Nintendo joins the 21st century with Nintendo Music, a customizable music app for Switch Online members

Your options for – legally – listening to Nintendo music are distressingly few, but Nintendo is about to change that with the Nintendo Music app

Nintendo

Your options for – legally – listening to Nintendo music are distressingly few, but Nintendo is about to change that with the Nintendo Music app for Switch Online members. Nintendo Music is available now as a separate app for current NSO members, though it’s only available on iOS and Android devices for now. There’s no web app yet, but Nintendo says you can download and stream files, presumably to other devices such as your computer or TV as well.

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The Nintendo Music app launches with access to dozens of pieces of Nintendo music from classics, including Donkey Kong Country and Super Mario Bros, and more recent hits, such as Splatoon, Breath of the Wild, and Animal Crossing New Horizons. You can pick from curated playlists that match a theme – boss fights, for instance – or choose a selection of mood-based songs, with “break time” and “good night” among the examples Nintendo showed.

There’s also a set of lists based on characters, but if you’re concerned about spoilers for games you haven’t played, you can toggle spoiler options in the app’s settings to keep specific games and tracks out of your list.

Speaking of customization, the Nintendo Music app lets you create and curate your own playlists, which is pretty much the standard expectation for a service such as this in 2024. What’s different is that you can also customize the songs themselves, or some of them anyway. Certain tracks come with the option to extend their playtime up to 60 minutes, or you can loop them repeatedly.

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Nintendo didn’t say which tracks will have this feature, but if the one they showed in the trailer is anything to go by – the Pikmin 4 title screen theme – it’s probably safe to assume ambience-style tracks will have those options.

All Nintendo Music games at launch

These are the 20 games included in the Nintendo Music app as of its launch.

• Pikmin 4
• Pokemon Scarlet and Violet
• Kirby Star Allies
• Super Mario Odyssey
• Animal Crossing: New Horizons
• Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
• Super Mario Galaxy
• Wii Channels
• Tomodachi
• Nintendogs
• Metroid Prime
• Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade
• The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
• Star Fox 64
• Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island
• Donkey Kong Country
• Kirby’s Dream Land
• Dr Mario
• Metroid
• Super Mario Bros
• Metroid (Famicom version)

Nintendo also said more music will land on the Nintendo Music app over time, though not how much and how often.