A very merry Virtual Console Christmas [update 2]

by Jason Wishnov { Dec 21st 2006 at 2:50PM }

Hold on to your mistletoe, folks, Nintendo is dropping all kinds of radiological bombs come Christmas morning. Let's skip the preamble and just head right on in:

Super Mario Bros. (NES) - Finally, is all we have to say. The defining "retro" title in video gaming history is finally up for grabs, and you might not have a soul if you don't pick it up.
Street Fighter II: The World Warrior (SNES) - One of the most influential titles in the 16-bit era, Street Fighter II is revered by millions of angry, violent gamers worldwide. And Chun-Li is still hot.
Super Castlevania IV (SNES) - The beginning of the modern Castlevania games, this title features more hot whip action than your mistress on Friday night. And unholy werewolves, too.
Toe Jam and Earl (Sega Genesis) - We've been raving about this funkotronic title for weeks, and it's finally here come Christmas morn. Get your groove on and ignore your holiday dinner ... that's what we're doing, anyway.
R-Type (TG-16) - An apparently famous shooter that we ourselves have not played. We hear it's quite the hit, though. Any takers?

This is gonna be one hell of a Monday. Who said presents needed to be encased in paper and under a tree?

[Thanks, Benny!]

[Update 1: Also, on January 1st, Nintendo will be releasing both Baseball (NES) and Urban Champion (NES). Not that it'll matter. We'll be too busy playing these games to bother.]

[Update 2: And no, none of these games are free. Cheapskates.]

Tags: Bros, Castlevania, Christmas, Earl, Fighter, Jam, Joe, Mario, Monday, Morning, Presents, R-Type, Street, Super, Warrior, World

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Dan @ Dec 21st 2006 2:58PM

Any word whether or not SMB will be free... as was previously rumoured?

pr0vidence @ Dec 21st 2006 3:23PM

Much as I love SMB, it's one of my favorite games ever. I have SMB/DH, and SMB alone on an NES cart. I can't justify paying $5 for a game I can beat handily in about 15 minutes. Now, if Nintendo were to modify it so they could say, make new levels for download. I'd be all over it.

Tim @ Dec 21st 2006 3:31PM

I'm betting Street Fighter II should be much more fun on the Wii than the 360 version, even without the online play.

Steven @ Dec 21st 2006 3:37PM

Good thing I've got 4700 Wii Points stored up (it was a great birthday). I was waiting for this day to come.

Super Mario, Castlevania, and R-Type will be mine!

Loban @ Dec 21st 2006 3:41PM

Street Fighter II!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's all I have to say.

Scout650 @ Dec 21st 2006 3:54PM

SMB is finally here. But I'm wondering if it would be worth picking up for 5 bucks. I don't want to be screwed over if I get this and then Nintendo decides to release SMB All Stars which has the first three games and Lost Worlds.

Brian Arnold @ Dec 21st 2006 4:24PM

How in the hell have you not played R-Type? :D

Patrick @ Dec 21st 2006 3:56PM

Wow, some pretty major all-time classics on that list. It'll be interesting to see if VC releases can carry the Wii through the drought(s) of AAA titles that are going to occur next year.

arex @ Dec 21st 2006 4:40PM

R-Type was an awesome shooter for its time. Beautiful graphics and very difficult. I seem to recall the game suffering from some pretty significant flicker and slowdown, however. I assume the flicker will be present in the emulated version as well?

AzaMcWazza @ Dec 21st 2006 4:44PM

You were taking the piss regarding RType right?

If not and you really haven't played it, make it the FIRST download of the new batch. It's a brilliant shooter - nice looking, and a great challenge with good variation.

Mr. Khan @ Dec 21st 2006 4:55PM

And so North America draws level with Japan (for the most part, still wish we had Bomberman '94 as well)

I mean, damn, that's a crapload of good games

Yay Nintendo!
(of those, only ToeJam&Earl is really on my list, though)

Kia @ Dec 21st 2006 5:58PM

Definitely going to be picking up R-Type, Castlevania, Mario, and Street Fighter, can't wait!

But something that's been bugging me for some time now: WTF is with Joystiq/[console]Fanboy writers always referring to themselves as "we" and "our?" Are you people part of some collective hive mind or something, or do you just find it impossible to practice any sort of individuality whatsoever? Cause really, I've never seen another blog that's writers refer to themselves all as one group. >_>

brownkidd @ Dec 22nd 2006 1:16AM

You're just being sarcastic about R-Type, right?

Cyantre @ Dec 21st 2006 6:14PM

They shouldn't change their price model for TG-16 just because it's a more profitable game. -_-; Anyways, what about Dungeon Explorer? It's the only title on the list of things promised to be released before the end of 2006 that hasn't made either list.

Josh @ Dec 21st 2006 6:49PM

Cyantre (#13), I was thinking the same thing. Even Baseball and Urban Champion have been "delayed" into the first day of 2007, but we haven't heard about Dungeon Explorer since it was announced. In any case, we just had four more "surprise" games announced, so that's good, but I'd still like to know what's up with Dungeon Explorer.

I seem to remember seeing R-Type (or one of the games in the series) being played by one of my friends years ago, and me playing it, too, but I can't remember on what platform. I remember it in color, but on a Game Boy (Color?). Hmmm...

Oh, and that's a screenshot of Super Mario Bros. Deluxe for Game Boy Color, so you might want to change that.

Jason Wishnov @ Dec 21st 2006 7:39PM

Well, Kia, I really have no idea. The big important people at the top tell us to refer to ourselves in the first-person plural unless referring to something specifically experienced by ourselves. But yeah, I don't know. >.>

Kia @ Dec 21st 2006 8:34PM

I see, Jason...that's kinda weird. XD

(No personal offense meant in the first comment either, just in case! Just digging at whoever came up with it! :D )

silkylove @ Dec 21st 2006 8:40PM

@ 14

If it was in color, if your friend was rich, and if the game didn't look like pxilated crap then your friend was probably playing it on a turbo express