Mario Party 1 and 2 are coming to Nintendo Switch in November

Nintendo has announced that Mario Party 1 and 2 will be released on the Nintendo Switch Online service on November 2nd.

As part of the Nintendo 64 catalog included with the “Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pass” subscription, these two classics from 1999 and 2000 are coming back into our heads so that we can curse and yell at each other, perhaps even fracturing some of our closest relationships. Or at least, that’s the experience most of us had with the series since it began in the late 90s.

The two first entries of the Mario Party series are beloved by fans as some of the best entries in the decades long franchise, in no small part due to their board designs and original minigames. Of the former, several have been included in almost every following sequel, and eventually remastered and released as a retro minigame and board collection on the Switch under the title Super Mario Party Superstars.

These 2 games were announced last month back during a Nintendo Direct, alongside Pilotwings 64 (released last month on the same service), Mario Party 3, Pokémon Stadium 1 and 2, 1080 Snowboarding and Excitebike 64. While most of these have been confirmed to release during 2023, Goldeneye 64 was also revealed at the same time without an estimated release window.

However, given that Nintendo tends to release these games in a monthly fashion, it’s quite possible we might get a surprise release of the classic shooter on the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pass very soon.

Since its introduction, the Nintendo Switch Online service has had a mixed reception by fans of the company. While many games have been offered as part of their line of emulators on the Switch, a lot of people still hope for the return of a Virtual Console and the hoards of classic titles that are no longer legally available anywhere.