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On April 11th, 2025, Sega added three early Sega Genesis/Mega-Drive games: ESWAT: City Under Siege, Streets of Rage, and Super Thunder Blade, to Sega Genesis – Nintendo Switch Online. Japan gets the same three games at the same time.

All three games are immediately accessible to Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscribers following a quick patch update to the app. For more info on each game, check in after the break for a synopsis on all of them.

We might as well begin with the standout of this trio of games. Streets of Rage (1991) is the original in the legendary 16-bit beat-em-up series classics. This game marks the debut of Axel Stone, Blaze Fielding, and Adam Hunter, three former police officers who turned vigilante after being fed up with the force bending the knee to Mr. X and his criminal syndicate, who run amok in their once peaceful home of Wood Oak City. These three heroes set out on their own to take the fight to Mr. X on the streets… of rage. Heck, I’d be mad too if I were them.

As standard fare for the day, up to two players can pick any combination of these three fighters and fight wave after wave of tough looking punks as you make your way to Mr. X’s penthouse suite for the final confrontation. Your fists will be sufficient weapons in most situations, but you can find baseball bats, lead pipes, knives, and glass bottles to take bad guys down a peg. If you find yourself surrounded, you can call in a cop buddy to carpet bomb all on-screen enemies with a grenade launcher (By pressing A. We’ve all pressed it by accident on occasion.). You can also press B and C together to do a quick rear attack on enemies sneaking up from behind. Add in the vibes of the electrifying club soundtrack by the famous Yuzo Koshiro and you’re in for a good time. This game’s even more legendary sequel, Streets of Rage 2 (1992), was among the first games added to Sega Genesis – Nintendo Switch Online, so give this a go and see where that game got its cool from.

ESWAT: City Under Siege (1990) is the home console reimagining of Sega’s System-16 arcade action game Cyber Police ESWAT (1989). While both games are clearly inspired by the hit 1987 movie Robocop, they are completely different. However, both involve accomplished police officer Duke Oda fighting powerful criminal syndicates before being accepted into the Liberty City PD’s “Enhanced Special Weapons and Tactics”, or ESWAT, unit and fitted into a powerful cybernetic exoskeleton. With this, he’ll begin fighting similarly outfitted criminal groups and, eventually, the evil and all-powerful AI supercomputer known as E.Y.E.

The game is an action platformer similar in structure to some of the Shinobi series of games. For its first two stages, Duke is armed with just a standard issue pistol, but from stage three onward is when the real fun begins. In his ESWAT suit, Duke will have access to a litany of new weapons to take out foes from all around him and be able to fly with his jet boosters. ESWAT weapons have limited ammunition and his jet booster can only work a certain distance before needing to recharge, so you need to plan accordingly. Fortunately, more weapon ammo can be found throughout the stages. Weapons can be switched out using the A button. Give ESWAT a shot and you’ll find quite the interesting action game.

By the way, you might be interested in knowing Streets of Rage was originally meant to be a spin-off of ESWAT called “DSWAT”, or “Dragon SWAT”. If the cop in that game who backs you up with his grenade launcher reminds you of ESWAT, now you know why. In the end, the two games are unrelated.

Super Thunder Blade (1989) was designed to be a port of Sega’s X-Board arcade shooter Thunder Blade (1987), but comes off as more of a loose translation of that game due to the Genesis’s inability to natively scale sprites like the arcade hardware could. The gameplay remains familiar, however. This game has been criticized for its choppy framerate and scaling since its release, so it comes off as a tough game to enjoy if you’ve experienced the arcade game, but not a bad game, by any means. Regardless, it has long been a staple of Sega’s many Genesis game compilations over the years, like the other two games above, so Sega sure feels this is a game worth preserving for generations to come.

You fly a high-powered attack helicopter from a third-person perspective and fire machine guns and missiles at enemies in your path. Just be careful not to crash into anything as you move forward. You can stop and hover in place if you need to in order to avoid obstacles coming in fast. There are four stages to fly through, with two bosses in each, so you’ll be on your toes for a while.

By the way, you might like to know this game has nothing in common with ESWAT: City Under Siege or Streets of Rage.

Well, that was a short and simple series of write-ups. There wasn’t much going on in most of the pre-Sonic Genesis games, but if you’re an Expansion Pack subscriber on Nintendo Switch, you may as well try these games at least once. The last game additions to this service came in November of last year and consisted of Toejam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron, Vectorman, and Mercs (Or Wolf of the Battlefield: MERCS, as Capcom likes to call it today.)

Check the Sega Genesis – Nintendo Switch Online page to download the Genesis app onto your Switch and see the full list of currently available games. For additional info on Nintendo Switch Online and its other benefits, check here.

What do you think of this update? Have you played these games before? Which are your favorites? What Genesis games do you hope to see added in the future? Or do you perhaps just wanna vent about how you need to take out a loan to afford a Nintendo Switch 2? Rage in the streets about it, or in the comments below.

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🌹 Marie Rose 🌹

Made by @Cano92v

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Nozomi Tojo

Art by @AQUQ_Alsuv

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Kotori Minami

Art by @AQUQ_Alsuv

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New look at Stitch in the live-action ‘LILO & STITCH’ remake.

In theaters on May 23.

(Via: @Collider)

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Sonic Rumble has launched their first crossover collaboration event featuring legacy SEGA characters joining the fray in the SEGA Stars x Sonic Rumble Crossover Event featuring your favorite characters and items from Super Monkey Ball, Altered Beast, and Fantasy Zone!

The collaboration will begin today from April 11 to May 7. Sonic Rumble will launch globally on May 8 for iOS, Android, and PC via Steam. Pre-register Sonic Rumble to receive exclusive in-game rewards on launch day!

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Sonic Rumble - SEGA Stars Crossover Event!

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Capcom Fighting Collection 2 - Game Spotlight Trailer #1

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Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble - Red Reveal Trailer

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Mario Kart World – Grand Prix Gameplay Day 2 – Nintendo Treehouse: Live | Nintendo Switch 2

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Donkey Kong Bananza – Exploration Gameplay – Nintendo Treehouse: Live | Nintendo Switch 2

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Venus Vacation PRISM - Dead or Alive Xtreme | Full Game Walkthrough | No Commentary

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Art made by Muimui_11

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Rocket League Season 18 Carry Team Invitational : Powered by PlayStation Esports & Repeat

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Udon Entertainment has unveiled the standard cover art for Mega Man Zero, Mega Man ZX, and Mega Man Legends Timelines issue #1. Following the visual theme established by Mega Man Timelines and Mega Man X Timelines #1, each cover features its respective protagonist set against a backdrop of familiar villains.

Notably, the Mega Man ZX cover has undergone a significant revision since its initial preview, with Vent's face now more closely resembling the original character design.

Here’s a quick rundown of who's who and when to expect each issue:

Mega Man Zero Timelines #1 (July 2025) Story: Ian Flynn - Art: Hanzo Steinbach

Mega Man ZX Timelines #1 (August 2025) Story: Matt Moylan - Art: Dax Gordine

Mega Man Legends Timelines #1 (September 2025) Story: David Oxford - Art: Mic Fong

You can see the previously-revealed Mega Man Timelines and Mega Man X Timelines covers here and here.

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Keeping this secret was tough, but it's finally out—Udon Entertainment is reprinting Archie Comics' Mega Man series!

In collaboration with Archie, Udon is remastering the comics in an oversized format with updated art and new short stories from the original creative team. To top it all off, the first volume will be available in hardcover. More details, including the release date, are coming soon.

Originally published in 2011, the Archie Comics Mega Man run delivered fresh stories inspired by the classic series, with Ian Flynn as the lead writer. It wrapped up in 2015 after 55 issues, leaving the door open for a potential adaptation of Mega Man 4.

While these reprints don’t guarantee a full revival, a strong reception could definitely turn some heads. Stay tuned for more updates soon!

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SONIC X SHADOW GENERATIONS - Nintendo Switch 2 Trailer