The arrival of Rareware’s classic Perfect Dark and Acclaim’s Turok: Dinosaur Hunter on Nintendo Switch Online expansion packs was a very welcome announcement during the June 2024 Nintendo Direct. Both titles are the first to be labeled “MATURE 17+” on Nintendo’s new standalone N64 app.
Following a Japanese version released when GoldenEye arrives on the service in 2023, the “Mature” app will be a repository of M-rated games that contain gore, language and other lewd content that the ESRB deems inappropriate for younger gamers. In the case of Perfect Dark and Turok, it’s the blood and violence that sets them apart from NSO’s other family-friendly N64 games.
Of course, this increases the likelihood of more adult-oriented N64 games being released in the future. Here are some games we’d love to see on Nintendo Switch Online. As you can see, not all of them are absolute classics, but NSO is probably the best and most convenient place to get games that you don’t want to spend money on but are still intriguing in some way and worth investigating. For example, very few people are going to buy the standalone release of Winback, but if it’s part of a service you’re already paying for, you might be hooked.