Game Boy Classics: October 27 games, membership and save options

The next Game Boy Nintendo Classics update is a reason to check your existing membership, not automatically upgrade it. Game Boy access is included in standard Nintendo Switch Online; the more expensive Expansion Pack is not required.

Three different ways to play

Nintendo has announced three additions, all existing Game Boy games rather than new releases. The Japanese and Hong Kong announcements list 27 October, and Nintendo of America has published its own October Game Boy Classics update trailer. The official material checked on 24 October 2026 does not give a worldwide unlock time.

Mole Mania: think above and below

Mole Mania is the puzzle-first choice. Muddy Mole must rescue his family from the farmer Jinbe, finding routes through stages filled with obstacles and enemies. Digging changes the problem: the surface is not the only space you need to understand, because underground routes also matter.

Choose this one first if you like working out how a level fits together rather than simply clearing enemies. Its appeal on paper is that two-layer spatial problem: when the obvious route is blocked, look for another way through.

Avenging Spirit: change your host

Avenging Spirit takes a different approach to side-scrolling action. You play a ghost trying to rescue your kidnapped girlfriend, with possession providing the central mechanic. Nintendo describes 20 different creatures to inhabit across six levels, so changing the character you control is part of the game rather than a cosmetic choice.

This is the clearest starting point for someone who wants action instead of an environmental puzzle or a pinball score chase. The useful question is whether taking over other creatures sounds more interesting to you than sticking with one protagonist’s move set.

Revenge of the ’Gator: chase scores

Pinball: Revenge of the ’Gator is the score-focused alternative. Its table extends across four scrolling screens, with three bonus stages. Targets can award extra balls and score multipliers, while an alligator below the table threatens a lost ball. The objective is immediately different from rescuing a character or solving a route: keep the ball in play and build your score.

Nintendo’s legacy game description also lists a two-player format in which players take turns pursuing a high score. That describes the underlying game, not confirmation of every connection option in the forthcoming Classics version. Start here if you want a scoring challenge rather than a story-led campaign; do not assume the old two-player description means simultaneous play.

Use the right membership

Download the Game Boy Nintendo Classics app from Nintendo eShop using a Nintendo Account covered by an active membership. Another person’s membership on the same console does not automatically cover your account. Access is a subscription benefit, not permanent ownership of the games.

For travel, Nintendo allows up to seven consecutive days of offline play before an internet connection is needed to verify membership. Reconnect before a longer trip. If membership expires, access stops, although the local save data remains available for when you renew.

Display and multiplayer limits

The app supports Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2. Its Game Boy, Game Boy Pocket and Game Boy Color screen filters offer different presentations of the same retro material. Try the available display options rather than treating the screenshots here as the only way the games can appear. Holding ZL and ZR activates rewind.

Compatible Game Boy titles support two-player local wireless or online play, but local multiplayer needs a separate console for each player. Do not plan around sharing one console. Multiplayer rules are game-specific, as the Nintendo Switch Sports Resort multiplayer setup guide also illustrates; check the selected game’s options rather than carrying assumptions across Nintendo software.

Check your account before launch

Keep a safe solo save

For solo play, Suspend Points provide a way to preserve progress through the Classics app. Open the Suspend Menu, choose an available slot and check the saved timestamp. Nintendo provides four slots. Keep a known-good point in one slot and use another for your latest progress, rather than repeatedly replacing your only fallback.

What still needs checking

Historical dates on older Nintendo product pages refer to earlier releases, not this catalogue update.

The reviewed announcements do not settle every regional unlock hour, language option or game-specific multiplayer mode. Check your regional app listing when the update appears, especially before arranging a session with someone abroad. These are official-information summaries, not hands-on impressions of the upcoming additions.