Two cult favourite Bandai Namco GBA games are coming to Switch Online next week
Klonoa: Empire of Dreams and Mr Driller 2 are joining the GBA library
Two more Game Boy Advance games are coming to Switch Online’s Nintendo Classics library next week.
Klonoa: Empire of Dreams and Mr Driller 2 will be added to the console’s GBA library on September 25, marking the first appearance of third-party games in the GBA app.
Klonoa: Empire of Dreams is the fourth game in the Klonoa series, following two main entries on the PS1 and PS2, and a handheld spin-off on the Bandai WonderSwan.
Set between the events of Klonoa and Klonoa 2, the game is a side-scrolling platformer where Klonoa can use his special Wind Ring to lift large enemies over his head and throw them as projectiles.
Klonoa and Klonoa 2 were remastered in 2022 and released on various platforms (including Switch) as the Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series, so the addition of Empire of Dreams will allow players to fill the gap between both games’ storylines.
Mr Driller 2, meanwhile, is a GBA port of Namco’s 2000 arcade release and sees players trying to dig as far as possible underground by clearing coloured blocks while topping up their oxygen.
When the player clears one block, all other connected blocks of the same colour will disappear too, meaning if players aren’t careful they can find themselves removing a lot of blocks at once, leading to other blocks landing on their head and killing them.
The addition of both games will bring the GBA library up to 30 games on Switch, with 27 of those available in the West (Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade, Mother 3 and Magical Vacation are Japan-only, due to their extensive use of Japanese text).
NES, SNES, Game Boy and Game Boy Color games are available as part of the standard Switch Online subscription, which costs $19.99 / £17.99 / €19.99 for a 12-month individual membership.
However, to play Game Boy Advance games (as well as GameCube games on Switch 2, and Mega Drive / Genesis and Nintendo 64 games on both Switch generations), players need to have the Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscription, which costs $49.99 / £34.99 / €39.99.
