BackgroundThe Wii U eShop will only be open for a limited time so it is worth looking at the games there while there is still time to buy them. In the past few months we looked at all the available eShop games, but we omitted the Virtual Console releases, until now! Nintendo introduced the Virtual Console (VC) with Wii as a way to sell games from previous systems a la carte. That same service continued with Wii U and 3DS before being replaced with a Netflix style service bundled with the Nintendo Switch's Online membership.
The Game Boy Advance Virtual ConsoleThe Game Boy Advance (GBA) sold about 81.5 million units and had quite a few exclusive games from well known franchises. However there have not been many attempts to re-release those games. There was no GBA virtual console for Wii; With the 3DS it was limited to the ten titles included with the Ambassador Program (
Link to NWR article). There are a few games that managed to get re-released on other systems, but by and large most seem locked on either the original hardware or the Wii U eShop. The Wii U eShop has 74 titles ranging in cost from $6.99 to $7.99 (USD) and we will deal with them in three parts, sorted alphabetically.
The GamesIn the final third we see the following 21 titles with information in the following order
Game Title (Release year, developer/publisher, current cartridge cost*, @ indicates part of the 3DS Ambassador Program)
* Loose cartridge only, USD, source:
https://www.pricecharting.com/ - Metroid Fusion (2002, Nintendo, $30, @)
- Metroid: Zero Mission (2004, Nintendo, $38)
- Mr. Driller 2 (2005, Bandai Namco, $29)
- NAMCO Museum (2001, Bandai Namco, $5)
- Onimusha Tactics (2003, Capcom, $22)
- PAC-MAN Collection (2001, Mass Media Games/Bandai Namco, $5)
- Pocky & Rocky with Becky (2002, Altron/Natsume, $121)
- Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team (2006, Chunsoft/Nintendo, $15)
- Pokemon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire (2003, Jupiter/Nintendo, $18)
- Polarium Advance (2006, Nintendo, $5)
- Rayman 3 (2003, Ubisoft, $8)
- Rayman Advance (2001, Ubisoft, $8)
- Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts (GBA) (2002, Capcom, $37)
- Super Mario Advance (2001, Nintendo, $10)
- Super Mario Advance 2: Super Mario World (2002, Nintendo, $12)
- Super Mario Advance 3: Yoshi's Island (2002, Nintendo, $14, @)
- Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 (2003, Nintendo, $14)
- Super Street Fighter II Turbo Revival (2001, Capcom, $18)
- The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (2005, Capcom/Nintendo, $18, @)
- Wario Land 4 (2004, Nintendo, $20, @)
- WarioWare, Inc: Mega Microgame$ (2003, Nintendo, $30, @)
The HighlightsHalf of the infamous 3DS ambassador games appear in this final third and include Mario, Zelda, and Metroid as well as two Wario Games.
Original cartridges are back to being expensive in this final set with eight titles costing $20 or more. But the most valuable game is also the one with the funniest name. If you were hoping to pick up Pocky & Rocky with Becky then you will be shelling out over $100. A new copy will even fetch $2000! That Becky is not a cheap date.
Checking in with publishers, we finally see some games from outside Japan with the pair of Rayman releases. Rayman 3 is a 2D game to accompany the 3D versions released on Gamecube and other homeconsoles. Rayman Advance appears to be a port of the original game in the series.
Speaking of games available elsewhere, the list includes Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, which was updated and released (Rescue Team DX) on Switch about one year ago.
CommentsI welcome any corrections to the information I found when compiling the list. The price information here is for the US so let me know about differences in other regions. Not sure what to comment, consider questions like:
- Have you played Polarium?
- What is your favorite Zelda game developed for a handheld?
- What else has Jupiter developed besides Picross and Pokemon Pinball?
- Are there any GBA games not on Wii U VC that you want to mention?
Next RoundJoin me next week in taking a look at some Ultra games from the big N.