Japanese Virtual Console list - July 2008

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Posted Fri, 27 Jun 2008 - By Marcel Van Duyn

Shining Force II is the big one this month if you ask us!

Shining Force II is the big one this month if you ask us!

As it's the last Friday of the month once again, Nintendo of Japan has revealed their Virtual Console plans for the next month. There are some notable games here, including (finally) Donkey Kong 3, the first Space Harrier, another Fire Emblem, and Shining Force II.

The full list is as follows:

Famicom:

Super Famicom:

  • Fire Emblem: Thracia 776

Nintendo 64:

  • Nothing!

Sega Master System:

Sega Mega Drive:

PC Engine:

  • Seirei Senshi Spriggan (July 1st)
  • Kiki Kai Kai (Better known as Pocky & Rocky to most, although this is the original)
  • Darius Plus
  • Blood Gear

Neo Geo:

MSX:

  • Relics
  • Eggy

Posted in Japanese releases.

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Neo Turf Masters Screenshots

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Samurai Shodown II Screenshots

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Shining Force II: Ancient Sealing Screenshots

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Space Harrier Screenshots

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Splatterhouse 2 Screenshots

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Have your say about this story

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1. Corbie United States 27 Jun 2008, 11:50 GMT

I'm getting the feeling Nintendo isn't too fond of the Nintendo 64 console. That's a pretty decent list overall. Splatterhouse 2 and Shining Force II seem to be the big ones, although Samurai Shodown II is one near and dear to me.

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2. Dazza United Kingdom 27 Jun 2008, 11:58 GMT

Surely it is just that N64 games are harder to port to VC. The big N love their 64-bit beauty really :p

Spatterhouse II for me please!

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3. Jockolantern United States 27 Jun 2008, 12:02 GMT

Bring on Shining Force II, baby! I've been waiting on that one to get its stateside release for months. Truly amongst the Top 5 greatest strategy RPGs of all time.

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4. DEMON212 United Kingdom 27 Jun 2008, 12:05 GMT

Welcome to the Fantasy zone, get ready!

Can't wait till we get it. SOOOOOOO much better than 2.

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5. Jolted85 United States 27 Jun 2008, 12:38 GMT

Neo Turf Masters is finally coming out for the Neo Geo, this is one cool golf game, even if you don't like golf Turf Masters is really enjoyable, hopefully it'll come stateside sometime.

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6. Bass X0 United Kingdom 27 Jun 2008, 12:49 GMT

I'd only get Samurai Shodown 2 from that list. I'm glad DK3 is coming just to complete the DK trilogy.

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7. Rexy United Kingdom 27 Jun 2008, 13:10 GMT

As easy as Shining Force 1 was, I've taken a lot of interest in the second title and I hope to see it come through to the Western VC in the forseeable future. Shame there's nothing planned for the N64 though :(

8. KeeperBvK Germany 27 Jun 2008, 13:34 GMT

It's great to see they haven't forgot about the Kiki Kai Kai series, even though the neweset rendition turned out to be so bad, Taito stepped out of the development and took the big name with them. ^^

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9. Big=Sexy United States 27 Jun 2008, 13:43 GMT

Wait, what?! Did we seriously get Dig Dug before the Japanese did, despite it being an actual Japanese rom?!

OW MY BRAIN.

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10. XCWarrior United States 27 Jun 2008, 13:46 GMT

Why can't they do this for NOA and NOE? I mean I guess press releases like this take forever to write. And Nintendo is starving for cash, so they probably can only afford one PR person for all the 3 countries. So all of this leads to only Japan getting releases like this. Yes, this must be it....

A good list, but doesn't have that super duper awesome wow game on there. But solid ones for sure, if, you know, we had the storage space for them, lol

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11. zss_shadow Canada 27 Jun 2008, 14:07 GMT

I'd get Eggy and Fire Emblem:Thracia 776 in a heartbeat if I were in Japan. I've heard Eggy is like Toki Tori, and I just love Fire Emblem. Too bad they'd have to translate FE so likely none will make it to Europe or America.>_>

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12. Tony United States 27 Jun 2008, 14:08 GMT

Glad to see another classic NES title. I hope Pro Wrestling, Golf, Rad Racer, Slalom, and Clu Clu land D will follow. You Go Nintendo!

13. FunkMasterRitter United States 27 Jun 2008, 14:18 GMT

alright hope we get splatterhouse 2 soon

14. Aloalonso Brazil 27 Jun 2008, 14:26 GMT

Yeah, they´ll get a fire emblemand shinning force 2!!! I´m waiting for Shinning Force 2 to hit the Americas virtual console.

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15. Drake Netherlands 27 Jun 2008, 14:36 GMT

I think you're confusing Eggy with Eggbert, zss_shadow.

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16. dk_xcalibur United States 27 Jun 2008, 15:07 GMT

I can't believe more people are not excited about Samurai Shodown 2. Although I can understand getting excited about Shinning Force 2 which IMO is the best in the series.

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17. WarioFan63 United States 27 Jun 2008, 15:12 GMT

A 3rd MSX game! But will it actually be released on time?

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18. dr.mario Canada 27 Jun 2008, 15:17 GMT

n64 had so many great games that nintendo hasn't released yet, they could be making so much more money if only they release Majora's mask, Diddy Kong Racing (might not cause it's Rare) Super Smash Bros. It's as if Nintendo doesn't want our money. (not releasing enough games and not enough memory to hold all the ones we want!)

19. Waxxy United States 27 Jun 2008, 15:21 GMT

Ask anybody who's written an N64 emulator to tell you how hard it is to emulate that system... Most people are content to play N64 ROMs on their PCs with some glitches, but Nintendo would never release them that way, so it's likely they have to tweak each ROM before it can go out, something they don't typically have to do with the other machines. That'd be my guess why N64 releases are much rarer than the other systems.

20. WoRMaSTeR Finland 27 Jun 2008, 15:22 GMT

Wants me some of that Shining Force II goodness... :)

21. WoRMaSTeR Finland 27 Jun 2008, 15:33 GMT

@ dr.mario: Is that really your list of missing great N64 titles. How about Pilotwings 64, Blast Corps, Golden Eye 007, Perfect Dark, Donkey Kong 64, Banzo-Kazooie, Mario Party, Conker's bad fur day, Goemon, Killer Instinct gold, Ogre Battle 64, Star Wars games, Turok... I could go on you know... :D

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22. Chipmunk777 United States 27 Jun 2008, 15:35 GMT

rofl @ Splatterhouse :P lol I remember that game, what a goofy game! Shining Force II is exciting though! I remember I used to play a version of Shining Force on the sega Game Gear all the time when I was a kid

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23. Jogurt the Yogurt Canada 27 Jun 2008, 15:49 GMT

Shining Force II! While it's not as good as the original, it's still a wonder to behold. I am excited! With this and PSIV on the horizon, the Genesis is going to see some sweet action on my Wii in coming months.

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24. Damo United Kingdom 27 Jun 2008, 15:56 GMT

Seirei Senshi Spriggan is totally amazing, by the way. It's by Compile, the guys behind MUSHA Aleste.

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25. Objection_Blaster United States 27 Jun 2008, 16:00 GMT

We want a release date list too!! Death awaits you just kidding, Ninty. or am i?

26. Junichi United Kingdom 27 Jun 2008, 16:10 GMT

@WoRmAsTeR:

Congratulations for listing all the games that will NEVER be released on the VC. The only sensible ones are PilotWings 64 and Donkey Kong 'Collect 'em Up' 64.

27. Versus22 Canada 27 Jun 2008, 16:23 GMT

We need more N64 titles! :(

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28. Wiireview123 Canada 27 Jun 2008, 16:36 GMT

still no love for the n64!

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29. WarioFan63 United States 27 Jun 2008, 16:39 GMT

Hey now, just because no N64 titles arent listed for Japan doesnt mean its going to be true for everyone.

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30. DDR Paladin356 United States 27 Jun 2008, 17:25 GMT

Come on SFII

31. Starwolf_UK United Kingdom 27 Jun 2008, 17:43 GMT

Diddy Kong Racing (might not cause it's Rare)
Have people forgotten about the DS version already? I know Super Mario 64 had a DS version but Super Mario 64 is a flagship N64 title, one which is held in high acclaim and talked about to this day.

I was wondering when Fire Emblem: Thracia 776 would appear...that leaves Fire Emblem Gaiden and that'll be it for Fire Emblem on the VC (like we're getting the first Fire Emblem game with a DS remake of it out soon...)

32. Rapadash6 United States 27 Jun 2008, 17:48 GMT

Surprisingly, nothing too interesting for me in Japan this coming month. Maybe I'm still recovering from the shock of Mario RPG showing up on the list from last time, though. There are so many potential VC games yet to be released in North America, it seems like we'll never catch up. Not with 1 - 2 releases a week, especially.

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33. Phantom5800 United States 27 Jun 2008, 17:52 GMT

no N64 :( there are just so many great games that need to be released from that console. Lucky Japanese though ... they get Fire Emblem games.

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34. ColorblindMonk United States 27 Jun 2008, 18:01 GMT

And, again, no new N64 games... Real bummer.

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35. WarioFan63 United States 27 Jun 2008, 18:15 GMT

What did I just say!?

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36. Stratos United States 27 Jun 2008, 18:35 GMT

I wish they would translate the Japan only Fire Emblems, though I will take DS remakes of them as well.
Also I would like the N64 Custom Robo that was released on VC in Japan a couple of months ago. Blasted language barrier. I knew I should have kept at Japanese in High School.

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37. Viral United Kingdom 27 Jun 2008, 19:18 GMT

Fire Emblem for the win!

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38. Tony United States 27 Jun 2008, 19:30 GMT

I wonder what the blood gear game is about? Anyone ever heard of it?

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39. Drake Netherlands 27 Jun 2008, 19:36 GMT

Tony: It's a fairly uninteresting platformer action game. Ok soundtrack and some speech (Not a full voiceover) though (It is a CD game).

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40. Virus United States 27 Jun 2008, 21:43 GMT

My soul just died a bit there... no N64 games... Well, I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope the US has a different virtual console list. Sadly, I'm seeing it much shorter with no N64 games...

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41. lockelocke United States 27 Jun 2008, 22:13 GMT

ORIGINAL SPACE HARRIER! HOOK IT UP!

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42. Adamant Norway 27 Jun 2008, 22:50 GMT

Now, Darius Plus is an interesting game. It was released for the Japanese-only Supergrafx, a (very) slightly graphically upgraded PC Engine console with horribly expensive games (only a handful of games were released, making the thing a massive failure). Darius Plus, unlike the other Supergrafx games, was playable on the PC Engine as well - the graphics were somewhat downgraded, but the game itself was identical (showing how worthless the Supergrafx really was). This, of course, poses the question - will we get an emulation of the game running on a Supergrafx or a PC Engine?

The game is pretty good, and would make for a nice import. It's a remake of the original Darius arcade game, with various new bosses and such.

43. Pj United Kingdom 28 Jun 2008, 00:41 GMT

Blimey Japan are still waiting for Donkey Kong 3!!! I know the game is a bit pants but even Japan get their games later than the rest of the World. I can't believe it to be honest but no Pilot Wings, Mario Kart, or dare I say no Golden Eye yet or Majora's Mask or Earth bound. I never had the honour of playing Golden eye but my friends can't believe it either!

Just out of interest.... how long should Nintendo leave it before we get Mario All Stars? Hopefully we will get Mario RPG before then but I'm interested to know...

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44. Corbie United States 28 Jun 2008, 00:41 GMT

I second what Drake said about Blood Gear. It's very mediocre. I have a SuperGrafx system, but I mainly only keep it around for the Ghouls & Ghosts game. More of a keep-sake than anything I normally use much.

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45. THATG0MEZ United States 28 Jun 2008, 01:05 GMT

If only VC and WiiWare had worldwide releases like XBLA does.

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46. pApEr y0sh! United States 28 Jun 2008, 01:25 GMT

wooooooooow. japan gets everything good. shining force 2 should be ours

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47. pApEr y0sh! United States 28 Jun 2008, 01:48 GMT

wowowowowo!!!!!!!!!!!! a fire emblem on VC. y dont we get that?(sad face)OK. can someone tell me how to make those ffaces. itll get annoying after a while if i have to keep doing that

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48. Jogurt the Yogurt Canada 28 Jun 2008, 02:39 GMT

@pApEr y0sh! — we don't get it because it's in Japanese.

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49. Andrew United States 28 Jun 2008, 02:53 GMT

Would it kill Nintendo to release an N64 game once in a blue moon? Four games for the Turbografx?!!? I really couldn't care less about the TurboGrafx anymore. I gave their games many chances, and I didn't care for any of them.

Majora's Mask..............PLEASE!!!

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50. The_Indigo_Effect United States 28 Jun 2008, 02:55 GMT

@Jogurt the Yogurt

Nintendo is just overly selective about what games they decide to release. The VC has seen its share of import games.

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51. Sharecrow United States 28 Jun 2008, 03:07 GMT

I would definitely download Shining Force II as well as the original Space Harrier shortly after their release in the US (if and when that happens...)

52. marktheshark United States 28 Jun 2008, 03:07 GMT

@Jogurt the Yogurt

It's too early to tell if the FE games won't come on VC. Besides, the VC and the Wii probably have around at least 4-5 more years to go.

53. Versus22 Canada 28 Jun 2008, 03:25 GMT

@47

: + ( = :(

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54. Adamant Norway 28 Jun 2008, 04:17 GMT

I really really doubt we'll see the FE games outside Japan. They're fairly texty, and while they CAN be played without knowing any Japanese, that requires a bit too much effort for your average Wii-owner that they'd dare give it to us. And of course, writing "this game requires knowledge of the Japanese language" in the description is downright suicide.

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55. Virus United States 28 Jun 2008, 05:11 GMT

@Adamant
I think that would be a rather hilarious predicament if they actually released an untranslated version of FE and didn't warn people. Now that would create a delightfully angry message board. Aww... my sadistic dreams will never come true...

I just hope Nintendo starts translating our imports again. Don't we pay extra money to play our games in English?

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56. Cally United States 28 Jun 2008, 05:54 GMT

"Don't we pay extra money to play our games in English?"

No. DoReMi Fantasy (and I think some other ones too) didn't have too much text, but they didn't bother to translate it, and it was still a buck extra. It was still worth it, of course, but as far as I know they didn't exactly do any extra--ahem--WORK. I also have Bio Miracle and Sin and Punishment (which was dubbed in English already) . . . I think they did a little to the menus so it was playable.

It's too bad, but I'd never, ever expect Nintendo to translate an RPG for an extra two or three bucks. Some imports would be well worth double the normal price for a translation. But why would they do that before throwing out the other stuff they're sitting on?

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57. Virus United States 28 Jun 2008, 06:04 GMT

@Cally
Yeah, I knew they didn't do any translation to some of the imports so that's why I whined a bit. I have Sin and Punishment because they translated what needed to be translated, but I have held out on such games as DoReMi Fantasy specifically because they didn't translate it.

58. WoRMaSTeR Finland 28 Jun 2008, 08:20 GMT

@Junichi: I know the games made by rare might never see realease, one can dream though. But the others: Mario Party, Goemon (99 % certain release in my opinion), Ogre Battle 64, Star Wars games and Turok 1-2 I see no problems with.

@Pj: You haven't played Golden Eye, that's like never living. You owe it to yourself to buy an N64 and play it (preferably with 3 friends). Damn you Microsoft for buying rare!

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59. MrLopez Netherlands 28 Jun 2008, 09:22 GMT

2 is the best samurai Shodown ever!

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60. slangman United Kingdom 28 Jun 2008, 11:17 GMT

Would love to try Splatterhouse 2 and i might get Samurai Shodown II sometime when it arrives but i might give it a miss if an antology version is coming.

Glad the Darius games are finally coming, though i haven't heard much about them apart from them been shoot em ups.

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61. Viral United Kingdom 28 Jun 2008, 12:12 GMT

I agree Slangman, anthologys always give better value.

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62. ballkirby1 United States 28 Jun 2008, 12:55 GMT

Maybe they don't put more N64 games up because they know people can get most of them for under 10 bucks.

63. Danieru Lynx United Kingdom 28 Jun 2008, 13:07 GMT

I was hoping Eggy was some alternate name for Fantastic Dizzy but it isn't, :(

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64. stinssd United States 28 Jun 2008, 15:43 GMT

Shining Force 1 was great: But, why wasn't Jack Nicholson an unlock-able character? ;-) But really, all you have to do is replay the first fight 100 times and you're ready to beat the game with the levels you've built up! :)

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65. That Guy from Faxanadu Sweden 28 Jun 2008, 22:14 GMT

Ooh, Samurai Shodown II! Hope we get it too. I´ve been waiting a long time for Shining Force II as well, so it´s about time. Kiki Kai Kai would be very cool, I love the sequel Pocky & Rocky :)

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66. GrandSparkster United States 29 Jun 2008, 03:08 GMT

If I can get Mario RPG, Samurai Showdown II, Super Fantasy Zone, and maybe Star Parodier, I'll be all set... for the moment.

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67. Tides of Chaos United States 29 Jun 2008, 04:33 GMT

@ Bass X0 & Pj
I think you guys mixed up Donkey Kong 3 (NES) with Donkey Kong Country 3 (SNES). The first one is an arcade port while the second is a Rare platformer.

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68. michinmuri United States 29 Jun 2008, 17:09 GMT

Nice list, but I WAN'T Y'S BOOK I + II IN THE USA!!!!!

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69. SmaMan United States 29 Jun 2008, 21:14 GMT

I was hoping they'd release Neo Turf Masters over in the US a few weeks back when the U.S. Open was on. They could've sold a whole lot of that game then! But it's good to know it's coming out now! I've played it a lot on GameTap but I'd like one on the Wii with a better framerate and sound that isn't messed up.

Fire Emblem: Tharcia 776 is a verrrryyyyy nice game! It takes place in the "12 years later" section of Fire Emblem 4. It was released on the Super Famicom Disk System and you could download it to your disk via certain machines (ironically called Nintendo Power) in arcades and convenience stores in Japan. It's in my opinion one of the best in the series...now if I could only get a decent translation...

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70. Cally United States 30 Jun 2008, 04:38 GMT

"Nice list, but I WAN'T Y'S BOOK I + II IN THE USA!!!!!"

Yup. That one is driving me absolutely up the wall--it may very well hold the record for the longest time spent on that freaking "coming soon" list, and Japan has had it for ages.

I get the vibe that Hudson just loves the VC, and suspect they're putting a bit of thought into the timing of releasing it.

71. 03bgood United States 30 Jun 2008, 08:05 GMT

What I really hate is that Europe gets C64 games, Japan gets MSX games and we don't get anything that would be exclusive to EU or JP. I really wish Nintendo would release ZX Spectrum games as a US exclusive. Then I wouldn't have a reason to complain. Shame on you, Nintendo!

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72. MVP Spain 30 Jun 2008, 08:12 GMT

Neo Turf Masters!!! I loved that golf game!!!!!, but I am still waiting for Super Mario RPG!!!!

73. KeeperBvK Germany 30 Jun 2008, 10:42 GMT

@ Tides of Chaos: Pj sure mixed them up, but what makes you think Bass did, too?

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74. MrPoo6321 United States 02 Jul 2008, 16:43 GMT

Ehhh... none of those sound particularly appealing to me. MAYBE Donkey Kong 3 and MAYBE Splatterhouse 2...... but thats about it. Think they'll decide to give us Vectorman in NA this month?

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75. Mr. Cheez United States 02 Jul 2008, 20:52 GMT

I don't need DK3. I have it for e-reader. But I do wish we could have the early Fire Emblems here. I wanna see Marth and Roy in their prime! Sadly, Ninty's probably not gonna put the work in to translate it. Might try SH2 and Samsho 2, though I'd need to try their prequels first. I might give Space Harrier a go too.

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76. Adamant Norway 02 Jul 2008, 22:17 GMT

Roy? You won't see him on the VC anytime soon, since his only game was on the GBA.

Nintendo are probably going to release the FE1 remake in the US, though, so you'll get your Marth goodness there.

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77. NESgamer Mexico 14 Jul 2008, 10:22 GMT

Now i wonder if i should download Samurai Shodown or just wait for the sequel, i wonder how much it will take for them to bring it to american VC...

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