details. Games released for SEGA’s console and Nintendo 64 are only available with the more expensive Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscription. Three games have been added to the range. Shining Force II is a hardcore fantasy RPG, Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball is a pinball game, and Space Harrier II is a shoot’em up, so there’s a lot of genre diversity in this minor but fair update. The games are already available on Big N’s online service, so there’s no need to wait for them: you can get started with them now.

But let’s move on to the NES games available with a basic subscription. A leaked NES Online app has been discussed on Twitter, which has not only all the games currently available but also those that are not (at least for now!) part of the NES Online offer. Pac-Man, Tetris, Galaga, most Mega Man games, Castlevania 1-2, Kung Fu, Lode Runner, Spelunker… so there could be some substantial updates. Then the leaker (Kaitlyn Molinas) posted a comparison between the current and the leaked app.

The latter is dated October 2019. Since then, the games released have mostly followed the official list, which suggests that Nintendo is planning forward with the expansion of its Nintendo Switch Online game offerings. Therefore one can be confident that the 8-bit origin of one of Capcom and Konami’s big franchises could make its way to the hybrid console service (maybe as early as this year, who knows…?).

We recently wrote about the possibility of Game Boy (Color) and Game Boy Advance games being added to Nintendo Switch Online. Hence, the Japanese company has likely had it set in stone when and what it will update Switch Online with. In the end, we’d like to mention that the leak is not official, but it’s highly plausible in this case.

Source: Gematsu, VGC

The leaked application has a build-date of October 2019, and the games being rolled out officially have mostly lined up with what’s in the leaked application, so it would appear that the plans for releases were set up far in advance, and this shows what they might release. pic.twitter.com/uXkkyjKVRz

— Kaitlyn Molinas (@orcastraw) April 18, 2022