The “Nintendo of America” Twitter account recently announced “Jet Force Gemini” is coming to the Nintendo Switch “Online + Expansion Pack”. The “Expansion Pack” features a Nintendo 64 collection that includes games like “Mario 64”, “The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time” and “Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards”.
Developed by the influential Nintendo 64 collaborator Rare, “Jet Force Gemini” is a third-person shooter/action-adventure game originally released in 1999. The game was a bit of a departure for Rare at the time, as they were more known for their platformer games (including the “Donkey Kong” and “Banjo-Kazooie” franchises).
Rare was purchased by Microsoft in 2002, but thankfully the developer has still managed to work with Nintendo in adding nostaligic games to their “Nintendo Switch Online” service (including the revolutionary console first-person shooter “GoldenEye 007”).
At the Nintendo Direct in September 2022, a “roadmap” showing upcoming Nintendo 64 games being added to the Expansion Pack revealed several games coming to the service over the next year (including all 3 of the “Mario Party” games released on the Nintendo 64). As we near the end of 2023, we’ve seen all of those games added, except for “1080° Snowboarding”. The addition of “Jet Force Gemini’ shows there is still hope for future games to be added to the service. Major titles that are still being hoped for by fans include “Banjo-Tooie”, “Diddy Kong Racing”, and “Donkey Kong 64” and the original “Super Smash Bros.”
Hopefully Nintendo will provide us with a new “roadmap” showing upcoming additions for 2024 (and beyond).
