The 40th Anniversary and Nintendo Switch Online

Majora's Mask might be the first of various Legend of Zelda titles that are going to be highlighted throughout the 40th Anniversary via Nintendo's different online offerings. This could even be tied directly to those collectible cards in Nintendo Today, where for each new set they might have something else for that game in the various Nintendo Switch Online offerings, like user icons, or soundtracks.

This is supported by the fact that the current Majora's Mask user icons and collectible cards are available for the exact same time frame, until October 23rd. Afterwards they will likely switch to a different Zelda game for both, and this could ultimately fill a number of gaps. And here it's interesting to look at what's still missing.

These titles are still absent from the current NSO game libraries:

• Ocarina of Time - Master Quest (N64)
• Four Swords Adventures (GCN)
• Twilight Princess (GCN) 

These titles are on NSO, but have yet to receive user icons:

• Oracle of Ages & Seasons (GBC)
• A Link to the Past & Four Swords (GBA)
• The Wind Waker (GCN)
• The Minish Cap (GBA) 

These soundtracks are still missing in Nintendo Music:

• Link's Awakening (DX and Remake)
• Majora's Mask 3D
• Oracle of Ages & Seasons*
• A Link to the Past & Four Swords*
• The Wind Waker HD
• Four Swords Adventures 
• The Minish Cap*
• Twilight Princess
• Twilight Princess HD
• Spirit Tracks
• Tri Force Heroes
• Echoes of Wisdom

As for the soundtracks marked with an asterisk: here the situation with the music rights remains unclear. While Nintendo has the scenario rights for all the Capcom Zelda games, which allows them to re-release and potentially even remake these games as they please, the music rights are a different topic, especially in Japan. There has yet to be an instance where they have used the music elsewhere, e.g. in Super Smash Bros. or at the Symphony of the Goddesses. So, keep that in mind.

Not everything here is going to be covered anyway, but there is a good chance that we might see some of it. The collectible card sets vary in size, so there might be some filler here and there. After Majora's Mask they could for one of the NES classics, for example, which already have been thoroughly featured, but they can just bring back the user icons for the time being (and maybe add some more).

Afterwards they will likely feature the Ocarina of Time remake with cards and icons based on that. They may even release its full soundtrack on Nintendo Music, even though they usually wait very long after these "special releases", which feature some selected tracks from a newly released game. We have yet to get the full soundtrack for Metroid Prime 4, for example... But there is already a special release for the Ocarina of Time remake, with only the title theme.

Anyway, what most Zelda fans are waiting for is Twilight Princess. And there is a decent chance that they will add the game to the GameCube library while they are at it, alongside its original soundtrack on Nintendo Music. But I wouldn't hold my breath here... Nintendo knows that the fans are waiting for this, where they don't want it to collide with the Ocarina of Time remake. So, it is more likely something for 2027.

Since they have announced there to be more than 300 collectible cards, this campaign will last long into the 41st anniversary up until July 2027, so we could be getting Twilight Princess in May or so...

Another game that could receive such a full package is Four Swords Adventures, where this would be the first time Nintendo ever re-releases it. But this will require that they can emulate the Game Boy Advance connectivity within the GameCube library, which is not a feature so far. Alternatively, they could be making a special version of Four Swords Adventures for the 40th Anniversary. How about "Forty Swords Adventures", where up to 40 players can go on an adventure together? That would be such a silly Nintendo thing to do.

Some games won't be featured on the Nintendo Switch (2) at all, but still could get at least a soundtrack release, like Spirit Tracks or Tri Force Heroes. And with certain games it might be the other way around, like the aforementioned Capcom titles. In any case, it's going to be interesting to learn how this continues on October 24th.

Nintendo Music: Majora's Mask Added

And here it is. The Majora's Mask streak continues. After the collectible cards for Nintendo Today and the user icons for Nintendo Switch Online, we also got the game's soundtrack on Nintendo Music today. They are truly highlighting the second Nintendo 64 classic, before the launch of the Ocarina of Time remake, which is going to make everyone and their mother ask for a Majora's Mask remake afterwards.

This release is based on the official soundtrack that was released in Japan and North America, but you might notice that it's one track short, 111 in total instead of 112. It's missing one of the two "Event Failed" melodies, which play when you screw up certain mini-games or missions. This may just be an oversight, though not a tragic one.

In any case, they should keep this going with the 40th Anniversary. We still don't even have Link's Awakening on the app yet. And Twilight Princess is now the only 3D Zelda game that's absent both on the Nintendo Switch 2 and in Nintendo Music, but I'm sure that this will change in the next couple of months. You will know it's happening when the Twilight Princess collectible cards are coming.

Nintendo Switch Online: Majora's Mask Icons

It's Majora's Mask Month. Okay, I just made that up, but the collectible cards in Nintendo Today weren't the only news related to the Nintendo 64 classic. The Nintendo Switch Online service is now featuring the game for its rewards and missions, replacing Pilotwings 64 a few days early. You can earn 50 Platinum Points by playing the game once and spend 100 Platinum Points on ten different icons.

Curiously, this was put under the 40th Anniversary banner, which may suggest that they will keep doing this for other Zelda games in the next months. The ones that didn't get any icons yet are Oracle of Ages & Seasons (GBC), A Link to the Past & Four Swords (GBA), The Minish Cap (GBA), and The Wind Waker (GCN), so mainly the Capcom titles. But they could also make more icons for the existing games, especially those that only got five so far.

In any case, Nintendo wants you to play Majora's Mask this month. And it's without a doubt the best Zelda game for the Halloween season, but you might also want to play this one last time before the Ocarina of Time remake gets released next month. Why? Well, the remake could make it very hard to return to these Nintendo 64 classics, once you've experienced its smoothness and modern visuals. Originally, my plan was to replay Majora's Mask afterwards, so I can take notes about what can and should be done with a similar remake by the same team, but I'm afraid that the new Ocarina of Time will spoil me so much that this won't be much fun.

Also, they should add Majora's Mask to Nintendo Music while they are at it... (Update: they actually will! The soundtrack is going to be included on October 9th.)

And I'm really expecting them to close some gaps here during the remainder of the 40th Anniversary, which includes making Four Swords Adventures and Twilight Princess playable at a later date.

Nintendo Today: Majora's Mask Collectible Cards (and more)

The Breath of the Wild set of digital collectible cards in the Nintendo Today app has been completed, and they've started with a second set, this time for Majora's Mask, with a card for Skull Kid to boot. The first set had 25 cards in total, where the new one now has 20, so the third set will start on October 24th.

Anyway, collecting these cards has been going quite well for me so far, despite the technical difficulties from Nintendo's end. It truly became a small ritual to open the Nintendo Today app every single day, where I have yet to miss a single card or medal. The questions are trivial for the most part, though there is the occasional one that is a bit more tricky than the rest. For example, there was a card for the Salmon Meunière, weirdly enough, and it was asking you about the ingredients... Well, you could make an educated guess here, but I double-checked nevertheless.

There also have been some issues... The question for the Bokoblin Mask had two correct answers, technically, but only one of them was counting. So, Nintendo rolled out an apology, promising that the people who have picked the alleged wrong answer will get compensated and have this fixed in the future. Ironically, this had caused even worse troubles afterwards. When you wanted to get the next card, it showed you this apology and you had to confirm this in order to proceed. But depending on your operating system and settings the OK-button was potentially obscured by your navigation bar, so you couldn't hit it.

This also happened to me, where I didn't even see the OK-button at first, thinking that they are simply skipping the card collecting for the day. But then I asked around on some Nintendo fansite and was told that you should be able to dismiss it, reported the problem in the app, and eventually found a solution: turn on gesture navigation on Android, which hides the usual navigation bar at the bottom. Then I was finally able to hit "OK" and move on.

Three days later Nintendo had to apologize again... for their apology. You can't make this up. At least they have learned and made this a separate message in the app. It remains unclear how they will deal with the people who have been blocked by this issue, where there isn't really a simple and fair solution here.

Nevertheless, Nintendo is getting what they wanted out of me: I'm using their Nintendo Today app on a daily basis now. And I'm starting to like it. The animated artworks for Zelda are very beautiful and are actually the true highlight here, not the collectible cards. The cards are just an incentive not to forget to open the thing. I also really enjoy reading or viewing the daily posts.

Like, they have this ongoing series for Echoes of Wisdom, where they let two monsters battle it out and you can place your mental bets beforehand. And even though I have played this game quite a lot, it's never exactly clear who might win, so they've made some good picks. It's fun to watch and some excellent advertisement for what's one of the most underrated Zelda games out there.

Donkey Kong Bananza: DK Island & Emerald Rush

After completing the main game of Donkey Kong Bananza, I couldn't resist to also get the DLC expansion, even though I had my reservations about it. And while my first impression wasn't a good one, I slowly grew to like what's effectively a whole new game within the game.

DK Island & Emerald Rush adds exactly what the name implies: you get DK Island as a new layer, which serves as a home for the new Emerald Rush mode. And this mode really turns everything on its head. Read more to find out more...

Donkey Kong Bananza: Emerald Rush Event Rotation

Well, I have been quite outspoken about the limited-time events for the Donkey Kong Bananza: DK Island & Emerald Rush DLC expansion, since they were first announced a year ago. They even made me hesitate whether I wanted to buy this (excellent) game and its DLC in the first place. I still did and haven't regretted it, but I was only able to participate in the final event, the "Bananza Antics".

These twelve events are an important part of the DLC, not only because you can obtain 24 exclusive statues, but also because they are removing the rogue-like nature of the game mode, so that all the skills and perks have fixed locations. This lets you go for certain strategies after learning all the important spots and mapping a path, which can make this a lot of fun.

So, today came the good news that these events get put on a monthly rotation, starting today. Even better, they now will run for the whole month, instead of a single week, so from now on there is always one event for you to play at any given time. This also gives you a lot more time to clear each one individually, so you can do them at your own pace.

Update: the events are now synced to the internal clock of your Nintendo Switch 2, instead to some server, meaning that you can access each one whenever you want by changing the date. Just be careful with games that somehow rely on the system's clock and might be punish you for it.

You can also now purchase the disc from the Super Mario collaboration at any time, in case you've missed that one. 

Small Updates to the Ocarina of Time Remake Posts

Earlier this month Nintendo has shown us lots of footage from the upcoming Ocarina of Time remake and I talked quite a bit about some of it, but I was by no means doing a thorough analysis. Still, there were a couple more things that I found interesting and was meaning to discuss, where I didn't get to them until now. But since this already felt like old news, I added them to the week of the Direct, also because it makes more sense within the chronology of this blog.

Mainly, the post about the world alterations got updated a bit, but I also added two smaller posts – one about a new NPC and the other about Big Poes:

• Ocarina of Time Remake: Altered World
• Ocarina of Time Remake: New NPCs?
• Ocarina of Time Remake: Better Big Poes?

This should be it for now... Let's see if Nintendo will show more in October.