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Super C: Before there was Marcus and Dom, there was Bill and Lance. The sequel to the original co-op, bro-mance, shooter furthered what made Contra so great and was later perfected by Contra 3: The Alien Wars. Stuck in between the two, it can be easy to forget this game, but a lot of things Alien Wars did later on the SNES, Super C did FIRST! It was tough as hell, it was CO-OP (almost unheard of at the time) and it was, yet another, notch in Konami's belt for, yet another, HIT NES game. (What happened to Konami? Metal Gear was the best and worst thing that happened to them! It seems all else has been forgotten after Snake's adventures.) Did I mention I like big bosses, side-scrollers and the developers at Konami yet?
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Gradius II: Gofer no Yabou: Another one that almost got away! One of the first games I ever tried to import on the NES, but unfortuantely, I never got the adaptor to work properly. I loved Shmups back in the day, and the closest I ever got to Gradius 2 in the U.S. was Life Force (GIGA! MUST! DIE!). Life Force was great and all, but Gradius 2 for the Famicon was LEGENDARY! Another game using a special cartridge, it boasted better graphics and bigger bosses than anything else previously possible on the NES. All's well that ends well, I guess, as the VC version that was eventually released is actually the TurboGrafx-16 CD version that was even MORE enhanced than the NES game. SHOOT THE CORE!
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Super Metroid: This game started a life-long LOVE of what would later be known as Metroid-Vanias. This was the absolute pinnacle of the SNES action-adventure library and will easily ALWAYS rank either AT the top or near the top of my favorite games EVER! The graphics, the colors, the controls, the music, the story, the sounds... everything about it was simply perfect! This is what happens when you have a development team that LOVES their subject matter and it shows. Text-book example of the VERY BEST of game design! I wonder what Nintendo would have been like today had Gunpei Yokoi not died an early, tragic death?
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Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Calibur: If Super Metroid was the pinnacle of the SNES for me, then Ogre Battle was the pinnacle of the N64. It represents sooo many things I love in games, I don't even know where to begin. Hand-drawn graphics, bright, almost pastel colors, brilliant strategy (for an N64 game), differing game paths, moral choices, Combo-Magic in Battles, evolving Troops... **even a slightly homo-erotic relationship between the Hero and Prince Yumil!** ...the list goes on and on and on! Interesting tid-bit: Greg Kasavin's review of THIS game pretty much put him at the TOP of a very sparse and lonely list of game reviewers you could actually TRUST in my eyes! Something not seen since him and, likely, never again!
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Ys: Book I & II: Here's one you don't hear me mention all that often, but is sooo important for sooo many reasons! This game set sooo many precedents it's not even funny. One of the FIRST games on a CD for the FIRST System to offer a CD attachment (TG-16). Not only was it a POPULAR action-RPG in a time before RPGs were all that popular, but it offered so many other things that future RPGs simply took for granted that it REALLY should be mentioned MUCH MORE in retro-spectives of Video Game History but sadly it's often overlooked. It had voice-acting for its important, pivotal plot moments. It had a CD quality music score **from Yuzo Koshiro!** in an age when CDs were just becoming a standard. **Pretty hard-core, almost heavy metal tunes, too!** The gameplay, although simple, had elements that would be later used in even Metroid-Vania and Zelda style games. Finally, I am not ashamed to admit it, the story and ending even made me almost shed a tear! Before Cloud and Aeris there was Adol and Feena. These two characters and the ending of what was essentially TWO games on one CD will always be BURNED into mine and my friend's memory... "Oh Adol, always remember the GIRL in me!" I, for one, will never forget. This one line pretty much made me THAT much more of a gamer for life!
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One of these days I need to try Ogre Battle 64 again. I downloaded it, but could never figure out how to play it. The result was I could never get past the first battle and ultimately put it away for something else.
I was hoping there was Wii U VC news. 
robio said:One of these days I need to try Ogre Battle 64 again. I downloaded it, but could never figure out how to play it. The result was I could never get past the first battle and ultimately put it away for something else.
Yeah, it doesn't explain itself well. And particularly at the start it's weird. Basically you don't control the battle, so it's purely a strategy game. You set your team's up in advance, then the battle plays out. You only control who the team prioritizes in targeting, and usually you just want that on "Target Weakest".
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Tell me to get back to rewriting this site so it's not horrible on mobileWell, I'd like to say I knew something about the Wii U e-shop, but there's a suspicious lack of news all around. I'd like to applaud Nintendo for allowing the Wii Virtual Console to be accessible thru the U --BUT-- they've made a few mis-steps already too:
(1) They REALLY need to link your Purchases to your Nintendo Network ID like Microsoft and Sony. I buy these games over and over, but I'm kinda getting tired of doing so.
(2) It was originally said they were encouraging Indies to offer games on the U, but how can they make money if their games never get released? I'm looking at --YOU-- Toki Tori 2! 
The game was supposed to be out 12/20/2012. Cloudberry Kingdom has an excuse (for a few weeks delay at least) due to SuperStorm Sandy, but, c'mon, March 2013 now?! The game was pretty much DONE!
(3) Nintendo is holding back e-shop games made specifically for the Wii U to encourage the tie-ratio of actual retail software and systems during the launch window. They also want to offer games digitally eventually too. YOU CAN'T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS! Discourage people from going to the e-shop NOW and you'll regret it later!
As a consolation (before I get back to the Virtual Console) here are two more games that were announced for the Wii U e-shop:
E-shop games aside, has anyone else partaken in the Virtual Console on the Wii U? Anyone have games like mine above they they don't want to be without? Maybe tomorrow I'll list the games I'd --STILL-- like to see come to the Wii VC. You all can too, if you want! **Especially if they involve either Wolves in tight jeans or inexplicably ignored CastleVania titles!** At the very least, I am sure there are a few dozen games I can recommend that are already available thru the VC on the U and/or Wii, so if you're THAT desperate for something retro to play...
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PS: This topic is brought to you by La Mulana (Wii-Ware)...!
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Gradius 2 over Gradius 3?!?!
Super C over Contra III: The Alien Wars?!?
Aban Hawkins looks like it is pure awesome and I have to find a way to play this game.
I played Gradius 3 --TO DEATH-- on the Super NES and the VC. Gradius 2 wasn't even released here (in the US). Partially for the rarity of it and mostly to the fact I've seen everything I could see in 3, part 2 was the natural choice for me!
I love the Alien Wars, but I miss the simplicity of Super C. If you look really closely at it, too, you'll see that MANY of the things done in Alien Wars were also in Super C. I don't know what it was with me and Konami games back in the 90's but I played them 'til I practically wore out the cartridges! Super C I didn't get as much quality time with!
Most of the VC games that I purchased tended to be games I was never able to get my hands on when they originally came out, or games that were so ridiculously difficult that I wasn't able to progress very far in them. My favorites that I originally got with the Wii were probably:
Milon's Secret Castle - a game that's so hard it's tough to call it anything but broken, but it's still awesome.
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Do Re Mi Fantasy - Milon's sequel that was criminally never released here and one of the best platformers I've ever played.
Solomon's Key - an early era NES release (arcade port if I recall) and still an excellent puzzler.
I only bought a couple games on the wii's VC: Castlevania 3 and Yoshi's Island, I think.
Fine I will buy La Mulana. Can I buy it through the Wii U Wii Channel?
Wii U > Wii Channel > Wii Shop > Wii Ware!
Now I remember why I didnt get it sooner. I had 400 points I cant do anything with and this game had a price where once I buy it I am still left with those 400 points. I was angry at Nintendo. I still am but I shouldnt take it out on La Mulana.
Two Games from Nintendo that have been strangely wiped from history:
These games probably haven't aged well, but I'd --LOVE-- to try them again!
The old "why aren't they on the VC?" standbys:
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I would bet money that a good number of you met me for the first time in my GameSpot Virtual Console 'Sleeper' Topic. I always assume a good number of you met each other in my Virtual Console topic, as well. That topic started in 2006, was pretty active until 2008, had some slight revivals in 2009 and a post or two in 2011 when it was moved to the Ring of Fire. We covered the games we wanted to see, the games we got and the games that never came out. We pretty much covered almost all of the 8-bit and 16-bit library in our wish-list and nostalgia posts. You would think, by now, we've said it all, that there's nothing left to talk about; The games of today are too sophisticated and if people want something more simple, they can simply play a Mobile or Tablet game. What place is there NOW for NES, Genesis or SNES games? Turns out, and I don't know if this is true for all of you or not, but there'll ALWAYS be a place in my heart for these games!
For as long as there is a Virtual Console there'll always be VC games in my library. I tried to hold off when I got my Wii U, telling myself: "Just how many times am I going to buy the same games over and over?" That didn't last long! When I am feeling nostalgic or blue there are certain games I always think about or return to. Games that meant juuust a little bit more to me than the hundreds of others. What I am asking in this topic is: Are there games for which YOU feel the same? Are you going to use the Virtual Console on the Wii U again?
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Here is a list of the games I found I COULD NOT go without and a few reasons why:
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Alien Soldier: I always knew of the existence of this game back in the 16-bit days and was insanely jealous it never came out to the US. Substantially better looking than Gunstar Heroes and totally devoted to over two and a half dozen TREASURE-developed boss battles?! How could I resist when it was finally made available here? Now that I CAN play it, I never want to NOT have it again! If ANYONE can make it to the end of this game, you'll see one of the reasons WHY I take it as a personal dig against me that I couldn't play it!
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Axelay: What is it about Axelay? The cheesy Mode-7 scrolling? The classic fire level and boss? The combination of top-down and side-scrolling shooter play? I had a thing for Konami, colorful games and BIG boss battles. I wouldn't be at all surprised if a few of the members of this games dev team went on to form Treasure, but that's not the reason why I am always compelled to play it. Really, not one specific reason comes to mind, but I always go back to it!
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Devils Crush: There's almost nothing more pure when it comes to gaming than pinball. My buddies and I used to CONSTANTLY compete score-wise in this game, but that's not the ONLY reason why it became one of my most beloved games. In a time when Nintendo was KING and most games were sanitized and censored, games with Demonic themes, Pentagram like symbols and morphing-lizard-lady faces that you needed to destroy with your balls were COMPLETELY unheard of! How could something so pure as pinball feel so NAUGHTY at the same time? It certainly didn't hurt that the TurboGrafx-16 had some of the best colors, graphics and sound available at the time, too!
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CastleVania III: Dracula's Curse: It's hard to look back now and understand WHY this game was such a big deal when it was first released. Compared to the original CastleVania and Simon's Quest, though, it just offered so much... more! More levels, more freedom, more enemies, more playable characters. It actually had a special cartridge that held more memory and an almost FX chip like acceleration built into it to make the game possible on the NES. It may not look like much now, but back then... If you think about it, it also paved the way for MANY of the future CastleVanias with the introduction of Alucard, multiple paths and unique special moves that would later become mainstays of the MetroidVanias. Forever a classic in my eyes (in case you couldn't tell from how long I moaned about it in my original topic)!
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