Nintendo Switch Online Added a Spooky Delight and Obscure Treats – NSO Monthly Roundup October 2025

Luigi’s Mansion has become an iconic franchise over the years, and for Halloween, Nintendo released the original game onto the NSO’s GameCube collection. Does it still hold up? It absolutely does. It’s still a sheer delight to go exploring the haunted mansion with my man Luigi and suck up all manner of ghosts into the Poltergust 3000. Whether you’re a millennial with fond memories of the GameCube or a younger gamer who enjoys the later games in the series, you should play the first Luigi’s Mansion. It’s the perfect game to play at Halloween, or any other time of year.

Fatal Fury Special

Fatal Fury was a popular SNK fighting series in the nineties. Younger gamers might know one of the Fatal Fury characters, Terry, from the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC. Nintendo Switch Online has had the SNES version of Fatal Fury 2 for a while, and in October, they added Fatal Fury Special. Special adds new characters, a new boss, and some new moves. I’ve said before that I’m terrible at most fighting games other than Smash Bros., so I’m terrible at the Fatal Fury games as well, but I can tell that Fatal Fury Special has a lot to offer for fighting game fans.

Mario and Wario

This SNES title was only released in Japan during its initial run, but American gamers probably would have loved it if they’d gotten a chance to play it. Wario has bested Mario by . . . dropping a bucket on his head. Yes, really. Now Mario can’t see where he’s going, so you play a fairy who must make blocks appear and disappear to guide Mario to Luigi. The puzzling levels get increasingly complex, with different block attributes and enemies lurking around. Unfortunately, the game requires a compatible mouse to play on NSO. The Switch 2 has built-in mouse controls, but Switch 1 players might have some difficulty. Still, I had a lot of fun playing this on my Switch 2.

Bubsy In: Claws Encounter of the Furred Kind

This infamous SNES game is the most bizarre Nintendo Switch Online release of the month. All of Bubsy the Bobcat’s nineties games have reputations for being terrible. However, is his first game, Claws Encounter of the Furred Kind, really as bad as people say? Well, it has colorful graphics and amusing death animations, but the real problem is with the controls. Tap a direction, and Bubsy goes zipping across the screen. This leads to a rather frustrating experience, but there might be some fun to be had if you know what to expect. Since all the older Bubsy games will be released in a collection soon, I wouldn’t expect this game to stay on NSO forever.

What Will November Hold?

What will Nintendo Switch Online bring us in November? The NES collection hasn’t been touched in a while, so maybe we’ll see some new NES games. The GameCube collection is slowly but surely expanding, so maybe there will be a new GameCube game or two. In any case, this month gave us some interesting additions. Luigi’s Mansion is a masterpiece, and Mario and Wario is a great puzzle game that American gamers can finally discover. Those games are especially welcome additions to Nintendo Switch Online.