Switch Online Game Boy games on October 27: Mole Mania, Avenging Spirit and Revenge of the 'Gator

Switch Online Game Boy games arriving October 27

Three new Switch Online Game Boy games arrive on October 27, 2026: Avenging Spirit, Mole Mania and Revenge of the 'Gator. Nintendo announced the trio for the Game Boy app inside Nintendo Switch Online, and they play on both Nintendo Switch 2 and the original Switch.

A standard Nintendo Switch Online membership is enough, according to Nintendo Everything's report and VGC. The Expansion Pack tier is not required. Nintendo's own Switch Online page confirms that its Nintendo Classics library, which includes Game Boy titles alongside Super NES and NES games, comes with the standard membership.

We could not open Nintendo's original announcement, so the lineup and date below are confirmed by three independent outlets (VGC, Nintendo Everything and VGChartz) rather than by a Nintendo page we read directly.

Mole Mania: the Miyamoto-produced puzzle game

The standout is Mole Mania, a puzzle-action game that Shigeru Miyamoto produced. It was developed by Nintendo EAD and Pax Softnica, directed by Masayuki Kameyama, and released on Game Boy in Japan on July 21, 1996, in North America in February 1997 and in Europe in May 1997.

Nintendo's blurb reads: "Join Muddy Mole in a race to defeat the evil farmer, Jinbe!" Players push, pull or throw black balls to defeat or trap enemies, dig tunnels through soft ground, and fight bosses. A two-player VS mode has one player attack as Muddy while the other defends as Jinbe, scored by cabbages dropped.

It is a puzzle game where digging in the wrong place can make a screen unsolvable, forcing you to leave and re-enter. That punishing detail is what critics split on at the time: IGN scored it 8.0 out of 10, while Famitsu's four reviewers gave 6, 7, 6 and 5.

How Mole Mania was received

Reviews of Mole Mania at the time were warm but not unanimous. According to Wikipedia's compilation, IGN scored it 8.0 out of 10, Mega Fun gave it 85 percent, Official Nintendo Magazine 85 percent and Nintendo Power 3.4 out of 5, while Famitsu's four reviewers gave 6, 7, 6 and 5. Famitsu reported lifetime sales of 89,407 copies in Japan.

Reviewers praised the mix of action and puzzle elements, the above-ground and underground puzzle idea, the multiplayer and the boss battles. Criticism centred on an uneven mix of simple and complex puzzles and limited replay value, and Nintendo Life later found the digging mechanics occasionally frustrating. 1Up compared it to Adventures of Lolo, which gives a sense of the block-pushing logic involved.

Avenging Spirit: a ghost possession platformer

Avenging Spirit, a 1992 side-scrolling game released by Jaleco, is the oldest of the three. Nintendo's overview says: "This classic action game features a unique gameplay system where you possess and control other characters!"

The setup is dark for a handheld game of its era. Your hero is shot after a walk with his girlfriend, then returns as a ghost to rescue her across six stages, taking over enemies to fight and solve problems. The possession mechanic is what separates it from a standard platformer.

Revenge of the 'Gator: a pinball game from HAL

Revenge of the 'Gator is a pinball game developed by HAL Laboratory, the studio behind Kirby. Nintendo's description is simple: "Revenge of the 'Gator is a game in which you hit a falling ball with flippers to score points."

It offers four main stages and three bonus stages, with solo, two-player and Match Play modes. Pinball suits a small screen well, because the whole table fits in one view and a round takes only a few minutes.

Nintendo's Switch Online page says memberships come as Individual or Family, with Family covering up to eight Nintendo Accounts. That means one family plan can put all three games on every account's Game Boy app at no extra cost, and the same page lists Save Data Cloud for supported games under the standard tier. Check the Game Boy app's own menu after October 27 for how saves are handled for these specific titles, since we have not seen that confirmed.

What a Switch Online Game Boy membership gets you

For players new to the service, Nintendo describes a standard membership as including online multiplayer in compatible games, Save Data Cloud for supported games, the Nintendo Classics library, the Nintendo Music app, special offers and GameChat. The Expansion Pack adds more classic games, select DLC and Switch 2 exclusive features.

Game Boy and Game Boy Color titles sit inside that Nintendo Classics library rather than behind the Expansion Pack, which is why this October 27 drop reaches every member. We have not verified current subscription prices, so check Nintendo's store for your region.

On the technical side, Wikipedia's Nintendo Classics article says the emulators support control remapping and save states, and that most consoles also allow players to rewind gameplay. It does not say which of those features the Game Boy app offers, so check the app itself once the games arrive. The same article notes that Nintendo Classics launched on Switch 2 on June 5, 2025, and that apps need an internet connection at least once a week to be used offline.

Which of the three to play first

If you only have time for one, Mole Mania is the best fit. It is the most distinctive of the three, has the strongest design pedigree thanks to Miyamoto's producer credit, and its two-player VS mode gives it more replay value than a single score chase.

Avenging Spirit suits players who want a quick, strange action game, and Revenge of the 'Gator suits short sessions. None of the three has been reviewed on the Switch Online app yet, so this is a judgment from the original releases and Nintendo's descriptions, not a hands-on verdict.