For the first time in nearly 30 years, Wrecking Crew '98, which was previously released only in Japan, is coming to Western audiences with the latest addition of titles to the Nintendo Switch Online library.
The title, which is a part of Nintendo's Mario franchise, is a late-era Super Famicom game that was first released in 1998 through a Japanese service. The service lets people print games onto rewritable cartridges.
Nintendo Switch Online Library
(Photo : Nintendo / Screenshot taken from official website)
Wrecking Crew '98 got a retail release later in that year but by then, Nintendo's worldwide branches had already transferred to the N64. There was also apparently not much interest in bringing a new game to the effectively dead SNES platform at the time.
The game casts the iconic plumber as a construction worker and gives him a hard hat and a big hammer. He uses his new equipment to bust down walls as part of a demolition crew. The game used a Tetris-style competitive puzzle gameplay where panels that are destroyed cause obstacles to be sent over to the opponent's playfield, according to GamesRadar.
The latest update to the Nintendo Switch Online library also includes Super R-Type and Sugoi Hebereke. The former is what most players will probably focus on other than the Mario game as it is basically a port of the arcade/Amiga side-scrolling shooter game, R-Type II.
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It was incredibly difficult to play but was somewhat easier on SNES because of its slow-down that would usually bring the game to a total slideshow. However, the question remains whether or not this gameplay would be replicated on the Nintendo Switch.
While the Nintendo Switch Online library subscription costs only $20 a year, some players find it hard to justify as the games cannot be downloaded and installed to be played offline. This makes it a hassle to boot up all the time and requires a consistent connection.
Adding New Games
On the other hand, the more expensive version of the subscription service, the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack, adds more games but not much else. However, the lack of first-party GBA games is disappointing for many fans of the console, said Kotaku.
Speaking of Sugoi Hebereke, it was a game that was released in 1994 for the Super Famicom and brought a fighting game with a bird's eye view. It lets players battle against up to three other characters in the same match. The title feels somewhat similar to Super Smash Bros., which was released a few years later.
On top of the three games mentioned here, people in Japan will also be able to play Battletoads in Battlemaniacs and Marvelous: Mou Hitotsu no Takarajima. It is unfortunate but Western players would most likely not be able to try these games out because of licensing issues.
Over the past few years, Nintendo has been consistently adding new games to the subscription service in order to attract new customers or retain current subscribers. In previous updates, these titles include F-Zero X, Castlevania Legends, and Mother 3, just to name a few, according to Siliconera.
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