7 Classic Games That We'd Like To See Receive The '99 Treatment'

With a lack of integral features such as a party system and integrated voice chat, the Nintendo Switch might be leagues behind the competition when it comes to its online offering, but there is one area in particular where it has innovated and excelled. Ever since the release of Tetris 99 in 2019, Nintendo has provided several wacky battle royale spins on classic franchises that are exclusively for Switch Online subscribers, and these have proven to be addictive and endlessly replayable.

With Pac-Man 99 releasing recently, we started to ponder what other classic franchises would transition well into this format. Below are a few games that we would like to see receive the '99 Treatment,' regardless of how likely their future existence might be.

Space Invaders

If we had to pick just one from this list to become a reality, then Space Invaders would certainly get our vote. Its shoot 'em up action is unlike anything we have seen Nintendo apply to this format before and its gameplay is highly accessible and instantly recognisable. For this one, we imagine that destroying aliens could send hazards into the other players' games to slow down the movement of their ship, just like how Jammer Pac-Man works within Pac-Man 99. Perhaps power-ups could even be added too to allow players to inflict more carnage and to make things increasingly more challenging as the seconds tick on.

Asteroids

It might not be as iconic as Space Invaders, but Asteroids is still another shoot 'em up that we can see lending itself well to this style. Exploding asteroids into dust could send them hurtling into an opponent's game, and it could be a challenging and entertaining fight to survive with all of the rocks threatening to collide with your ship. If this one ever does come into fruition we'd also like to see the original black and white arcade version from 1978 and not the much uglier home release for the Atari 2600.

Super Mario Bros. 3

Hold on, before you call us lazy or unimaginative for this suggestion, please hear us out. Super Mario Bros. 3 is 2D Mario at its very finest and the platforming and Goomba stomping action of the original Super Mario Bros. fit like a glove with the battle royale style. Mario 3 would prove even more superior than its predecessor, as it features a more diverse selection of locales and boss encounters and it has fun new power-ups like the Tanooki Suit and Hammer Suit. Is it likely to happen given that Nintendo pulled Super Mario Bros. 35 recently? No. But that doesn't stop us from dreaming about it becoming a reality.

Dr. Mario

We could see Dr. Mario's puzzle-oriented gameplay working as an absolute treat within this format, as the template from Tetris 99 can almost be completely applied here. Clearing rows could work to send colourless viruses into an opponent's game with these only being destroyed once a connected row has been cleared. We can see it feeling just as frantic too once more players have been eliminated and viruses are falling at a much faster pace.

Frogger

Oh Frogger, how we've missed you. A battle royale spin-off could be what the series needs to see a resurgence and we can see it being quite popular, as copycats like Crossy Road are still continuing to dominate the Google Play and App Store. We can picture that clearing stretches of traffic or water would add more oncoming hazards like vehicles into competing players' games and this would only work to become more hectic to survive as time goes on. What we would love to see here is different overlays similar to Pac-Man 99 that completely transforms the look and feel of the environments we're fighting to traverse.

Snake

Once a staple of mobile gaming, Snake is still a game that many of us hold dearly in our hearts. We could see Snake working in a battle royale style, but some revision will have to be made first to its core gameplay, otherwise things would be over pretty quickly. Different items could be added to the game with some shrinking your snake and making traversal simpler and others causing a detriment to your opponents. These offensive items could have impacts like extending an enemy's snake or reversing their control scheme, so that they would be more liable to collide with themselves or a wall and lose.

Donkey Kong

If we were to rank this list in order of likelihood, then Donkey Kong would certainly find its way towards the top of the pile due to it being one of Nintendo's most recognisable legacy titles (it's even already on the Switch in some capacity). This could work similar to Super Bros. 35, as the barrels that you smash with your hammer could be transported into your competitor's games. It could also feature many different stages too and these could be cycled between once you reach the titular ape right at the very end.

That's all for our suggestions. Are there any franchises that we've missed that you would like to see adapted in this style?