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CheatCC Rewind: How SNES Can Save the Virtual Console

CheatCC Rewind: How SNES Can Save the Virtual Console

During the March 3, 2016 Nintendo Direct, Nintendo made a rather big announcement. The company was going to add Super Nintendo Virtual Console games to the 3DS. But it was more than just talk. While the declaration was being made, Super Mario World , F-Zero , and Pilotwings were finding their way to the eShop at $7.99 a pop. It was a wonderful surprise.

Especially since the starting lineup was so strong. Super Mario World , F-Zero , and Pilotwings are all fantastic classics, and within a month they’ll be joined by Earthbound , Super Mario Kart , Donkey Kong Country , Donkey Kong Country 2 , The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past , and Super Metroid . These are incredible games you’d want to buy again.

The issue being, you might already have done that. All of these games are on the Wii U Virtual Console, New 3DS owners might already own them and, since Nintendo still doesn’t have a cross-buy promotion, that means spending an additional $7.99 or more for each one again. Even if you haven’t bought them already, there’s no way to hook the 3DS up to the Wii U if you want to play that version on the big screen. The two versions are limited to their systems. It’s a pro, but immediately followed by a con.

By the way, did you catch the other downside hidden in there? The 3DS’ SNES Virtual Console games are only for the New 3DS systems. People with older 3DS systems, like the 3DS, 3DS XL, or 2DS, can’t get these games. Only New 3DS and New 3DS XL owners can. Perhaps it’s because Nintendo needed increased processing power, especially to handle the perfect pixel mode to allow for original resolutions, but that doesn’t seem right somehow. Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butoden came with a SNES Virtual Console game as a pre-order reward from Amazon last year, and it worked on the standard 3DS. So we’re getting handheld SNES games, but they’re limited to certain 3DS systems. Another good thing, accompanied by a bad one.

CheatCC Rewind: How SNES Can Save the Virtual Console

But let’s get back to the lineup. Did you notice anything about them? They’re all Virtual Console games we’ve gotten before. A few of them even appeared on the Wii Virtual Console. We didn’t get any surprise announcements that would be exclusive to the New 3DS library. While this is a step forward, there’s also no initial indication that this time, Nintendo is going to go out of its way to make sure great first and third party games get rereleased.

The Virtual Console has always been a good idea, but Nintendo continues to start with something great, then refuse to commit to actions that could make it exceptional. The launch of SNES Virtual Consoles for the 3DS is another example of that. There are so many good things about this announcement, yet there are just as many downsides. Let’s hope that this time, Nintendo surprises us and really steps up its Virtual Console game.

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