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[Cody_D165]

Recently, I booted up my Nintendo Wii and decided to browse through the Wii Virtual Console service for the first time in ages. It's a rather strange experience sifting through that particular shop interface in 2015, but as I scrolled through the pages and lists of games I couldn't help but be rather impressed. According to Wikipedia, the list of games spanned nearly 400 titles across nine different systems.

• Nintendo Entertainment System
• Super Nintendo Entertainment System
• Nintendo 64
• Sega Master System
• Sega Genesis
• TurboGrafx-16/TurboGrafx-CD
• Neo Geo
• Commodore 64
• Virtual Console Arcade

While scrolling through the list on the Wii Shop Channel, I came across the usual classics, but also titles that are rather obscure. Games that are imports, and some games that were made available to English audiences for the first time through the service.

The selection of available consoles still makes me smile. I remember opening an issue of Nintendo Power at one point during the Wii launch hype and finding out that Sega Genesis games were going to be included in the Virtual Console service. As an admitted Sega fanboy I was ecstatic and sure enough, you can still boot a Wii today and buy copies of classic Genesis titles from Alex Kidd to Vectorman. The Sonic games supported Lock-On with Sonic and Knuckles. Even stuff like MUSHA, which is incredibly hard to get a hold of in physical form, found its way onto the service.

I discovered a love for the Turbografx-16 by playing games like Bonk and Dungeon Explorer for the first time on Wii VC. NeoGeo stuff being available was mind-boggling. There were even a select few Commodore 64 titles available at one point, though sadly they've been delisted.

I also loved the ease of multiplayer, especially for consoles like the Turbografx where the multitap was required. Pick up some Wii remotes, Classic controllers, and even Gamecube controllers and you're good to go without dealing with any of that stuff.

So yeah, the Wii VC is pretty awesome, looking back on it. I don't think I ever stopped to appreciate how wonderful the whole thing was until I went back into the shop just this past week. What are some of your favorite titles available?

 

[SinCityAssassin]

All bomberman.

 

[Anth0ny]

it's incredible, really


even more incredible is how wii u's VC didn't even come close to the greatest that was wii VC.

 

[Mellahan]

What I'd give to play all those on Wii U, off-TV.

 

[KingBroly]

It sucks that it NEVER got Contra. It got Super C and Contra 3 but not the original.

 

[sörine]

People bitched about it too at the time. We never knew how good we had it.

3DS and Wii U are really terrible in comparison. I'm praying NX reverses the trend.

 

[mapet318]

I really want to know what the hell happened with Wii U VC. I remember people having issues with how Nintendo was releasing Wii VC titles, but I'd prefer that over what we have now.

WAD injection made Wii VC even more incredible.

 

[RomanticHeroX]

People bitched about it too at the time. We never knew how good we had it.

To be fair, people bitched mostly with good reason. The flaming wreck that is the Wii U/3DS VC shouldn't distract people from the problems Nintendo showed from the beginning. Nintendo showed (and still shows) a hugely frustrating lack of communication and lack of consistency in support. Things like announcing then immediately dropping the VC Arcade and Commodore 64 games show just how badly Nintendo can drop the ball. Still, despite their best efforts, the Wii VC turned out to have lots gems. It's absolutely amazing how poorly they've supported it on the Wii U.

 

[Oddduck]

The Wii Virtual Console was great just for the fact that it had solid Square Enix support.

 

[Cody_D165]

The Wii Virtual Console was great just for the fact that it had solid Square Enix support.

no kidding.

The day they released SMRPG on VC was monumental. I didn't leave my house

 

[Nights Owl]

My only issue with the VC that I can recall was that any of the DKC games were impossible to play with a GC controller. @_@

Seriously. I had to Monster Hunter "Claw" the Y and B button because they translated them literally from the SNES controller. The nightmares...

Spoiler

and cramps.

 

[Fox Mulder]

It was great. Will likely never be matched with how things are going with them now.

 

[RomanticHeroX]

The Wii Virtual Console was great just for the fact that it had solid Square Enix support.

Never forget that all the Square titles you'd want are available on the Wii U in Japan. Both Squenix USA and NoA continue to be the worst of their respective companies.

 

[SatoAilDarko]

The best way to buy affordable Neo Geo games officially.

I have on my Wii U through Wii mode

The Last Blade 1 + 2
Ironclad
Fighters History Dynamite
Shock Troopers 2nd
Ninja Masters
Nam '75
World Heroes Perfect
King of Fighters '99
Sengoku 2 + 3
Real Bout Fatal Fury 2

I have Magical Drop 3 and Street Hoops from the Data East Collection, KOF 94-98 collection, Metal Slug 1-6 collection, Samurai Shodown 1-6 collection and the SNK Classics collection. So no need to get the Virtual Console releases.

They had like 52 in the US and more in Japan.

 

[Forkball]

Keep in mind it took seven years of slow, slow drip feeding, and then it went bye bye for Wii U.

 

[bengraven]

I was actually shocked to come back to the store after having been away from a Wii for 5 years and saw all the Square Enix games up there.

That said, no Yoshi's Island or Earthbound.

 

[sörine]

My Wii VC collection is insane, I easily spent over $500 on it. I probably spent over $200 each on Wii U and 3DS as well.

 

[mrmickfran]

It sucks that it NEVER got Contra. It got Super C and Contra 3 but not the original.

It's also sadly missing hard corps.

 

[MrSaturn99]

I always thought it was kinda funny there was more Genesis games than SNES ones.

Regardless, it's certainly an incredible line-up despite the slow drip.

 

[ElectricBlanketFire]

WHERE IS MY FUCKING PILOTWINGS 64?!?!??!?

 

[sörine]

It's also sadly missing hard corps.

It's missing any Konami Genesis games. I don't know why Sega couldn't get them on board but it's big hole missing in the library without Hard Corps, Bloodlines and RKA.

 

[Yukinari]

I waited for years to get the lesser known N64 games on VC and it never happened, but the N64 games we did get were pretty good choices.

Spoiler

wheres bomberman 64 2

 

[sörine]

I waited for years to get the lesser known N64 games on VC and it never happened, but the N64 games we did get were pretty good choices.

Spoiler

wheres bomberman 64 2

Mischief Makers.

After both SE and Treasure banked on Wii VC, I couldn't believe we never got that game.

 

[Marz]

Yea, Wii VC is amazing. I used to get ripped for defending Nintendo back in 2008-2010 as well.

I really need to grab a bunch of stuff before its gone forever, i hate unofficial emulators.

 

[Htown]

I really need to grab a bunch of stuff before its gone forever, i hate unofficial emulators.

Unfortunately, all the Commodore 64 stuff is already gone. There's other stuff gone too, most notably some of the Street Fighter and R-Type series games.

The Donkey Kong Country games actually disappeared in 2012, then went back up on Wii VC when they were released on Wii U this February.

 

[nateify]

I'm still really grateful the Wii could actually output native 240p so the weirdos like me who still rock CRTs can get a more authentic pictures of classic games. In North America we never got RGB SCART, but 240p over component into a decent consumer CRT is far better than composite we had in the days gone by.

 

[Marz]

Unfortunately, all the Commodore 64 stuff is already gone. There's other stuff gone too, most notably some of the Street Fighter and R-Type series games.

The Donkey Kong Country games actually disappeared in 2012, then went back up on Wii VC when they were released on Wii U this February.

Was their anything good on Commodore 64? Iirc it had a couple shmups i wanted to try

N why are they delisted? Who even owns the rights to this commodore 64 stuff?

 

[FTF]

If only it has Yoshi's Island, it would have been the best thing ever. I have about 15 SNES games though on my Wii from VC, so still pretty damn amazing.

 

[i-Jest]

I'm thankful for Super Mario RPG and F-Zero X. I hope someday we see F-Zero GX on the Wii U Eshop. My only gripe is the lack of saving my progress in F-Zero X. Was that ever resolved? I was playing on my Wii U BTW.

Gonna have to stock up on some more VC games before Nintendo discontinues the Wii Shop Channel service. I have no faith in Nintendo bringing over the whole Wii VC game library to the NX or making the Wii Shop Channel accessible on the NX.

 

[Zee-Row]

It sucks that it NEVER got Contra. It got Super C and Contra 3 but not the original.

Whats up with that? Is there some sort of licensing issue?

 

[Ingueferroque]

The best way to buy affordable Neo Geo games officially.

I have on my Wii U through Wii mode

The Last Blade 1 + 2
Ironclad
Fighters History Dynamite
Shock Troopers 2nd
Ninja Masters
Nam '75
World Heroes Perfect
King of Fighters '99
Sengoku 2 + 3
Real Bout Fatal Fury 2

I have Magical Drop 3 and Street Hoops from the Data East Collection, KOF 94-98 collection, Metal Slug 1-6 collection, Samurai Shodown 1-6 collection and the SNK Classics collection. So no need to get the Virtual Console releases.

They had like 52 in the US and more in Japan.

PSP/Vita is also a great place for SNK classics, no Last Blade though..

 

[Htown]

Was their anything good on Commodore 64? Iirc it had a couple shmups i wanted to try

There were nine C64 games on VC. Last Ninja 1 and 2 showed up, don't know much about the others. All C64 games on VC were published by "Commodore Gaming", a company I can't find anything out about.

N why are they delisted? Who even owns the rights to this commodore 64 stuff?

My guess is that the second question answers the first. i think the Commodore rights are weird or something.

 

[oneida]

its really amazing

i have
- rondo
- chrono trigger
- ff6
- musha
- gleylancer
- sonic 1 / 3 / &K
- phantasy star / 2 / 4
- dkc
- oot
- kof14
- last blade 2
- fatal fury special
- final soldier
- blazing lasers
- bonk
- splatterhouse
- smb
- loz
- axelay
- gunstar heroes
- mega man
- mmx
- alex kidd shinobi world

and theres still sooooo much i want

 

[sixteen-bit]

- kof14

aint that a ps4 game

 

[Pathfinder]

Up until a point, yeah. And then it all fell apart.

 

[oneida]

aint that a ps4 game

egg on my face

wish i got 97 but this was years ago when i made even more mistakes than i do now

 

[Mr-Joker]

I rather have the Wii U virtual console over the Wii simply because at least with the Wii U one, we European started getting 60hz version of the games, barring a few game where they are the 50hz versions.

 

[JimboJones]

I only ever bought a handful of games on it, got fed up with the 50hz stuff, some games wouldn't even display properly via componant cables. For the prices they charged that was just unacceptable.

 

[Benjamin_MFF]

Up until a point, yeah. And then it all fell apart.

Oh, please tell me there is a story here. How did it fall apart?

 

[Marz]

aint that a ps4 game

No

 

[Dremark]

It had a good library of games admittedly, but it really should have been a lot better.

They did pull off some really impressive stuff like getting Rondo if Blood on it though.

 

[Jims]

I can't think of the Wii's Virtual Console without subconsciously hearing Chris Kohler's impassioned rants about it on Retronauts each week. It ended up being one of those retro libraries that looks really great on the aggregate when it's all said and done, but was kind of an agonizing slow drip sometimes.

Baseball/Urban Champion week, never forget!

 

[cj_iwakura]

Wait, Last Blade was on the VC?...

I have Blaster Master, Startropics II, Gleylancer, Ogre Battle 64, Ys 1 & 2, and Sin & Punishment.

 

[foxuzamaki]

Wait, Last Blade was on the VC?...

I have Blaster Master, Startropics II, Gleylancer, Ogre Battle 64, Ys 1 & 2, and Sin & Punishment.

Last blade 2 aswell, I know cause I have it.

 

[Oblivion]

Why exactly is the selection for the Wii-U virtual console so small? If anything, you'd think it should be even bigger since Wii-U actually needs it.

 

[cj_iwakura]

Last blade 2 aswell, I know cause I have it.

I have the Dreamcast version, but still, surprised I never noticed. Easily my favorite SNK game.

 

[Leynos]

Is the Wii store still up? I always intended on buying Contra, and Castlevania Rebirth, Blaster Master Overdrive, and a few others, but never did. Should probably do so if the store still exists.

 

[@MUWANdo]

Is the Wii store still up? I always intended on buying Contra, and Castlevania Rebirth, Blaster Master Overdrive, and a few others, but never did. Should probably do so if the store still exists.

Yep.

 

[RE_Player]

Why exactly is the selection for the Wii-U virtual console so small? If anything, you'd think it should be even bigger since Wii-U actually needs it.

Why put effort into a console that is a failure and will be replaced in 2 years or less?

 

[@MUWANdo]

Why exactly is the selection for the Wii-U virtual console so small? If anything, you'd think it should be even bigger since Wii-U actually needs it.

It's mostly down to some of the publishers from the Wii days not bothering to show up on Wii U: Sega's not doing Mega Drive/Master System, Konami isn't doing TG16, there's no Neo-Geo, Square-Enix won't release their games outside of Japan, etc.

If you look at the publishers that are supporting Wii U VC, you'll see they've generally put out more games for the supported platforms than they did on Wii.