The Coolest Nintendo Gadgets (That You Might Not Know Even Existed)

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X Share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Facebook Share using Native toolsShareCopied to clipboard Add Us On Google Gaming console families come and go. All I heard about growing up was the Atari, but by the 1990s it was a faded memory. I was a Sega kid, and we all know how that turned out after the ’90s ended. Now it seems XBOX is having a tough time of it.

But through it all, Nintendo has kept going. The iconic Japanese gaming giant responsible for the Super Mario Bros franchise (and many more) has had more staying power than any other console brand. With that kind of visibility, one could be forgiven for thinking they’ve seen it all. Here are some (mostly) lesser-known Nintendo gems you may not have seen before.

The Nintendo Switch 2: Choose Your Game Bundle lets you—you guessed it—pick which of the three games you want to download in full for free. You’ve got your choice of Donkey Kong Bananzam Mario Kart World, and Pokemon Pokopia. This deal has been going in and out of stock on Best Buy all day, so don’t pay more than $500 for it. Either wait for it to come back into stock on Best Buy or, if you can’t wait, buy the Switch 2: Mario Kart World Bundle for $550 or Switch 2: Nintendo Switch Sports Resort Bundle for $530.

Yep, this is the original, the classic, the first 64-bit video game console to sell in huge numbers. There aren’t many of these in stock, but this refurbished Nintendo 64 is selling for $135 and is listed in excellent condition.

Here’s one I doubt you’ve seen. The Nintendo Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros is a handheld console for $50 with one game: the original Super Mario Bros that debuted on the NES back in the ’80s. Even the console itself has blocky, simple controls like the NES. It’s also, for some reason, a digital clock, and so you can prop it up on your desk or nightstand when you’re not squashing goombas.

This could be a secret weapon. Mario Kart World is about the only Switch 2 game that I’m decent at when I visit my niece and nephew. With a Nintendo Joy Con 2 Racing Wheel Set to stand in for the usual Joy Con 2 controllers, you can gain a bunch more precision in your maneuvering around the track. And a two-pack is just $25.

Tired of the red and blue pairing of the Switch 2’s standard controllers? This Joy Con 2 Controller in Purple and Light Green pack looks sick as hell. It screams ’90s nostalgia to me. As Joy Con 2 controllers, these are for the Nintendo Switch 2 only.

Nintendo Switch owners, I have not forsaken you. In fact, these Joy Con Pastel Controllers for the original Nintendo Switch are even more colorful than the Joy Con 2 for the Switch 2. There’s pastel purple/pastel green, as well as neon purple/neon orange and neon pink/neon green, the latter of which is sold out at the moment.

A good craftsperson never blames their tools, but if you want to brush off a poor performance on the Switch 2’s default Joy Con controllers, I won’t judge. The Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller offers a much more solid grip of the action in a format more familiar to those used to XBOX and PlayStation controllers.

Yes, it’s supposed to look pixelated. That’s part of the charm. The LEGO Mario & Yoshi Set has 1,215 pieces and is aimed at adults. Once built, you can turn the handle on the back to make Yoshi’s stubby little legs run, and you can choose to build it with his tongue sticking out, if you like. I would.

Sign up for the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack Individual Membership, and you can rediscover more than 150 classic games from the Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Advance, NES, Super NES, Game Boy, and even the SEGA Genesis, the Nintendo SNES’ arch-rival. And you can save your game progress so that you don’t have to play through all in one sitting, something we would’ve killed for back in the early ’90s.

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