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[[Image:Virtual Console logo.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The Virtual Console logo.]]'''Virtual Console''' (バーチャルコンソール ''Bācharu Konsōru''), sometimes abbreviated as '''VC''', is a feature of the [[Wii]] that emulates older video game consoles and allows you to play games originally released for those consoles. This feature is supported by the [[Wikipedia:Wii Menu#Wii Shop Channel|Wii Shop Channel]]. The Virtual Console currently emulates the [[Wikipedia:Nintendo Entertainment System|Nintendo Entertainment System]], [[Wikipedia:Super Nintendo Entertainment System|Super Nintendo Entertainment System]] and [[Nintendo 64]], as well as the [[Wikipedia:Sega Mega Drive|Sega Mega Drive/Genesis]], NEC's [[Wikipedia:TurboGrafx-16|TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine]], the [[Wikipedia:MSX|MSX]] computer and the [[Wikipedia:Neo Geo (console)|Neo Geo]] home system.<ref name="Nintendo Japan Virtual Console overview">{{cite news|url= http://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/features/virtual_console.html|title=Nintendo Japan Virtual Console overview|publisher=Nintendo|language=Japanese|accessdate=2007-02-25}}</ref>
{{ArticleIcons|ssb=y|ssbb=y|ssb4=y}}
[[File:Virtual Console.png|thumb|300px|The Virtual Console logo.]]The '''Virtual Console''' ({{ja|バーチャルコンソール|Bācharukonsōru}}, ''Virtual Console''), sometimes abbreviated as '''VC''', is a feature of the [[Wii]], [[Nintendo 3DS]], and [[Wii U]] that allows players to officially emulate games from older video game consoles. Supported by the {{h2|Wikipedia:Wii Menu|Wii Shop Channel}} on the Wii and the [[Nintendo eShop]] on the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS, the different consoles offered differing coverage as to what games they featured. The Virtual Console has since been retired, with the currently available [[Nintendo Switch]] offering classic games with a Nintendo Switch Online subscription. The currently supported consoles on this service are NES, SNES and Game Boy/Game Boy Color with the base package, with N64, GBA, and Sega Genesis costing extra as part of the Expansion Pack. After the shutdown of the Wii Virtual Console on January 30, 2019, and the shutdown of the 3DS and Wii U Virtual Console on March 27, 2023, it is no longer legally possible to purchase software provided by any Virtual Console service.


==Library history==
==List of consoles on Virtual Console==
While the gameplay remains unchanged for all of the classic titles offered for the Virtual Console, Nintendo has stated that some games may be improved with sharper graphics or better frame rates.<ref name="classic">{{cite news|url= http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3141582|title=Nintendo Remaking Classics|author=Patrick Klepek|date=2005-06-21|publisher= 1up.com}}</ref>  While the company has stated that the Wii Shop will not be used exclusively for retro games, no original games have yet been made available through the service.<ref name="VClaunchlist">{{cite news|date=2006-09-09|url=http://www.play-nintendo.com/news/06090902.html| title=Virtual Console Launch List|publisher=play-nintendo.com|accessdate=2006-11-15}}</ref>  As with disc-based games, the Virtual Console service is region-locked - that is, different versions of games are provided to different regions, and game availability may vary from region to region.<ref name="Region Locked">{{cite news|url= http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=68306|title=Wii upholds Cube region lock|publisher=Eurogamer.Com| date=2006-11-10}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
 
! Platform !! [[Wii]]<ref name="Wii Mode">Wii U can play them in Wii Mode</ref> !! [[Wii U]] !! [[Nintendo 3DS]]
Nintendo president [[Satoru Iwata]] stated in a speech on March 23, 2006, that Nintendo, Sega, and Hudson Soft are working in collaboration to bring a "best of" series of games to the Wii.<ref name="gen&tg16">{{cite news |url= http://www.gamespot.com/news/6146528.html|title=GDC 06: Revolution to play Genesis, TurboGrafx-16 games |author=Tor Thorsen |publisher=GameSpot |date=2006-03-23}}</ref> At E3, Hudson also declared it would bring upwards of 100 titles to the Wii's Virtual Console. Additionally, Hudson mentioned that its lawyers are working on acquiring the licenses to games from now defunct companies.<ref name="hudson100games">{{cite news|last=Casamassina|first=Matt|authorlink=Matt Casamassina|coauthors=|date=2006-05-11|url= http://revolution.ign.com/articles/708/708057p1.html|title=E3 2006: Hudson Declares 100 Games for Wii|publisher=IGN|accessdate=2006-11-13}}</ref> Nintendo announced MSX compatibility on September 19, 2006,<ref name="Wii FAQ">{{cite news|last=Casamassina|first=Matt|authorlink=Matt Casamassina|date=2006-09-19|url= http://wii.ign.com/articles/733/733464p5.html|title=IGN's Nintendo Wii FAQ|publisher=IGN|accessdate=2006-11-13}}</ref> announcing on February 23, 2007 that the MSX titles ''Eggy'' and ''Aleste'' will be released in Japan.<ref name="Nintendo Japan Virtual Console Index">{{cite news|date=2007-02-23|url= http://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/vc/index.html|title=Nintendo of Japan's Virtual Console Index|publisher=[[Nintendo]]|language= Japanese|accessdate=2007-02-23}}</ref> Added to the Japanese Virtual Console page was a heading for Neo Geo games. They will appear in late 2007 to all regions.<ref name="NeogeotoVC">{{cite news |date=2007-04-17|url=http://au.wii.ign.com/articles/781/781316p1.html|title=The Return of the NeoGeo| accessdate=2007-07-10}}</ref>
|-
 
| Arcade ||{{y}}||{{n}}||{{n}}
On June 1 2007, Nintendo of America issued a press release to announce the upcoming release of its 100th Virtual Console title. Within this press release, Nintendo stated that more than 4.7 million Virtual Console games had been downloaded, at a rate of more than 1,000 titles an hour.<ref>[http://press.nintendo.com/articles.jsp?id=12387]. Nintendo Pressroom. June 1, 2007.</ref>
|-
 
| NES / Famicom ||{{y}}||{{y}}||{{y}}
===Third party support===
|-
Unnamed [[Nintendo]] employees have reportedly speculated that licensing issues will be a predominant factor in determining whether a game is available for Virtual Console,<ref name="playfeed-e3facts">{{cite news|last=Cardinal|first=Chris|date=2006-05-11|url=http://www.playfeed.com/index.php/playfeed/article/live-from-e3-fun-wii-facts-confirmed-0511060329/|title=Live From E3: Fun Wii Facts Confirmed|publisher=playfeed.com|accessdate=2006-11-15}}</ref> giving the examples of ''GoldenEye 007'' and ''Tetris'' as games that might be too expensive to license for the Virtual Console. Tecmo has announced it plans to "aggressively" support Virtual Console by re-releasing classic games such as ''Ninja Gaiden'', ''Rygar'', and ''Tecmo Bowl''.<ref name=TecmoSupport>{{cite news|url= http://www.thewiire.com/news/436/1/Tecmo_to_Aggresively_Support_ViruConsole|title=Tecmo to Aggressively Support Virtual Console|author=Shawn White|publisher=thewiire.com|date=2006-08-29}}</ref> Tecmo was the first third-party game developer to release a game on the Virtual Console: ''Solomon's Key'' from the NES. Since then, Capcom and Konami, among others, have also released titles.
| SNES / Super Famicom||{{y}}||{{y}}||{{y}}<ref name="New 3DS">Only available on New Nintendo 3DS</ref>
 
|-
Matt Casamassina of IGN reported that Rare titles absent of Nintendo-owned characters would be unavailable for purchase due to Microsoft's acquisition of Rare,<ref name=NoRare>{{cite news|url=http://www.n-sider.com/newsview.php?type=story&storyid=1886|title=Rare games for Nintendo Virtual Console?|author=Glen Bayer|publisher=N-Sider.com|date=2006-03-27}}</ref> but none of the three companies has announced this. SNK Playmore has recently announced intentions to help support the Virtual Console by releasing the ''Samurai Shodown'' series and a few other games to the Virtual Console.<ref name=SNKsupport>{{cite news|url=http://www.gamesarefun.com/news.php?newsid=6456| title=Various new SNK tidbits - Virtual Console support + more|author=Ron Kimberly|publisher=gamesarefun.com| date=2006-05-15}}</ref> Midway also plans to bring classic ''Mortal Kombat'' games to the Virtual Console.<ref name=MKcreator>{{cite news|url=http://www.aussie-nintendo.com/index.php?v=news&p=4841|title=Mortal Kombat creator discusses Wii development|author=Captain|publisher=aussie-nintendo.com|date=2006-09-09}}</ref>
| Nintendo 64||{{y}}||{{y}}||{{n}}
 
|-
Confirmed third-party companies supporting Virtual Console include: Atlus, Namco Bandai, Banpresto, Capcom, Chunsoft, D4 Enterprise, Enterbrain, G-mode, Irem, Jaleco, KEMCO, Koei, Midway Games, Natsume, NCS Masaya, Netfarm, Paon, Rocket Company, Konami, Spike, Square Enix, Sunsoft, SNK Playmore, Taito, Tecmo, Takara, and TOMY.<ref name="24devIDed">{{cite news|last=Niizumi|first=Hirohiko|coauthors=Brendan Sinclair|date=2006-09-14|url= http://www.gamespot.com/news/6157639.html|title=24 Wii VC devs ID'd |pages=1 |publisher=GameSpot |accessdate=2006-11-16}}</ref>
|Sega Master System||{{y}}||{{n}}||{{n}}
 
|-
===Updates===
| Sega Genesis ||{{y}}||{{n}}||{{n}}
The Wii Shop Channel has functionality to allow games to be updated. This has been used three times so far to update ''Military Madness'' and ''Star Fox 64'' in North America and Europe<ref name=" Virtual Consolation Prize: Military Madness Fixed">{{cite news|date=2007-02-11|url=http://blog.wired.com/games/2007/02/virtual_consola_1.html |title=Virtual Consolation Prize: Military Madness Fixed|publisher=wired.com|accessdate=2007-02-12}}</ref> and ''Mario Kart 64'' in Europe and Australia. ''[[w:c:zelda:The Legend of Zelda|The Legend of Zelda]]'', ''[[w:c:The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past|The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past]]'', ''Super Mario Bros.'', ''Donkey Kong Country'' and ''Super Castlevania IV'' have also been given updates in Europe and Australia to fix previous problems with the Wii Component Cables. These updates are free of charge to those who have downloaded a previous version of the game.
|-
 
| Turbografx-16||{{y}}||{{y}}||{{y}}<ref name="Japan only">Only available on Japanese 3DS systems</ref>
==Pricing==
|-
On September 14, 2006, Nintendo revealed that Virtual Console games in Japan would be priced starting at JP¥500 for NES titles, JP¥800 for Super NES titles, and JP¥1000 for Nintendo 64 titles, with points purchasable via credit card or a "Wii Points" card. In the United States, Wii Points are priced at one cent per point, with the ability to buy in denominations of $10, $20, $30 and $50, with game prices of US$5, US$8, and US$10, respectively.<ref name=not-so-lb>{{cite news|url= http://www.joystiq.com/2006/09/14/nintendo-japan-conference-not-so-liveblogging/|title=Nintendo Japan Conference Not so Liveblogging|author=Kyle Orland|publisher=joystiq.com|date=2006-09-14}}</ref><ref name=Reggie-USLaunch>{{cite news|url= http://www.thewiire.com/news/473/1/FilsAime_Talks_American_Launch_and_More|title=Fils-Aime Talks American Launch and More |Publisher=thewiire.com|date=2006-09-14}}</ref>
| Neo Geo||{{y}}||{{n}}||{{n}}
 
|-
Satoru Iwata has indicated that new small-scale titles could be developed and sold through the Wii Shop Channel at a price of between JP¥500 and ¥1000 (approximately US$4-$9, GB£2-£5),<ref name="Iwata briefing Famitsu">{{cite news |url=http://www.famitsu.com/game/news/2006/06/07/103,1149672727,54492,0,0.html |title=Wiiの発売日、価格の発表は9月。WiiとDSの連動は『ポケモン』から|publisher=Famitsu|accessdate=2006-06-07 <font color="#555">'''(Japanese)'''</font>}}</ref><ref name="Iwata briefing IGN">{{cite web|last= Casamassina|first=Matt|authorlink=Matt Casamassina|date=2006-06-07|url=http://wii.ign.com/articles/711/711629p1.html| title=Virtual Console Prices Revealed|publisher=IGN|accessdate=2006-06-08}}</ref> and that free downloads may be offered as a bonus with the purchase of specific Wii titles, similar to Nintendo Europe's VIP 24:7 incentives.<ref name="dlnotfree">{{cite news|date=2006-06-08|url=http://www.cnet.com.au/games/hardware/0,39029706,40055184,00.htm|title=Iwata: Revolution downloads not free|publisher=CNET|accessdate=2006-11-14}}</ref>
| Game Boy ||{{n}}||{{n}}||{{y}}
 
|-
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; margin: 1em auto 1em auto;"
| Game Boy Color||{{n}}||{{n}}||{{y}}
|-
|-
!width=125 |Country
| Game Boy Advance||{{n}}||{{y}}||{{n}}<ref name="Ambassador">10 Game Boy Advance games were released for members of the [http://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/746/~/nintendo-3ds-ambassador-eligibility Nintendo 3DS Ambassador] program. They were not released otherwise.</ref>
!width=100 |NES
!width=100 |SNES
!width=100 |[[Nintendo 64|N64]]
!width=100 |Mega Drive/Genesis
!width=100 |TurboGrafx-16
!width=100 |MSX
!width=100 |Neo Geo
|-
! Wii Points
|500+ ||800+ ||1000+ ||800+ (600+ in Japan) ||600+ ||700+ ||-
|-  
! Australia
|$7.50 ||$12 ||$15 ||$12 ||$9 ||- ||-
|-
|-
! Canada
| Nintendo DS ||{{n}}||{{y}}||{{n}}
|$6.25 ||$10 ||$12.50 ||$10 ||$7.50 ||- ||-
|-
! Eurozone
|€5 ||€8 ||€10 ||€8 ||€6 ||- ||-
|-
|-
! Singapor] <br/><small>(with points bought on point cards)</small>
| Sega Game Gear ||{{n}}||{{n}}||{{y}}
|$9.50 ||$15.20 ||$19 ||$15.20 ||$11.40 ||- ||-
|-
|-
! Sweden <small>(approximately)</small>
| MSX<ref name="MSX">Only available in Japan.</ref>||{{y}}||{{y}}||{{n}}
|46 SEK ||74 SEK ||92 SEK ||74 SEK ||55 SEK ||-||-
|-
|-
! Japan
| Commodore 64<ref name="C64">Only available in North America and PAL regions. All games were removed from the Wii Shop Channel in August 2013.</ref>||{{y}}||{{n}}||{{n}}
|¥500 ||¥800 ||¥1000 ||¥600 ||¥600 ||¥700 ||-
|-
! New Zealand
|$9 ||$14.40 ||$18 ||$14.40 ||$10.80 ||- ||-
|-
! United Kingdom <small>(with points bought online)</small>
|£3.50 ||£5.60 ||£7.00 ||£5.60 ||£4.20 ||- ||-
|-
! United Kingdom <small>(with points bought on point cards)</small>
|£3.75 ||£6.00 ||£7.50 ||£6.00 ||£4.50||- ||-
|-
! United States
|$5 ||$8 ||$10 ||$8 ||$6||- ||-
|-
! Saudi Arabia <br/><small>(with points bought on point cards)</small>
|$8.4 ||$13.4 ||$17 ||$13.4 ||$10||- ||-
|}
|}
===Notes===
<references />


==Storage==
==In the ''{{B|Super Smash Bros.|series}}'' series==
Games downloaded from the Virtual Console library are stored in the Wii's built-in 512 MB flash memory, though only less than 400 MB is actually available to the user. Games can be transferred to a removable SD card but they cannot be played from this external memory. If the internal memory is filled, Virtual Console games can be deleted to create more room, and the games can be downloaded again at a later date at no additional cost. Virtual Console games are locked to the Wii on which they were purchased — they cannot be transferred to another Wii via an SD card. In the event that a Wii is damaged and the Virtual Console games can no longer be played, Nintendo provides support.<ref name="othercontrollers">{{cite news|url=http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=148658|title=Interview: Virtual Console: Secrets exposed |publisher=ComputerAndVideoGames.Com|date=2006-11-03}}</ref>
===[[Masterpieces]]===
A majority of the [[Masterpieces]] featured in ''Brawl'' and {{forwiiu}} work via the Virtual Console engine. In addition, all Masterpieces are timed.


==Control==
Unusually, ''Smash 4'' features Masterpieces of Game Boy titles, which were not supported by the Wii U's Virtual Console. As a result, players are told about how they could download the two Game Boy titles, ''Kirby's Dream Land'' and ''Dr. Mario'', on the Nintendo 3DS's Virtual Console. When the timer runs out, the player is told about how the full version could be purchased for the Virtual Console, though the prompt to take players directly to the Wii U eShop for NES and SNES titles is no longer functional.
[[Image:Wii 05.jpg|thumb|right|The Classic Controller can be used to play games from the Virtual Console]]
Games on the Virtual Console can be played using three different controllers. The [[Wii Remote]] itself, turned on its side, can be used for NES, TurboGrafx-16, and some Sega Mega Drive/Genesis games, and the Classic Controller can be used for all games. The controllers from the [[Nintendo GameCube]] can also be used, causing the wireless controller, the WaveBird, to have an increased popularity.<ref name="popularity">{{cite web|url=http://gamepeople.wordpress.com/2007/01/25/like-a-wavebird-from-the-ashes/|publisher=GamePeople|title=Like a WaveBird from the Ashes|accessdate=2007-01-28|format=HTML}}</ref> The Nintendo Gamecube controller can be used for all Nintendo systems' games, however Nintendo's site claims that it cannot be used with some TurboGrafx-16 and Genesis/Mega Drive titles.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wii.nintendo.com/virtualconsole.jsp|publisher=Nintendo|title=In-Depth Regional Wii Coverage |accessdate=2007-08-11}}</ref>


All Virtual Console games have their buttons mapped to the respective buttons on the controllers, however, in certain circumstances you can use X and Y instead of A and B, if the original controller does not have X and Y buttons, like the NES.<ref name="othercontrollers"/>
===Re-release of ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]''===
''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'' was released onto the Wii Virtual Console for Japan on January 20, 2009, as to celebrate the ten years since the game's first release in Japan on January 21, 1999. It was later released to Europe and Australia on June 12, 2009, and to North America on December 21, 2009. While not officially available for the Wii U's Virtual Console, the Virtual Console re-release of ''Smash 64'' could still be purchased and played when the Wii U was running in Wii Mode. However, the discontinuation of the Wii Shop Channel on January 30, 2019 made the game legitimately unavailable.


With the release of ''Bomberman'93'', it was revealed that TurboGrafx-16 games can support full 5 player games. Since a single Wii can only have four Wii Remotes and four GameCube Controllers connected at the same time, a combination of the two is needed for 5 player games. At least one player has to use a Remote or Classic controller, and at least one player has to use a GameCube Controller. The other three can use either one.
Due to lack of N64 controller support and significant performance issues like frame-skipping, the Virtual Console version of ''Smash 64'' is not used for tournament play. Players use the original [[Nintendo 64]] hardware for in person tournaments or [[Project 64k]] for online events.
 
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; margin: 1em auto 1em auto;"
|-
! width=125 | Platform
! width=100 | [[Wii Remote]]
! width=100 | [[Classic Controller]]
! width=100 | [[GameCube Controller]]
|-
! NES
|[[Image:Yes_check.svg|15px|Yes]]||[[Image:Yes_check.svg|15px|Yes]]||[[Image:Yes_check.svg|15px|Yes]]
|-
! SNES
|[[Image:X mark.svg|15px|No]]||[[Image:Yes_check.svg|15px|Yes]]||[[Image:Yes_check.svg|15px|Yes]]
|-
! [[Nintendo 64|N64]]
|[[Image:X mark.svg|15px|No]]||[[Image:Yes_check.svg|15px|Yes]]||[[Image:Yes_check.svg|15px|Yes]]
|-
! Mega Drive/Genesis
|Some ||[[Image:Yes_check.svg|15px|Yes]]||Some
|-
! TurboGrafx-16
|[[Image:Yes_check.svg|15px|Yes]]||[[Image:Yes_check.svg|15px|Yes]]||Some
|}
 
==''Super Smash Bros.''==
''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'' has yet to have been released on the Virtual Console.
 
==Criticism==
Chris Kohler of the magazine ''Wired'' has criticized the overall release strategy of games on the Virtual Console as a handful of games were relased at the launch of the Wii, though now only two or three games are released each week. Kohler also took issue with the Virtual Console's aspect ratio which stretches the 4:3 games when the Wii's system settings are set for a 16:9 television.<ref>{{cite web |author=Kohler, Chris |title=The Wii 4:3 Hall Of Shame |publisher=Game <nowiki>|</nowiki> Life |date=2006-12-05 |url=http://blog.wired.com/games/2006/12/the_wii_43_hall.html |accessdate = 2007-08-11}}</ref> The prices for the games have been criticized as too high, especially for the NES games,<ref>{{cite web |author=Kolan, Patrick | title=Virtual Console Up Close |publisher=IGN |date=2006-12-12 |url=http://wii.ign.com/articles/750/750821p1.html |accessdate = 2007-08-11}}</ref> given the prices of many of the games on eBay and the near-zero costs of manufacture and distribution.
 
==References==
{{Reflist|2}}


==External links==
==External links==
{{art-nwiki}}
*[http://wii.nintendo.com/virtualconsole.jsp Virtual Console] - Official Virtual Console site
*[http://wii.nintendo.com/virtualconsole.jsp Virtual Console] - Official Virtual Console site
[[Category:Wii]]
[[Category:Wii]]
[[Category:Nintendo 3DS]]
[[Category:Wii U]]
[[Category:Consoles]]
[[Category:Technology]]
[[Category:Emulators]]

Latest revision as of 18:02, September 17, 2024

The Virtual Console logo.

The Virtual Console (バーチャルコンソール, Virtual Console), sometimes abbreviated as VC, is a feature of the Wii, Nintendo 3DS, and Wii U that allows players to officially emulate games from older video game consoles. Supported by the Wii Shop Channel on the Wii and the Nintendo eShop on the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS, the different consoles offered differing coverage as to what games they featured. The Virtual Console has since been retired, with the currently available Nintendo Switch offering classic games with a Nintendo Switch Online subscription. The currently supported consoles on this service are NES, SNES and Game Boy/Game Boy Color with the base package, with N64, GBA, and Sega Genesis costing extra as part of the Expansion Pack. After the shutdown of the Wii Virtual Console on January 30, 2019, and the shutdown of the 3DS and Wii U Virtual Console on March 27, 2023, it is no longer legally possible to purchase software provided by any Virtual Console service.

List of consoles on Virtual Console[edit]

Platform Wii[1] Wii U Nintendo 3DS
Arcade Yes No No
NES / Famicom Yes Yes Yes
SNES / Super Famicom Yes Yes Yes[2]
Nintendo 64 Yes Yes No
Sega Master System Yes No No
Sega Genesis Yes No No
Turbografx-16 Yes Yes Yes[3]
Neo Geo Yes No No
Game Boy No No Yes
Game Boy Color No No Yes
Game Boy Advance No Yes No[4]
Nintendo DS No Yes No
Sega Game Gear No No Yes
MSX[5] Yes Yes No
Commodore 64[6] Yes No No

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Wii U can play them in Wii Mode
  2. ^ Only available on New Nintendo 3DS
  3. ^ Only available on Japanese 3DS systems
  4. ^ 10 Game Boy Advance games were released for members of the Nintendo 3DS Ambassador program. They were not released otherwise.
  5. ^ Only available in Japan.
  6. ^ Only available in North America and PAL regions. All games were removed from the Wii Shop Channel in August 2013.

In the Super Smash Bros. series[edit]

Masterpieces[edit]

A majority of the Masterpieces featured in Brawl and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U work via the Virtual Console engine. In addition, all Masterpieces are timed.

Unusually, Smash 4 features Masterpieces of Game Boy titles, which were not supported by the Wii U's Virtual Console. As a result, players are told about how they could download the two Game Boy titles, Kirby's Dream Land and Dr. Mario, on the Nintendo 3DS's Virtual Console. When the timer runs out, the player is told about how the full version could be purchased for the Virtual Console, though the prompt to take players directly to the Wii U eShop for NES and SNES titles is no longer functional.

Re-release of Super Smash Bros.[edit]

Super Smash Bros. was released onto the Wii Virtual Console for Japan on January 20, 2009, as to celebrate the ten years since the game's first release in Japan on January 21, 1999. It was later released to Europe and Australia on June 12, 2009, and to North America on December 21, 2009. While not officially available for the Wii U's Virtual Console, the Virtual Console re-release of Smash 64 could still be purchased and played when the Wii U was running in Wii Mode. However, the discontinuation of the Wii Shop Channel on January 30, 2019 made the game legitimately unavailable.

Due to lack of N64 controller support and significant performance issues like frame-skipping, the Virtual Console version of Smash 64 is not used for tournament play. Players use the original Nintendo 64 hardware for in person tournaments or Project 64k for online events.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://www.ssbwiki.com/index.php?title=Virtual_Console&oldid=1927085"