Topic: Changes to games on the VC

While games on the VC are generally exactly the same as they were on their original consoles, some games do have minor changes. I thought I would make a thread where we could list and talk about all the changes so far. I'll start off by listing the changes I know of off the top of my head, feel free to add some that I missed. It looks like most of the changes have to do with flashing screens because of the epilepsy risk.

NES

• Excitebike - You now have the ability to save custom tracks.
• Kid Icarus - Passwords that worked on the actual NES game do not work with the VC version.
• The Legend of Zelda - Uses the 2003 Collector's Edition version rather than the original cart. Ganon is now spelled correctly (not "Gannon") and the screen flashes slower when you receive triforce pieces.
• Mach Rider - You can now save custom tracks.
• Operation Wolf - Zapper support removed.
• StarTropics - Yo-Yo renamed star.
• StarTropics 2: Zoda's Revenge - Tetrads renamed "Blocks" due to Nintendo no longer having rights to Tetris.
• Tecmo Bowl - NFL players' names removed, only players' numbers remain.
• Ufouria: The Saga - With the NA release, the music is sped up to 60hz while it should be 50hz.
• Wrecking Crew - Like Excitebike and Mach Rider, you can now save custom stages.
• Zelda II: The Adventure of Link - death screen no longer flashes.

SNES

• Donkey Kong Country - on levels where you have a flashlight, the screen no longer flashes white when you turn left or right.
• F-Zero - The screen no longer flashes black when you hit the walls, possibly due to the epilepsy risk.
• Super Mario RPG - Flame Wall attack no longer flashes yellow and white due to epilepsy risk. Now it is solid red. Also, the town of Moleville is darker than it was in the original game.

Genesis (Mega Drive)

• Monster World IV - Will be fully translated when it arrives in NA/EU.
• Revenge of Shinobi - Spiderman character colored pink. Also, Shinobi's face at the title screen is different.

TG16

• Castlevania: Rondo of Blood - The intro voiceover is different in the NA/EU VC release. It is now the same voiceover used in the PSP version.

N64 (at this point no games emulate the rumble pak or the controller pak)

• Mario Kart 64 - Lightning effect changed due to epilepsy warning.
• Pokemon Snap - You can now save in game photos to your Wii and send them to friends.
• Sin and Punishment - Some English translation added.
• WaveRace 64 - Kawasaki license removed. Signs now say Wii and DS.

Arcade

• Puyo Puyo - the first VC game to offer online play. (Currently only available in Japan.)
• Ninja Gaiden - Star of David imagery removed. Also, the boss music in stage 2 and 5 have been removed due to a likeness to Black Sabbath's "Iron Man"
• Shinobi - Marilyn Monroe posters removed (although they are still there in the Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection). Spiderman character recolored.
• Space Harrier - added motion controls as a control option using the nunchuck.

In Pokémon Snap for N64, you can now save your photos to an SD card.

In Space Harrier (Arcade) and some other VC Arcade releases, various options have been added.

I think most of the arcade options (changing difficulty, changing amount of lives etc) are things you could do if you owned the actual arcade board, but I think you are right that with Space Harrier you could control the character by moving the Wiimote. And I don't know how I forgot about Pokemon Snap

Blaster Master got something extra added at the ending, doesn't it? The Adventure of Link also uses the Collector's Edition version, the dying screen no longer flashes.

I guess they still haven't released Super Hang-On outside Japan, but I think Sega Japan's VC page says it supports holding the nunchuck and remote like handlebars.

I've heard some people say the emulators used for the VC games are programmed to automatically detect and remove flashing, possibly by ignoring palette changes if they happen too quickly.

Doesn't Operation Wolf for VC not include NES Zapper support (which IMO would be a big reason to download it)?

Sin & Punishment has translated menus.

StarTropics 2: Zoda's Revenge renamed the Tetrads as "Blocks" due to Nintendo no longer owning the Tetris rights. Makes the dialog in the game sound extra stupid, sadly.

Updated the list with your suggestions. I can't confirm if there was actually any changes made to Blaster Master. I think all it was was a contest where if you beat the game you could send a screenshot with your score to Sunsoft.com or something, but if you guys know something I don't let me know. Also, I'm curious about Sin and Punishment. Was the game translated simply for the VC or was it an unreleased English rom?

Quoting the IGN review:

and, on top of that, the people responsible for digging this classic up out of the Sunsoft archives have hinted that there's a new little bonus at the end of the game, for those who commit themselves to completing the entire adventure. So if you're one of the thousands who gave up on saving Fred years ago, maybe now you'll be inspired and encouraged enough to help Jason finally find his friend.

In Excitebike for the NES, the VC version finally allows players to save their created tracks. This option was previously unavailable on the NA and EU cartridges.

/revs engine.........

I find it interesting that they've added features to so many games. I didn't realize there were so many changes (though given the size of the catalog, it's still pretty few). Yet, they can't emulate rumble or controller pak on N64. It just seems rediculus that they updated pokemon snap to save pictures and excitebike for NES to save tracks, but you can't save controller pak data. Don't tell me it's too hard to emulate - I've had freeware emulators for over 10 years that saved controller pak data (ghost data from Diddy Kong Racing to be specific) for probably almost 10 years now - force feedback emulation too.

Yeah you see a lot of people on here say "it's hard to emulate" as a reason for a feature being omitted. An example being Starwing/StarFox not being on the VC because it's hard to emulate when PC freeware emulators have managed it for over a decade. To get force feedback to work would be simple, as would Wii remote light gun control and emulating Super FX/chip enhanced games. The reason we don't have them is simply laziness - they're not considered worth the time at the moment so they're either omitted or just not released.

The back story is that Vic Ireland WAS going around promising something like that. In fact that's related to the contest (which never happened!) where you send a video of you beating the game and they were going to hand out pins and stuff. I think Vic said somewhere on NeoGAF "Oh hey guys, we got a neat little bonus for those that beat the game." and the IGN reviewer took that to mean they added something IN the game, which was not the case.

Anywho, adding on to what berzerker was saying, Mach Rider and Wrecking Crew also let you save created stuff now.

Also, Puyo Puyo Arcade adds online! That counts for something right?

The same thing happened for Wrecking Crew as for Excitebike: You can save your custom-made levels.

EDIT: Dang, beat to the punch!

Good call! Let's also go ahead and add Mach Rider to that list. Custom-saved levels were on the VC version.

Technically, all versions of Excitebike/Wrecking Crew/Mach Rider had the save programming, written to use a special tape recorder called the Famicom Data Recorder (possibly it was an extension to the Family BASIC keyboard, but I'm not sure), but it was never released outside Japan. (I read that the manuals even said they left the programming in incase they decided to release the recorder later)

Added Wrecking Crew/Excitebike/Mach Rider. Like others have pointed out, I have a hard time believing that they can emulate the Famicom Data Recorder to save information on those games, but can't emulate an N64 controller pak. Just map the save file to the flash memory or an SD card, it shouldn't be that hard.

I know that The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past a secret room in the SNES version named The Chris Houlihan room (Chris Houlihan was a Nintendo Power contest winner in which the winner of the contest would have their name in a game) is now just called The Top Secret Room in the VC release. Not sure why it was changed but it probably had to do with the guys name.

Players would complain that the translation errors are part of the nostalgia.

@BulbasaurusRex: No joke there. I've got a friend who actually prefers the name "Pearl" to "Holy" for the spell in FFVI, simply because that's what he grew up with. Ludicrous, in my mind. Personally, I always welcome improved translations.

Someone actually got there in the VC version?
I heard it was only accessible if the game detected an error loading a room. Being a Nintendo game, I don't think the game is going to glitch so easily. I remember reaching it once on an original console, was left wondering WTF happened for years (and that was around 1995, so no internet access to look it up).
I would think the VC is even less likely to glitch up than real hardware.