The first Streets of Rage game is finally on Nintendo Switch's Genesis app

Nintendo’s had a big month, having lifted the lid off the Nintendo Switch 2 and all of its games and details in a huge blowout Nintendo Direct earlier in April. During the Direct, the company revealed that GameCube games were coming to Nintendo Switch Online on Switch 2, but that doesn’t mean it’s giving up on other retro games, nor is it leaving the Nintendo Switch behind. 

Nintendo has both announced and released a new batch of games for its Nintendo Switch Online retro game service, this time in the form of three new Sega Genesis games. The games included in the update are Streets of Rage, Super Thunder Blade, and ESWAT: City Under Siege, all three of which are fairly unique and fairly well-received games. 

Streets of Rage in particular is an interesting addition, given Streets of Rage 2 has been available on the service since it launched back in October 2021. All three games were developed and published by Sega, much like the majority of games included on the Genesis app, although some third-party Genesis games – mostly from Capcom – are included in the library. 

It comes more than four months after the previous update to the Genesis library on Nintendo Switch online, which has been one of the more volatile apps in terms of new additions on the Switch. While it initially received new games every three months or so following its release, updates paused entirely after June 2023, with the next batch of games not being released until November 2024. 

In order to play Genesis games on the Switch, you’ll need to be subscribed to Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack, the more expensive tier of the subscription that also includes access to Nintendo 64, Game Boy Advance, and soon GameCube games on Switch 2, in addition to certain DLC for games like Splatoon 2 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. NES, SNES, and Game Boy/Game Boy Color games are included in the base subscription, which is also required to play paid multiplayer games online. 

Nintendo has also confirmed that all of the retro games apps – which will be renamed to Nintendo Classics – will be available from launch day on Nintendo Switch 2.