Virtual Console Essentials

Nintendo Entertainment System: Home to a plethora of classics.

The Nintendo Entertainment System helped the most to revive home console gaming after the infamous crash of 1983 with several hit and high quality titles. Many of the established franchises still around today originated on the NES. Gamers who may have missed out on these classics can download them via the Wii’s Virtual Console service. Though there are many great NES games on Virtual Console, there are also tons of low quality titles to sift through. Luckily enough, a large amount of top-tier titles have been re-released on the service, and the following list will help you spend your hard-earned Wii Points right.

Nintendo Entertainment System (500 Wii Points)

The Legend of Zelda.

The Legend of Zelda

A game that was far ahead of its time and one of my personal favorite NES titles, The Legend of Zelda is the first game in the critically acclaimed Legend of Zelda series. Going against what other NES games were doing at the time, Nintendo incorporated a save function into The Legend of Zelda. For gamers in 1986, this was an unbelievable change as it created a strong line between the arcades and home console.

The Legend of Zelda features a completely open world with nine dungeons, each more challenging than the other. The dungeons can mostly be played in any order — one dungeon requires the Raft to get to, however, which is obtained in the previous dungeon. During my first playthrough of the game, back on the GBA re-release, I couldn’t find the second dungeon until right before I went to the ninth dungeon. The Legend of Zelda is also home to many famous gaming quotes still used today, such as “It’s dangerous to go alone” and “It’s a secret to everybody”.

Super Mario Bros. 3.

Super Mario Bros. 1-3

While the original Super Mario Bros. on NES might have aged horribly, it is still a very fun game thanks to the ability to suspend play with Virtual Console games. The other great thing about Mario on Virtual Console is that now North American gamers can enjoy a little gem that was never released in the States – Super Mario Bros. 2: The Lost Levels. Back in the NES days, Nintendo had a weird fetish for making their sequels incredibly hard — Zelda II: The Adventure of Link is another example of this. The Lost Levels was so hard, though, that Nintendo went ahead and re-skinned Yume K?j?: Doki Doki Panic into the Super Mario Bros. 2 North American gamers know and love today. Since The Lost Levels is an import title, the cost is raised to 600 Wii Points instead of 500. The final Mario game to release on the NES and make its way to Virtual Console is easily the best of the bunch: Super Mario Bros. 3. The third installment had beautiful 8-bit visuals — some of the best on the console — and introduced the world map to the Mario series.

Metroid.

Metroid

The original Metroid on NES did receive a vastly superior remake on the GBA — Metroid: Zero Mission — but nothing beats the 8-bit classic, especially for only $5. Despite relying on long passwords to continue a game file, Metroid features an open world for players to explore. Naturally, many of the core Metroid gameplay mechanics originated in its first outing, such as the need to obtain weapon or suit upgrades to access new areas.

With Metroid: Other M releasing at the end of next month, fans who have never played a Metroid title before can easily get into this game and its critically acclaimed third entry on the SNES.

Final Fantasy.

Final Fantasy

Like most established franchises today, Final Fantasy once called the NES its home in all its 8-bit, black-background glory. The title has seen many remakes since its original release back in 1987, with each of them updating the aesthetic making the NES version more and more obsolete.

For 500 Wii Points and a suspend feature to quick save anywhere, Final Fantasy is a sure download for the most hardcore RPG fans. The game is rough around the edges and has aged terribly, but it fills players who remember blowing into their cartridge to get it to work with nostalgia.

Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse.

Castlevania 1-3

A list of the best NES games on Virtual Console isn’t much of a list at all without the Castlevania series, particularly Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse. The series today has more free exploration similar to Metroid, so going back to the first three games after all these years would make players feel a bit underwhelmed and limited. However, these NES classics are filled with so much challenge that they’re worth returning to. There are difficult games these days such as Demon’s Souls, but nothing is more frustrating than missing a well timed jump or being hit by a Medusa head and falling into the void.

With Konami releasing a new 2D Castlevania title, Harmony of Despair, later this year, now is the perfect time to get into the games that started the vampire hunting craze.

Mega Man 3.

Mega Man 1-4

Mega Man is a series that I personally never got into, other than the Battle Network games for GBA. Mega Man on the NES is a crazy hard platforming series, filled with spiked floors and tough bosses. Players select a boss to take on and battle their way through its stage before the inevitable confrontation.

Capcom has also seemed to realized that classic is the way to go with Mega Man, as they have continued the series on WiiWare, PSN and XBLA with Mega Man 9 and 10 which both feature an 8-bit visual style and brutal difficulty.

Other great VC NES titles: