Last verified 2026-09-22 by ReviewGamers Editorial
Three NES titles arrived in Nintendo Switch Online on 2 September 2026 for the standard membership tier: Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom, Ikari Warriors and R.C. Pro-Am II. All three are playable on both the original Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2. A week later, on 9 September, the GameCube Classics library on Switch 2 gained Star Fox Adventures, though that title requires the Expansion Pack membership and is exclusive to Switch 2.
What was added to the NES library
The three September additions complete the NES Ninja Gaiden trilogy, bringing arcade conversions and a third-party racing title to the standard Switch Online offering. Because they sit in the NES – Nintendo Classics collection rather than the Expansion Pack tier, owners of the original Switch keep access to the full library without a membership step up.
Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom is the 1991 finale of the classic NES trilogy and completes what Nintendo describes as “the third and final chapter of the legendary Ninja Gaiden saga.” Players control master ninja Ryu Hayabusa as he battles evil forces to uncover the truth about a character’s death. The US version has a reputation for heightened difficulty—Tecmo deliberately increased challenge by doubling damage intake and limiting continues, a design choice originally made to combat arcade rental store play patterns on home consoles. Nintendo Switch Online subscribers can use the service’s built-in rewind functionality to mitigate these demands. With the first two NES Ninja Gaiden titles already available on Switch Online, the complete trilogy is now in one place. The game was previously available on Wii U and Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console, but this marks its debut on modern hardware for current subscribers.
Ikari Warriors is an SNK title with roots in the 1986 arcade cabinet, later ported to NES in the United States in 1987. The overhead run-and-gun gameplay predates side-scrolling action titles like Contra and focuses on ammunition management, power-ups, and vehicle hijacking—tank and helicopter sections break up infantry passages. The arcade original was one of the highest-grossing cabinets of its era and played a significant role in establishing SNK as a force in Western gaming markets. The NES version brings this arcade-on-NES conversion to the modern library, expanding the service’s range beyond first-party releases into the third-party and arcade-licensed space.
R.C. Pro-Am II is a 1992 racing game by Rare and was among the final NES titles Rare developed for the console before shifting focus to the SNES and later platforms. The overhead RC car racing game offers 24 different tracks with progression tied to race earnings and vehicle upgrades; up to two players compete head-to-head. Compared to its predecessor, the sequel escalates difficulty: “The challenge is greater, the tracks are faster, and your opponents are better than ever,” according to Nintendo’s official description. The original R.C. Pro-Am has been on Switch Online since February 2024; the sequel now completes that pairing for players who want shorter, handheld-friendly sessions during their subscription play. The game was later ported to Rare Replay on Xbox, introducing it to a broader modern audience before this Switch Online release.
According to Game Informer and Nintendo Wire, all three were live as of 2 September 2026.
Star Fox Adventures and the Expansion Pack
Star Fox Adventures, released on GameCube in 2002, arrived in the GameCube Classics library on 9 September (update version 2.1.0), confirmed by the Nintendo Direct recap that day. This marks the first time the title has received a major digital re-release. According to Nintendo’s official description, “It has been eight years since the Star Fox team, led by Fox McCloud, defeated Venom’s Emperor Andross.” The story begins with General Pepper tasking the team to investigate an incident on Dinosaur Planet, where Fox explores an alien landscape filled with dinosaurs alongside his companion Tricky, a dinosaur prince.
The gameplay blends action-adventure with Star Fox’s signature aerial combat: players use Krystal’s mysterious Staff to fight and cast magic during exploration and ground-level encounters, whilst Fox pilots his beloved Arwing fighter in occasional airborne shooting sequences. The re-release supports 16:9 widescreen display, with the aspect ratio adjustable through in-game options—a quality-of-life improvement over the original 2002 release.
Unlike the NES trio, the GameCube library sits behind the Expansion Pack paywall and is exclusive to Nintendo Switch 2; owners of the original Switch cannot access it regardless of their membership tier. The game represents Rare’s ground-level departure from the Star Fox franchise, swapping the pure-aerial cockpit focus of earlier entries for grounded exploration and action-adventure mechanics. If you encountered the announcement and assumed it was part of the same month’s NES additions, the membership tier and platform exclusivity tell the full story: the NES games are for everyone with standard Switch Online on either console, the GameCube game is Expansion Pack and Switch 2 only.
Cross-platform context
Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, the 2025 revival from developer Team Ninja, joined PlayStation Plus Game Catalog on 29 September 2026, per the PlayStation Blog’s 9 September announcement. That title is available in the US, UK and Japan; players in other regions should check local availability. Details are in our PS Plus Extra September breakdown.
Why the September timing matters
For standard-tier Switch Online subscribers, the NES library is the part of the subscription that expands monthly without requiring a Tier upgrade. Completing the Ninja Gaiden trilogy gives dedicated fans a reason to revisit the classics collection. For Switch 2 owners, September’s headline in the retro space was the GameCube library’s expansion, though the NES titles remain equally playable on the new hardware.
What happens next
Nintendo does not publish a forward calendar for Nintendo Classics additions. New titles across the various libraries are typically announced each month on Nintendo’s official news pages. For the wider roster confirmed during the September Direct, including which new games reach the original Switch, see our Nintendo Direct September 2026 recap, the Nintendo Switch hub and the Nintendo Switch 2 hub.