Some of what are arguably the most exciting additions to the Nintendo Switch 2 were barely mentioned during the console's dedicated Nintendo Direct, instead being overshadowed by other reveals. Naturally, the recent Nintendo Direct has sparked immense excitement in the console, due in no small part to the striking range of titles that will be available for it. Nevertheless, although several major titles were highlighted by the presentation, it seems that some of the most significant of all barely warranted a mention.

There has now been a lot of launch titles for the Switch 2. The large majority of these games are third-party titles, although the new Mario Kart World is being promoted as a prominent early title. However, there is another aspect of the Switch 2's game catalog that deserves far more recognition than it was given in this presentation.

Path Of Radiance & Chibi-Robo Are Heading To Nintendo Switch Online

The Switch 2 Will Make Some Major GameCube Games Easily Playable Again

Alongside the reveal of the Switch 2 itself came news that Nintendo Switch Online will finally have GameCube games added to its own catalog. Among these future additions to the service are titles like Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance and Chibi-Robo!, both of which are perfect examples of games that have become incredibly expensive to buy and play otherwise. This is because neither title was ever made available for anything other than the GameCube outside of Japan (the latter did receive a Japanese Wii port), leading to both becoming increasingly rare despite their impact.

GameCube games will be exclusively available for Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscribers playing on a Nintendo Switch 2 console.

Although many people will never have had the opportunity to play these games today, both are undoubtedly worthy of fresh attention. Path of Radiance has an incredible story, and is also notable for introducing Ike, one of the franchise's most popular protagonists. Meanwhile, Chibi-Robo! is an incredibly charming platformer that has unfortunately fallen into relative obscurity in recent years. In both cases, the fact that these games were only briefly shown scrolling across the screen seems like a disservice to them.

Nintendo Switch 2’s GameCube Library Is Stacked

A Lot Of Major GameCube Games Will Return On Nintendo Switch 2

Of course, there will be far more than just these two titles becoming available for NSO in the near future under the new title of Nintendo Classics. Other major GameCube titles with ports for the service include Pokémon Colosseum and its sequel, Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness, as well as Super Mario Sunshine. Furthermore, the list of GameCube games coming to Nintendo Switch Online can only grow from here, which promises great things for the future given how many amazing titles were released for the console.

But regardless of any and all future additions to this list, it is already clear that Nintendo is intent on presenting people with a powerful collection of the GameCube's greatest hits. Of course, presenting people with a selection of major titles as quickly as possible only makes sense from a marketing standpoint, as it will help to make the service more appealing for potential subscribers. On the other hand, however, it is also worth noting that there may be a wait before most of these games actually become available.

NSO + Expansion Pack Is Looking Very Attractive — Eventually

Most Of The Switch 2's GameCube Games Will Still Take Time To Arrive

While there are so many appealing GameCube games coming to Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscribers, most have not been given a proper release date. Instead, only three games will be available when the Nintendo Switch 2 launches. Of course, those games are very interesting themselves, being The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Soulcalibur II, and F-Zero GX; all of these titles will attract plenty of interest, especially with the improvements to graphics quality and any multiplayer functionality that they will receive as part of being ported. But at the end of the day, they are only three games.

Despite the clear potential of GameCube titles, the fact that the debut library of GameCube games for Nintendo Classics is so small is still fairly disappointing. Even the promise of the other d titles eventually making their way to the Nintendo Switch 2 does little to assuage this. As a result, the new GameCube ports may take some time to build up to their full appeal. Given the price of the Nintendo Switch 2, it would be understandable for many people to therefore hold off on buying a Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscription until its value for money rises.

Amidst so much new information about Nintendo's new console and everything surrounding it, it is unsurprising that one small group of games can be easily overlooked. This is especially true of the future new GameCube ports due to the way they were presented, with only a brief scroll past most of the games' box art. Ultimately, this only goes to show that exciting games can still go unnoticed depending on how they are presented, especially when that reveal is so easily buried under everything else that has been revealed about the Nintendo Switch 2.