Nintendo Music app just got another iconic soundtrack, but the service could be so much more

This change would be music to my ears

(Credit: Adam Vjestica/The Shortcut/Nintendo)

• 😣 The Nintendo Music app is a great perk of Switch Online but is underutilized by Nintendo

• 🆕 Recently added soundtracks include New Super Mario Bros. DS, Metroid II: Samus Returns, and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

• 🥳 Nintendo should release new game soundtracks on the app the same day the games are released, such as Mario Kart World

• 🤷‍♂️ The app’s slow pace and mobile-only access force users to rely on services like YouTube Music for new game soundtracks

The Nintendo Music app continues to be one of the best perks of being a Switch Online member. I love listening to the soundtracks from some of my favorite games over the years, though Nintendo is still refusing to truly embrace its music streaming app.

Nintendo recently added soundtracks for New Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo DS, Metroid II: Samus Returns for the Game Boy, and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door for the GameCube and Nintendo Switch.

We’ve even been treated to some tracks from Kirby Air Riders, which releases on November 20, and a bunch from Donkey Kong Bananza.

However, Nintendo needs to turn the Nintendo Music app into another marketing tool. There’s no reason why Nintendo can’t release a game’s soundtrack the same day a new title is released.

It’s criminal that we don’t have any Mario Kart World songs on Nintendo Music yet. Mario Kart World has a wonderful OST, and it’s something I’d gladly listen to during my working week repeatedly. It’s also the biggest game on Switch 2, so for it to be absent from Nintendo Music doesn’t make much sense.

Hello, old friend

It’s a travesty Mario Kart World’s soundtrack isn’t on Nintendo Music. (Credit: Nintendo)

But alas, Nintendo’s glacial pace means many gamers, including myself, are still relying on YouTube Music for the majority of our gaming soundtrack needs. Unsurprisingly, you’ll find the entire Mario Kart World OST on YouTube, and it’s easier to listen to as YouTube has web support while Nintendo Music only exists as a mobile app.

Nintendo clearly wants people to use its app and doesn’t like it when users upload its soundtracks to YouTube. However, it’s helping perpetuate the problem.

In its current state, Nintendo Music feels like a bonus as opposed to an essential feature of Switch Online. It’s fantastic that Nintendo is finally giving its decades’ worth of soundtracks a home, but its reluctance to release soundtracks for new games is downright frustrating.

Missed opportunity

We have a handful of tracks from Donkey Kong Bananza. Where’s the rest? (Credit: Nintendo)

I wouldn’t be surprised if Kirby Air Riders doesn’t get any more tracks on Nintendo Music, even after the game releases. Donkey Kong Bananza’s soundtrack also remains incomplete, and there are no other Switch 2 games on Nintendo Music thus far, despite the console being out for four months.

Nintendo often works in mysterious ways, but it could make the Nintendo Music app more worthwhile if it used it to celebrate new game releases. If that doesn’t happen, at least give me the ARMS soundtrack already.

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Adam Vjestica is The Shortcut’s Senior Editor. Formerly TechRadar’s Gaming Hardware Editor, Adam has also worked at Nintendo of Europe as a Content Marketing Editor, where he helped launch the Nintendo Switch. He also runs a retro gaming YouTube channel called Game on, boy! Follow him on X @ItsMrProducts.