The slow trickle of free NES games for Nintendo Switch Online subscribers continues this month with three new titles, including the classic Donkey Kong Jr. As Nintendo notes in its newest newsletter, this brings this total number of free NES games on the Switch to over 40, all of which have enhanced online features to boot.
We’re still anxiously awaiting news about other, more modern consoles being added to the selection, but until then, this is a reasonably solid lineup for May. That said, there are only so many worthwhile NES games worth adding, and the addition of SNES or N64 titles would be a welcome change for countless Switch owners.
Here’s the complete lineup of free NES games available for Nintendo Switch Online subscribers on May 15th:
- Donkey Kong Jr.: Based on the popular arcade game, Donkey Kong Jr. is the sequel to the immensely successful Donkey Kong game. Play as Donkey Kong’s son, and rescue your dad who has been kidnapped and imprisoned in a cage by Mario. Use jumping and climbing abilities to clamber up vines and chains, gather vital fruit and keys, and open the cage to free your father. Make sure you avoid the pesky birds, nasty electric sparks and creepy chompers. Four different worlds filled with numerous climbing and jumping puzzles await you in this timeless classic.
- VS. Excitebike: Fans love the Excitebike game for its frenetic races, high stakes and sweet jumps. With this game, you can take it to the next level with the Famicom disk version of VS. Excitebike – complete with two-player split screen. Create tracks from 20 classic Excitebike track parts, and go for a best time or take on friends. Racing is even more exciting when the rivalries are real. You can also try out the single-player mode in VS. Excitebike. It adds tracks, music and the ability to save your high score.
- Clu Clu Land: The greedy Sea Urchins have stolen all of Clu Clu Land’s gold bars and buried them in a series of mazes. As Bubbles, a brave bubble fish, you’ll set out to uncover all of the gold bars in each maze. With 20 stages to complete and increasingly complex conditions (like having to pass over the gold bars twice to uncover them), you might just want to bring along a friend for help.
There are a variety of payment schemes for Nintendo Switch Online: $3.99 for one month, $7.99 for three months, or $19.99 for a year. There’s also a family plan that costs $34.99, but can support up to 8 Nintendo Accounts. If you want to try it out before you commit to paying, there’s a 7-day free trial as well.
