Wouldn't you like to give these five games another try?
Nintendo 64 games have finally arrived on the Wii U Virtual Console! Sure, I could have played the many N64 games that were released on the Wii Virtual Console, but then I’d be missing out on cool features like Resume Points. The modern Wii U Virtual Console experience is much more preferred these days, at least for me. Super Mario 64 is out now, with Donkey Kong 64 and Paper Mario due out by the end of the month. But what happens after that? I decided to list five games I would like to see released on the Wii U N64 Virtual Console. The odds of some of these titles listed below actually getting a Virtual Console release are slim, but I think they are worth mentioning anyway.
Conker’s Bad Fur Day
Weird choice, right? I didn’t have an interest in the game back when it released in 2001 , but when I played the Xbox remake a few years later I had fun. It de-emphasizes the collect-a-thon type of gameplay that Rare became renown for back then in favor of a more streamlined platforming experience that was a refreshing change of pace. Yes, it’s crude and pretty childish at times, but it’s a pretty solid platformer that’s worth another play if the opportunity arises.
Chances of it coming out: Virtually none. Conker is, of course, a Rare character. Rare and Nintendo don’t have much of a relationship right now. If there were ever to be a re-release it would probably be on Xbox One. Then again, Rare did work with Nintendo on GBA and DS titles since their split, so a possible collaboration is not completely out of the question if there’s interest.
WWF No Mercy
My favorite wrestling game of all time is WWF No Mercy for two reasons. First, it has one of the best grappling systems in a wrestling video game to date that Yukes has never been able to emulate or improve upon. AKI’s wrestling system is so easy to learn, not like today’s wrestling games where they make it to weird or complicated to have a fun match. Second, it came out in 2000 at the height of the WWF”s “Attitude Era”, where some of the biggest stars of all time made their mark and the wrestling industry overall was white hot. And even if you weren’t a fan of the WWF at the time, AKI relied heavily on animations from their previous WCW games and incorporated them into the create a wrestler mode, so by the time No Mercy rolled around you could essentially create any big star that was wrestling during that era.
I’d love to relive those moments, especially with the fun story mode where each championship had its own respective storyline. I remember feeling so accomplished when I beat Eddie Guerrero for the European title on my first try. They made it hard, but I pulled it off. The grappling system was so easy to use and master its astonishing no other wrestling title has ever successfully emulated it.
Chances of it coming out: Not good at all. WWF has since become WWE, and they can’t use their former name anywhere. Intense editing would have to happen for a re-release. Plus, there are a few people on the roster that WWE wouldn’t want in a 2015 release, so some of the roster would have to be taken out. Add the fact that THQ has since gone bankrupt and 2K now would have the rights, it doesn’t seem likely there will ever be a re-release of this beloved grappling classic. It’s a damn shame because in the wrestling world, it’s still considered one of the best wrestling titles to date on any platform.
Ogre Battle 64
I went for a wildcard pick here. I’ve never played one Ogre Battle game. However, I’m a big strategy RPG fan. It was games like Fire Emblem and Final Fantasy Tactics Advance that got me into the genre. Those titles were released a few years after Ogre Battle 64, so the timing wasn’t there for me. This game has eluded me for so many years and I’ve always heard good things. Bottom line, I’d just love to give it a try.
Chances of it coming out: Not sure. It’s out on the Wii Virtual Console, so there’s a chance. But Square Enix published that release and they’ve been sluggish releasing Virtual Console games in North America, so who knows.
Star Fox 64
I never finished this game. I got it when it first came out and was amazed by the fact that controllers could rumble with an accessory. Things we take granted for now were revolutionary back in the N64 days. That, plus the full voice acting (minus stupid annoying Slippy) blew me away. But even though I was amazed by the presentation, I never got past the first few stages. I think I got bored of dying repeatedly and there were games like Mario Kart that made me feel better about my video gaming skills back then. So 18 years later, I’d like to remedy the situation.
Chances of it coming out: Very good. They mentioned in the direct that the GamePad will support N64 games with rumble features, so it makes total sense Star Fox 64 will be an upcoming title. We could see it as early as this summer! Can you think of a better way to get raise some excitement for the upcoming Wii U Star Fox title?
Mario Party 2
I never played this iteration in the series for whatever reason. I played the first one because it was a new Mario game. Then I played the third game because Daisy and Waluigi were brand new characters to the series who I didn’t see a lot in the other Mario games. I felt like I had to play as them because they were new. Weird, yes, but that was my thirteen year old mentality back then. Another reason I picked this game was because Mario is also wearing a cowboy hat on the cover, so I imagine this as a fun, wacky sequel. Giddy up, pardner!
Chances of it coming out: Pretty good. Nintendo’s the publisher and they need to release at least a few N64 Virtual Console titles every now and then, so it will probably make its way over eventually.
And that’s it! Do you agree with my picks? Are you offended I didn’t choose something like Yoshi’s Story, Kirby 64, or even WCW/nWo Revenge? Let me know what you’d like to see on the Wii U N64 Virtual Console below.
