Being able to pull down classics like Super Mario Bros. 3 to your Nintendo Wii via the Virtual Console service is great, but many of our retro daydreams are laced with images of some of the many Japanese 16-bit RPGs that never saw a US release. For those daydreamers, jealousy will set in after checking out the list of December releases for the Japanese Virtual Console.
Cubed3 reports that the 1996 Super Famicom strategy RPG Treasure Hunter G will make its way to the VC in December in Japan. This title, and other Super Famicom RPGs like Bahamut Lagoon, were some of the games that English-speaking gamers had to use “alternative methods” to play. Ah, those were the days.
The full list of December releases (which you’ll find after the jump) include other whine-worthy titles like Super Street Fighter II (coming soon), Pokemon Snap (dude, it’s fun!), and Langrisser II.
If you ask me, US releases of Treasure Hunter G and Bahamut Lagoon would have put them alongside Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, and Final Fantasy II and III as the greats of the 16-bit RPG era. Let’s hope that the English-speaking territories see some of these releases.
Famicom / NES (500 Wii Points)
- Downtown Nekketsu Koushinkyoku: Soreyuke Daiundoukai (Technos)
- Super Mario Bros. 3 (Nintendo)
- Metal Slader Glory (Hal)
- Lunar Ball (Pony)
Super Famicom / SNES (800 Wii Points)
- Super Street Fighter II (Capcom)
- Treasure Hunter G (Square Enix)
Nintendo 64 (1,000 Wii Points)
- Pokémon Snap (The Pokémon Company)
Mega Drive (600 Wii Points)
- Rolling Thunder 2 (Bandai Namco)
- Columns III: Taiketsu! Columns World (Sega)
- Party Quiz Mega Q (Sega)
- Langrisser II (NCS)
PC-Engine / Turbo-grafx 16 (600/800 Wii Points)
- Gate of Thunder (Hudson)
- Ai-Choaniki (NCS)
- Image Fight II (Irem)
- Dragon Slayer: Eiyuu Densetsu (Hudson)
