The January release list gives a hint of things to come.Nintendo has posted twelve new games on their Japanese Virtual Console web page. Each of these games will be released in January, though specific days have not yet been set.
First up are four Famicom (NES) games. Ikki, published by Sunsoft is the only new third-party game. Ice Climber, Hikari Shinwa: Palutena no Kagami (Kid Icarus), and The Legend of Zelda 2: Link no Bouken (The Adventure of Link) are the other three games, all of which happen to have Famicom Disk System editions. Each game will cost 500 points.
One Super Famicom (SNES) release, Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu, is the second Fire Emblem game to be released on Japanese Virtual Console. Players will be charged the premium price of 900 points to experience the RPG.
Nintendo 64 VC games are seemingly releasing at a rate similar to the original games, with only the second game announced for the platform, Mario Kart 64. The popular racing game will cost 1000 points.
Two Sega Mega Drive (Genesis) titles, Bonanza Bros. and Gain Ground, will be making their way to Japanese gamers next month for a price of 600 points. Both games are System 24 arcade ports featuring 2-player cooperative play. Bonanza Bros. is a stealth platformer, and Gain Ground is a vaguely Contra-style action game.
Finally, four PC Engine (TG-16) games are scheduled for January with a cost of 600 points. No surprise are Alien Crush, which is already out in the rest of the world, and R-Type II, which is the second half of the first arcade R-Type game and already included in the English version of the game. Moto Roader, an overhead-style racing game and Soldier Blade, part of the Star Soldier shooter series, are two new Japan-only releases.
In addition, Contra Spirits was originally scheduled for a December 19th release, but has been delayed with no specific new release date.