The Wii Virtual Console was not only the first of its kind on Nintendo hardware, but it had terrific diversity in the platforms and games that it offered; we'll have to see how far the Wii U Virtual Console progresses on those terms. One of the platforms that was supported, giving excellent opportunities to those that didn't have all of the necessary hardware back in the day, was the Turbografx-16.
Unfortunately, not all of the games stayed on the platform permanently, with titles from various retro systems disappearing in the later years of the Wii lifespan. Four downloads that disappeared from PAL territories in 2012 have now, somewhat out of the blue, reappeared; they're listed on the Wii Shop as new titles as of 19th September. The games in question are as follows.
R-Type (TG-16)
Vigilante (TG-16)
Ninja Spirit (TG-16)
Legend of Hero Tonma (TG-16)
Of course those that downloaded these games before they were withdrawn on 31st March 2012 retained access on their account, but their reappearance now gives those that missed out a chance to grab them once again.
Will any of you be picking these up this time around?
Thanks to WiiLovePeace for the tip
Comments 40
R-Type... I believe it was among the first to be removed from the VC after Irem went under. Quite a shock at the time. And I still kick myself for missing out on an old fave. One of those games I knew I would eventually download. Waiting for the right day left me perpetually wanting...
Bring it back to NA and I can finally right this is wrong!
ooo, hint of TG16 games on the Wii U VC, along with the 3DS VC (As they were originally announced with the Game Gear) maybe? :3
@Angelic_Lapras_King Lets hope so, I love me some PC Engine.
"Ninja Spirit" is so, soooooo good! Probably the best home conversion of them all!
Awesome news!
@Cohort I second that motion! Ninja Spirit is a damn fine game. Give me save states on R-Type, please!
@FineLerv Some of the PC Engine arcade ports of SEGA games were better than the "SEGA" Megadrive ports, Outrun for instance...
wow , I will catch hero tonma, I've downloaded Ys I e II and it is a great game, also castlevania x and dynastic hero (wonder boy 5), they should bring the pc engine also on wii u virtual console
I suggest everyone here to download YS I e II for wii vc because it is a great game, don't miss until it is there.
YS is a game very suitable for nintendo gamers, they should bring also YS 4 nad 5 from super famicom or 4 from pc engine
Ninja Spirit is definately my favourite Ninja game.
Wonder why just those 4 - (All of the Data East stuff was removed at a similar time).
ohhhh, I was bitterly regretting not buying R-Type, so a chance to make amends is lovely
@Cohort Nice! We didn't get the TurboGrafx in Aus so my experience with it is limited to the Wii VC. I remember seeing the screen shots for TurboGrafx games in magazines when I was a kid marvelling at how advanced the graphics were.
For anyone wondering, these games are available on the NA VC too. I was super excited to learn about this news because I missed out on Ninja Spirit and R-Type.
Thanks to mexlost for posting about this in the Wii virtual console forum.
I would say most of them were (Or at least 50%). Even the ones people say the Megadrive version is better for tend to not feel the same.
@FineLerv We didn't get in the UK either sadly, I used to see PC Engine stuff in import shops (remember those) from back in the day but it was way too expensive.
Nice. Hopefully, this might mean that other withdrawn VC games will make a comeback. The Donkey Kong Country trilogy on SNES should be next.
@ACK
I just checked - they ARE back on the U.S. VC! Though... R-Type is 800 points, while the others are the standard TG-16 600.
I download them the first time before got deleted. I am happy they come back. All are great games. Download them. Please DCK trilogy be the next return.
@AtelierFan That's interesting... Maybe something to do with the original Jap PC Engine release of R-Type being split over two separate Hu-Cards to purchase (4 levels on each) You got a code (I'm led to believe) when you completed the 1st to enter on the 2nd part of the game you purchased. The US TurboGrafx release was on a larger Hu-Card (Turbo-Chip) containing the whole game though a couple of years later. This could have something to do with the logic behind that one- just a guess though!
Good news indeed and yes they have returned to the North American VC as well.
@vicviper You are absolutely right. It was always 800 points for that very reason.
Glad to see it. Though I wonder if it means anything for the 3DS or Wii-U VC.
Are the other R-Types also available or likely to return? There were two delisted from the SNES and one from the Master System.
Get Blazing Lazers on the Wii U
There are soooooooo many good TG16/Turbo Duo games out there. I had one, I know! If they got ported to the Wii U I'd be in heaven!
A new r-type, made by Sh'innen would be amazing.
Would probably grab Ninja Spirit if this happens to the US Virtual Console as well.
I only saw the GameCenter CX episode of Ninja Spirit after it was pulled from the Wii. Hopefully it makes it back over here in North America, and hopefully on Wii U to boot! The game looks really cool.
I've already got these. Hoping Silent Debuggers comes back.
@TwilightV I already had them too, glad I got in there early..
I hope the other R-Types come back as well.
@vicviper @antonvaltaz
Ah, thank you. But I wonder why the PC Engine version of STREET FIGHTER II: CHAMPION EDITION was only 700 points (in the States): It was also on a large capacity card.
@Cohort you don't know what you have done with that video
I hope that all the lost vc games return, the DKC titles included!!
Are discounts on offer for people who have the Wii releases of these? I have some of these on my Japanese Wii, but I had also purchased them on my PAL Wii. I like having this stuff in the Wii U menu all together, like.
I never even knew about Turbografx existence until Wii Virtual Console came. But it is now one of my favourite consoles on the service. Bomberman and Bonk are awesome, it has tons of SHMUPs, crazy pinball games like Alien Crush, a pretty good version of Street Fighter II and an exclusive Castlevania.
Turbografx-16 should be made available on Wii U and/or 3DS. Now that Hudson Soft is owned by Konami, Nintendo just needs to cut a deal with them.
The best thing about the PC Engine games is that they all run at 60hz too
@AtelierFan Yeah I think The PC Engine game card was 20Mb, dwarfing any other cart size, while the US version (released about 4 years earlier was 4Mb)
I presume the PC Engine/TurboGrafx version of StreetFighter II' was a little more pricey in the US was because it's an import title: it was never released in America, hence the higher points cost.
I think it's a great version of the game: it seemed slightly more bloody/violent than the SNES releases too, more in line with the arcade game in that sense!
All these re-releases are fantastic little games, genuinely top arcade conversions. I always preferred PC Engine games over MegaDrive/Genesis back in the day and still nowadays. I honestly think the system was better in most way, but most importantly for the superior software, especially the Super CD-ROM games!
@vicviper
First off, thank you for the reply. I think I'm not communicating what I mean, though. What I'm getting at is that SFII on the PC Engine is large capacity, just like R-Type. So if R-Type is $8 because of it's large capacity, then shouldn't SFII be $9 ($8 for the large capacity card, and $1 for import)? Either way, thanks for the conversation
THAT is what I wanted to hear: Multiple confirmations that these 4 TG16 games are BACK on the USA Wii Virtual Console! Thank ye! ^_^
I had noticed yesterday when I looked at wikipedia's list of North American VC games for the Wii that the number of TG16 games available they tell you at the top of each system's list had jumped from 56 TG games to 60! This explains why.
I'm glad they're back!
And on a somewhat eerie note , if you take the first letter of each of these 4 games, you get RVLN, or ReVoLutioN! (Wii's developmental code name) O_O
Cool..
.
Tap here to load 40 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...