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To me it comes down to hand holding. Less is more:
Less hand holding equals a more "traditional" Zelda game.

Breath of the Wild was the first Zelda game that "felt" like a modern extension of an "original Zelda" game. It had very little hand holding and just threw you into a fully functional world with minimal set up, that allowed the player to "just figured it out". Similar to, "It's dangerous to go alone! Take this." and/or Link wakes up from a dream and it is a dark and stormy night. Both of these ideas seemed to have been woven into Breath of the Wild. Everything else contained within BotW seems like natural progression from previous games.

For me, a traditional Zelda game is similar in nature to games including and prior to Links Awakening on the Gameboy. So Zelda 1, Zelda 2, ALttP and Links Awakening, and now Breath of the Wild. Hardware limitations of the past forced constraints that the creators had to stay within, but modern hardware removes many of those. I feel if those original constrains were not a thing, the game might have been similar to what we got with Breath of the Wild.

On a side note, per the manual, the very first Zelda on the NES has labyrinths. And to this day, I believe labyrinth is a much better word to describe the maze like structures instead of dungeons. People get hung up with Dungeons, but Dungeons are where you keep prisoners. Zelda games include Labyrinth style elements, but the games are much more than just that.

Personally I really enjoyed the bite sized Shrines. Many small puzzles that felt complete after I finished them. Where as the Champions were much longer and drawn out. They just took more dedicated time and 4 was enough.
Weapon breaking was necessary, because if I always keep all my weapons, it would make the game become too easy. There needed to be some limiting factor and it brought about some small strategy for battle. Once I had access to the Master Sword, I just used that all the time.

I checked the Wii U eShop today and to my surprise 2 new games popped up that are not mentioned here.
Silver Falls - White Inside Its Umbra
Silver Falls - Undertakers.

Any developer willing to release games so close to the end is at least worth a look.

If I saw both at a store, I would buy the European version.

Crazy Taxi might be all I remember. Well, I guess Moonwalker too, but that might be slightly different.

If I saw both at a store, I would buy the NA/EU version.

@NeonPizza I picked up a copy of Blazing Chrome while it was on sale. Looking forward to playing it. I enjoy a good game that encourage repetition, patience, pattern recognition, and learning.

At a glance, Blazing Chrome seems similar to Contra: Hard Corps

If I saw both at a store, I would buy the Japan version.

@NeonPizza The original Contra is one of the best of the best NES games, and it had simultaneous two players. Quality simultaneous 2-player game were relatively rare on the NES.
My expectations were high for Super C, I am not sure if it had a chance.

The original Contra on the NES is still the best. It is hard, but fair and very doable.
Switch out Contra Hard Corps for Super C or maybe even Contra III. I always thought Super C was a let down compared to the original and Contra III was not what I wanted from a next gen Contra game. Although Contra Hard Corps felt like a nice progression from the original.

If I saw both at a store, I would buy the NA/EU version.

If I saw both at a store, I would buy the Japanese version.

My first Mario Kart was the SNES game, but I did not enjoy it. Because of that game, I did not play another Mario Kart games again until the Wii.
Mario Kart Wii is easily one of my favorite games.

@strongest_link I am not sure anyone would argue that.
Do you honestly think the NES Metroid is similar in any way to any of the NES Castlevanias? Or Super Metroid is similar to Super Castlevania IV?

Considering the article was about an 8/16 bit collection of classic Konami TMNT games, I was referring only to the 8/16 classic Castlevania games. I do not think they resemble Metroid (besides being a video game) in anyway. Later iterations of Castlevania might have some similarities, but not the classic 8/16 bit games.
I could be wrong, it has been a while since I have played Metroid.

Konami is only shell of what they were in the 80's and 90's.

"Konami’s pedigree was once second only to Nintendo’s first-party output."

Konami made some pretty good games, I am not sure if they were second to anyone back in the 80's. I would say they are on Par with Nintendo's 1st party games. And in some categories easily surpassed them. Nintendo did not put out anything similar to Contra or Castlevania.

If I saw both at a store, I would buy the Japanese version.

If I saw both at a store, I would buy the NA/EU version.

If I saw both at a store, I would buy the Japanese version.

NA/EU looks like an action hero movie poster,
Japan looks like her body is at a odd angles,
Both look like she is ready for a American Football game, but with a blaster.

If I saw both at a store, I would buy the N/A version.

@thinkhector
I find it hard to believe that most people would want as many games as possible regardless of quality. I want the games I enjoyed as a kid. Not the games that I never wanted to buy. There is a reason I never bought Wrecking Crew or City Connection. If I did not enjoy a game when the NES was popular, I am sure people these days will not get much enjoyment. I would love to play some hidden gems. It is not the 80's, I can watch a video and get a pretty good idea if the game good or not.
The NES online service is not free, I must pay for access. NES app has much less appeal that I hoped, since I have been playing most games for decades. Most of the obscure games I never would have purchased anyway. Even as much fun as many of these games are, there is just so many times I can play Excitebike, Balloon Flight, Mario Bros, Super Mario Bros., Punch Out, Baseball, Ice Hockey, Zelda........
The Genesis app is the only reason I would even consider the Expansion Pack. Nothing else is of any value to me, especially not for the price, but since I already own most of the SEGA games included in the service, it is a hard sell for me.

Talking Konami, even excluding the games in an anniversary collection, I would like to see games like Jackal, Rush n Attack, Track and Field, Blades of Steel, Top Gun, Double Dribble. Although, I would still love to see access to Contra. If my memory serves me correctly, I do not think there is online multiplayer for Contra within the Contra Anniversary Collection. (I could be wrong, I have not played it in a while.) And if Contra came to the NES online service there would be online multiplayer included.
One of the reason Konami was so popular was because they made awesome simultaneous 2 player games. During most of the NES days, quality simultaneous 2 player games were rare.
Even Super Mario Bros was 2 player but one person had to wait for the other to die.
The only Konami game that I was excited for but disappointed me was Adventures of Bayou Billy.

@thinkhector
My comment was specifically talking about the Nintendo Switch Online service. Nintendo's NES online offering is just not as strong as it could be without more of the games that made the NES great. Simply because some, although not all, of Konami's NES games are available elsewhere on the Switch does not negate my comment.

Those collections are awesome and I own most of them one way or another, but as each month passes, the expectations for these online service grow exponentially. The bar is much higher in 2022 than it was when Nintendo started to dabble in online. And in my opinion, in some respects Nintendo seem to be moving in the wrong direction.

Nintendo's biggest hurtle in 2022 is what gave them such great success 80's and 90's, 3rd Party support. Nintendo's own games are fun, but it will only get them so far. These days if Nintendo is going to sell a service that celebrates what made the NES great, they need most, if not all, of the 3rd party games that people played. Having to pay extra for what ideally should be included in the NES app, seems redundant.
You never know though, they might show up at some later date. I am pretty sure many of the games on the SEGA app are also available elsewhere on the Switch too. So there is precedent already.

Well, if this is any indication of the future, it is a scary state.

I know many people have moved on to the Switch, (new always seems better in the moment) but at some point nostalgia may kick in and someone will wish they have access. As much as the Switch is getting the same games, The Wii U and 3DS are so unique, it cannot mimic these consoles one to one. And as of March 28th of 2023, all of the digital games will be wiped out.

This will not only be a reality for Nintendo, but eventually all similar services will follow. Maybe there will be a solution. Maybe Nintendo will embrace something similar to Valve after the Switch generation, but if history is an indicator, Nintendo has a very uneven record of backwards compatibly. But I think digital games tied to ones account should be different. And even if Nintendo switches gears and does start to carry over libraries to the next generation, that does not help the Wii, Wii U, DS or 3DS generation.

This just got a lot more interesting. Both Lunar games, Final Fight CD. Things just get better and better.

I passed on the first one, but this one is much more interesting. Lets hope the SEGA Genesis Mini 2 sees similar games. I do prefer the look of the Model 1, but with a 6 button controller, and this list of games, this is instilling hope, not something I can say much with SEGA these days.

I am glad SEGA is releasing this as an independent item. I do not want this tied to something that might go obsolete in the future.

I have seen some great suggested games for the SEGA CD,
in addition to the Lunar series, Snatcher, Eternal Champions, NHL94, Final Fight CD and Popful Mail:

Nice additions would be Vay, Rise of the Dragon, Robo Aleste, and The Terminator.

I did not pick up the first one, but this one looks much more temping.

Mario Kart Wii. I like the risk and reward of the game.

MK Wii was the first Mario Kart that inspired me to play more than a few minutes.
MK 8 is okay but it was a disappointment for me upon release. Maybe I just had sky high expectations. I think it has become a better game over time. But Sonic Racing Transformed set the bar very high.

I never enjoyed the original on the SNES. The others fall somewhere in between.

@NeonPizza About the Dreamcast, there is one more thing you can say, especially about the launch titles, Soulcalibur.

Soulcaliber on the Dreamcast still might be my very favorite 3D fighter. And in my opinion, might be the very best launch title ever for any console.
Maybe only Zelda Breath of the Wild might eek it out slightly for the Switch. But since Zelda really is a cross over title, there might be a little gray area.

But I have never seen a game from another console's launch line up that was nearly the best looking game on the console from the very start.

Soulcalibur is a very special game for sure.

To flagrantly dismiss playing retro games on original hardware and CRT's is just foolishness. It really is the best way to play those types of games.
Lag and bad image quality is a real thing on many modern day TV's. Lower quality modern TVs that do not compensate for lag is near impossible to play on. Most midrange TVs can modestly get a passing grade for some games with some kind of "game mode". However, there are ways to get those older games looking and playing pretty good on modern TV's. But there is an investment. You need a low latency TV, the right cables and something like a retrotink. Then it can be a surprisingly good experience.
But simply hooking up your favorite retro console with stock cables to an average modern day TV will yield very disappointing results.

I am looking forward to this game

Both videos had something that reminded me of NiGHTS.

These first two videos give me hope this will be a great game.

Looks awesome. I love the openness. Feeling of endless freedom. I loved that about Breath of the Wild.

I remember being super excited for new Konami games.
Without Konami's big hitters, the Nintendo Switch Onlines service is just not complete.

I remember being excited for Tecmo NES games, so I am glad to see so many of the good ones on this list. And obviously 1st party Nintendo games.

I thought the dude hovering over the bones was John Madden.

The Chiptune music sounds great!

This is an interesting video

I still find myself going back to Pro Wrestling on the NES.

I am surprised it is not even mentioned on this Nintendo list.

Starman 4 life

I have learned over the years that Nintendo will say almost anything as long as they can justify it is "mostly" true.

I do not speak Japanese, but since this is a translation, I wonder about the nuances of the language and translation to English. There might be subtleties lost in translation. Although if it is a investor Q & A, they have to be somewhat careful what they say.

Hard numbers would be better in this scenario. But even those can be manipulated to be shown in the most positive light.
What would be interesting to see would be total number of current units being used compared to total number of active Online Expansion Pack, then compare that to total number of regular online users. Then aggregating family plans vs individual plans so they cannot hide any numbers behind totals. I am 100% sure they could somehow justify their definition of "Most".

An a la carte option would be better for me, as I would only get the NES/SNES and Genesis games. I could care less about the N64 stuff. If they added some NEO-GEO or SEGA CD or PC-Engine or other similar 2D era games, I might be interested in that. As someone who lived the early 3D era, I have no problem leaving that in the past.

It is kind of sad that I immediately go to Steam to check what others have said about the games.

ElecHead looks interesting,

There is something off with the banner thing. I am not sure if they are too rectanglely (is that a word?) or if the colors contrast or if it emphasizes individualism over a team. But they seem to jar the flow of that intro screen.

If someone is a collector, they will need to buy both boxes.
Picking one or the other is not an option.
If Nintendo created two distinct box arts (budget and original), then a complete collection requires both.

Historically, if I am buying second hand, I will always go for the original. But if I am buying new, and the game is older, I will go for the cheaper option.

@jsty3105
The technology might be there, but will the willingness be there too?

The Wii to the Wii U had some sort of "upgrade" ability for games you owned. Of course this was not free. I remember being able to "upgrade" a few of my games for a small fee. So instead of paying full price, I could pay a dollar or two for a game I purchased on the Wii to "transfer" it to the Wii U.
I would not put it passed them to do something like that again. Or some how tie the ability to transfer your digital games to the new console for a one time upgrade fee or somehow paywall it behind their online service for "free".
I would be shocked beyond shocked if they went with a full blown Steam style carry over. And even if they did, how many generations would they carry it out?

I use to be a hardcore console guy, but for 3rd party games, the PC has won me over for this singular reason. I will still keep buying Nintendo for Zelda and Splatoon and a few others my family cares about, but that would be it.

But this whole idea of a pack in game for new consoles would be a mute point if I had access to my entire digital library from day one. It would be even better if I could play my physical games too. But I assume if Nintendo did do a digital carry over, they would use it to encourage more digital sales and punish physical.

However, we totally got our monies worth out of Nintendo Land though.

@Bluerangervegeta
I historically I have been a console guy, but Nintendo's refusal to carry over any of my digital purchases has made me rethink things. I am finding that I am buying most of my 3rd party games on Steam these days. The nice thing is whenever I upgrade my computer all my games play better.
With Nintendo, all my games will always play just the way they are, for better or worse. They will never see an upgrade simply because the hardware got better. Considering that Nintendo is usually on the slower end of the scale with hardware, this is normally not a good thing.
Nintendo lost a lot of good faith with me by not carrying over my digital purchases this generation.
I mean, if companies are encouraging consumers to go digital, carrying over archaic practices from the physical days is unnecessary. If I cannot have a physical product then I expect that the digital version will carry forward. Similarly the archaic idea of pre-ordering in a digital age makes no sense. They are never going to run out of stock for a digital download.
This has to be a two way street. Make it good for you and good for the consumer.

Valve seems to have figured this out. With products like the Deck, it takes some of the uniqueness out of consoles. And I can keep my entire library of games playable for the foreseeable future.

When I get a Steam Deck, I will have access to all my Steam games day one. No pack in game necessary.

I have a feeling if Nintendo tries to pulls that trick this generation to the next generation, people will not be happy.

Putting one of the best games as a pack in with the console has always been a winning strategy, It works time and time again.

@Kintypoo121
I like your idea, but take it a step further. Include the entire Switch Sports game.
Similar to packing in the original Wii Sports with the Wii, if Nintendo really wanted to "sell" the expansion, they should have considered including the entire Switch Sports game with the expansion. Including the entire game MAY have made me take a second look.
If everyone in my family plan would have wanted to play it, I think I could have been convinced. But, as of now, I have very little reason to fork out $80 year after year after year for what they offer.

I hope Nintendo takes advantage of the power of the Switch and make Splatoon 3 a sequel that could not have been playable on the Wii U.

As someone who as put hundreds of hours into both 1 and 2, a Nintendo "next gen" Splatoon would be fun.

• I use the term "next gen" in quotes and with the caveat in reference to whatever Nintendo might consider next gen. I say anything that would not be easily ported to the Wii U.

Bloodlines is ranked far too low on the list.
i.e. It should easily be in the top 10.

Both Kid Draculas are ranked better? No way.

@Friendly I am 100% sure they did. I was being facetious.
But there official statement is they were planning digital only and now seemingly being caught by surprise that people might want it on a cartridge.

I can only go by what they say publicly.

"..our team has been made aware..." PR statements like this just make companies sound ignorant, yet these companies keep doing it.

No doubt they are hoping people will double dip. But I own these games 5 times over and I have learned that with a little time games usually get massive discounts. So I do exactly what I did with Mania, I wait for what I prefer or I buy on discount in the future or both.

I use to fall for their marketing and buy all my games at full price, then I wised up. With websites like Deku Deals and others, I can easily track what prices companies are willing to take. I have plenty of games to hold me over. Especially these games.

Really, they did not anticipate this?

Going to be harder to delist my copy of Sonic CD on the SEGA CD.

Yep, these screen shots look like Sonic games.

This is cool, but this is one I would prefer to have physical exactly like the originals.
I really wish I could buy a physical copy of the game and also have the convenience of the digital without having to buy both.

I wish games would adopt a similar model as to when I buy a new music CD. Typically I received the "AutoRip" MP3 free with purchase. It is always double nice when the physical CD cost less than or very close to if I were to buy the MP3's alone. The CD shows up in a few days and I get the MP3's right away. Best of both worlds.

I also agree with others, include the Master System games!

Back in the NES days, Konami was King.
I think the only disappointment I remember was The Adventures of Bayou Billy.
Besides that game, it was awesome game after game after game.

As I think back to my time with the NES, I might have played and enjoyed more Konami games than even Nintendo games.

Panzer Dragoon Saga. I am not totally convinced that modern audiences would understand what is special about the original game.

I went back and played the originals on the Saturn and there is something different (special) about those games on original hardware. I am not sure it would translates well to audiences of modern consoles.

It would be cool is SEGA would make a true 16 bit style sequel to the Phantasy Star series.

But Skies of Arcadia and the Golden Sun series would be nice.