Nintendo of America has taken the opportunity, in its standard Download Update details, to confirm two games that'll be arriving on the Wii U Virtual Console in the next two weeks. They're both familiar NES titles, though with Capcom keeping the lid on the running order for its month of Mega Man releases this doesn't represent the full line-up.
So, what are these two retro treats on the way? The answer is below.
- Double Dragon II — 14th August
- Life Force — 21st August
Double Dragon II pleasingly adds co-op play, which was surprisingly missing from the original NES entry, though is perhaps still showing its age a little. Life Force, meanwhile, is an iconic sidescrolling shooter that's still a lot of fun to this day.
Are you looking forward to these titles, and are you tempted to pick either of them up?
Comments 70
Breathtaking.
Boring as usual.
They should have had all virtual console games out by release...
Meanwhile, about £100 of my money sits dormant waiting for my neglected Wii VC collection to be made upgradeable.
As soon as I struggle through Majora's Mask on a 50" TV they will release every single N64 game on VC.
Life force is an ok game but I don't need it. Double Dragon has not aged well at all.
That's it?
I'll get Life Force
I want DD3 as well.
Nice to see more than Mega Man is being released this month. Even better that we're seeing what's released a few weeks in advance.
@Nintenjoe64 I think its acceptable by now that Nintendos Virtual console offering for Wii U will be immensely disappointing
Slow news day?
uhmm... good job Nintendo??
I'll be getting double dragon II for sure (as an upgrade). Haven't decided yet on life force though.
Two excellent games!
Just two titles yawn
I guess they just don't like to make money. Another quarter of dismal sales. Thanks Iwata
OMG. Don't hurt yourselves NOA! Thanks for making a monumental effort over the next couple weeks.
lol, two titles. I'll pick up DD2 though.
How about BattleToads/Double Dragon? We definitely need more BattleToads on the WiiU VC.
BOOOOOO!
Very happy for DD II. I'll be picking that one up. I'm not sure about Life Force. I know the sound/music is great--and it's also 2 player--but I've moved on from space shooters.
omg so many new VC games! !!!
(2 is better than none at all)
@BertoFlyingFox No Battletoads. Rare is dead.
I keep asking! Capcom please bring Mega Man 9/10 to the eshop (not wiiware)
omg Nintendo confirmed these tow MEH MEH MEHDIOCRE games!....if not cause of Cybernator, I would call this, another mediocre month of VC games....Where´s my Metroid Zero Mission Nintendo?....I know you released it on Japan months ago!!!!
This is getting scary. Nintendo is actually communicating what it will be doing..... in Advance!!!!! Not only that, it confirms that for three weeks in a row the Wii U will get two virtual console games.
(Really excited to be able to buy Double Dragon II also. One of my favorite games I owned on NES, and so much better than the port of the first one).
Great. At least they warn us bad weeks are coming this time.
That's cool, but these game are already on the Wii VC. Besides Earthbound, I have not downloaded VC games on Wii U.
Yawn, I mean like that's really worth announcing.
Is it now a requirement to complain whenever commenting on NintendoLife articles?
Is it me or is this announcement being met with a serious amount of unappreciative snark?
Wii U saved. NoA efforts are truly showing when it comes to Virtual Console games. At this pace we're going to see those promised N64 and DS games somewhere in 2019. We luv u, NoA.
Get your act together Nintendo, gosh!
Blah!
Thank you, Nintendo for destroying the Virtual Console service, both on 3DS and Wii U. A service, alone, that convinced me to purchase a Wii, a 3DS and even a Wii U on launch day.
I understand that you don't have anymore third party support to release three never re-released before games on each Virtual Console service, but you still have plenty of Nintendo old games to throw and grow the library of games.
Instead, you make me play NES games on a tiny screen rather than enjoy GameBoy games. And, instead, you make me download games that are already on Wii just because the GamePad is cool rather to release new games. GBA and DS games on a home console and NES on a portable? My vision is hurting too much just to say that.
Playing a NES Mega Man on a original 3DS was very odd. Did you see why Mega Man on its GB games is bigger and the environment smaller? There is a reason.
Anyway, to me, this service is dead. Clearly, and pitiful, Nintendo, you don't want more sales on your systems.
PS.: I don't own neither like the rival systems from Sony and Microsoft.
Fantastic. Proud of you Nintendo of America.... Proud of you...
So we know these 2 are coming next week plus a Mega Man. We also got multiple options for this week. I'm just as disappointed as everyone else that we have not gotten any N64 or Gamecube VC titles as of yet but still I don't think 3 releases or more per week is worthy of the comments above. Do we need more console variety.....YES but this week and next week are far from bad weeks.
@Gen0neD There are a lot of people that love Nintendo, and with love comes emotions. It is not a bad announcement, more shocking that they actually announced something in advance than anything else. The problem is that every Nintendo fan has their list of games they want on Virtual Console and no matter what Nintendo does, someone will be unhappy.
@Ryno I'm not really surprised by it anymore. Someone always finds something to complain about.
I love Nintendo, and because I love them, I hate watching them make weird decisions that don't capitalize on the power they're capable of. Their E3 was brilliant, and I'm glad they're finally getting in touch with what excites their customers. But the area I'm always consistently baffled by, and the one area I feel needs improvement above anything else, is their Virtual Console. They're sitting on a treasure trove of great titles, but they only trickle out 0-1 decent titles a week. This week was different, fortunately, and granted, I understand the trickle-out strategy from a business standpoint, as it creates more demand around their already scarce and high quality titles, but geez, the least they could do is put games out at a similar rate to the Wii's VC. The Wii U is so far behind where the Wii was at this point in its life cycle that it hurts.
Anyway, there are better things to do with my time than complain about this. I just hope Nintendo's forthright and aggressive attitude at E3 eventually carries over into how they treat their Virtual Console.
....Still no DS games...when are these happening? Seriously... :/
People complaining about two NES classics. Amazing.
These are the types of games that SHOULD be on the VC.
look at all these complaints. we received three vc games this week and we know we will be receiving at least four in the next two. this is a step in the right direction if you ask me.
Hopeless. Utterly hopeless. The Wii VC was far better at this stage which is an appalling state of affairs.
Meh i don't care it will get better, but this is not so horrible.For people to complain here on this article.
@Yorumi Great explanation. I think that's why the "complainers" in this comment section have a right to complain here. Once Nintendo does weeks like this on a regular basis and proves they're done being stingy with their VC games, then the complaining won't be as justified. Right now the VC deserves some healthy criticism.
Guess what I'm going to vote in the "Thursday Downloads" for the next two weeks...
How much more than Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V do they need to do to get these games out? I mean, if a freeware emulator can run 99% of games 99% of the time, I'd hope a big company like Nintendo could do the same!
Uhh Nintendo? How about some VC titles that are coming to the 3DS? Numerous 3DS owners would like the same courtesy that you gave Wii U owners and give us an idea of what the 3DS is getting this month.
I don't get it, why do they insist on treating their most popular console currently on the market like it's an afterthought? I get it, they need to save the Wii U.
But the 3DS was left out of E3, we keep losing systems to the the Wii U's virtual console, and we can't even get a mention in a press release. Another few lines Nintendo, that's all it would have taken for you to include the 3DS in this press release.
Or hell, give us our own. Because I'm getting tired of waiting each week hoping a good VC game comes out rather than yet another Sudoku game.
When is Final Fantasy coming? Donkey Kong Land? Bubble Bobble?
Really Nintendo, this is why the 3DS' sales have plummeted this year. You've managed to somehow waste away all the momentum that it had lin 2012 and 2013 while you focus everything on the Wii U.
The 3DS family has sold 45 million systems. We deserve better than to be treated as an afterthought while all the focus remains on the Wii U.
I don't hate the Wii U, I intend to get one. But I'm just tired of being treated like an afterthought Nintendo. Me and my brother own a couple of 2DS consoles and a 3DS. I wish we would be treated better this year.
Not interested.
Interesting...
I don't see why anyone would want this version of Double Dragon II. Years ago it was fine to have poor arcade conversions but you can get a close to arcade perfect version on android , iOS etc
Nothing for me this w...Oh wait.
@Taggsta I would never want to play a game like this on a smart phone.
Stuff that's already out on the 3ds. I am so alright with lifeforce I was wanting it on WiiU
Double Dragon 2 kinda sucks though. That one was yucky
Agree if you are only using the screen to control the game, but you can play with controllers too. Just saying that in this day and age I personally don't find poor arcade conversions to have any appeal, I expect more.
double dragon 2 upgrade for me,
dont listen to these crybabies
@Taggsta The arcade game is a slowdown fest and a poor copy of the first arcade game This one is way better.
I'm an arcade purist, but if it's a good game in it's own right then I'll take your work for it.
I like that konami is releasing life force but hey where is the original Contra? do you not want my $5
Fabulous.
In all seriousness, I may get my hands on Double Dragon 2 once I'm done saving my money for Hyrule Warriors.
3 PS1 games have been released in the last 8-12 weeks, and Sony still doesn't have alot of good games available.
Brave Fencer Musashi, Mega Man Legends 1 and 2, Einhander, SaGa Frontier, Rival Schools: UBF and Soul Edge are CLASSIC PS One classics that Sony virtually abandoned, as far as western gamers are concerned.
Nintendo releases 3 VC titles, with 5 more on the way (at the least) and it's 'Nintendo sucks'.
Could it be better? Yes. Does Nintendo not want to pay thousands to port 5-8 games weekly and risk first party titles cannibalizing the 3rd party sales? I wouldn't want to.
Frankly, it's stupid to even think that having a hundred or so additional VC titles would sell systems.
And frankly, right now, Nintendo doesn't care for anything else.
Ready to upgrade Double Dragon II. Classic beat 'em up. Still need to get the Final Fight games on VC too.
Neh, I've already got Life Force on 3DS.
wait....first we get 3 virtual console games in one week?? lemme sit down! then? an actual vc release schedule?? in advance?? wow maybe NOA finally coming around?? hope so but they still got work to do yet imo!! i been saying since wii u's launch.....3-5 vc games a week! no excuses!!
@NodesforNoids
Why have you brought Sony into it? While far from perfect their PS1 selection covers nearly all their first party titles and a single purchase works across three formats (bringing the Account system comparison into focus). Despite that they still get plenty of criticism over what isn't available Inc Those titles you listed even though they are third party.
The failings of a competitor do not excuse Nintendo theirs so what's the point?
@NodesforNoids
Also, as for only caring about selling systems, how about caring for the existing owners and especially long term fans?
I used to own both of those games on the NES. I paid $4.99 a piece for them so I wouldn't mind spending $4.99 each on those games again as I kind of regretted selling them.
Yea ill never understand why old games that have reached the wii's vc arent already available when wii u is launched.. Slow and half assed stuff these companies do. Its 2014 lets get priorities right out the gate.
@Yorumi well sega flat out said they have no plans of supporting the vc so that ones out of your complaint box.
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