The Virtual Console. When we heard about it over a year ago Nintendo gamers jumped up in the joy, mostly at the chance that we would at last be able to play the best of the best from past Nintendo consoles on its newest and greatest. Well the excitement quickly turned to frustration and then annoyance for Australian.

Putting those few disappointments aside here is Part 2 of a few classic games some of our staff would like to see on the Virtual Console in a feature we like to call, Vooks Top Ten (VTT).
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Forum Name: Spirit (Sean Jones)
Game: Paper Mario(N64)

Near the end of the N64 a little game (hardly little I might add) called Paper Mario was released and it was a blast. Sadly, I only got up to the third world before I had to take it back to the store. I would love to get my hands on this again as I have very fond memories of this and it’s sequel.

Forum Name: Ninja Catfish
Game: Battletoads (Mega Drive)

I remember going to my mates place across the road when I was younger, playing this game co-op for ages. It was just a whole lot of fun. Who needed to take notice of a storyline, you had two crazy toads, who went around kicking, punching, jumping and abseiling their way to the next level. With two players, this was a blast. Over exaggerated animations, crazy move and enemies just made this game a fun one to play. Who needs excessive realistic violence when youve got excessive cartoon violence?

Forum Name: NX Monkey
Game: Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES)

Without a doubt this is one of my favourite games in the Zelda series. The detail taken in creating the legendary land of Hyrule on the SNES was just incredible, creating a huge free-roaming world with secrets and hidden treasures hidden all around. A monumental game and monumental part of the Zelda epic, it would be great for it to make an appearance to charm another generation. Note: You know I might have put Ocarina of Time, but I decided against it since I know most of you chums out there, including myself, will be in possession of the GC bonus disk that came with Wind Waker. Suffice to say, since our trusty Wii is backward compatible with Gamecube games, its not as high on my list as it once was.

Forum Name: Flamecondor
Game: Goldeneye (N64)

Just saying this games name will bring a smile to the face of any Nintendo fanboy. Hell, just saying this name should bring a smile to the face of anyone who is a fan of FPS games on consoles because this game is what truly bought FPS games to the forefront of console gaming. Sure there had been FPS games on Nintendo systems before this, but this is the one that truly revolutionized the genre. You see, before this game came out, most shooters of the first person nature where more or less, shoot bad guys, get key, go to next area. Goldeneye on the other hand introduced the genre to a new level, giving us objectives to complete such as setting a bomb in place, disabling alarms and so forth.

But the aspect of the game that most people would savour the most was the outstanding multiplayer mode. Up until this game, most FPS games on home consoles had be single player affairs, but this game is what really made a deathmatch mode a must have for every single FPS game from then on. Now am I the only one who would love to see this on the VC with multiplayer fully playable online? I think not.

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Forum Name: Spirit (Sean Jones)
Game: San Francisco Rush 2049 (N64)

Another game that made a place in my heart because of it’s unbelievably fun multiplayer mode. Again, myself and a friend would play this non-stop until our eyes bleed. It was fast, furious and kept us awake late into the night.

Forum Name: Ninja Catfish
Game: Snake Rattle and Roll (NES)

Another one I remember hiring and playing as a child, this is one remembered for its pseudo-3D game play, and the ability for two players to play through the main game simultaneously. The main idea of the game was to eat enemies with your snakes tongue, which increased in size with each enemy eaten, as well as your snake growing in size with each Nibbly Pibbly they eat. The goal was to eat enough Nibbly Pibblys to make your snake heavy enough to tip the scales at the end of each level and open the door to the next level. Unfortunately for me as a child, the difficulty of this game sets in quite early, only a few levels in, so I never really got hugely far in this game. With any luck Ive improved somewhat by now, and might even be able to beat it if it were on Virtual Console!

Forum Name: NX Monkey
Game: Tetrisphere(N64)

Now this was one gem of a title on the N64 that was sadly overlooked by many despite being an exciting new interpretation of the classic Tetris formula. The traditional rectangular playing field is replaced by that of a sphere, and the aim of the player was to clear away layers of the sphere by tessellating the traditional Tetris blocks on the surface. A VC release would do wonders in seeing one of the best titles in such a long running franchise is made accessible to all Wii owners.

Forum Name: Flamecondor
Game: Star Fox 2 (SNES)

Its hard to figure out what to say about this game, so lets start with the underlying fact, this game never came out for the SNES, anywhere in the world. But from all reports it was finished and ready to go. Why did it not come out you ask? Well, the impending launch of the N64 may have been the biggest reason in it all. It looks like Nintendo scrapped this game in favour of releasing a new version on the N64, so why not just wait for Llyat Wars to come to the VC? Well they arent the same game. Starwing 2 would have added a lot of things not seen in the series until very recently. Gone would have been the on rails levels in favour of the all free roaming mode. Now your trusty Arwing would also be able to transform in a few new modes plus the game was done all in semi real time, much like the DS version and even when youre on the map screen stuff is still happening, meaning you needed to think ahead of time about what to do and how to do it in order to make sure you do all that needed doing. Will we see this on the VC? Its very unlikely, and to be honest just getting Lyat Wars would be enough, but I would still love to see this on there just to see what could have been.

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Forum Name: Spirit (Sean Jones)
Game: Goldeneye (N64)

The last of the three dreams, Goldeneye reshaped how First Person Shooters looked and played on a console platform. Created by developers Rare, Goldeneye was based off the James Bond also titled Goldeneye and had us racking up giant kill counts as we tried to stop an old friend stealing a load of cash. Everything about this game was perfect, from level design to mission structure, all the way to the immensely engaging multiplayer.

Forum Name: Ninja Catfish
Game: Kirbys Fun Pak (SNES)

Well, this could very well be the most complete Kirby game ever released. This game was a compilation of 9 Kirby games, most probably not long enough for a separate release, but when put together formed one hell of a collection. You had Spring Breeze, which was pretty much a nicer looking version of the GameBoy game Kirbys Dreamland, The Great Cave Offensive which charged Kirby with exploring a series of levels scouring them for treasures, Revenge of Meta-Knight where Kirby races against time to destroy Meta-Knights ship before it can destroy Dreamland, which by memory ends with a quite spectacular boss scene.

Probably one of the best parts abut the platforming parts of this game, is that a friend with a second controller can join in, becoming a unique character based on the power Kirby discards. As well as this, the Pak featured a few small mini-games such as Samurai Kirby or Megaton Punch. Sadly, having never owned a SNES, I was only able to play this game thanks to friends who had the game, Id really like to be able to play this completely through for myself, or even better, with a friend the whole way through!

Forum Name: NX Monkey
Game: Super Mario Bros Series (NES)

Okay, so maybe I condensed these three down into a single section, but otherwise my list would be overrun with Mario. The Mario Bros series has influenced many of the games of our lifetime. They are the original platforming titles that were just so easy for anyone to pick up and play, not to mention having a damned good time. Its probably fairly obvious why I want these on the VC, and I have no doubt it will be a very short time before they make it there. I look forward to jumping on goombas, dodging fireballs, teaching Bowser a lesson once again and speed running the original from world 1-1 to the final castle. Super Mario Bros 1, 2 and 3 are pieces of gaming history not to be missed.

Forum Name: Flamecondor
Game: E.V.O. Search for Eden (SNES)

Ive always enjoyed this game. Its a rather unique little side scrolling RPG that takes the whole Evolution idea of survival of the strongest and runs with it. You get stronger by eating other animals and every time you eat something else it gives you Evo points. Once you have enough of these, you can spend these points on whatever you want, be it new legs, a more powerful jaw and so on. You arent just limited to one choice in each area either, you could just get the best jaws you can afford now or save up your points and get a better one once you have enough. If that wasnt enough, during the game you will evolve into different life forms, starting off as a fish and working your way up to mammals or birds, its all up to you. As I said, this game is unique and off the top of my head I cant think of anything else like it, this would make a great addition to the VC in my opinion and one can only hope well see it down here sooner rather then later.

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Forum Name: Spirit (Sean Jones)
Game: Banjo Tooie (N64)

Dream Number 2. The sequel to Kazooie was longer, bigger and funnier. Though many fans thought it didn’t quite stack up to the original I absolutely adored it. The multiplayer was a blast even if for short plays and the bosses were clever and different. Perhaps if Nintendo slip a big cheque into Microsoft’s letterbox.

Forum Name: Ninja Catfish
Game: Kirbys Adventure (NES)

Now this was probably my number 1 favourite NES game way back when. The best part of this game for me was the ability to save my game so easily. Id just turn off the NES and Id be able to come back and start at the last level Id completed. And then there was the huge variety in ways to play the game. The sheer amount of enemies Kirby could swallow and steal their powers was great, and experimenting with different powers even sometimes unlocked new areas within levels. Though this game has been re-released on GBA, Id like to be able to play it in its original form again, reliving ll those memories. Ahhhh

Forum Name: NX Monkey
Game: Goldeneye (N64)

For many gamers including myself, Goldeneye was a pivotal point for console based shooting games. It set the standard then on the N64, which, even now, is rarely broken. It proved shooters could be made on consoles, and good ones at that. Goldeneye was created at a time when Rare was very much still in their prime, and featured an engrossing mission based single player campaign coupled with a multiplayer mode that, simply put, was packed to the brim with hours and hours of fun. This was the must-own multiplayer game on the Nintendo 64. Im sure that there is really not a single person who has played Goldeneye in their lifetime, who would not love to see it revived on the VC restored to all its original glory.

Forum Name: Flamecondor
Game: Super Mario RPG (SNES)

Ive always loved RPGs, I also always had a love of Mario games, so imagine my excitement at a Mario RPG being made. Now imagine my disappointment when said game never came out down here. Super Mario RPG was one of the last games to come out for the SNES, and given that the SNES was in decline, it made it rather hard to track down and impossible to get a copy thatll work on a PAL SNES (even with the aid of a converter). Now, while we may not have seen this game down here, we have felt its influence over the years with the Paper Mario games and the Mario & Luigi ones, and while they may be better games then this one, it would still be nice to see it down here after all these years, and hopefully the VC will be our best chance of that.

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Forum Name: Spirit (Sean Jones)
Game: Chrono Trigger (SNES)

I’ve never played this game, I’ve heard very little about it but hot damn I would eat this game up if it came to the Virtual Console. RPG’s are a blast and this game has been herald as one of the best. So please Ninty, give us some love here.

Forum Name: Ninja Catfish
Game: Sonic The Hedgehog 3 Complete (Mega Drive)

I remember this being the holy grail of games for me during one point. Everyone had played the Sonic series, and I loved Sonic 3. I could go as second player and play as Tails helping my mate in the main game. Then we discovered Sonic and Knuckles. Utilising an interesting lock-on feature, this turned Sonic 3 into its full complete version. Added levels, the ability to play as Knuckles, extension and real ending to the storyline, this was simply awesome. This game I just remember for having so much fun with, finished it multiple times thanks to the save feature, and co-op play is always a plus. Being able to play this again on a TV, the way it was meant to be played, now that is something I would pay for.

Forum Name: NX Monkey
Game: Secret of Mana 2 (SNES)

Secret of Mana was most definitely one of my favourite SNES RPGs, and I can tell you it made me a very sad gamer to find that the sequel would not be released here in Australia. Squares masterpiece RPG series creates an enthralling universe rivalling that of Final Fantasy and with the potential for co-operative play it becomes an epic. Secret of Mana 2 took much of what was enjoyable about one of the best RPGs on the SNES and took it to a new level with diverging classes and new characters and abilities. Experiencing such a title on the VC for the first time would be a dream come true.

Forum Name: Flamecondor
Game: Secret of Mana 2 (SNES)

My favourite SNES game of all time would have be Secret of Mana for the SNES. When I got that game as a wee youngster I could not get enough of it. So imagine how pumped I was when I saw the first pictures of the follow game, which was dubbed by the Western world as Secret of Mana 2. It looked absolutely unbelievable; I mean, the graphics were just gorgeous. Every little bit of information I could find on the game I lunged upon. From the six playable characters to the multiple storylines and alternate endings, it all sounded just too good to be true. Unfortunately for me and for those of us who lived outside of Japan, it was.

The game never came out down here or even in the USA, thus denying most English speaking fans the chance to play it. There are rumours around as to why it never came out here, was it due to the release of SquareUSAs game Secret of Evermore or some other unknown reason? I guess well never know. What I do know though, is this game takes the winning Gameplay style from Secret of Mana and improves it in every possible way. It gives you more control over how your characters grow, giving them 1 of 4 possible classes to become. Instead of the previous 3 characters, you get 6 all new characters and you dont even have to pick the same team, giving this game a huge amount of reply value and dont even get me started on the graphics or the sound, cause they would blow anyone out of the water. Hopefully with the Virtual Console well get a chance to play it one day and if not then hopefully Square might see it in themselves to remake it for the DS or something. I dont really care though; all I want to do is play a game which I consider to be the greatest game to have never come out of Japan.