Nintendo Switch Online fast-forwards to Metroid’s Ridley boss fight

Nintendo Switch Online adds three classic games this month, but it’s a special game save — one of two — that gets most of the attention: Metroid, fast-forwarding the user to the boss fight with Ridley.

With the save file (listed as “The decisive battle against Ridley!”) players will get Samus with all her equipment (including the Ice Beam) starting right at the fight with Ridley. The listing mentions Ridley’s appearance as a playable fighter in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, which launched Dec. 7, so that’s why you’re getting it now.

There’s also a special version of Dr. Mario, which puts the user in at level 20 on high speed. That gives players a chance to experience this cutscene for themselves.

Past special edition additions include Gradius in November and The Legend of Zelda in October. The Gradius SP gives players a suped-up Vic Viper ship on the fifth level; Zelda starts players off with the White Sword, the Magical Shield, the Blue Ring, the Power Bracelet and a buttload of rupees to buy more stuff to beat Ganon.

Oh yeah, three full NES games were added to Nintendo Switch Online today, too. They are:

• Adventures of Lolo: Fans are familiar with this 1989 game and its two successors from HAL Laboratory — but did they know it was an adaptation of Japan-only Eggerland, for which Satoru Iwata was producer? It was just his second such credit.
• Ninja Gaiden: The 1989 side-scrolling progenitor of the Ninja Gaiden console franchise, and quite a different thing from the arcade version that launched the preceding year.
• Wario’s Woods: This puzzle game is noteworthy for two reasons: It’s the only NES game to have an ESRB rating, and it was the last game released for the console before it was discontinued in 1995.