Here’s what you get with Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack

Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack is the higher-tier online subscription service available for the Nintendo Switch. Its $49.99 annual price tag is more than double the base level of Nintendo Switch Online, but it brings the service’s offerings more in line with its PlayStation and Xbox cousins. It’s all about giving players access to more games, including beloved classics from older consoles like the N64, Sega Genesis, and Game Boy Advance.

Below you’ll find an introduction to Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack, the fine print of signing up, and everything you’ll get when you sign up.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons‘Happy Home Paradise DLC is included in Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack, but you are only entitled to it as long as you have a subscription.
Image: Nintendo EDP/Nintendo

What’s in Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack?

Nintendo Switch Online launched in 2018, giving subscribers the ability to play games online. Some argue that the service’s biggest advantage is large (and growing) library of NES, SNES, and Game Boy games for members to play. You’ll also get cloud saves, voice chat, and a smartphone companion app. Additionally, Switch Online members are eligible for a two-pack of Game Vouchers for $99.98, which can be used on new and upcoming first-party titles.

Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack offers all that, plus a collection of titles for Nintendo 64, Sega Genesis, and Game Boy Advance (some of which feature new online multiplayer). It also gives subscribers access to DLC that would otherwise cost money, including Animal Crossing: New Horizons premium expansion, Happy Home Paradise, and the whole of Mario Kart 8 DeluxeBooster Course Pass from, which adds 48 levels and new characters to the base game (worth $25).

There’s a catch: Like PlayStation Plus and Xbox Game Pass, you only get access to DLC and classic games while your subscription is active. If you cancel your subscription, you will lose access once your membership ends.

Heres what you get with Nintendo Switch OnlineHeres what you get with Nintendo Switch Online
Nintendo Entertainment System - Nintendo Switch Online illustration featuring two people holding blue and red Joy-Cons

Image: Nintendo

What additional games come with the Expansion Pack?

The Nintendo 64 games currently available Are:

  • 1080º Snowboarding
  • Banjo Kazooie
  • Blast Corps
  • Doctor Mario 64
  • Excite bike 64
  • Extreme G
  • F-Zero X
  • GoldenEye 007
  • Harvest Moon 64
  • Iggy’s Reckin’ Balls
  • Jet Force Gemini
  • Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards
  • Mario Golf
  • Mario Kart 64
  • Mario party
  • Mario Party 2
  • Mario Party 3
  • Mario Tennis
  • Paper Mario
  • Pilotwings 64
  • Pokémon Puzzle League
  • Pokémon Snap
  • Pokémon Stadium
  • Pokémon Stadium 2
  • Sin and punishment
  • Star Fox 64
  • Super Mario 64
  • The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask
  • The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
  • Golf Race 64
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  • The Story of Yoshi

There is also a series of N64 games with a mature rating which you can play via a separate, age-restricted app that is included with the subscription. Here are the games that are included so far:

  • Perfect darkness
  • Turok Dinosaur Hunter

The Sega Genesis games currently on offer Are:

  • Alien Soldier
  • Alien storm
  • Alisia Dragoon
  • Changed Beast
  • Outside the oasis
  • Castlevania: Bloodlines
  • Columns
  • Strip Zone
  • Contra: Hard Corps
  • Crusaders of the Century
  • The Mean Bean Machine by Dr. Robotnik
  • Dynamite Head
  • Earthworm Jim
  • Ecco the Dolphin
  • flicker
  • Ghouls and ghosts
  • Golden Axe
  • Golden Axe II
  • Gunstar Heroes
  • Child Chameleon
  • Tramp
  • Light Crusader
  • Mega Man: The Wily Wars
  • MUSHA
  • Fantasy Star IV
  • Pulseman
  • Ristar
  • Radiant power
  • Radiant Power II
  • Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master
  • Sonic the Hedgehog 2
  • Sonic The Hedgehog Spinball
  • Space Harrier II
  • Street Fighter II: Champion Special Edition
  • Streets of Rage 2
  • STRADDER
  • Super Fantasy Zone
  • Sword of Vermillon
  • Target Earth
  • The Revenge of Shinobi
  • Thunder Force II
  • ToeJam & Earl
  • Virtua Fighter 2
  • Zero wing

The Game Boy Advance games currently offered Are:

  • Densetsu no Starfy 1
  • Densetsu no Starfy 2
  • Densetsu no Starfy 3
  • F-Zero Maximum Speed
  • Fire emblem
  • Golden Sun
  • Golden Sun: The Lost Era
  • Kirby and the Amazing Mirror
  • Kuru Kuru Kururin
  • Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
  • Mario Kart: Super Circuit
  • Metroid Merger
  • Metroid: Zero Mission
  • Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team
  • Super Mario Progress
  • Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3
  • Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2
  • The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and Four Swords
  • The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
  • WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!
  • Yoshi’s Island: Super Mario Advance 3

Can I get the expansion pack if I already have Nintendo Switch Online?

If you choose to sign up for Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack, Nintendo will let you redeem your remaining days as a discount (five cents per day) toward the upgraded service tier. So if you have 300 days left on your annual subscription, you’ll get $15 back to put toward the cost of the Expansion Pack tier. At that point, your previous membership will end and your new one will begin.

Can I get the expansion pack if I am already a member of a family?

Those who purchased a Nintendo Switch Online family plan can upgrade to a Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack family plan, which costs $79.99 instead of the $49.99 an individual account costs. You’ll get a discount based on how much you have left on your subscription, at a rate of nine cents per day of service remaining. So if you have 300 days left, $27 will be deducted from your total for the upgraded service.

This also means that if you are on a family plan, you cannot simply purchase the Expansion Pack upgrade for yourself. You would have to cancel your family plan and purchase a new one for $49.99.

This FAQ has more, but the basic rules are:

  • If you have Nintendo Switch Online for yourself, you can upgrade to another option (individual expansion pack for $49.99; family membership for $34.99 or family membership with the expansion pack for $79.99).
  • If you purchase Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack for yourself, you can only upgrade to a family membership with the Expansion Pack ($79.99).
  • If you have a Nintendo Switch Online family membership, you can only add the expansion pack at the family level of the service ($79.99).

Can I downgrade from Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack?

The short answer is no. You need to let the subscription run. Then turn off auto-renewal to make sure you don’t get billed again. Once it expires, you can subscribe to the service level you want.

Sega Genesis Control Pad for Nintendo Switch Online

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Is Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack Worth It?

The value you get from Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack will largely depend on your enjoyment of Nintendo 64, Game Boy Advance, and Sega Genesis games. If you’re in it just for the Animal Crossing: New Horizons If you’re planning on downgrading after you’ve had enough of it, remember that this content will disappear from your game. You’re better off buying the DLC once for $24.99.

The Nintendo 64, Game Boy Advance and Sega Genesis games are among the biggest hits with a huge fandom, that’s for sure — Mario Kart 64, Star Fox 64, Super Mario 64, And The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time emphasize the N64 side of things; Sega Genesis gets you Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Streets of Rage 2, Ecco the Dolphin, Strider and others. For the Game Boy Advance portion of the service, it’s great to be able to play both Golden Sun games, and also some classic Metroid adventures. And, as mentioned above, some games have multiplayer functionality.

And there’s the option to play these games with wireless replicas of their consoles’ original controllers. Those controllers (N64, Genesis) cost $49.99 each.