Video: Switch 2’s Mouse Controls Are Nothing New For Nintendo

Nintendo’s upcoming Switch 2 has been accused of not being especially revolutionary, which is mostly fair. It’s more of an evolution of a concept that works rather than a vast departure, but that doesn’t mean it’s devoid of ideas. The big kahuna of new additions in my eyes is the mouse controls, allowing for a veritable feast of mouse-controlled goodness to potentially be developed.

But those of a slightly greater vintage may well be aware that this isn’t Nintendo’s first go at mouse-based controls (and not even the second if you consider the ill-fated Nintendo 64DD).

Go on, what’s the first thing you think of when you think of the SNES Mouse? If you didn’t say Mario Paint, I’d wager you didn’t say anything. It’s no surprise, really – the game that was bundled with and defined the peripheral is always going to get top billing.

But the peripheral was far more widely supported than many expect. Researching the matter will bring up an awful lot of different information, and no one seems to know what the final number of supported games actually is. Now I’m not saying I have that final number, but in the interests of niche documentation, I’ve gone through all the information I could find online, and verified what games supported the SNES Mouse in some way. Even if that support is woefully implemented.

A lot of the games you’ll see below are exclusive to Japan, which given the preference for tactical top-down RPGs at the time, isn’t at all surprising. With that out of the way, here’s our ‘complete’ and verified list of SNES Mouse games:

1. ACME Animation Factory
2. Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Eye of the Beholder
3. Alice no Paint Adventure
4. Arkanoid: Doh It Again
5. Asameshimae Nyanko
6. Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon S Kondo wa Puzzle de Oshioikiyo!
7. Brandish 2: Expert
8. BreakThru!
9. Cannon Fodder
10. Dai3ji Super Robot Taisen
11. Dai4ji Super Robot Taisen
12. Dōkyūsei 2
13. Doom
14. Dragon Knight 4
15. Dynamaite: The Las Vegas
16. Farland Story 2
17. Fun n Games
18. Galaxy Robo
19. Habu Meijin no Omoshiro Shōgi
20. Hayazashi Nidan Morita Shōgi
21. Hiōden: Mamono-tachi to no Chikai
22. Honkaku Mahjong – Tetsuman II
23. Honkaku Shōgi – Fūunji Ryūō
24. Honkakuha Igo – Gosei
25. J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings: Volume 1
26. Jurassic Park
27. Kakinoki Shōgi
28. King Arthur’s World
29. Kōtetsu No Kishi
30. Kōtetsu No Kishi 2: Sabaku no Rommel Gundan
31. Kōtetsu No Kishi 3: Gekitotsu Europe Sensen
32. Lamborghini American Challenge
33. Lemmings 2: The Tribes
34. Lord Monarch
35. Majin Tensei
36. Mario’s Super Picross
37. Mario Paint
38. Mario to Wario
39. Mario’s Early Years: Fun with Letters
40. Mario’s Early Years: Fun with Numbers
41. Mario’s Early Years: Preschool Fun
42. Masters: Harukanaru Augusta 2
43. Mega lo Mania
44. Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra
45. Motoko-chan no Wonder Kitchen
46. Nobunaga’s Ambition
47. On the Ball
48. Operation Thunderbolt
49. Oryouri Pon!
50. Pieces
51. Populous II: Trials of the Olympian Gods
52. PowerMonger
53. Revolution X
54. Rin Kaihou Kudan no Igo Taidou
55. Sangokushi Seishi: Tenbu Spirits
56. Sgt. Saunder’s Combat!
57. Shanghai – Banri no Choujou
58. Shanghai III
59. Shien’s Revenge
60. Shōgi Saikyō
61. Shōgi Saikyō 2: Jissen Taikyoku Hen
62. Sid Meier’s Civilization
63. SimAnt: The Electronic Ant Colony
64. Snoopy Concert
65. Super Caesars Palace
66. Super Castles
67. Super Game Boy
68. Super Noah’s Ark 3D
69. Super Pachi-Slot Mahjong
70. Super Robot Taisen EX
71. Super Solitaire
72. T2: The Arcade Game
73. Tactical Soccer
74. Tin Star
75. Tokimeki Memorial: Densetsu no Ki no shita de
76. Troddlers
77. Trump Island
78. Utopia: The Creation of a Nation
79. Vegas Stakes
80. Wolfenstein 3D
81. Wonder Project J: Kikai no Shounen Pino
82. Zico Soccer

What’s interesting is that there are some strange omissions where you’d expect a sequel of a mouse-supported game to follow suit and let its players use the same control method, but don’t. The most glaring of these is Shanghai II: Dragon’s Eye, which has no mouse support at all from our testing, despite the first and third games in the series having it.

There were also some games that were never released that were touted as making use of the SNES Mouse. Kid Kirby, a DMA Design-developed Kirby game is probably the most notable example, but we also have three other instances, namely Sound Fantasy (Nintendo R&D1), Warrior of Rome III (Micronet), and Spellcraft: Aspects of Valor (Ascii).

Spellcraft is the only example where a playable beta has been discovered so far, and although very much unfinished, it does indeed support the SNES Mouse as fully as the original DOS game on which it was based.

So what’s the final number? Well, if you’re including the unreleased titles, you’re looking at a whopping 86 games, and 82 if you don’t. Considering the SNES is reported to have had 1,757 games released for it, that’s just under 5% of the entire system’s library. Crikey.

For comparison, the Switch’s IR camera has fewer than 20 documented titles that support it – less than 0.2% of the 12,464 games released for the console at the time of writing (thanks, Moby Games).

The Joy-Con 2 have one massive advantage over the SNES Mouse as well: their mouse control will be bundled in with every single console Nintendo sells, of this model at least, and the 16 games already confirmed to be supporting this control method shows that developers are already willing to embrace this immediately recognisable system.

It might not be the biggest innovation in Nintendo’s storied history, but if the SNES could make a go of it with a standalone peripheral in the ’90s, Switch 2’s mouse control has every chance to become a mainstay in the new system’s library.