April's Nintendo Switch Online games include Pac-Man & Game Freak's debut

2 weeks ago 5

Published Apr 9, 2026, 11:02 AM EDT

Plus the OG Pac-Man

A screenshot from the NES game Mendel Palace

Nintendo Switch Online has a growing library of classic games, and Nintendo and Bandai Namco are adding three more NES titles in April. Game Freak's debut NES game Mendel Palace, the original Pac-Man, and The Tower of Druaga are all available on NSO today.

Mendel Palace (originally released as Quinty in Japan) is the first game from Game Freak, the primary developer of mainline Pokémon games. It's a puzzle and action game in which you'll flip floor tiles around to push your enemies away and into walls to deal damage. You play as Bon-Bon on a mission to rescue his girlfriend, Princess Candy, and Mendel Palace can be played solo or in a co-op mode.

Quinty was a success for Game Freak and helped establish the company into the Pokémon juggernaut it is today. Game Freak art director Ken Sugimori created a series of Quinty comics for the game, which you can find in the 2014 art book, Ken Sugimori's Work - A 25 Year Portfolio from Quinty to Jerry Boy and Pocket Monsters.

Also joining is the NES port of Pac-Man. The arcade classic has you gobbling up pellets while on the run from ghosts out to get Pac-Man. Though simple on the surface, it only takes a few runs through the maze-like levels to see what makes the Pac-Man series so iconic. Achieving a new high score never gets old.

Rounding out the additions is Namco'sThe Tower of Druaga, the arcade title from 1984 that spawned the (now mostly dormant) Babylonian Castle Saga. It's a bit like Pac-Man in that you'll be navigating around a series of mazes as you climb up a tower. Danger abounds as several enemies can kill you with one hit, so you'll want to keep your guard up on your way to taking down the demon Druaga.

Dozens of NES, Super NES, Game Boy, and Game Boy Color games are included in Nintendo Switch Online, which costs $19.99 a year. Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack includes even more classic games from Nintendo's older systems, like the Nintendo 64 and Game Boy Advance, and costs $49.99 a year. Both subscriptions allow you to play Switch and Switch 2 games online.

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