Nintendo has revealed the latest classic SNES and NES games coming to Switch this month, but once again fans are upset that there is no Earthbound Nintendo Switch Online release on the cards. Those fans are even more confused by the apparent randomness of the SNES titles for May, which include the unknown likes of Spanky’s Quest and Super Baseball Simulator 1.000, not to mention that Switch Online now has more than 100 retro games and still no Earthbound.
Why is Nintendo avoiding an Earthbound Nintendo Switch Online release?
It’s not immediately apparent why Nintendo is seemingly snubbing the classic SNES RPG Earthbound, which was hugely influential on many subsequent RPGs including Undertale, which already has a Switch Online release. Earthbound already got a re-release on Nintendo’s last generation of consoles, the Wii U and 3DS, as well as including the game on the SNES Classic console.
Even more bizarre is the list of games coming to Switch on May 26, which brings the Switch’s list of retro games up to an impressive 104 titles.
- Super Baseball Simulator 1.000 (SNES): a 1991 baseball game by Culture Brain
- Joe & Mac: Caveman Ninja (SNES): 1991 arcade game and probably the most high-profile release here
- Magical Drop 2 (SNES): 1996 Puyo-Puyo/Bust-A-Move-esque puzzle game
- Spanky’s Quest (SNES): 1991 platformer about a monkey and its magical bubble
- Ninja JaJaMaru-kun (NES): weird 1985 Jaleco action/platform game
Of course, fans aren’t happy with the decision to once again snub Earthbound, despite its wide and very vocal fanbase.
— ⚙Gibo⚙ (@stardream61016) May 19, 2021
What makes things worse is that neither of the other games in the Mother series has been released on Switch too. Mother 1/Earthbound Beginnings got a Wii U release but not Switch, and Mother 3 has never officially been released in English — despite the 15th anniversary of the game’s release being just last month.
Fans keep hoping for Earthbound, but Nintendo keeps on disappointing them. For now, they’re probably better off waiting for Oddity, the game previously known as the fan-made Mother 4, than hoping for Nintendo to snub Earthbound again. Spanky’s Quest has a Game Boy version too, after all.
