Classic Zelda on Nintendo Switch Online gets easier with special save data

Nintendo has made quite a sizable update to the NES library of games available on its Nintendo Switch console via the Nintendo Switch Online service, but one takes the cake: a special save file for The Legend of Zelda.

Available now, Nintendo has updated the version of The Legend of Zelda with an optional set of special game save data that anyone can access, which starts you off as Link with nearly all of his special weapons and items already unlocked along with loads of rupees (the game’s currency) with which to buy even more goodies from in-game vendors.

The idea is to provide gamers with access to the later stages of the game that many may have missed out on when the game first debuted on the NES back in 1987 – it’s a surprisingly difficult and esoteric game.

Nintendo promises to release other sets of special save data for its online-enabled NES games in the future. We can already see progression-focused games, like Super Mario Bros. 3 and Metroid, benefiting most from this neat feature.

In the same breath, Nintendo dropped three more games into the app: NES Open Tournament Golf, Solomon’s Key and Super Dodge Ball. In November, the app will gain Metroid, Mighty Bomb Jack and TwinBee, while December will see the release of Adventures of Lolo, Ninja Gaiden and Wario’s Woods.

If Nintendo keeps adding these unique features and niceties to the NES library on Switch, it could easily become yet another major selling point for the console – especially since it's already been hacked.