Nintendo Switch Online Adds Two Classic Pokemon Games

During today's Pokemon Presents, two classic Pokemon games were stealth released on Nintendo Switch Online's retro apps. While both were previously known, we now know that Pokemon Trading Card Game and Pokemon Stadium 2 will be available today on the Game Boy and Nintendo 64 apps, respectively. While Pokemon Trading Card Game was re-released on Nintendo 3DS, Pokemon Stadium 2 has never released on a another platform, making its addition a pretty big deal! The previous Pokemon Stadium game was released on Nintendo Switch earlier this year, and now players will be able to enjoy both games.

Unfortunately, like the first Pokemon Stadium, Pokemon Stadium 2 will not have any compatibility with previous Pokemon games. The N64 release allowed players to use Pokemon imported from Pokemon Red, Blue, Yellow, Gold, Silver, and Crystal, but none of those games are available on Nintendo Switch Online, so players will have to use the game's rental Pokemon instead. Hopefully that will change at some point down the line, but there has been no information provided, as of this writing.

As its name implies, Pokemon Trading Card Game is a Game Boy take on the TCG. The game includes cards that released in the first three expansions: Base Set, Jungle, and Fossil. There are also promotional cards and cards that exclusively appeared in the game. Players must build their decks and take on gyms, in a manner somewhat similar to the traditional Pokemon RPGs.

Now that these two classic Pokemon games are available to play on Nintendo Switch, it will be interesting to see what comes next! Obviously, fans want to see the classic RPGs more than anything else, but there are other possibilities. Notably, Pokemon Pinball is still missing, and Hey You, Pikachu! is another N64 game that has never been released on another platform. That might be difficult given the game's microphone mechanics, but it's possible that Nintendo and The Pokemon Company could figure out a workaround!

Are you looking forward to playing these Pokemon games on Nintendo Switch Online? Are you happy about these games finally getting added to the service? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!