Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscribers have three more Game Boy Advance games to explore as of October 14, 2026. The latest additions bring together monster raising, explosive arcade shooting, and precision puzzle action: Monster Rancher Advance, METAL SLUG ADVANCE, and Kururin Paradise.
It is a notably varied update for the Game Boy Advance Classics application. Each game represents a very different corner of the handheld's catalogue, from a portable reworking of a long-running monster-training series to an original entry in one of arcade gaming's most recognisable run-and-gun franchises. The third release is especially significant for players outside Japan: Kururin Paradise originally did not receive a Western release, making this its first opportunity to be played on a Nintendo console by audiences beyond its original market.
The three titles are available through the GBA Classics collection, which is included with the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack membership tier. That subscription is required for the Game Boy Advance library; it is not part of the standard Nintendo Switch Online catalogue.
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Three very different Game Boy Advance experiences
The Game Boy Advance remains an unusually broad platform for Nintendo's retro service. Its library covered major first-party series, arcade conversions, role-playing games, strategy titles, experimental puzzle games, and portable takes on franchises more commonly associated with home consoles. This new trio reflects that range particularly well.
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Monster Rancher Advance is the most methodical of the three. Rather than being a conventional turn-based creature battler, it is built around raising monsters over time and preparing them for competition. Players train their creatures and eventually take them into combat, with the game placing as much emphasis on development and management as it does on the matches themselves.
The battles distinguish it from games that invite immediate comparisons to Pokémon. Combat is presented from a side-on perspective, with monsters using a range of moves in a format closer in spirit to a fighting game. That gives the game a different pace: success is tied to the monster a player has cultivated, but the contests themselves have their own direct, action-oriented flavour.
For anyone who missed the Game Boy Advance era of the Monster Rancher series, this release offers a compact introduction to its defining appeal. There is a relaxed loop to raising, training, and testing a monster, while the combat creates a reason to keep working toward stronger results. It is the kind of portable game that can suit both brief sessions and longer periods spent refining a favourite creature.
METAL SLUG ADVANCE brings arcade chaos to the handheld library
METAL SLUG ADVANCE needs little explanation for players familiar with the wider series. It delivers the same energetic run-and-gun foundation that made Metal Slug an arcade staple: constant enemy pressure, large amounts of firepower, striking pixel-art animation, and a knowingly over-the-top sense of action.
The Game Boy Advance entry gave the series a portable form in 2004, letting players take its fast, explosive style away from the arcade and television. Its arrival on Switch means that a new audience can revisit that handheld interpretation within a service already designed around quick access to classic games.
Metal Slug has always been easy to understand at a glance. Players move forward, shoot through dense waves of opposition, rescue prisoners, collect weapons, and try to survive the screen-filling chaos. That apparent simplicity is part of the series' strength. It is immediate arcade action, but the visual detail and constantly changing threats help make every stage feel lively.
For Switch Online members, METAL SLUG ADVANCE also broadens the tone of the GBA collection. Retro subscription libraries can sometimes lean heavily toward platformers and first-party Nintendo history. Adding a handheld Metal Slug gives the service a more aggressive, arcade-focused option and preserves a version of the franchise that was designed around the limitations and strengths of the GBA.
Kururin Paradise reaches more players at last
The most historically interesting addition may be Kururin Paradise. The game was previously unavailable to Western players in its original release period, having launched only in Japan. Its inclusion in the Nintendo Switch Online GBA selection changes that, allowing many players to encounter it for the first time without importing original hardware or software.
Kururin Paradise belongs to a distinctive style of puzzle action. Its central challenge involves carefully navigating a spinning object through tightly designed courses. The premise sounds simple, but the need to judge rotation, positioning, timing, and the shape of each obstacle turns progress into a test of patience and precision.
That makes it a strong complement to the other two games in the update. Monster Rancher Advance rewards long-term planning and creature management, while METAL SLUG ADVANCE thrives on speed and destruction. Kururin Paradise instead asks players to slow down, study a route, and guide its rotating challenge through spaces where even a small mistake can matter.
The release is also a reminder of one of the more valuable roles a subscription-based retro library can play. Beyond putting familiar classics in front of returning fans, it can make regional curiosities and previously inaccessible games easier to discover. A title that once required knowledge of the Japanese market, imported equipment, or specialist collecting can now sit alongside better-known Game Boy Advance releases in one official application.
Expansion Pack membership is required
All three games are part of the Game Boy Advance Classics collection, so access is tied to Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack. Members using the standard Nintendo Switch Online tier will need to upgrade if they want to play them through the official GBA application.
The Expansion Pack tier also includes access to other retro libraries, including Nintendo 64, Mega Drive, Virtual Boy, and GameCube titles. The base Nintendo Switch Online offering includes its own classic collections, such as NES, Super NES, Game Boy, and Game Boy Color games, but the Game Boy Advance catalogue sits behind the higher membership tier.
That structure makes the latest update most meaningful to existing Expansion Pack subscribers, who can simply open the GBA app and start playing. For players considering an upgrade, the value will naturally depend on how much interest they have in the broader collection as well as these individual additions. Still, this is a well-balanced drop: there is a recognisable action series for immediate pick-up-and-play sessions, a deeper monster-management game, and a Japanese release that many members will never have had a practical chance to try before.
A welcome update for retro handheld fans
Nintendo's classic-game service updates tend to be most exciting when they mix familiarity with discovery, and this Game Boy Advance set does exactly that. METAL SLUG ADVANCE is the marquee arcade-style release, carrying a famous name and a clear appeal for anyone who enjoys retro shooting games. Monster Rancher Advance offers a slower, more involved alternative built around building a bond with and improving a creature. Kururin Paradise is the wildcard, with its Japan-only history and precision-driven puzzle design.
There is no single genre or audience shared by all three games, and that is precisely what makes the update work. Rather than adding several versions of the same type of experience, Nintendo Switch Online's GBA Classics app now has three games that invite players to engage in entirely different ways.
For longtime Game Boy Advance owners, the update is another chance to revisit a handheld era that regularly produced inventive adaptations and standalone experiments. For newer players, it is an opportunity to see how portable games approached monster raising, arcade shooting, and puzzle design before modern conveniences and larger hardware budgets became standard.
Monster Rancher Advance, METAL SLUG ADVANCE, and Kururin Paradise are available now for Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscribers.
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