5 Classic Mario Games That Still Need to Come to Nintendo Switch Online

Nintendo Switch Online’s retro games catalog has been around for nearly six-and-a-half years at this point and offers a healthy selection of games from the NES, SNES, Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo 64, and Sega Genesis libraries. Countless Mario games populate the service; as is to be expected, you can find all of the classic Super Mario Bros. games and prominent spin-offs like Dr.

Mario and Mario Kart 64 on the service. That said, some notable Mario games still haven’t come to Nintendo Switch Online.In celebration of 2025’s Mar10 Day, I looked at all of the Mario games on offer through Nintendo Switch Online and noticed that some important games from the franchise’s history were still missing.



These range from handheld reinterpretations of console classics to games that require SNES accessories that may be more emulateable on Nintendo Switch 2. Going forward, I hope to see the following five Mario games come to Nintendo Switch Online.Super Mario Bros.

Deluxe (Game Boy Color)Super Mario Bros. Deluxe is one of the more fascinating Super Mario Bros. games to me because it was one of the earliest examples of Nintendo remaking a console classic for handheld, a trend that would continue over the coming decades with games like Super Mario 64 DS, Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D, and Xenoblade Chronicles 3D.

Super Mario Bros. Deluxe is mostly faithful to the NES game but does offer its own flair with features like a world map and challenge mode. In a Pokemon Gold and Silver-like twist, The Lost Levels is even unlockable after scoring enough points.

Super Mario Bros. Deluxe is an important piece of this series’ history, and I believe it deserves to be preserved on Nintendo Switch Online.Mario Paint (SNES)Mario Paint is an iconic Mario spin-off that’s also pretty hard to port.

This game lets players draw, color, create animations, and even compose simple music with the Super NES Mouse. It encouraged a generation of kids to create but has yet to be ported anywhere because it uses that mouse peripheral. While I’m happy that its legacy lives on through the Super Mario Maker series, now that the Nintendo Switch 2 seemingly has mouse-like functionality, I would love to see Nintendo bring Mario Paint to the SNES library in Nintendo Switch Online.

Mario is Missing! (SNES)Mario is Missing! is fairly infamous at this point. It’s an educational game where players travel and learn more about places in the real world, such as Paris or Cairo, as Luigi searches for Mario after Bowser captures him. Originally released for MS-DOS, a version of the game was made for SNES.

Although the game was licensed by Nintendo, the company does not tend to acknowledge these educational Mairo games nowadays. Instead, Nintendo should embrace this odd part of Mario’s history. I’d get a kick out of seeing Mario is Missing!, and potentially some other educational Mario games, come to Nintendo Switch Online.

Mario & Wario (Super Famicom)Mario & Wario is probably the most obscure game on this list, as it was only ever released in Japan and requires the mouse peripheral. Still, it’s a surprisingly entertaining puzzle game where players must guide Mario, Peach, or Yoshi to an end-of-stage goal manipulating parts of the level so they can walk through without problem. Nintendo has shown a willingness to release Japan-only games like Sutte Hakkun in the North American version of Nintendo Switch Online.

If Nintendo can emulate mouse functionality working on Switch 2 for Mario Paint, then it should also bring other mouse-exclusive games like Mario & Wario to the service.Mario Pinball Land (Game Boy Advance)Nintendo has a surprisingly storied history with pinball video games, and Mario even got one of his own. Mario Pinball Land was made for the Game Boy Advance in 2004 but isn’t considered to be very good.

As such, this is yet another Mario game that Nintendo never really acknowledges. I think the retro game catalogs on services like Nintendo Switch Online should preserve the bad on those platforms just as much as they hold up the amazing classics. As such, a game like Mario Pinball Land still deserves a spot as part of the Game Boy Advance catalog on Nintendo Switch Online.

While the Nintendo Switch Online game catalog already seems very thorough, hopefully, this shows that there are still many ways Nintendo can choose to expand the subscription service’s offerings.The post 5 Classic Mario Games That Still Need to Come to Nintendo Switch Online appeared first on ComicBook.com.

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