Donkey Kong 64 Now Available on Nintendo 64 Classics – Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack

The ultimate test of platforming endurance is now portable. Donkey Kong 64 has officially joined the Nintendo 64 Classics library for Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscribers, making the massive 1999 3D platformer available on modern hardware.

Developed by Rare during their golden era on the console, Donkey Kong 64 is best known for its scale, its iconic DK Rap intro, and its status as the most extreme collect-a-thon ever designed. For many players, it represents the peak of late nineties platformer design, for better or worse.

The Expansion Pak Legacy

The release of Donkey Kong 64 is also historically significant for its technical legacy. In 1999, the game was famously bundled with the green Nintendo 64 Expansion Pak accessory, which upgraded the console’s memory from 4 MB to 8 MB. In North America, Nintendo even released a special themed bundle featuring a translucent Jungle Green Nintendo 64 console, a matching controller, the game cartridge, and the Expansion Pak. While Nintendo marketed the accessory as necessary for high resolution visuals and massive game worlds, developers later confirmed a more practical reason for the bundle.

A game-breaking memory leak bug in early builds of the game caused the Nintendo 64 to crash at random intervals. The developers at Rare were unable to track down and fix the bug before the release deadline. They discovered that adding the Expansion Pak’s extra memory delayed the crash long enough for players to complete their play sessions. Consequently, Nintendo made the decision to bundle the accessory with every retail copy of the game, a move that helped normalize the memory upgrade for later titles like The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask.

The Ultimate Collect-a-Thon

At its core, Donkey Kong 64 tasks players with reclaiming the banana hoard from King K. Rool. To do this, you must control five different playable Kongs: Donkey, Diddy, Lanky, Tiny, and Chunky. Each character has unique moves, special weapons like Diddy’s Peanut Popguns, and their own color-coded bananas to collect across the game’s expansive worlds.

The sheer volume of items is staggering. With 201 Golden Bananas, 3,500 colored bananas, and various blueprints, coins, and medals to find, full completion requires significant dedication. The need to backtrack to Tag Barrels to swap characters to collect specific items remains a point of debate among retro gaming fans, but the charm of the world and the variety of the levels continue to hold a special place in the hearts of many.

Modern Convenience Features

Playing the game on Nintendo Switch Online introduces several quality of life features that help soften some of the original version’s rougher edges. Players can utilize save states to pause progress anywhere, which is particularly helpful during difficult mini-games like the infamous Beaver Bother or the challenging slide races.

The emulator’s rewind feature is another welcome addition, letting players immediately undo a failed challenge. The game also supports widescreen display settings and online multiplayer for the four-player Battle Arena mode, allowing friends to compete in split-screen matches over the internet.

Vindicating the Reddit Blurred Menu Leak

For the retro gaming community, the arrival of Donkey Kong 64 on the service is a major vindication of a famous leak that surfaced on Reddit’s r/GamingLeaksAndRumours subreddit. The leak originated when user DrAwesomeX shared a promotional video showcasing updated features for the Nintendo Switch Online emulator. Eagle-eyed fans on Famiboards noticed that the blurred background of the emulator’s settings menu at the 0:40 mark featured several obscured game box arts.

By analyzing the shapes and colors of the covers, the community identified a handful of upcoming titles, including Glover, Forsaken 64, Rayman 2: The Great Escape, Donkey Kong 64, and the original Super Smash Bros.. Over the last year, this leak has proven incredibly accurate, with Forsaken 64 and Rayman 2 already joining the service. With Donkey Kong 64 now officially available, the leak has been validated once again, leaving only the original Super Smash Bros. as the final first-party classic still waiting to join the service from that list.

Furthermore, this release validates another popular community theory. In the original Reddit discussion, many users speculated that Nintendo was holding back the release of Donkey Kong 64 to avoid burnout and act as a promotional lead-in for the imminent launch of Bananza. With the highly anticipated 3D Donkey Kong adventure now right around the corner, releasing the classic 1999 original on Switch Online is the perfect way to build momentum for the franchise’s return.

Remaining N64 Classics

With Donkey Kong 64 finally available, the list of major first-party Nintendo 64 games missing from the service has grown remarkably small. The most notable omission remains the original Super Smash Bros., which launched the massive crossover franchise in 1999. Other highly requested titles with licensing or hardware hurdles, such as the Rare-developed Diddy Kong Racing or the microphone-dependent Hey You, Pikachu!, remain on the wish list of many retro fans. Nonetheless, the addition of Donkey Kong 64 marks a major step toward completing the console’s most essential library on modern hardware.

Whether you want to experience the DK Rap once again, tackle the massive collect-a-thon for the first time, or finally beat the original Donkey Kong arcade cabinet hidden inside the game, Donkey Kong 64 is ready to play on Nintendo Switch.