Nintendo Switch Online adds Earthworm Jim 2, Super Mario World SP, and more

It’s been a while!

Nintendo Switch Online is closing out March 2022 with a trio of retro games — Earthworm Jim 2 on the Super Nintendo front, Mappy-Land and Dig Dug II on the NES side — plus a pair of SP versions for eternal SNES favorites Super Punch-Out!! and Super Mario World.

With this Nintendo Switch Online drop, a lot of Earthworm Jim 2 takes are flying around, and it’s definitely not the same game I remember renting multiple times in the ’90s.

I really prefer the sequel — I find the first game to be needlessly frustrating to play more often than not, and Earthworm Jim 2 to be a little more entertaining with (admittedly still stressful) levels like Lorenzen’s Soil and Puppy Love. The series felt “big” back in the day, and my childhood friend group even watched the cartoon, but it feels very of its era.

As for Dug Dug II, the overhead view never clicked with me as much as the original game’s presentation — heck, Dig Dug is still one of my favorite high-score chasers to this day — but I want to give it more of a chance. Mappy-Land is much less of a known quantity in my household. I jumped in fresh and immediately died, which I dig. This is the sort of curiosity-driven punishment I’m looking for when I boot up the Switch Online NES app.

Subscribers gained access to these NES and SNES games last night, as is Nintendo’s way with the Switch Online retro libraries. I wouldn’t have bothered to check in right away, but CJ nudged me about the “special” versions, which are usually worth a peek.

In both of these SP versions, you’re basically getting immediate access to a lot of content.

In the case of Super Mario World SP, that means starting with 99 lives in an opened-up overworld with the Fall theme active, while Super Punch-Out!! SP lets you face the fearsome Special Circuit right off the bat without needing to grind out prior circuits.

Anything of interest here, or are you sticking with EarthBound? My recent playthrough fizzled out shortly after Mondo Mole, unfortunately. It still lives in my heart rent-free.