He-he-here we go (Again)! 1999’s Donkey Kong 64 is headed to Nintendo Switch Online on June 4th, 2026! Just in time for the Switch 2’s 1-year anniversary (which is June 5th), the fabled DK64 comes to the N64 Online application in an as-is emulated state with full widescreen support and all the NSO McGuffins like button remapping and save states.
Before 2025’s Donkey Kong Bonanza, Donkey Kong 64 was DK’s only 3D platformer and pioneered the use of the original N64 expansion pack, which gave the system a whopping 8MB of RAM. For 1999, this was good stuff. The expansion pack was necessary because the game, just like every other release post 2020, was poorly optimized and had memory leak issues. For some reason, Nintendo found it more efficient to release a proprietary RAM upgrade and released it alongside (and bundled with) the game.
The platformer is generally well regarded, but the shift to the 2D DKC-style platforming was exchanged for a basic RARE-coded collect-athon aspect, which wasn’t popular with everyone. Still, it was an icon of its time and became immortalized as an icon of today with the famous DK Rap by George Andreas and performed by George Andreas by Grant Kirkhope.
If you don’t already have a Nintendo Switch Online subscription or let the old one lapse, you can sign up for as low as $3.99 per month or $19.99 per year. However, in order to enjoy Donkey Kong 64, the Expansion Pack add-on is required, which is bundled with the standard NSO subscription and is priced at $49.99 per year.
In addition to Nintendo 64 games, the NSO + Expansion Pack subscription includes access to GameCube games for Switch 2 owners, along with GBA, Sega Genesis, and Virtual Boy. Plus, Switch 2 owners get access to Upgrade Packs and add-ons for games like Tears of the Kingdom, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and others.
C-ya next week for the full release of this gem! Donkey Kong 64 releases worldwide for the Switch and Switch 2 on June 4th, 2026!
