Shack Chat: What franchise or game do you want to see added to Nintendo Alarmo?

Nintendo has launched the Alarmo interactive alarm clock, and with it comes a few game themes for users to wake up to in the morning. It’s already got Super Mario Odyssey, Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Pikmin 4, Splatoon 3, and Ring Fit Adventure packed in with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Animal Crossing: New Horizons on the way, but Nintendo also said more will be available for download to the clock later. With that in mind, we opined on the franchises and games we want to wake up to most with Alarmo.

Question: What franchise or game do you want to see added to Nintendo Alarmo?

Super Mario RPG - Ozzie Mejia, Senior Sleeper

One of Nintendo's finest soundtracks comes from Super Mario RPG, so why not wake up to it? There are numerous tracks worth setting your Alarmo to, whether it's Beware the Forest Mushrooms, Fight Against Monsters, or the classic Slope (not to be confused with perennial Mario favorite Slide).

The longer it takes to wake up, the more of Super Mario RPG's rogue’s gallery can come on through. Mario can jump all he wants, but he's going to be overwhelmed by K9s, Birdies, Reapers, and whatever other original baddies Square Enix thought to throw at everyone's favorite plumber.

(The original Legend of the Seven Stars or the 2023 remake? Honestly, it's all good!)

Excitebike - TJ Denzer, Senior Dirtbike Rally Enthusiast

There is something altogether cheerful the sites, sounds, and music of Excitebike, and I’d like to have that excitement on Alarmo in progressively annoying fashion. I feel like you start simple with the theme song, then the race start, then slowing increasing noises of engines revving, bikes crashing, and eventually the shrill “Hurry Up” noise when you take too long to get out of bed. Eventually make it to your feet? Then it should play the song when you qualify in a race in the game. Excitebike isn’t my favorite game ever, but it does have a special place in my heart, and it just so happens it seems like it would work quite well with alarm clock functions.

F-Zero franchise - Asif Khan, CEO/EIC/EIEIO, Best in the universe

Finally, a Shack Chat question that I can simply answer by waxing poetic about my favorite racing game franchise F-Zero. The game has had outstanding music from its SNES days to present day F-Zero 99. Bring it all to Alarmo. Big Blue, Mute City, and even those banging tunes from the F-Zero X tracks. We are witnessing the F-Zero Revival play out in real-time, and Alarmo should join us for the ride.

Blades of Steel - Bill Lavoy, New NHL Commissioner

To further the image that all I do is eat, breathe, and sleep hockey, I’d like to see Blades of Steel on the Alarmo. Waking up every morning to that opening music, “Fight,” or “Penalty shot,” seems like the way to get things started on the right foot. Let’s also get a Blades of Steel remake announced as a launch title for Switch 2 and we’re rolling up here in Canada.

Bomberman 64 - Sam Chandler, HURRY UP

In Bomberman 64, whenever the multiplayer mode hits 60 seconds remaining, the game enters a sudden death mode. At this point, the announcer shouts “HURRY UP!” as the walls close in, the water rises, or fireballs fall from the sky. I think I need the “HURRY UP!” to be shouted at me as whatever tune is playing speeds up. That’ll get me out of bed quicksmart.

Pokemon - Donovan Erskine, Wants to wake up in Sinnoh

This one seems like a no-brainer. Any Nintendo product—alarm clocks included—feel incomplete without the inclusion of the world’s biggest entertainment franchise. I’d want Alarmo to randomly select a Pokemon from the Pokedex every morning and play its cry at maximum volume. If I wake up in time, maybe I get to catch the Pokemon or something. If that’s too much, I’ll settle for Kricketune.

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - Steve Tyminski, The Stevetendo Show! Host

The Alamo already has Zelda music from Breath of the Wild but it needs music from one of the best Zelda games of all time. Ocarina of Time has some of my favorite Zelda music in it as well as some of the best video game music of all time. I already can listen to Zelda music for hours on end so why not have it benefit me by waking me up in the morning. Getting to wake up to the Hyrule Field or Gerudo Valley themes would also be pretty cool. The Water Temple theme is one of my favorite songs in the game so unlike most people, it wouldn’t give me nightmares. You can’t go wrong with the title theme as well. The Alarmo will play music with a feverish pace when you don’t wake up right away and Ocarina of Time has sounds that can be annoying enough to get you to jump out of bed. The “Hey Listen” noise from Navi or the beeping heart noise with low health would get me to jump out of bed. I think it would be interesting if Nintendo added older games to the Alarmo and it should start with the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

These are our picks for games we’d like to see on Nintendo Alarmo, which is available for purchase now. What would you like to see on it? Let us know on in the Chatty comments below!

Shack Staff

Shack Staff stories are a collective effort with multiple staff members contributing. Many of our lists often involve entires from several editors, and our weekly Shack Chat is something we all contribute to as a group.