Top Ten Virtual Console Games

Putting together a top ten list is a daunting task, it’s especially scary because no matter how good you think the games you’re choosing are someone’s always going to disagree with you. As such I should clarify that these are the top ten games on the NES and Snes that I would like to play on Wii, games I feel brought a unique experience I haven’t had anywhere else.  Perhaps sometimes a little controversial, and maybe sometimes a little obvious, you’ll have to let me know by sharing your opinion.

Also, Xena rocks.

Find out what games made my top ten list after the jump!

Putting together a top ten list is a daunting task, it’s especially scary because no matter how good you think the games you’re choosing are someone’s always going to disagree with you. As such I should clarify that these are the top ten games on the NES and Snes that I would like to play on Wii, games I feel brought a unique experience I haven’t had anywhere else. Also, Xena rocks.

10) Duck Tales:
Life is like a hurricane, race cars lasers aeroplanes, it’s a duck-blur! Classifying Duck Tales as a “good” game is a real disservice to Capcom, it wasn’t just good it was cool. They crafted a licensed game with strong platforming mechanics, great action, smooth graphics, and best of all it really did feel like you were living in the Duck Tales universe. The TV show was quite simply a modern animated classic, it had wonderful art, some of the best voice acting around, and characters both lovable and memorable. The game took all the right elements from the show including its Indiana Jones influence and put you in play as good ol’ Scrooge McDuck, embarking on an adventure that would take him all the way around the world on a quest to expand his already VAST fortune. I don’t think I ever finished Duck Tales and lord knows I’d love to, anyone out there know if you got to swim in Scrooge’s money bin at the end? What is a duck-blur anyway?

9) Ikari Warriors:
Oh man! I remember the very first time I booted this game up and saw what was then the most amazing intro sequence ever… a plane crashing in the jungle (it looked off the hook, believe me). Ikari Warriors was a vertical scrolling shooter that saw you and a buddy take on hordes of enemies, wave after unrelenting wave. Armed with the latest in high tech 1980’s weaponry, machine guns, grenades and cool 80’s style bandannas, one red and the other blue. I always fought to be the one with the red bandanna ’cause I could imagine I was John Rambo. If you don’t get where I’m coming from you never will, the brave souls who played Ikari know, they know. You just had to have been there. Oh yeah, and did I mention you could take over enemy tanks and helicopters in this game? Awesome piece of software!

8) Double Dragon:
Some people hate on NES conversions of the various Double Dragon games, having never played them on arcade; I can’t understand why. My brother and I had the absolute best time playing through all these games (except the crappy one on SNES). It was also pretty cool that you could actually hurt each other. Whenever we argued over who should get a power up we’d duke it out to see who was the last man standing… I still have fond memories of whacking him over the head with a stick…


7) The Adventures of Bayou Billy:
Pretty much a single player Double Dragon game, but it also had elements of Hogan’s Alley (the “Zapper” light gun segment) and a touch of Road Rage in a segment where you were being chased down a dirt road in a jeep. One player could control the steering while the other fired your jeep’s machine guns and grenades, yeah, you had machine guns on your jeep because Bayou Billy’s a badass. It also didn’t hurt that the world was in love with Paul Hogan at the time and Billy could sorta look like Hogan if you squinted, they both wrassled crocodiles/alligators and had hats. At this point I should probably mention that The Adventures of Bayou Billy is a crappy, broken game that’s really, really difficult to finish, but darn it, that’s what makes it hardcore! (No really, it’s pretty hard).

6) Legend of the Mystical Ninja (aka Ganbare Goemon):
Breathing snot bubbles, that always kinda bothered me about this game. Other than that it was an AWESOME two player game, fantastic whimsical graphics, fish flopping down the streets, geisha that vaporise when you kiss em, and you get to beat dudes up with a yo-yo! You get to explore peacefull villages and palaces, talk with strange old ladies, buy sandals, eat sushi, visit spooky ghost towns and charming fairgrounds where you can play mini-games like Gradius and… well I don’t know I only ever chose to play Gradius. Thanks for this one Konami, now make another (but a good one, not the crappy PS2 one).

5) Gradius III:
Cool intro, watched it every time. But then you took control of your spacecraft and you were charged with a mission, whatever that mission was I didn’t care because I had big guns, crazy big guns that could shoot backward and lots and lots of enemies to take down. I don’t think anyone ever played Gradius sitting down, too darn hectic to do that. The best thing was getting absolutely drunk on speed ups and zooming about the screen like a bat on fire before slamming into a brick wall. What a rush!

4) Contra:
Contra is the bizarre lovechild of Rambo, Predator and the 1980’s. How’s that for incentive to play? Not enough? How about intense 2 player co-op action with various imaginative and increasingly lethal weapons with which to bring the enemy to its knees? My dad and I lost hours of our lives to this game, we finished it so many times in a row it’s embarrassing. And we didn’t use the Konami Code for extra lives either (for pansies), we just ran all the way through, the game would restart and the carnage would commence again. One of the really cool things about Contra was that every time you played through without turning the console off the enemies became faster and faster making it increasingly fun and chaotic. What wasn’t cool was the fact that I played through the European version of Contra which was called Probotector…

3) The Legend Of Zelda:
I still have this beautiful golden cartridge in my collection, I wonder if the battery still works? What is there to say about this title that hasn’t already been said? Quite simply one of the best adventure games ever made? No, that’s been said. A huge sprawling world to explore with all sorts of cool little hidden nooks and crannies to find? No, that’s been said as well. Sigh… Zelda really fed this kid’s imagination, even though it was just a bunch of sprites floating around with a sword in hand just about everyone fleshed him out in their minds. From the haunted graveyard to the old man under the waterfall, to the mirror world, just joy and beauty. Good times, nothing but good times.

2) Street Fighter 2:
I never had a SNES, so I’d always go to my cousins house across the street to play. If only he knew how close this game brought me to stealing his beloved console. You hear that Babs? I almost stole the SNES! If you’re looking to start a mini riot in your house,break out SFII for some “winner stays” action. There will be humiliation, domination and utter destruction, words will be exchanged, and pads and fists will fly, such was the passion that this game stirred. The boys at Capcom simply couldn’t have done better, and my “Nintendo players thumb” is proof of that fact.

1) Super Mario Bros. 3:
Lots of people consider Super Mario World the height of the series, and yeah it looks and plays great, fantastic music and wonderful art style, but there’s just something pure about Mario 3. It’s like platforming broken down to it’s simplest elements, you run, you jump, you run and jump again. The levels were expertly designed to break you in slowly, but then steadily ramp up in difficulty till they finally required zen-like skill and a precise touch to make it through to the end. That said it’s somewhat embarrassing to admit that I was stuck on the last level of Mario 3 till 2001 when I was finally able to beat the game. I had a little tea party afterwards. Best game ever made.

“Well what the heck!? Where are the N64 and Gamecube games!?” I hear you ask. As I said this list represents what I think would be great on the virtual console and I didn’t much care for very many of the games on the N64 or the Gamecube… well except Ocarina of Time (one of the greatest games ever made) and Goldeneye (great game, but it really is time to let it go).

Honorable mention goes to:

Isolated Warrior: This game would so be on the list if I didn’t have the pleasure of playing it again two years ago only to realise it’s complete rubbish.

Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles: Yeah, they were called “Ninja” Turtles in the US, but the UK censors thought that sounded a bit violent. It didn’t stop the first game from being hardcore though. I never finished it, I died right outside Shredders complex in the Technodrome level.

Rad Gravity: What a crappy game, but dang was it trippy!

Bionic Commando: You’re a commando, and you’re BIONIC, what else do you need to know at 10 years old!?

So there you have it, there’s my list. What’s yours, what are the classics that you’d love to see on the Virtual Console, and erm… how much would you be willing to pay to relive these experiences?