Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack: N64 & SEGA Mega Drive (& GBA!!)

[Jonnas]

Hello! I've somehow fallen onto an NSO subscription again, this time with Expansion Pass, and I've been wading through all the choice I have now

NES and SNES seem as tidy as I remember them (with a couple of additions), but the libraries for N64, Mega Drive, GB, and GBA are all new, and it's exciting to try these out. I do have a couple of questions, though:

• Are there any notable bugs or glitches with the emulation? I heard most of the N64 issues were fixed (such as the Kirby 64 glitch, or the OoT fog), but Paper Mario is still pretty laggy. I also hear that you cannot save normally in Win Back. Any other remaining problems I should know about?
• What are the known upcoming games we have left? I noticed Golden Sun isn't here yet, and I'm assuming Mario Party 3 is coming soon.
• Finally, it's been a while, are suspension points the same thing as save states? I'd like to play through Streets of Rage 2 at a leisurely pace, instead of rushing so much

[Dcubed]

On 11/09/2023 at 7:57 PM, Jonnas said:

Hello! I've somehow fallen onto an NSO subscription again, this time with Expansion Pass, and I've been wading through all the choice I have now

NES and SNES seem as tidy as I remember them (with a couple of additions), but the libraries for N64, Mega Drive, GB, and GBA are all new, and it's exciting to try these out. I do have a couple of questions, though:

• Are there any notable bugs or glitches with the emulation? I heard most of the N64 issues were fixed (such as the Kirby 64 glitch, or the OoT fog), but Paper Mario is still pretty laggy. I also hear that you cannot save normally in Win Back. Any other remaining problems I should know about?
• What are the known upcoming games we have left? I noticed Golden Sun isn't here yet, and I'm assuming Mario Party 3 is coming soon.
• Finally, it's been a while, are suspension points the same thing as save states? I'd like to play through Streets of Rage 2 at a leisurely pace, instead of rushing so much

Wahey! Great to see that you've joined the club!

Answers...

- Most of the major bugs have now been fixed, emulation is generally very solid now.  The biggest overall issue is that there is no support in the N64 NSO emulator for the Controller Pak (which means that any game that relies on memory card saves, such as Winback, is SOL) or the Transfer Pak (which makes the single player modes in Pokemon Stadium 1 & 2 basically unwinnable).  Also, there is still no way to turn off the stupid 16:9 border and that drives me nuts! (You can at least turn off the controller instructions at the bottom of the screen in the settings menu though).  Worth noting that Goldeneye's original widescreen mode does work though, and that removes the border... but for that one game only! (ARGH!!).

BTW, as a general aside, the GBA and GB/GBC NSO emulators are shockingly robust.  Literally everything seems to be supported, including motion controls for GBC/GBA carts (Kirby's Tilt N' Tumble etc) and rumble (Pokemon Pinball GBC, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga etc), and all multiplayer features are supported, including link cable, the GBC IR port and single pak multiplayer for GBA games! Very impressive stuff!

- Following are games that have been announced but not released yet...

N64: Mario Party 3, 1080 Snowboarding

GBA: F-Zero: Maximum Velocity, Golden Sun, Kirby & The Amazing Mirror

That being said? They've recently been breaking their previously prescribed order and aren't necessarily releasing the games in the order they announced them anymore, like what they previously did when N64 was introduced; so we could really get anything.  And I do think that we'll at least get everything that originally came to the Wii/Wii U/3DS VC at the very least; so there's plenty more to come.

- Suspension Points = save states, you are correct.  There is no equivilent of the "Suspend Save" feature that previously appeared on the Wii/Wii U/3DS VC services though (where a save state gets made on shutdown of the game and then reloaded & deleted on starting it up again), which is a big shame.

Edited September 13, 2023 by Dcubed

[Jonnas]

Nice, thank you very much I've gotten somewhat used to the screen borders by now, so that isn't much of an issue. Outside of that, it seems that the absence of N64 Paks is the main thing I'll miss.

14 hours ago, Dcubed said:

F-Zero: Maximum Velocity, Golden Sun, Kirby & The Amazing Mirror

Very nice selection Looking forward to F-Zero in particular, and I wouldn't mind replaying Kirby, either. Golden Sun will be great for nostalgia, but it is incomplete until Lost Age is confirmed.

[Julius]

Kirby & The Amazing Mirror comes to the service on September 29th!

Quote

The Kirby™ & The Amazing Mirror game will join to the growing collection of Game Boy Advance games available with a Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pass membership on Sep. 29th!

The Mirror World, which exists in the skies of Dream Land, has been invaded by an evil shadow, and Kirby's the only one who can save the day. Fortunately, he won't have to go at it alone. He's been split into four Kirbys of different colors, and he can call up his colorful clones to lend a hand when needed. Summon Red, Yellow and Green Kirby to help solve puzzles, fight enemies or take out the big baddies. Use copy abilities such as the arrow-shooting Cupid Kirby or the melee master Smash Bros. Kirby while platforming through the mazelike world.

 

Edited September 22, 2023 by Julius

[S.C.G]

Kirby & the Amazing Mirror added to Nintendo Switch Online September 2023

Now up on the main page.

Overview and trailer.

- - - - -

 

Finally, another decent NSO game to play in online multiplayer mode, and a great Kirby game.

[Dcubed]

Great game, amazing multiplayer title!

This is gonna be awesome with online play

Edited September 22, 2023 by Dcubed

[BowserBasher]

Another to add to the list of an NE get together. 
Never played it myself so looking forward to trying it. 

[Glen-i]

18 minutes ago, BowserBasher said:

Another to add to the list of an NE get together. 
Never played it myself so looking forward to trying it. 

You are in for a treat! You get to play Amazing Mirror without having to deal with the brain-dead AI! And you also get to deal with the possibility of you calling everyone for help and being completely blanked because no-one wants to leave where they are!

We'll need to figure out which of us will be Player 1, because only they make progress in the file, and consequently gets all the neat spray paints. The others would have to play through their own file separately to benefit from those.

Because he's never played it, I suggest @BowserBasher be player 1.

Edited September 22, 2023 by Glen-i

[Glen-i]

Right, @BowserBasher, @S.C.G, and @Dcubed. You up for Kirby and his spiffy mirror tonight?

Would 7 or 8 be best?

A few things I would like to lay down first.

- Seeing as BowserBasher has never played the game, I suggest we stick together until we beat the first boss, it doesn't take long. Yes, DCubed, I know you want to bugger off to Candy Constellation yesterday, but it can wait until we have one mirror shard.

- In a similar vein, whenever one of us stumbles on to a Boss Preparation Room, that person should give everyone else a ring, so they get the opportunity to join in. Bosses are the highlight of a Kirby game, it'd be a shame if three people missed out on the chaos. It's easy to tell when you're in one. The music stops, the room has no enemies in it, and there are 3 copy panels which let you easily choose an ability.

- It's worth noting that if you press start to look at the map, it pauses the game for everyone. Us more experienced players might want to utilise this map to cut down on pause time. It shows almost everything though, so spoilers in there.

- Remember, doors with big stars are normal ones, doors with smaller stars are one-way. If they have a blue glow around them, then no-one has been through it yet.

Edited September 29, 2023 by Glen-i

[S.C.G]

1 hour ago, Glen-i said:

Right, @BowserBasher, @S.C.G, and @Dcubed. You up for Kirby and his spiffy mirror tonight?

Would 7 or 8 be best?

A few things I would like to lay down first.

- Seeing as BowserBasher has never played the game, I suggest we stick together until we beat the first boss, it doesn't take long. Yes, DCubed, I know you want to bugger off to Candy Constellation yesterday, but it can wait until we have one mirror shard.

- In a similar vein, whenever one of us stumbles on to a Boss Preparation Room, that person should give everyone else a ring, so they get the opportunity to join in. Bosses are the highlight of a Kirby game, it'd be a shame if three people missed out on the chaos. It's easy to tell when you're in one. The music stops, the room has no enemies in it, and there are 3 copy panels which let you easily choose an ability.

- It's worth noting that if you press start to look at the map, it pauses the game for everyone. Us more experienced players might want to utilise this map to cut down on pause time. It shows almost everything though, so spoilers in there.

- Remember, doors with big stars are normal ones, doors with smaller stars are one-way. If they have a blue glow around them, then no-one has been through it yet.

IN... and 8 would be best.

Is this a one and done, beat it in an hour and a half type run, or is it likely that we'll beat this over several play sessions?

Especially if it's the first time playing it for anyone, or indeed... first time in a while.

This'll be the first time I've properly played it in multiplayer, I'm really glad this got added to NSO, so that many more people can play it.

So, the boss preparation room, is similar to the pre-boss warp in PSO? (everyone needs to be in the warp, then everyone goes to the boss)

In this instance, I'm guessing everyone needs to 'call' each other, then everyone confirms that they are 'ready' and then everyone gets to fight the boss, it's that kind of setup?

Aside from those questions, looking forward to it, and see you all online at 8pm, all being well.

[BowserBasher]

8 will be good for me. Going by that map I guess I’m going to get so lost lol

[Glen-i]

46 minutes ago, S.C.G said:

Is this a one and done, beat it in an hour and a half type run, or is it likely that we'll beat this over several play sessions?

Nah, it'll defo be a multiple sessions affair. It's Kirby though, so it won't take a lot of sessions. 6 hours tops if we go for 100% of treasure. Probably quicker, seeing as we have the option of splitting up and covering ground quicker.

46 minutes ago, S.C.G said:

So, the boss preparation room, is similar to the pre-boss warp in PSO? (everyone needs to be in the warp, then everyone goes to the boss)

In this instance, I'm guessing everyone needs to 'call' each other, then everyone confirms that they are 'ready' and then everyone gets to fight the boss, it's that kind of setup?

Close, but not quite.
In this game, Kirby has a phone (Game never explains how he got one), you can hold L to warp back to the main hub, or press R to ring the other Kirbies at the cost of one battery. .
In single player, this just causes the AI Kirbies to warp to you, but in multiplayer, it gives the other players the option to answer the call with R, if they do, they instantly warp to the Kirby who made the call.

The key thing is this can be used anywhere, provided you have enough battery. Naturally, this has a lot of uses, gather people for a boss, use the ability another Kirby has to get past an obstacle, stuff like that.

Provided we go with my plan and stick together until at least the first boss, you'll see what I mean by a "Boss Preparation Room" it's pretty obvious when you find one.

31 minutes ago, BowserBasher said:

Going by that map I guess I’m going to get so lost lol

Yeah, it can be a bit daunting at first, but you'll get used to figuring out where unexplored rooms are.
And nothing's stopping you from tagging alongside another player. You don't have to go off on your lonesome.

Edited September 29, 2023 by Glen-i

[BowserBasher]

That’s all cool. Hopefully you’ll be on VC @Glen-i and the rest to make playing easier. 

[Glen-i]

4 minutes ago, BowserBasher said:

That’s all cool. Hopefully you’ll be on VC @Glen-i and the rest to make playing easier. 

Yeah, don't worry. I'm golden for VC tonight.

I'm sure Dcubed appreciates my spicy hot take.
Yes, I did just boot up the game and rush straight for the Orange spray paint, just for tonight. Green, red, and yellow are boring!

[Glen-i]

Dcubed will be joining a bit late. so we'll have to play a bit, but will need to quit the game to let him join when he's ready.

Anyway, @BowserBasher, be sure to hang around the title screen to witness the incredibly deep story that this game surely has!

[Glen-i]

Yeah, it's about as ridiculous as I thought it'd be, even if we had to get lumped with AI Kirby.
I have no luck with holding on to Smash though. It's heartbreaking losing that.

[S.C.G]

Thanks for the games.

Here's a link to this week's stream...

- - - - -

Kirby & the Amazing Mirror on the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack - N-Europe Multiplayer (29/09/2023)

[Glen-i]

A few hiccups, but we still made another three mirror shards worth of progress. And we've got the awesome room now!

Sorry, @BowserBasher, blame the lag. Cannons are a nightmare!

[BowserBasher]

He killed me!!! Not shown was me doing exactly the same thing when I got back to the same spot. 

[S.C.G]

Thanks for the games.

Here's a link to this week's stream...

- - - - -

Kirby & the Amazing Mirror on the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack - N-Europe Multiplayer (06/10/2023)

[Glen-i]

Just a heads up for @BowserBasher and @S.C.G. @Dcubed won't be able to make it for tonight's theoretical Kirby sesh.

We're coming up to the endgame at this point. So it's up to you whether we go on without him, because I would personally want to at least fight the final boss with 4 players.

If you do want to play tonight, I think it would be best to get the last two shards, but then hold off on starting the final boss, and bum around picking up chests if we still have time.

[S.C.G]

So perhaps a shorter session tonight then, to get the final two shards?

Then either play the final boss with four of us either next week (though next Friday is the release date of Super Mario Bros. Wonder) or the week after.

Either way, if you want to leave it for a week or two, we can, I don't mind.

[Dcubed]

I’d suggest going on without me, I’m working next Friday as well, so if you guys wanted to wait for me, you’d be waiting all the way until the 27th…

It’s fine, I’d rather you guys enjoy yourselves

[Glen-i]

42 minutes ago, Dcubed said:

I’d suggest going on without me, I’m working next Friday as well, so if you guys wanted to wait for me, you’d be waiting all the way until the 27th…

It’s fine, I’d rather you guys enjoy yourselves

Well, that's the thing. If we were to grab the last two shards, then we could squeeze a short "Let's beat up the Final Boss" session after Mario Kart, or before Smash, on Thursday or Saturday.

Edited October 13, 2023 by Glen-i

[BowserBasher]

Right, so I’m actually unavailable next Friday too. (Will be unavailable sat and sun too). So maybe we could grab the last shards and then finish it all off together when we can. I’m actually enjoying playing the game with everyone and would honestly rather finish it all together. 

Edited October 13, 2023 by BowserBasher