One of the best features of the Nintendo Switch comes with the Nintendo Switch Online subscription, which gives you access to classic Nintendo games. The $20/year subscription gives you access to a collection of NES, SNES, and Game Boy games, with the $50 a year Expansion Pack subscription adding N64 and Game Boy Advance games. The collection isn’t identical in every region, with titles like Mother 3 for the Game Boy Advance only available on the Japanese version of the collection. Luckily, the Nintendo Switch isn’t region locked, so you can download and play these games without needing a second subscription.
Make a Japanese Nintendo Switch account
The first step is to create a Japanese Nintendo Switch account, that way you can access that version of the eShop. Go to accounts.nintendo.com and create a new account. You will need a different email address from your normal account and when filling out the information make sure you set the region to Japan when prompted. Once that’s done, go ahead and sign into the account on your console.
Head to the eShop and search for Nintendo Switch Online
With the account made, head to settings and users on your Nintendo Switch to create a new profile. Once you give it a nickname and picture, you will be prompted to link a Nintendo Account to it. Sign in with your newly made Japanese account. Open the eShop with the new account and you will be taken to the Japanese eShop. While the shop will be in Japanese for the most part, the section you are looking for is labeled in English. On the left side of the screen will be multiple main menu options, with the second to last being “Nintendo Switch Online.” Navigate here and you can find all of the classic console collections listed out. You just need to download the ones you want–Mother 3 is one from the Game Boy Advance–and head back to the main menu of the Nintendo Switch. The process is the same for any of the different collections you want to download.