rdm22

@16bitdave I gave in and bought the digital

Because I'm a hopeless retro junkie (who is desperately playing catch-up on JRPG classics; in the middle of original Final Fantasy at the moment), I am even more excited about these than the new release.

@Aurumonado Ha! That would be a game I would play!

Not sure I'll jump on these, but I have liked my Vs. purchases (contrary to one commenter on this thread, I love Vs. Super Mario Bros.), though I hate that Hamster doesn't have an instant load feature to restart from your spot-save the way other retro ports do — this is especially annoying in the SNK games they have re-released, when you may well want to just go back to the beginning of a bout against a particularly challenging opponent instantaneously the way you can in, say, The Street Fighter Anniversary Collection. Instead I have to exit and restart the game to get back to my save spot (cue someone being like "uh...that feature exists" and me feeling pretty darn dumb).

Clustertruck World 9-10 (Satan Truck). I have been stuck on the last level for an eternity. I finally have a strategy, but have only had a few chances to try it out.

For a game that otherwise brilliant threads the very-difficult-but-fair needle, what a maddeningly impossible last level.

@Jasonmd Lol yeah this has been extremely frustrating

Cannot wait for this—though, TBH, I’m even more excited about PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16 Mini.

This game looks very promising.

@bilboa @dres thank you to you both. Very helpful (and kind to respond to my long post!).

@bilboa thank you very much — good to hear (and that’s exactly how I’d want to use it, ha)

Possibly stupid question: as someone who is considering getting online now that SNES titles FINALLY are available, can you play the SNES games when you are offline? Or do you need to be actively connected to the internet to play?

If the former (desperately hope that to be true), is it like a rental service where you pull down certain games at a time while you’re online?

I am sure there is an NL article that explains this, but I thought I’d ask here (apologies for being an inept researcher and the long post). Thanks in advance for any answers.

I have had several friends respond to my “Terry Bogard in SMASH!!!” texts with “Who?” today and it has made me want to cry.

I guess we Americans were so MK / SF addicted that we criminally ignored the probably superior Fatal Fury series (and, in so doing, also missed out on arguably the greatest arcade fighter of all time in Garou). Still makes me sad.

YESSSSSSSS!!! I was actually about to buy this collection for DS. I’ll wait for Switch now!

@NinjaWaddleDee this similarly moved me from “definite pass” to “huh, that actually looks pretty neat.”

90s millennials (like me) are such easy marks.

Sega: “This new thing looks like old things!”

Me: “Take all of my money!!!”

@JaxonH thank you for putting these all in one post. Helpful to have my complete and irrevocable financial ruin plotted out so concisely.

Incredible month.

No physical for this, right?

I never really doubted this was happening (it's such a natural fit on Switch), but I'm still very pleased.

@nintendoknife I was wondering why the sequel wasn't mentioned. I picked up a physical copy of that recently but haven't given it a go.

It seems like the need to purchase the original is obviated by the sequel — which got consistently glowing reviews and I am very excited to take a whack (or hack and slash, I suppose) at. But would be happy to hear countervailing opinions from those who have actually tried one or both games!

Definitely interested. Let's see if the review suggests it lives up to the hype.

@SeantheDon29 Great list (though I could do without playing Sonic Adventure again...blew my mind back in the day, but I beat it again a couple of years ago on GameCube and the less said about Big the Cat, the better). While Grandia HD can whet our appetites, it would be amazing to get a bevy more Dreamcast Titles.

In addition to the ones you mentioned, I would specifically highlight Shenmue 1 & 2 (was pissed when the collection skipped Switch), Rez, Chu Chu Rocket, and (dark horse) Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver.

Sega AGES folks — I hope you read NL comments sections!

I read this interview in The Guardian and was like "I wonder if Nintendo Life will pick it up?"

Yup!

@SmaMan All very interesting, thanks for added info.

@SmaMan @DavidMac I have read that one of the main impediments to its inclusion in all of the collections that have come out of late is Michael Jackson's estate holding some claim over their usage due to his involvement in the musical composition (apparently MJ himself wasn't too keen on holding things up). To be fair, my source for this is either Wikipedia or something of comparable reliability, so take this "insight" with a shaker-full of salt.

Regardless, a true shame, because when combined into S3&K, the 1994 swan-song Genesis titles were (and, in my view, remain, as much as I ABSOLUTELY LOVE Sonic Mania) the pinnacle of the Sonic brand (and one of the finest examples of 2D platforming ever made).

I just learned that the Genesis Mini includes every regional version of the included games — it was mentioned as a throw-away perk in a review on Kotaku.

Feels like that's a HUGE plus that's not being sufficiently mentioned! Getting to choose between sinking your teeth into the brutally tough US version of Hard Corp., the more forgiving Japanese version (like the only game in history where that's true), or the (visually at least) totally different Probotector? That's really cool! Ditto for any other games that have significant differences between regions (I don't know off hand; Kotaku cited the Contra example, though they failed to mention Probotector).

I think this and the PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16 mini both look incredible.

@RedderRugfish This is a good point.

Seems like the comments are focused on the "disappointing" rather than "best" portion of the headline. On the disappointment front, while I still haven't bought MM2 (Xmas 2019, I hope), obligatory reminder that Zelda II: The Adventure of Link exists.

Re: SNES titles: Evercade does what Nintendon't (well, at least not Switch Online; we've been benefitted with some top shelf SNES titles via third party collection releases).

@Galactus_33 I have been playing my Virtual Console games all week and LOVING them. It really is inexcusable that we have not gotten anything close to that.

But I am also an oddball who only does local multiplayer, so I have not bothered to pony up for the online service.

That said, I would happily do so if they ever bothered to deliver a comparably robust service to Virtual Console. In the meantime, I’ll just keep giving Konami, Capcom, SNK, Square and (best of all) Sega my money for their retro collections (some of which are pretty lazy port jobs, but the underlying material is still stellar) of games I actually want to play.

How does one have the attention to detail / foresight / technical know-how to make something that complex??? Really incredible.

More 64 games on Switch are always welcome.

I undertook "the nuclear option" as NL refers to it twice — it took me about 1.5 hours in total for 2 joystick replacements, and they both work fantastically. And prior to that, I had never so much looked at a circuit board, so it really is something anyone can do (the fact that I busted two joycons just by being so rough with the joystick should indicate I'm not exactly a delicate soul!).

NL's guide above is great, but I had not seen it prior to my undertaking and went by this video instead (also very helpful): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMHl7GwbEb0

By the way, the full game list is out, and it looks stellar (ugly American that I am, I am providing the TurboGrafx list, but it seems they're the same (or almost the same) from what I've been reading, including tons of Japanese games on the US release): https://www.konami.com/games/pcemini/us/en/

I actually have been enjoying it quite a bit.

@Franklin Should have read your comment. I just echoed you, sorry.

@SleeplessKnight Here, here! Was literally just writing: "I genuinely don't understand this move. How is $100 in savings worth sacrificing the reason the thing is called a "Switch" in the first place?"

Cool, I guess — BUT WHERE'S THE PHYSICAL RELEASE??? Seems like the priorities are out of whack!

“How would you like to see Nintendo improve the value of its online service moving forward?“

My answer: Anything other than more NES games.

Nintendo’s answer: ALL the NES games!

Soooooo...do we have any sense when is this actually happening? I have been holding out!

I thought we were promised this??? Since I am exclusively a single-player and local multiplayer fan (yes, I am old and boring — I even play Splatoon 2 exclusively one player!), and since I picked up basically every NES title I want on Wii Virtual Console (RiiP), Online’s only draw for me will be other legacy console content. Since I’m pretty well stocked on N64 and SNES via cartridges and/or collections and/or Virtual Console, the real draw would be GameCube and (gasp) Wii games ON THE GO — or even legacy portable consoles akin to 3DS’ Virtual Console library (but also they should include Minnish Cap this time).

My hopes are frankly low on this front. But I’ve been pleasantly surprised before!

Be difficult to find a more deserved promotion than Aunoma.

“So what have you done for the company?”

“Made objectively the best video game of all time?”

“...Anything else?”

Switch is really the first portable system I have invested heavily in (my GameBoy was really a Pokemon Red and Tetris machine--I don't think I owned any other games; and I never invested in another portable console, since my money was spent on home consoles), so I am probably the only NL reader who has actually never played Link's Awakening (unless somebody above made the same embarrassing confession). So a "remake" with incredible HD graphics is pretty much exactly what I want. Can't wait for this release.

@ilikeike I somehow missed Rondo on Virtual Console (despite going on a buying spree as Wii VC was phased out — including of TurboGrafx titles like Ys, which I am on the precipice of defeating (Darm is tough) — still mad at myself for this), so yeah, if Rondo's not on the Western version, I will be extremely unhappy. And it's inclusion would instantly change this from a "pass" to a "buy" for me (unless it pulls an "Atari" VCS and has a preposterous price point).

But is this a situation where even if that were to be the case (perhaps because of some arrangement with Sony in light of the re-release), silly PAL folks like me might be able to buy the PC Engine Japanese version instead? I don't see why not — though then understanding anything transpiring in the games would be...erm...tough.

I am honestly kinda dizzy from this E3. Nintendo just knocked it out of the park.

Almost in tears I'm so excited. I had known they were hiring for 3D mapping, but never let myself believe we'd see a sequel — I know it's only in development but YES YES YES YES YES

FINALLY re: Virtua Racing!!!!

The Dugtrio skeletons are high octane nightmare fuel.

The Mini became an essential buy in a hurry — such a fantastic collection of games that reflect a different take on the breadth of the Genesis/Mega Drive experience than prior compilations (still sorely missing EA sports titles or the likes of NBA Jam; but nothing to be done on that front / they may not hold up), with platinum-level rarities like Wiley Wars and now Tetris (!) / Darius really pushing this above-and-beyond even Big N's mini efforts (the less said about Sony's dismal foray into the mini craze, the better).

If I may quibble (which, I think, is what the internet is for?), I had really been holding out hope for Rocket Knight, especially with the early announcement of the inclusion of Bloodlines showing Konami was onboard. It's a shame such a by-all-accounts stellar platformer has missed out on every Genesis compilation to date, likely because of the aforementioned Konami connection.

And it was downright rude of Sega to use "Cowabunga" in the teaser for the final countdown and then not include Hyperstone Heist — though, admittedly, Turtles in Time was the far superior Konami TMNT beat-em-up.

Sorry for the long post — major Genesis fanboy who became a Nintendo guy with 64, here.

@Angelic_Lapras_King: That would be amazing, but isn't an impediment to that the fact that a Capcom subsidiary developed the Oracle games? Ditto Minish Cap. I don't pretend to understand how the rights to these things work, though.

I am putting about as much faith in this being localized as Mother 3 being released in the West or Switch getting a collection of Zelda portable games (I know the latter is not even on any radar, but it would be so awesome and I CANNOT be the only person who would instantly buy said collection were it to pop up; not that I'm complaining about the gorgeous looking Link's Awakening remaster — I'm just greedy).

Gah! My backlog-to-free-time and wish-list-to-wallet ratios are in atrocious shape at the moment, so not sure I can justify picking it up right away. But I have high hopes for this game and want to support it as such a cool use of Nintendo's AAA IP in an indie collaboration. So barring NL blasting this game (highly unlikely), it's just a matter of time.

Glad to see some other folks are playing Sonic this weekend, too! That one I’m playing in the collection, but I also dusted off (literally) my Genesis and fired up the copy of Dynamite Headdy my uncle bought me at a Blockbuster (I feel like I owe it to him to beat the actual cartridge without the assistance of spot saving etc. before playing it on the Switch Collection; I never did as a kid). Forgot how incredible this game is. Last but most certainly not least, I am continuing Golf Story — which is so, so, so good.