Tag Archives: Nintendo Switch Online

Game News, Retro Gaming

Wario Land Joins Nintendo Switch Online — Game Boy Classics Live Now

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Nintendo Switch Online’s Game Boy library just got bigger. Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 — the 1994 platformer that sold more than five million copies and launched its own franchise — is now playable on Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 as part of the July 2026 classics update, live right now for all standard Nintendo Switch Online subscribers in Singapore.

All Four Games in the Nintendo Switch Online July 2026 Update

Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 gameplay on Nintendo Switch Online Game Boy
Image courtesy of Nintendo

Three Game Boy titles went live on 8 July 2026 for all standard Nintendo Switch Online members:

  • Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 (1994) — the headliner. Wario bulldozes enemies, shapeshifts with power-ups (Bull, Dragon, Jet and more), and hoovers up treasure across five worlds. This is the game that turned a Mario villain into a franchise star in his own right.
  • The Sword of Hope II (1992, Kemco) — a JRPG-adjacent adventure with branching dialogue and dungeon crawling. A cult pick for fans of early handheld RPGs.
  • Fortified Zone (1991, Jaleco) — a Metal Gear-flavoured twin-character action game where you switch between a soldier and a spy to infiltrate enemy bases.

All three are accessible through the Game Boy — Nintendo Classics app on Switch and Switch 2. Singapore’s Nintendo Switch Online subscription costs S$26.98 a year for an individual plan, and this update applies at no extra cost.

More gaming news on GameTrader.SG

Nintendo Classics – July 2026 Game Updates — via Nintendo of America on YouTube

GBA Expansion Pack Addition: Dr. Mario & Puzzle League

Dr. Mario and Puzzle League on Nintendo Switch Online Game Boy Advance Expansion Pack
Image courtesy of Nintendo

Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack members get a Game Boy Advance addition too: Dr. Mario & Puzzle League (2005). This two-in-one cartridge packages the classic virus-clearing Dr. Mario together with Panel de Pon — known in this region as Puzzle League — each with multiple modes and two-player support now running over online play. It’s one of the denser value-for-money puzzle compilations Nintendo made in the GBA era.

Japan’s Bonus: Tomato Adventure from the Mario & Luigi Creators

Tomato Adventure GBA Japan-exclusive Nintendo Switch Online
Image courtesy of Nintendo

Japan’s Expansion Pack subscribers receive one extra title not available to other regions: Tomato Adventure (2002, GBA). It’s an action-RPG set in the tomato-obsessed Ketchup Kingdom, starring a boy named Demil fighting his way through bosses called Super Kids using a command-based battle system. The reason it matters: Tomato Adventure was developed by AlphaDream — the same studio that later created the Mario & Luigi series. It never made it outside Japan in 2002, and it remains Japan-only on Switch Online.

Singapore fans who want to experience it will need a Japanese Nintendo Account to download the Japanese Game Boy Advance — Nintendo Classics app and access the title there. Region-locked, but worth knowing about for retro completists.

Game News

The Duskbloods: FromSoftware’s Switch 2 Exclusive Eyes Summer Network Test

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After more than a year of near-total silence, The Duskbloods — FromSoftware’s brand-new Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive — is finally back in the spotlight. A closed network test is confirmed for summer 2026, and signup details are expected soon through the game’s official channels.

The Duskbloods – Nintendo Direct 6.9.2026 — via Nintendo of America on YouTube

What Is The Duskbloods?

The Duskbloods is a PvPvE multiplayer action game that supports up to eight players simultaneously. You play as a Bloodsworn — a supernatural being whose power is drawn from blood — and compete across gothic, Victorian-inspired maps for the coveted prize known as First Blood. Matches blend direct combat with strategic cooperation: you can form temporary alliances, pursue side objectives, or summon companions to shift the tide. Victory Points determine the winner, but every player walks away with rewards regardless of placement.

Director Hidetaka Miyazaki — the mind behind Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Elden Ring — described the game’s core appeal as its flexibility. Players can “avoid direct combat, select cooperative play, or pursue personal objectives,” he said in an interview published on Famitsu (Japanese), noting that the studio will “continue actively creating single-player games like Elden Ring” alongside this new multiplayer direction.

The Duskbloods Bloodsworn characters
Image courtesy of FromSoftware / Nintendo

A New Trailer and a Long-Dormant Twitter Finally Stirs

The game resurfaced at the Nintendo Direct on 9 June 2026 with a short atmospheric teaser — the first new footage since its original April 2025 announcement. The clip leans into the game’s dark, Bloodborne-adjacent aesthetic, showcasing several of the playable Bloodsworn characters and a handful of environments. It doesn’t show gameplay, but it confirms FromSoftware’s gothic Victorian direction is firmly intact.

On 10 June, the game’s official X account posted for the first time in 14 months, breaking its silence to confirm that network test details would be announced through that channel — so if you’re keen, that’s the page to follow.

Network Test: What We Know

A closed network test is coming later this summer, though FromSoftware and Nintendo have not yet opened sign-ups or pinned down exact dates. What’s confirmed:

  • You will need a Nintendo Switch Online membership to participate.
  • The test will support the game’s full PvPvE format — up to 8 players — across multiple maps.
  • Signup details will be announced via the official X account and Nintendo’s channels.

Given FromSoftware’s track record with Elden Ring network tests, demand is likely to outstrip slots — worth watching for the registration window the moment it opens.

Why This Is a Big Deal for Switch 2 Owners

The Duskbloods is FromSoftware’s first Nintendo home console exclusive in 23 years, since Lost Kingdoms II in 2003. It’s a Switch 2 exclusive with no announced ports planned. For Singapore fans, that means the Switch 2’s local availability makes this one of the few ways anyone outside Japan can get early hands-on time — import or not, we’re in the same boat as the rest of the world.

The full game is still on track for a 2026 release, making the summer network test likely the last major preview before launch. Keep an eye on Nintendo Singapore’s official channels and the game’s X account for sign-up news.

Last Words

Singapore gamers who missed the Bloodborne window — or who have been waiting years for FromSoftware to do something genuinely new — should have The Duskbloods firmly on their radar. The gothic multiplayer concept is unlike anything the studio has shipped before, and the network test this summer will be the first real chance to feel whether it works. Watch the official X account for sign-up details, and check our Game News section for updates as they land.

Game News, Retro Gaming

Donkey Kong 64 Is on Nintendo Switch Online — Play It Now

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After 27 years — and only one previous digital re-release — Donkey Kong 64 is finally on Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack, live from toda

With the Nintendo Switch 2 having launched in Singapore on 26 June last year at SGD $719, it remains a great time to assess whether the Expansion Pack subscription is worth it for you. Priced at SGD $69.90/year for an individual plan, the subscription grants you access to 40 N64 titles (now including Donkey Kong 64), along with GBA, Game Boy, NES, SNES, and SEGA Genesis libraries—plus added GameCube access on your Switch 2. The arrival of Donkey Kong 64 today only adds more value to the service. For the full library list, visit Nintendo Singapore’s Expansion Pack page.

y, 4 June 2026. Singapore players with the Expansion Pack tier can download and play the full 1999 N64 platformer right now, with no extra charge beyond the subscription.

Donkey Kong 64 – Nintendo 64 – Nintendo Classics – Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack — via Nintendo of America on YouTube

What You Get with Donkey Kong 64 on Nintendo Switch Online

Rare’s legendary 1999 collect-a-thon platformer lets you take control of five members of the Kong family — Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Tiny Kong, Lanky Kong, and Chunky Kong — each with their own special abilities and upgrades. Together they climb, swim, and puzzle-solve their way through treacherous worlds to reclaim DK Island’s Golden Bananas from the villainous King K. Rool and his Kremling army.

The Nintendo Switch Online version comes with quality-of-life improvements: higher-resolution output, smoother ~30fps performance (fixing some of the N64’s notorious frame wobble), fully rebindable controls, widescreen display support, and save states — so you’re not forced to marathon every Golden Banana run in one session.

Donkey Kong 64 gameplay on Nintendo Switch Online showing Diddy Kong in a jungle level
Image courtesy of Nintendo

Four-player split-screen battle arenas return too, so you can settle Kong supremacy debates with friends locally.

How Singapore Players Can Access It

You need a Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack membership. In Singapore, the plan is priced at SGD $69.90 per year for an individual account, or SGD $119.90 per year for a family plan covering up to eight Nintendo Accounts. Once subscribed, DK64 is available inside the Nintendo 64 – Nintendo Classics library app directly on your console.

This addition brings the N64 catalogue on Switch Online to 40 titles, sitting alongside Super Mario 64, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, GoldenEye 007, and other classics. Switch 2 owners on the Expansion Pack also get access to the GameCube library — and the Switch 2 launches in Singapore on 26 June.

Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack June 2026 new additions including Donkey Kong 64
Image courtesy of Nintendo

Note: DK64 is not available on the base Nintendo Switch Online tier — the Expansion Pack upgrade is required.

Why This Matters for Nintendo Fans

Donkey Kong 64 is one of Nintendo’s most beloved — and most elusive — retro titles. After its Wii U eShop availability ended when that storefront closed in 2024, the game vanished from all legal digital outlets. This Switch Online addition is only its second official digital re-release, making it genuinely hard to come by for anyone who hasn’t kept the original N64 cartridge around.

For veteran Singapore gamers who grew up with the N64 in the late 1990s, this is a proper nostalgia hit. For younger players, it’s the first accessible chance to experience the DK Rap in its natural habitat — and to discover why this collect-a-thon’s scope still impresses nearly three decades later.

Last Words

With the Nintendo Switch 2 having launched in Singapore on 26 June last year at SGD $719, it remains a great time to assess whether the Expansion Pack subscription is worth it for you. Priced at SGD $69.90/year for an individual plan, the subscription grants you access to 40 N64 titles (now including Donkey Kong 64), along with GBA, Game Boy, NES, SNES, and SEGA Genesis libraries—plus added GameCube access on your Switch 2. The arrival of Donkey Kong 64 today only adds more value to the service. For the full library list, visit Nintendo Singapore’s Expansion Pack page.