The Top 25 NES/Famicom games that need to be on the Virtual Console

The Virtual Console started off great in 2006, and in 2007 the sucess and great titles kept coming (for the most part). However in 2008 we had a long drought after Crusin’ USA and the Secrets of Mana’s release in early 2008 (mainly due to WiiWare, with great titles like Dr. Mario RX, Defend Your Castle, Wario Land: Shake It!, Mega Man 9, and World of Goo), although Double Dragon and River City Ransom did a okay job at stopping any “short death” of the Virtual Console. But then this “drought” ended in June in Japan, August in Europe and Australia, and September in North America (as it’s 250th Virtual Console game) when these regions all got a massively amazing game: Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, which started a mainstream Virtual Console comback (which I might add SMRPG is the best-selling game on the Virtual Console). Since then the Virtual Console has made a comeback, with Clu-Clu Land (Nevermind. It’s okay at best) Mega Man 1 and 2 being released on the Virtual Console (despite being released in Europe in 2007), and Mario Golf being released about 4 weeks ago in Japan, about 3 weeks ago in North America, and will probably hit PAL shores soon.

Still, there are tons of Virtual Console games from Nintendo consoles that need to be added to the list of available list of games. That is why I made this list. I’m going to list the top 25 most worthy Nintendo Entertainment System/Nintendo Famicom NES that need to be on the Virtual Console that currently are not on the Virtual Console.

Keep in mind some games have better non-Nintendo console versions, were ported to a Nintendo console, and so forth, and that may be a reasoning for them not being on this list. Also, this is only for games that were on the NES. I hope to do lists of the SNES and N64 in the future, and they are in the works-I promise you that (it was originally suppose to be the top 25 Nintendo console games that need to be on the Virtual Console, but there are too many good games not on the Virtual Console that need to be, so I tripled the number, lol!). Anyways, without furter ado, here is the list! Honorable mentions: 

-Nintendo World Cup (Famicom-only; Made & Published by Nintnedo) – One of the first 4-player games released on the Famicom, it was a moderate sucess on the system. Now with a recent Virtual Console release in Japan, a release outside of Japan is definitely possible (especially in PAL regions where Soccer is more popular). An interesting title to add world wide, to say the least.

-Clu Clu Land D (Made & Published by Nintendo) – The sequel to Clu Clu Land, this is basically the same game, but with some extra stuff. It’s not really better then Clu Clu Land, yet not really worst. I don’t know. You have to try it out for yourself to see what I mean.

-Snake’s Revenge (Made & Published by Konami) – Made without creator Hideo Kojima’s knowledge, this game followed Metal Gear’s blue prints-and added Contra-like elements to it, as well as stealth. Switiching between stealth and action is a huge part of the game, and you got to know when to do both. It would be an interesting Virtual Console release, and would defnitely attract Metal Gear fans to it. Heck-Hideo Kojima could promote it (since he says he enjoys it so much, but not as much as other Metal Gear games). It would definitely be an interesting add.

-Wild Gunman (Made & Published by Nintendo) – This game was one of the few games that used NES Zapper, and followed through with Duck Hunt’s blue prints of awesomeness. Rereleasing it on the Virtual Console would definitely raise awareness (and sales) for the WiiZapper. It would be a great promo for any big WiiZapper-using games-like The Conduit!

-Fire Emblem Gaiden (Fire Emblem 2; Famicom-only; Made by Intelligent Systems [a Nintendo 1st Party Company] & Published by Nintendo) – Fire Emblem Gaiden is a side-story to the original Fire Emblem, and takes places before, during, and even after the original in a different part of the world. Featuring incredible gameplay upgrades, a “different” story, and interesting gameplay tweaks, it has recently gotten more respect, although it still is generally seen as somewhat “black sheep”-ish status. Still, it would be a great title to release (since it had a fairly good song in Brawl), and releasing it outside of Japan would also get a lot of sales for Smash and Fire Emblem fans outside of Japan alike, as well as some [interested] Japanese Fire Emblem fans. It would be an interesting title to release on the Virtual Console, to say the least.

-Dragon Quest II (released outside of Japan as Dragon Warrior II; Made & Published by Enix [now Square Enix) - Seen as the "black sheep" of the Dragon Quest series, Dragon Quest II failed to reach the popularity of the original. However recently it has gotten more noteriety, and has gotten more respect. It would definitely be a worthy title to add to the Virtual Console, since it basically has nothing else going for it. Now if only Square Enix got around to doing that for it...

-Nintendo VS. (Famicom-only; Made & Published by Nintendo [with 3rd party support for their games in this game) - This game consists of several "Vs." [modes] for several NES/Famicom games, and really is great. The reason I am excluding ths game from the list however is that it isn’t very well-known, it would require a ton of legal work to re-release it on the Virtual Console, and I don’t see Nintendo ever releasing it-especially for 500 Wii Points (more like 5,000 Wii Points), and it’s not ”technically” a NES or Famicom game, and is a arcade game featuring several popular Nintendo and Famicom games in Arcade form. Still, it’s an incredible game with a lot of great games in it with their best form [of multiplayer], and I suggest it to any of your retro gamers or fans of games that are in it. Definitely worth trying out…just not the real version for like $500. Seriously, use NES/Famicom emulation and a ROM instead=you can spend that $500 on good Virtual Console, Wii, a PS3 and DS games! Or you could get a CD-i, and get the 3 Zelda CD-i games and Hotel Mario!!! :D

The Top 25

25. Crystalis (Made & Published by SNK) – This action-orientated and interesting game was underrated by gamers when released (although revieweres loved it), and recently became a cult classic, much like River City Ransom. Why it isn’t on the Virtual Console is beyond me. It’s definitely a title worth adding. Defintely.

24. Devil World (Famicom-only; Made & Published by Nintendo) – Devil World was recently shown to the world in Brawl with the Devil AT (and the antagonist named “Tamagon” was a Melee trophy, and was the only one removed from the non-Japanese versions of Melee), and with a recent OFLC rating, it may soon come global. A platformer made by Shigeru Miyamoto and made similiar to Pac-man in many ways, it would be a great classic to release on the Virtual Console, and would definitely raise a few eyebrows for potential buyers.

23. Knight Lore (Famicom version/Famicom only; made by Tim and Chris Stamper [also known as an early Rare], and Published by Ultimate Play The Game) – Rare’s first “real” hit that made Rare become a company (versus two people working for as a department of a company), this adventure puzzle game became a moderate sucess in Japan. A good title from the Rare founders/early Rare that is definitely worth adding, and would be an easy and simple addition to the Virtual Console. It would also attract a lot of Rare fans-thus it would be a great addition to the Virtual Console. 

22. Dragon Quest III (released outside of Japan as Dragon Warrior III; Made & Published by Enix [now Square Enix]) – Dragon Quest is a very well-known series (especially in Japan), and this game is no exception. With popularity right behind Dragon Quest I and IV levels, this game would be a worthy addition to the Virtual Console. With Square Enix’s release of good games now beginning with Super Mario RPG-and with this game having no recent remakes, it would be a good time to release this game. Seriously-get it on the Virtual Console Square Enix, and it will sell like crazy, guarenteed. I mean it.

21. Metal Gear (NES/Famicom Version [even if the MSX2 Version is far superior. A version featuring features, levels, and areas from both games would be the best idea]; Made & Published by Konami (in the Konami department now know as Kojima Productions) – Metal Gear. The game that started the afamed heavily story-based (but more and superior gameplay and stealth-based) series we all know and love. Metal Gear went away from the general shooter ideas of “Run and gun”, and introduced stealth, and become a hit for it (on the NES), put Metal Gear on the map, and saved Hideo Kojima’s career from ending. With great graphics, amazing locales, one of the best stories of the generation (although I give the best story of the 3rd generation of gaming to it’s sequel, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake), original and crazy bosses, an interesting alert system, and awesome characters, Metal Gear is a classic that needs to be on the Virtual Console. Seriously.

20. Zoda’s Revenge: StarTropics II (NES-only; Made & Published by Nintendo) – StarTropics is one of the few North America-only Nintendo titles ever, and it was a smashing sucess, and gained somewhat of a cult following. StarTropics was also a big hit on the Virtual Console as well, and the 2nd in the series would be a great addition to the Virtual Console library, with all those great levels, insane bosses (and there are a lot of bosses), and cool abilities. Definitely a game worth adding.

19. Mega Man 5 (Made & Published by Capcom) – Mega Man 5 is well….Mega Man. 3 might be released later this year or next year, so we are bound to see it. Definitely a game worth adding, despite being rushed, and falling to the now “Madden same-ole’ stuff” syndrome. Seriously-some of these robot masters are really lame, but at least the story is probably the best out of all the NES Mega Man games (competiting with 6, and not counting 9). It’s bound to happen….eventually…

18. Bionic Commando (NES/Famicom Version; Made & Published by Capcom) – Bionic Commando is recently making a comeback with a Xbox Live Arcade new game coming out, and a full sequel coming out soon. So naturally, the original platformer legend coming out on the Virtual Console (and PSN and XBLA) would be a great idea, right? OF COURSE IT WOULD! That’s why Capcom should totally do it. It would be a great title to release for a potential even greater title. Definitely.

17. Mega Man 6 (Made by Capcom, & Produced by Nintendo) – Mega Man 6 is the last Mega Man game on the NES, and was the last to be a part of this “Mega Man game a year” “Madden [rush it]” syndrome. Fortunately it introduced a lot of good features to make up for it, including awesome bosses, interesting boss stats, some of the best levels in the series (I MEAN IT!), an awesome final level, a great story (for a 3rd generation of gaming game), and a lot of cool extras. O, and those awesome boss-stealing power-up weapons. It will definitely come to the Virtual Console sometime, but when is the question. With Mega Man games are getting added to the Virtual Console outside of Europe recently-however they are getting added very slowly, this game might take a while to reach the Virtual Console. Hopefully sooner rather then later.

16. Final Fantasy II (Famicom-only; Made & Published by Square Soft [now Square Enix]) – Final Fantasy II is often heavily underrated, and is really a jewel of gaming. Following a story similiar to the science-fiction movie hit Star Wars (Episode IV: A New Hope)-only in like medieval times with some futurist stuff and magic instead of the foce, you got a Rebellion fighting a Empire and their dreaded weapon (which flies around in the sky. You can even see it fly around when travelling on “the world map”). Filled with tons of plot twists (probably the best story-telling Final Fantasy games out of all the NES Final Fantasy games), lots of deaths (like a few party members and main characters die), awesome bosses, an interesting (although sometimes slow) battle system, lots of locales, lots of ability possibilities and customization, and so forth, Final Fantasy II is a very worthy addition to the Virtual Console. Defintely.

15. Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse (made and published by Konami [published by Palcom in Japan) - The last Castlevania game of the 3rd generation of gaming and on the NES/Famicom, this game is definitely worth bringing to the Virtual Console, especially with the recently announced Castlevania game coming to the DS. Being the last NES Castlevania game not on the Virtual Console and the first two games and Super Castlevania IV's sucess on the Virtual Console make it a smart move and good game to add for this new Castlevania game. Definitely. Also, with a recent OFLC rating for the Virtual Console version, it is bound to come out soon. YES!

14. Mega Man 4 (Made & Published by Capcom) - Mega Man 4 is a great game, despite being seen as somewhat of a low point by fans. In fact, many fans even consider it the best in the series. Anyways, it's basic Mega Man for you. With Mega Man 3 recently announced to have recieved a OFLC rating for the Virtual Console, Mega Man 4 should hit...slowly...afterwards. Still, Mega Man 4 is either a game you absolutely love or you only moderately like. There are few people who are inbetween the two (me being one of them).

13. Final Fantasy III (Famicom-only; Made & Published by Square Soft [now Square Enix]) – Final Fantasy III added a butt load to the series. A new customizable class system, new jobs, and the ability to totally customize your teams with different classes, class combos, and whatnot, over 100 different class combinations are available to this game. Despite minimal plot, this games’ gameplay is pretty much seen as hands down the best of the 3 NES Final Fantasy games, and for very good reasons. With all this great gameplay, immense bosses, incredible enemies, loads of locales, and tons of places, enviornments, people, and quests, Final Fantasy III hails as a benchmark for RPG gaming. Still, with it’s DS form out (for about a year or two now), we might now see it on the Virtual Console (for a long time), sadly. Let us hope we see it on the Virtual Console soon, or we at least get one Final Fantasy title (soon).

12. Mega Man 3 (Made & Published by Capcom) – The first Mega Man game with sliding and the 3rd Mega Man game ever made and the 3rd on the NES. After the huge sucess of Mega Man 2, Mega Man 3 met a lot of sucess as well, and really made a good impact on the gaming world, and is seen as a sort of peak with the classic Mega Man series by many (before it went downhill for 3 or 4 games). Featuring a lot of cool weapons, items, bosses, and so forth, Mega Man 3 would be a great game to release on the Virtual Console, especially with Mega Man 9’s sucess on WiiWare, and Mega Man 1 and 2’s sucess on the Virtual Console. Hopefully Capcom deciedes to release it sooner rather then later, because quite frankly it would be great to see it back on the Virtual Console. With a recent OFLC rating for the Virtual Console version, it is bound to come out soon. Thank God Dr. Light.

11. Battletoads (NES/Famicom version; Made & Published by Rare[ware]) – Battletoads is remembered as a really good (yet still no well-known) Rare classic that is ridiculously hard. The NES version was one of the hardest versions of this game, making it a great and challenging game to put on the Virtual Console for hardcore gamers. If Rare would cooperate, this could definitely be on the Virtual Console. Maybe add a few difficulty levels to make it even harder and easier at the same time for those looking for insane challenges or only fairly hard challenges (whatever floats your boat). Definitely a good grade-A game worth adding to the Virtual Console vault!

10. Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! (Made & Published by Nintendo; not to be confused with “Punch-Out!!” or “Punch-Out!! Featuring Mr. Dream) – I’ve had enough of Mr. Dream’s lameness. I want to fight one of the greatest boxers of all-time-Mr. Mike Tyson! Mike Tyson really made Punch-Out!! a hit, and with this version of the game in celebration Punch-Out!! Wii, Punch-Out!! Wii could get better sales, and garner more of the classic audience. Seriously Nintendo-do it. Just do it. 

9. Dragon Quest (released as Dragon Warrior outside of Japan; made & developed by Enix [now Square Enix]) – The game that put Enix on the map around the world, and is credited with the creation of the RPG genre, this game is one of the best games ever made by man. With a tons of remakes and re-releases, a Virtual Console release would be perfect. With an awesome battle system, tons of locals, great difficulty, loads of enemies, cool bosses, and just a overall non-stop action flow of gameplay, Dragon Quest would be a perfect addition to the Virtual Console, hands down.

8. Duck Tales ([NES/Famicom Version] Made & Published by Capcom) – Duck Tales in a NES classic that can hang with the best of the era, and is really underrated and underappreciated. Featuring amazing music, awesome levels, sweet gameplay, and is one of the best platformers not just on the NES, but of all-time. Definitely a true classic, that is what we expect from Capcom. And guess what? Capcom didn’t go sequel crazy with this one. They only made one sequel!!! Serioously though. Duck Tales on the Virtual Console. Do it. Many retro gamers would be happy.

7. Dragon Quest IV (released as Dragon Warrior IV [: Chapters of the Chosen] outside of Japan; made and published by Enix [now Square Enix]) - Dragon Warrior/Quest IV is generally seen as a high point-if not THE high point of RPGs of the 3rd generation of gaming (unless you consider Zelda a RPG). Featuring incredible gameplay, depth, characters, replayability (I’ve beaten it 4 times, and it still feels brand new), a long and extensive story, customizability, locations, weapons, intense difficulty, and great enemies, this game would be a PERFECT GAME for the Virtual Console. Seriously-perfect. It could quite possibly be the best (“classic”) RPG released on the Virtual Console yet if released-and I mean it. It’s that good.

6. Contra (NES [and Famicom] Version; Made & Published by Konami) – Contra is one of the best shooters and shooting series ever, and is possibly the most well-known 2D shooter of all-time, and is one of the most difficult games of all-time. Releasing this run and gun video game would be a smart move for Nintendo and would be bought by several retro, hardcore, and difficult game-beating gamers. Defintely worth releasing.

5. Final Fantasy (I) (made by Square Soft [Now Square Enix], & published by Square Soft [now Square Enix] in Japan & Nintendo in North America) – Final Fantasy is possibly one of the most well-known series of all-time, and this is the game that started it all. With amazing gameplay, challenging enemies, a high level of customizable characters, loads of dungeons, tons of towns, loads of stuff to do, and so forth, it’s been on so many systems, it’s hard to keep count. With the most recent re-release on the PSP, not being on the Virtual Console (or PSN [and XBLA for that matter]) is a crying shame. It would not just be a great promotion for Final Fantasy XIII and other possibly Final Fantasy games, but it would sell like crazy, and would allow many more gamers to experience this true classic (especially if they had the Famicom and remake Chapter 6 ending included). Definitely worth playing and brining to us on the Virtual Console for us all to enjoy all over again.

4. Tetris (NES/Famicom Version, with some features of other version; Made by Bullet Proof Software & Published by Nintendo) - I don’t even need to define this game. If there’s another version of Tetris being release on the Wii, WiiWare, DS, DSi, or whatever, this would be good promotion. Seriously-MAKE IT ON THE VIRTUAL CONSOLE ALREADY!!! We all know and love this game, and it would sell like crazy on the Virtual Console, guarenteed.

3. MOTHER [1] (commonly known outside of Japan as EarthBound Zero) (Famicom [cancelled NES release, but the only English cartridge of it was found and bought, and turned into one of the most played ROMs ever]; made by Shigesato Itoi [the person and company], APE, Inc., Pax Softnica, Nintendo Tokyo R&D, and Products [all Nintendo 1st parties], & published by Nintendo) – MOTHER was the first “real” RPG not to take place in the boring world of medieval RPGs [aside from a few pretty lame RPGs that take place in futurist worlds] that Dragon Quest [and Final Fantasy] got us into. MOTHER takes place sometime in the 1960’s or 70’s in America, protagonist Ninten goes on a quest to collect 8 melodies to free the world of Gigyas’ wrath. This amazing American satire video game is hands down one of the best American satire games ever made, one of the best RPGs ever made, and one of the hardest games ever made. With one of the best video game stories ever told (I mean it!), hilarious American jokes, and an interesting and pretty much perfect Japanese perspective of America from the eyes of mad genius Shigesato Itoi, interesting and varied locales, greatly done characters, unforgetable music, awesomely hilarious enemies, great bosses, and a totally unforgetable realistically unrealistic setting and story, this game is one of the great games ever made. This game would easily be up there with Super Mario RPG as one of the best-selling games on the Virtual Console, PERIOD!

2. Duck Hunt (Made & Published by Nintendo) – Most of us have played and love this classic shooting and simple game. Releasing it would be ridiculously awesome on Nintendo’s part, and it would be great promotion for any future Duck Hunt series entries (DO IT ALREADY!!!). Seriously-why isn’t this out yet on the Virtual Console!?!?!? It’s like Nintendo likes throwing away millions of dollars!!! We all know it, we all love it, we all want it. GIVE US THE GAME NINTENDO, AND WE’LL GIVE YOU OUR MONEY, GLADLY!!!

1.  Fire Emblem [1] (called Fire Emblem: Ankoku Ryuu to Hikari no Tsurugi in Japan/Japanese; Famicom only; made Itelligent Systems [a Nintendo 1st party company], and published by Nintendo) – With a remake in Fire Emblem [11]: Shadow Dragon out in Japan and soon to hit North America and later the PAL regions, this would be a perfect addition to the Virtual Console. This game is credited with the creation of the (real-time) strategy genre-which is one of the best and most underrrated genres. Releasing this on the Virtual Console in all countries (which by the way it’s not even out in JAPAN!) would be a smart move, and would make the game that made Fire Emblem and Marth more accessible for Smash fans, and would be destined to be a mega-hit on the Virtual Console (and would get Intelligent Systems more out there). Definitely a game worth play, getting for 500 Wii points, used for advertisement of Fire Emblem [11]: Shadow Dragon, and adding to the Virtual Console. Definitely.

 

 

So that concludes my list. Please post any comments, thoughts, and so forth on this list and whatnot. Also, I have a SNES and N64 list in the works (and I plan to release both in the coming weeks), so I hope you enjoy that soon (along with hopefully a non-Nintendo console list, and DSi Virtual Console-esk list). So yeah-hope you enjoyed!