Nintendo’s music app has great ideas and frustrating limitations

Listening to Nintendo euphony isn’t easy. It’s not disposable connected streaming platforms, truthful I usually extremity up scouring YouTube for songs from Animal Crossing and Metroid. Because of this, I was hoping that Nintendo Music, a caller app that surprise-launched past week, would beryllium my one-stop shop for listening to Nintendo soundtracks. But while it features immoderate clever ideas, location are tons of frustrations and weird choices from Nintendo that mean it isn’t rather what I was hoping for. 

Navigating the app, which is disposable connected iOS and Android but only accessible to Switch Online subscribers, feels a batch for illustration different euphony services for illustration Apple Music aliases Spotify. You tin browse tracks from individual games aliases hand-curated playlists themed astir things for illustration characters, Pokémon conflict songs, aliases tracks you mightiness want to perceive to connected an extended loop. It’s organized successful a thoughtful measurement connected a per-game basis. The fictional bands successful Splatoon 3 each get creator pages pinch bios. The page for Animal Crossing: New Horizons features playlists for K.K. Slider performances and instrumentals, and if you want to perceive to a afloat playlist of Kapp’n’s oversea shanties, that’s available, too.

The extended loop characteristic is my favourite part. For immoderate songs, you tin take to widen them retired to 15, 30, aliases 60 minutes. I’ve already utilized it rather a spot to activity to euphony from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild; the calming soft sounds of “The Great Plateau” are still exquisite 7 years later. I besides for illustration that you tin adhd games to a “spoiler prevention” database to hide accusation astir a crippled you mightiness not person played yet, which could beryllium a bully measurement to support yourself successful the acheronian astir a last leader for a crippled you mightiness want to play.

But Nintendo Music doesn’t person galore crippled soundtracks to perceive to. Nintendo has much than 40 years’ worthy of titles it could person included, and correct now, location are only 25 games to prime from. There are conscionable 2 Zelda games: Breath of the Wild and Ocarina of Time. Fire Emblem is the only Game Boy Advance game. There are 3 NES games, and 2 of them are Metroid. Technically, 1 of the “games” is Wii Channels euphony (which, to beryllium fair, is afloat of bangers).

I could spell on, but the constituent is that Nintendo Music isn’t a broad postulation of the company’s tremendous philharmonic history. Given that astir of the soundtracks are for Nintendo Switch games, it’s much of a postulation of Nintendo’s recent philharmonic history, but it seems for illustration a immense miss that I can’t perceive to thing from Super Mario World successful the app.

That will commencement to change, and astir apt slowly, if the drip-feed of Switch Online retro games is immoderate indication. A time aft the work launched, Nintendo added the soundtrack to Super Mario Bros. Wonder, and connected Monday, Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest became available, too. In the Nintendo Music uncover trailer, the institution showed that Wii Sports, Super Mario 64, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Splatoon 2, and F-Zero X are each group to get connected the service, but only connected a vague “over time” schedule.

Nintendo Music besides doesn’t in installments the existent humans progressive successful making a song. That means, curiously enough, that the fictional bands successful Splatoon 3 person much prominence successful Nintendo Music than the legendary Koji Kondo. (Nintendo has benignant of a weird point about credits astatine the moment.)

The app has immoderate different issues, too. You can’t widen immoderate songs, and there’s nary denotation why, which is really annoying. One of the first songs I wanted to effort the characteristic pinch was Metroid Prime’s soothing “Phendrana Drifts” music, but it’s not imaginable — which, fixed that it’s 1 of the main songs you perceive connected loop while exploring that area of the game, doesn’t make consciousness to me. Sure, you tin conscionable group the opus to repeat, but that’s not rather the aforesaid arsenic an hour-long extension. And erstwhile you prime the long of really agelong you want to widen a song, the full opus starts over; it’s a small thing, but I wish the app could conscionable make the hold hap without the little but jarring halt. 

And disappointingly, Nintendo Music is presently only disposable connected iOS and Android — there’s nary desktop aliases web app. I’d really for illustration to perceive to Nintendo Music from a Mac app aliases successful my desktop browser; it isn’t compatible pinch CarPlay aliases Android Auto, either.

For the songs that are presently available, Nintendo Music is great. But truthful overmuch is missing that portion of maine wonders if Nintendo pushed this work retired the doorway up of the motorboat of the successor to the Switch truthful that it could adhd to the work later. It’s a akin emotion to the frustrations pinch different caller not-Switch things from Nintendo, for illustration the Alarmo clock and skin-deep Nintendo Museum; they each person bully ideas but besides immoderate weird limitations.

Nintendo Music conscionable isn’t arsenic heavy arsenic I would for illustration it to be. It intends I’m going to person to support search a batch of euphony down connected YouTube.