Game Boy Advance Nintendo Classics rating rises from A to B

Game Boy Advance Nintendo Classics has moved from Japan’s CERO A rating to CERO B, meaning the service is now classed as suitable for players aged 12 and over. The change follows Nintendo’s addition of three games to the catalogue on 14 October, including Metal Slug Advance.¹

Nintendo’s own announcement confirms that Kururin Paradise, Metal Slug Advance and Monster Rancher Advance were added to the Game Boy Advance Nintendo Classics library for Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscribers.¹ The service remains available on Nintendo Switch 2 and Nintendo Switch, with the games included for members rather than sold separately.

Why the rating changed

The Japanese Nintendo Store listing for the service now shows the CERO B classification, replacing the A rating that had covered the Game Boy Advance catalogue since its launch. Nintendo has not publicly stated that Metal Slug Advance is the specific reason for the change, but the timing points strongly in that direction.²

Metal Slug Advance is a 2004 Game Boy Advance action shooter from SNK. It follows Walter and Tyra, recruits training to join the Peregrine Falcons on a remote island, and carries the series’ familiar run-and-gun combat into a handheld campaign. Its weapons, enemies and combat presentation are a much closer fit for a B rating than the family-friendly material associated with some of the older Nintendo Classics releases.¹

The classification is also consistent with the wider series. Earlier Metal Slug releases have commonly carried a CERO B rating and a violence descriptor in Japan, including the Nintendo Switch version of the original arcade game. The rating change therefore looks less like a reassessment of the subscription service as a whole and more like the catalogue now reflecting its most mature included game.³

A small change with a wider meaning

The Game Boy Advance service was the last Nintendo Classics catalogue to retain a CERO A classification. Other libraries already include games with B or higher ratings: the Nintendo 64 catalogue has B and C-rated releases, while the dedicated 18+ collection is rated Z. Adding Metal Slug Advance removes the final A-rated holdout from the wider Nintendo Classics line-up.

That does not mean every game in the service has suddenly become unsuitable for younger players. The rating applies to the packaged catalogue, not an individual age gate for each title. It does, however, give Nintendo a clearer way to present a library that now includes more action-focused releases alongside gentler platformers, puzzle games and simulation titles.

Nintendo has also left room for further additions. The Game Boy Advance library still contains notable games such as Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis and Napoleon that are not currently part of the service. Whether those arrive later or not, the rating change shows that Nintendo is willing to broaden the catalogue beyond the safest possible selection of handheld classics.

Our opinion

The rating change is a useful bit of housekeeping rather than a warning sign. Metal Slug Advance is exactly the sort of deeper cut that makes Nintendo Classics more interesting, and the B classification is a more honest label for a library that now includes a military action game with stylised violence. The important detail is that the service has not become less varied; it has simply stopped pretending that every Game Boy Advance addition belongs in the same age bracket.

Metal Slug Advance, Kururin Paradise and Monster Rancher Advance are available through Game Boy Advance Nintendo Classics for Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscribers on Nintendo Switch 2 and Nintendo Switch.¹