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Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack GameCube games are arriving on June 5, 2025, the same day the Switch 2 debuts. However, at the start the selection is going to be a bit small. F-Zero GX, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker,and SoulCalibur 2 are the three appearing alongside the launch with Super Mario Strikers confirmed as showing up shortly after. I got to see how two of those four looked at a recent preview event, and they seemed as enjoyable as I ed. 

First, before even getting into experiences, the Nintendo Switch Online GameCube games playable on Switch 2 will feature some additional features. You can switch between the original ratio and a fullscreen possibility in the options once you load up the game. If you’re playing locally and not online, split screen multiplayer will show up for some titles. (Not SoulCalibur 2, obviously.) GameChat works with it, though I didn’t get to sample that during my preview session. Customizable controls will be possible, though, and there will be a CRT filter you can apply. 

I started with SoulCalibur 2. The attendant at the station noted that it already offered full screen in a past incarnation, so it wasn’t so much of an issue with the presentation here. However, this opportunity did mean that I not only got to see Link and Ivy fight again. It also meant trying the game with a GameCube controller. The first time I played this entry was on that system at a friend’s, so it was so easy for muscle memory to take over as I stepped up to fight again. The controller felt as comfortable as usual, and it looked fine on the Switch 2. Which is only to be expected, given the age of the game and the fact we’ve seen Bandai Namco bring back an HD Online version on the PS3 and Xbox 360. 

It was F-Zero GX that felt more different when I got to test it out. The attendant noted there are some visual upgrades, so it still looked sharp. But again, this was always an eye-catching and vibrant GameCube game, so of course F-Zero GX would look good on a Switch 2 with Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack. I will note that I honestly didn’t like the full-screen for it. While that was fine for SoulCalibur 2, here I felt like it just artificially stretched what was already there. It was sort of like the effect for Game Boy games on the GBA to fill the screen. It actually threw me off a bit in my first race, and I felt like I did better during the second after turning it off. Perhaps it was due to nostalgia and being more accustomed to one appearance! Maybe it’s totally fine and involves a little getting used to. I’m curious to see how it looks in other games to make a more informed decision.

I’m optimistic about Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack GameCube games on the Switch 2! I’d like to play Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance on the go or see enough people show interest in Chibi Robo to convince Nintendo to make a more traditional, new entry in that series. The two launch games F-Zero GX and SoulCalibur 2 worked fine when I tested them out. The GameCube controller felt great and comfortable with them both as well. I think it could be quite a boon to that tier of the subscription service, even if some of the new additions like the other aspect ratio option might not seem like it’d suit every game.

Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack for GameCube games will be present on the Switch 2 when the system launches on June 5, 2025. 

The post Preview: Nintendo Switch Online GameCube Games Get Nostalgic appeared first on Siliconera.

Mr. Driller DrillLand is an excellent game in its own right, a Namco classic that deserved a much larger audience and may get it with its Nintendo Switch and PC remaster. Perhaps more importantly, though, it also provides a template for other beloved GameCube titles looking to make a comeback to a new audience.

When fans want a game from this era to return, there’s usually a lot that they don’t want touched. That’s especially true with the era’s aesthetics, which turned the corner on the tech side from the limited 3D of the Nintendo 64 and PlayStation but retained the signature Y2K-era coolness. Mr. Driller DrillLand nails this part, with its sharp, cool visuals and animations retained and brought into a modern resolution and aspect ratio.

And the GameCube may be the peak of this ethos. (Though, for sure, the Dreamcast remains in that conversation.) Other titles on the platform could benefit from the same approach. Like Super Smash Bros. Melee. Like the original Super Monkey Ball. Like Kirby Air Ride. And, most importantly, like F-Zero GX.

F-Zero fans have been struggling for some time to see their favorite franchise return. There have been glimmers of hope. “What is all this Mario Kart 8 DLC suggesting? Is that Star Fox Grand Prix game real? Maybe we can all buy FAST Racing as a signal to Nintendo!” Many in the community would be more than happy to see the return of what they feel is the series’ peak: F-Zero GX.

The game has style. It has visuals that are still impressive even without a remaster. It doesn’t need reworked controls. All the fundamentals are there, and some simple cleanup work would do just as well for it as a full-budget remake for a lot of people.

F-Zero GX had another defining trait, though: its difficulty. Simply put, the game’s aggressively punishing to new players, often stonewalling them to the first couple of races of the single-player campaign. And there’s another way that the game could benefit from the Mr. Driller DrillLand treatment. The one big change to the remaster was the addition of a “casual” difficulty, making the requirements less brutal and allowing more to enjoy what’s there. It didn’t replace the original balance, so purists and experts still can appreciate the challenge. It just opened the doors a bit to more potential fans.

It’s clear: F-Zero GX would benefit greatly from a DrillLand-style remaster. The opportunity’s there: whether it’s the Bandai Namco team behind this game, the Sega one remastering fellow Amusement Vision franchise Super Monkey Ball or a crew already working with Nintendo, the skill set to make it is available. It could be billed as an expanded edition with the F-Zero AX arcade content unlocked by default. And yeah, with ballooning development costs as hardware capabilities increase, it’s likely the only way we’ll get another F-Zero release. Mr. Driller shows exactly how it could be done well.

The post Mr. Driller DrillLand Got the Treatment F-Zero GX Deserves appeared first on Siliconera.

The latest issue of Edge magazine had a feature on Sega chief creative officer Toshihiro Nagoshi, and he talked about some development stories behind F-Zero GX, and Yakuza. [Thanks, Resetera!]

Here are the highlights:

F-Zero GX:

Toshihiro Nagoshi, chief creative officer: “Compared to us, in the big picture, we are similar. But in the finer details - their decision-making and timing - things are different, and I learned a lot from them. In short, it's about objectivity. (...) It's hard to describe, but when I'd say about some part of the game, "It's okay like this, isn't it?" they'd say, "Our company does not allow this kind of thing. Ever." I didn't manage to change their minds about anything. Not even once. But that's why Nintendo has such a solid brand, even after all these years. That is why we lost the hardware war.
I really liked the Super Famicom game, and while we made a few proposals - Metroid for instance, and others - I was most confident in making a driving game because of my experience in the genre, though I'd never make a sci-fi one.”

“Even though we'd lost the war in the hardware market, I wanted Nintendo to see how great Sega was as a company. We made lots of characters and courses, and we did the best we could for the graphics using the best technology of the time.
Even though we'd tried really hard making games for Sega hardware, they never sold too well, but F-Zero sold over 1.5 M copies worldwide. We realised the only thing we needed to it was that Sega did not have the ability to sell hardware (laughs). That as a developer (...) we did not need to be pessimistic at all.”

“After it released, I got a call from Nintendo. They said they wanted to see all the source code for the game, and wanted me to explain how we'd made that game, in that timeframe and with that budget, in detail. They were wondering how we'd done it - they couldn't figure it out. We were able to achieve something a lot higher than what Nintendo had expected.”

 

Yakuza:

Nagoshi: “It became difficult for Japanese companies to compete with western games of high quality and big budgets (...) if we wanted to do, it would have to be sports, or military, or fantasy (...)and it would need to release worldwide. (...) since everyone was thinking the same things, everyone was making similar games (laughs).
But I thought it wasn't right to follow that direction. So, first, I abandoned the idea of selling worldwide. Next, I decided I wouldn't mind if female players didn't like the game; then that no children were allowed. When I decided all that, the only target left was the japanese male.”

“I've never said this before, but while we released this game with Sony, I'd done presentations about it to Microsoft and Nintendo. Back then they said "No we don't want it." Now they say, "We want it!" (laughs) They didn't understand the reason why I created it.”

Yakuza series’ new project

Nagoshi: “It will still be quite hardcore at the beginning, but I want the player to think "Oh this game seems really interesting" - that's what I'm aiming for this time. That goes for the technology too, though I don't want to say more as it will spoil the fun. By introducing a new and more current systems, I'd like to increase the number of players. And if I do that, I can re-introducing Kiryu-san to some new fans. That would be ideal.”

The post Sega’s Toshihiro Nagoshi Talks About Stories Behind F-Zero GX And Yakuza appeared first on Siliconera.

In 2003, Nintendo and Sega released a futuristic racing game titled F-Zero GX for the Gamecube, co-developed by the two companies in collaboration and CO-produced by Shigeru Miyamoto and Yakuza director Toshihiro Nagoshi.

This game had an arcade counterpart called F-Zero AX, which shared tracks and features with the Gamecube version, and also had a few tracks that could be accessed on the Gamecube, but only with significant difficulty.

Last November, a group of F-Zero enthusiasts discovered that the Gamecube optical disc for F-Zero GX not only has the entire F-Zero AX game on it as well, but that it’s fully playable. The game can be accessed using Action Replay codes, which allow you to boot it up and play the arcade version.

While the discovery was made in November, it was only widely-publicized earlier this week by a site named RetroCollect. You can watch a video of the hidden F-Zero AX content in the video above.

The post Full F-Zero AX Arcade Game Discovered On F-Zero GX Disc appeared first on Siliconera.