Mario Golf and Secret of Mana are definite downloads for me.
I may download Space Invaders though.

Oh my god... I can't believe it.

Hell yeah, Secret of Mana! Hopefully the U.S. release won't be far off.
I'd actually be more excited about that than Mario RPG. I'd also like to see Secret of evermore on VC soon. Now in the case of Chrono trigger I'd still like the original SNES version even though they are remaking it for the DS.

secret of mana... whoo!

Awesome month if only for two games.

Did not expect Mario Golf so soon. I will get this. Surprised that the SNES version of Space Invaders is going up. As for Forgotten Worlds, i've wanted that for ages

secret of mana best rpg IMHO they have to release this. if there is any game to cry about when this game doesnt show up every week its this.

Secret of Mana, Mario Golf, and Space Invaders look great. But please more N64 games!

Secret of Mana is a must buy!

Just aheads up this will kill any chances of Neo Turf Masters being successful on the virtual console. What would you rather do spend 900 on an arcade game that isn't very known or 1000 on golf game with a Mario Twist and the game that was voted by Nintendo the top 20 N64 games (18)?

Wow, dare we dream that a US release of Secret of Mana is forthcoming? How odd that it and Ys Book I & II were basically my two most-wanted VC games (RPGs I missed back in the day). We have one and the other may soon be on its way? Fantastic!

I would love Secret of Mana to show up on the VC. Makes sense since Square Enix hasn't done anything to that particular chapter in the Mana series. I would definitely buy if released.

Also I would probably DL Mario Golf for the N64 if released outside of Japan. I had a lot of fun with it back then, especially the mini-golf mode.

The Mario game obviously but they shouldn't not release games just because they would ruin a previous game's chances to do well. And regarding Secret of Mana, I'm surprised in all their remakes and ports, they never bothered to touch the original SNES game. If they had, I'd have bought it... I hope they fix the glitch to be able to get the last two weapon orbs. And I actually sold my copy a while ago for £40 I think it was.

@Bass X0
Me too. You'd think a DS version of Secret of Mana with the weapons ring on the touch screen would be a no-brainer.

Mario Golf 64! That's made my day.

SECRET OF MANA!!!
Damn this is my all-time favourite game.
This is an instant download!!
Hopefully we won't have to wait too long!!!

Mana is my favourite SNES game. I will gift multiple copes!

Just aheads up this will kill any chances of Neo Turf Masters being successful on the virtual console.
I wonder how many VC sales are within the first week or whatever. If there is some grace period hope won't be lost too soon. Plus Neo-Geo has its days kind of numbered with SNK Arcade Classics and the most liked fighting game franchises getting disc releases...

@Drake: Wondered about that too...

They could:

• do the same as with the rumble pak: do nothing
• they could remove those 4 slots, pretending it never happened
• If they bring GB games to VC, you could link them, which allows at least 3...
• if they make a VC for their next Handheld with GB Games, you could link it with Wii (I guess MG64 will need an update)
• Maybe Camelot is planning on making a remake of MGGBC/makes a new Golf Game for DS with those 4 Charas.

I guess it will either be first or second *

It's been said here before, but Secret Of Mana and Mario Golf are two key titles. Lets hope they make it here to the states soon.

I'm glad nobody's in the office with me yet, because I just exploded with unfathomable joy at the news of Secret of Mana being released. I still can't believe my cousin pawned the copy I lent her.

Thank You Nintendo,
Mario Golf, I think this is better than the Cube instalment.

I never got to play Mario Golf on the N64 but I loved the Gamecube edition. I used to have Forgotten worlds on my C64 but I'll give it a miss I believe. Secret of Mana's a no-brainer for me!

I already own Mana, but I'll probably buy it again anyway (mainly because the final boss fight glitches out on me every time I get there. Mario Golf is a pleasant surprise though.

I've never been a Mario Golf fan. I'd like to see Mario Tennis (N64) come on the Wii shop channel.

I'd get Secret of Mana and Mario Golf.

@Cartoty
I agree with Mario Tennis as it was excellent.

I loved mario golf, but would still like to see hal's hole in one golf...loved that game. Secret of mana is one of the few rpg's I never played and it sounds like I missed alot. What are it's selling points?

Three player simultaneous
Beautiful 16-bit graphics and music
Able to raise the strength of your weapons and magic the more you use them.
Story is flimsy and serves only as a device to take you to each new area but you won't really be bothered.

Secret of Mana is def in my top 3 rpg of all time list but it being released is almost too good to be true. Remember we're still waiting for Castlevania: Rondo of Blood after that was released in Japan back in April. Still I'll be anxiously awaiting news that this is getting a release here in the US.

Wait, Secret of Mana is Seiken Densetsu 2? And Seiken Densetsu 3 is the direct sequel to Secret of Mana? That's why they seemed so similar, I figured Square had just gotten lazy. I guess I'll have to give the latter one another go.

Honestly, I was expecting this. While Secrets of Mana is the most revered game in the series, the series itself hasn't exactly become popular, so I don't think they could've gotten away with a remake, so all that was left was the Virtual Console.

Any ways, this looks like another great month in Japan. Mario Golf, Space Invaders, Super Dodge Ball, and Last Blade are all major titles, and Sorcerian, Ninja Warriors, and Final Blaster all sound like good games, too.

Did somebody mention Secret of Mana? Wow there was me thinking Square wouldn't bother bringing out any great RPG's for the VC. Mario Golf is cool though i already have the N64 cartridge so it's not essential for me.

Ok people, stop freakin' out!
Japan is gettin' SoM, when the rest of the world will get it is absolutely unclear - see Rondo of Blood!!

Woohoo, Forgotten Worlds

Been wanting that for ages

The difference between Mana and Rondo of Blood is that Mana was releast here in NA before.

Mario Golf? I hated that, I wanted Tennis more ;_;

Ah well, Secret of Mana sounds more interesting.

Well Mario Golf is a good game, even if you hate golf. Although I already own it on the N64 and I think the Gamecube version is sightly better (not due to the graphics, since the controls were better on the gamecube version IMO).

Secrete of Mana is an interesting release because I though Sqaure-Enix weren't going to release any of their games on the VC. Never player it but I heard it is a good RPG and has Multiplayer support.

And good old Space Invaders. Do I need to say anything about that?

I've never played the original Mana game! I'd love to get the chance. Mario Golf is... Meh... But maybe they'll release Mario Tennis soon! Forgotten Worlds is a cool shmup, but again, it's on other better valued compilations elsewhere

@Jashin: But Americans already have Rondo of Blood (Both remade and original versions) available to them on the PSP, so it's not like it's unattainable on a current console. Secret of Mana isn't available on a current console.
Square have said in the past that the games they make available on the VC would be games they don't see profitable avenues from on other systems (See King's Knight, ActRaiser and countless other over-milked Taito properties including Space Invaders). This is also why we'll not see Chrono Trigger on the VC, but on the DS (Which is better, for me at least)
The last few Mana games on the DS and PS2 were just okay so I figure them putting the original Mana on the VC would not only be a great way to make a little profit, but to also remember the franchise's past greatness... (And maybe retire it...)

Imho Mario Golf N64 and Gamecube are nearly the same in gameplay. Mario Golf 64 has Mini-Golf too, and maaaaany non-Mario Characters. But I think I liked the special Mario courses more in the N64 version.

This is good news. If square is willing to put up something as coveted as Secret of Mana, it is only a matter of time before most (if not all) of their rpgs make it to the VC. On the downside, it might be a very, very, very long time until we over here in the US and EU see any fruits from this development.

Anyway you look at this, it's good news!

I read the preview blurb for this update on the main page and was wondering which Squeenix RPG had been let loose in Japan this time, and then I recognised the screenshot and uttered a tasteful 'Holy shit'.

DO WANT! DO WANT NAO!

Thank god for (even though I dont always like them) Square and N64 support. Its about time!

This is awesome news.

Mario Golf for the N64 is the only game my dad would ever play back when I was younger. I have a lot of fond memories playing it with him and my younger brother too.

Looking forward to getting it when it comes to the U.S. and playing it during holiday visits.

Oh my God; Secret of Mana is confirmed? If that ever comes to the European VC, you know I'd swag it on release day - easily one of the finest action RPGS on the SNES

And similarly, I feel happy to see that N64 support is slowly creeping in. Like I said, I'm not one for playing golf, but Mario Golf is a start to get support on the right track.

Oh, my, lord.

I <3 Secret of Mana.

Secret of Mana is surprising, but I'm still waiting for Rondo of Blood. (Been out in Japan since April, I think.)

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! Secret of Mana!!!!! One of my favorite games of all time. And my cart erases my save data too often I'm excited it's coming! (eventually..... )

As soon as I saw the picture for Secret of Mana my jaw dropped. I didn't even need to read the article. Probably my single most anticipated VC game to date.

Good to see N64 getting some much needed love too with Mario Golf. I remember playing this a bit when it came out, but I had moved out of my parents house at the time and left my 64 with my brothers so I didn't get to play it that much. It seemed pretty fun for what it was.

I won't be surprised if both of these titles break the top 20.

Secret of Mana is the definite winner here

Right now Ill be keeping my eye on Mario Golf, to see how theyll handle the Transfer Pak characters, if at all.

I still have my PAL cartridge of Secret of Mana so even if this one comes out in the west, i'll skip it.

Kafei, sell it. Its worth a lot now especially if you have the box and download the VC game. Unless you're one of those collector types who'd rather have the actual cartridge than just a way to play it.

Yay, Mario Golf. It probably won't see a stateside release until next year, because Nintendo is obsessed with releasing Turbo Grafix's (or however you spell it) games every week.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Mario Tennis as well, can't wait for that.

Nothing for me here. >.>

Secret of Mana.

Want.

Mario Golf, what a shock. I'm definately looking forward to trying Secret of Mana.

@WarioFan63: Nintendo will mostly likely do nothing about the Transfer Pak option. Look at Mario Kart 64, Nintendo didn't even bother to modify the rom to allow Ghosts to be saved (which required that expansion memory thing inserted in your controller).

It won't be a loss know as it's still fun to play without the GBC Characters. The only way they could get this to work is to release a separate adaptor to read the GBC Game and insert it into one of the Gamecube ports.

Hey, being the first Transfer Pak game on the service, Im willing to wait and see anyway.

Secret of Mana and Mario Golf, an N64 game? Aggggghhhh! Japan gets all the goods. XP

As for the secret characters in mario golf, maybe they'll add them from the get-go?

I have Last Battle. The early levels are great--you kick at the enemies, and they go flying by the dozens. You don't even have to make contact with them! It's like a bad kung-fu movie.

@Bass XO : I'm actually the kind o' guy who'd rather own the actual cart, yeah. I know this game's value better than anyone. Plus, it's the PAL french version which is even more rare than the PAL english one AND it's complete too ! Box + Manual + World map ! Get ready to be shocked : i bought it from a classmate 8 years ago for what would today equal 10€ . This what you call a nice little investment, isn't it

Well this is a good sign for RPGS. Hopefully, square enix will release the Final Fantasy games on the vc. Final Fantasy 2(or 4 to be more specific) is my favorite in the series So i would be one happy gamer if it ever makes it to the vc

I thought Secret of Mana was an action game, or maybe that was Pitfall.... I don't know, I get those 2 mixed up for some reason. Maybe it's because I haven't played either of them.

@MrPoo

It's an action-RPG, so you were half-right. Pitfall, however, is a platformer, so I can't really imagine how you got those two mixed up.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this particular Jinguuji Saburou game is available in English on the DS, right?

Super Mario RPG!
Ys!!
Secret of Mana!!!

Seems like every region is getting their old school RPG fix now, hopefully this continues with the likes of Earthbound and Lufia 1 + 2 * fingers crossed *

PLEASE let them release Lufia 2. Oh wait, I own the cartridge. : ) I'd still like to see it released so many others can experience what I consider the most underrated rpg ever created.

Dunno how to feel about Mario Golf... I think I'll just get a copy on eBay, so I can do that character transfer thingie. This is, of course, assuming that everywhere else will get Mario Golf as their next N64 title on their respective Virtual Console.

Looks like a nice month for Japan, and I'm more than pleased to see another N64 game coming out.

@Bensei (waaaay up there)
I'd probably agree with you that Nintendo might just pretend those four slots never existed. I trust Nintendo as a company; I just wouldn't be surprised if they pulled a "1984" on us. If they say it didn't happen, well, I guess it didn't.

Another possiblility: Mario Golf will feature the first downloadable content for the VC. 200 points for each of the four characters or 600 for all four. Now that I think about it, that doesn't sound too farfetched.

I don't understand why NOJ tells Wii owners what comes out next month but NOA doesn't.

@Don

To avoid ticking people off if stuff has to get pushed back.

I never played Mario Golf, but Mario Tennis' 4 transferable characters had to be independently levelled up on the GBC game before being transferred, and unless you had played the game to near completion, they were worse than all the other characters in every single way. Is this the case with Mario Golf as well? If so, they can't really work on the VC.

I have Lufia 2 as well, but I'd still pay $8 to play it on my HDTV without it looking as bad as it would with a SNES hooked up to it. It's a great game. People probably ignored it because it was a prequel to a so-so game.

I'm very happy about Mana because it shows that Squenix is finally getting serious about VC with regards to games they wouldn't remake anyway. I thought they would remake this until I read some reasons listed above by others. Please stop asking for Final Fantasy, though. It's not gonna happen.
Also, Mana's just a great game, especially with three people. A must-buy for only 800 points whenever it gets here. I don't mind waiting just because of the hope its release gives me for some classic Enix games to come up soon (come on, Soul Blazer!).

Ah Soul Blazer...another brilliant action-rpg. I just played through it again about a month ago. Still as good now as ever.

Mario Golf YES YES!

@MrCheez: Those cahracters aren't just unlockables, you could raise their starts like in an RPG and then transfer them to MG64 (only as long as the Transfer Pak was in, that is)

Mana? That was unexpected. Well, no remakes on the way, but I thought it was a "too big" title for Square-Enix to let go.

@Stuffgamer: So VC games get better HD upscaling than games played on SNES? I´ve heared Wii don´t look very good on HDTV at all, what´s your oppinion?

Wagyan Land! The game's so dumb and stupid and dumb that it's a piece of art. The bosses are word games, people!

And by the way, if you see a picture of a pig in this game, it's not "pig". It's "oinker".

Forgotten Worlds was the first game on the CPS arcade hardware, the same hardware that Street Fighter 2 ran on, and since the Genesis/Megadrive uses similar specs its an almost identical port to the arcade game, I've never even played Secret of Mana nor any SNES rpg's, probably my first RPG will be Super Mario RPG, whenever that comes out.

I hope Squre Enix follow up Mana by releasing Soul Blazer as its the only one of the gaia trilogy that i never played

@That Guy from Faxanadu: It depends on your TV and your ability to figure out the best settings for it. I don't know what differences there might be in Europe, though. In America, you just need to get the settings right and get some component cables. Then it'll DEFINITELY look better than a SNES plugged into an HDTV. Seriously, I don't even know why my HDTV has composite AV ports. They're absolutely useless.

@That Guy: My TV has problems displaying VC games on component cable that are lower than 60Hz or Nintendo 64, many others I know can't even display it. That's why I prefer imports: I surely haven't played the original and I don't have to switch cables to play those games.

Secret of Mana is awesome.

Finally, the SNES RPG's that went missing in action for a couple years are now popping up on VC. I'm glad Square isn't applying their "we can make more money with a DS remake" mentality to this one.

Oh my god....Mana!!! One of my all time favs. Let's just hope it arrives in Europe soon.

@ Stuffgamer1

I dont see why there wouldn't be any Final Fantasy games on the vc. Theres already a Final Fantasy game on wiiware. So theres still hope

I guess Square was serious when they said they'd look more into Virtual Console. Secret of Mana was one of those games that I always had a feeling would show up eventually but it's nice to actually see it. I'm betting that Soul Blazer, Illusion of Gaia and Terrinigma will come along eventually as well. Oh, and it's good to see more N64 games coming through the pipeline.

@The Joker. The Wiiware FF you are referring to, My Life as a King, isn't a REAL FF game, it's a spinoff.

So yeah, once again, to all you people hoping for FF on VC: keep dreaming, cuz it won't happen.

You got that right, Cheez. The Crystal Chronicles sub-series has been with Nintendo consoles since its interception, so just because there's a related title on the Wiiware side doesn't mean that main series titles would spawn through there too. I still think it's most likely that FFV and FFVI would follow suit on the DS if you ask me.

@ Mr. Cheez

I'm very aware that its a spinoff.

I load the page and get a Secret of Mana screencap. No, this can't be — OH MY GOD, IT IS SECRET OF MANA. FINALLY. I don't care how long we'd have to wait to get this. I mean, no, I do, but... as long as I know that it's coming our way, then all is fine.

@The Joker 72190: My point had to do with Squenix's official stance on the VC. They stated a while back that they were hesetating with VC releases because they wanted to decide what games were worth remaking first. Why would they sell you Final Fantasy IV (or II, as a VC release would doubtlessly call it due to the SNES title) for $8 on VC when they can sell you the DS remake for $40? Some people complain, but I say that the remakes are usually worth the money, especially for FFIV.
Wiiware is a service for new games. Besides that, MLAaK (whatever...) is only an FF:CC title because using exsisting art and stuff made concentrating on the game easier. It has very little to do with the other FF:CC games. Squenix said all that in an interview I read somewhere when the game released.
So they finally decided what they can't remake and are starting to slowly release it on VC. And no Final Fantasy title (with the exception of Mystic Quest) fits that description.

You know what guys, I always hear about how Square-Enix can make more money with a DS remake.

Well, let me ask you guys something.

WHAT IF they went ahead with their release of technical remake of Chrono Trigger DS, and then released Chrono Trigger on Virtual Console as well..............WOULDN'T they make MORE money that way?

(and on the plus side people without a DS could have the original)

Cool! Secret of Mana! Been waiting for a good SNES RPG like this for a while. My brother used to have it, and I only got a little bit of playtime with it myself, so I will download it when it comes out for sure.

I already paid too much for a Secret of Mana cart, but I'll probably buy it anyways just to show I do enjoy their GOOD games (we could've done without King's Knight).
Still, Lufia 2 is one I have mixed opinions about. I would love to see it, but I know if they put it up in the US, it probably won't be a port of the PAL version (which fixed some major bugs that should've been caught in the US release).
I'd like to see Lufia 1, but I think that is less likely since the gameplay was a bit archaic even for its day (non-redirecting targeting against random enemies? That should've died after the NES).

I would be willing to bet that Chrono Trigger will eventually find its way onto the Virtual Console. But I'd also bet that Square-Enix will give the DS version a chance to sell for a good long time before they do release it to the VC.

Mana on VC would essentially be a way of printing $8 bills. (what with all of us 20 & early 30-somethings having loved it years ago) No idea why they wouldn't release it here eventually.

Then again, I could name a few other money-printing-class titles that haven't seen the light of day on VC.

Mario Golf for N64 I want.
And other good games they got too...
Oh well!

Can't wait for a US Secret of Mana release! (on a couple of months anyway!).

I notice the releases for Japan are shortening, this month they only have 12, the past few months they've been usually getting 14 or 15 releases, so I guess Japanese VC releases are slowing down a bit.

I'm not ashamed to say that I almost wet myself when I saw the Secret Of Mana screenshot and then read it coming to Japan. I know it could be a while before it comes here, but now I know that there is every chance that it could and will. Just have to wait for Majora's Mask, Super Mario Kart, Pilotwings and it will never happen - Goldeneye

space invaders and mario golf,I recommend those two.

Secret of Mana FTW!

I wouldn't mind seeing Mario Golf on VC...but, wait, didn't it have the whole Transfer Pack dealie with the GBC version? Doubt that they'd be able to put that on somehow.

Secret of Mana is the real pick for me but i like to see more n64 support and i'm surprised that pilotwings64 hasn't been announced yet