First... I'm sorry EU

Bummer of an update.

Indeed. Lets look on the bright side though - Europe now has exactly the same Master System VC catalogue that the Americans do and the full NES Donkey Kong catalogue is available in both countries too. And Europe is now only TWO games behind America in total. Okay, thats not so bright... anybody else want to hibernate for two weeks until next VC night? I sure do after today's releases. I do think it would be kinda cool if Stanley appeared as a playable character in a later Mario Kart/Party/Golf/whatever game. I like it when they bring back and redesign old obscure characters (let's have Boom-Boom, Pauline and all seven Koopa Kids too, eh?) but I do not feel the same for old obscure games like these two which will get forgotten about by the time the news page gets updated with something new other than the lingering resentment and disappointment we Europeans and Australians will have.

Woohoo...that's bad.

Ouch. I loved Donkey Kong 3 back in the day, but it hasn't aged as well as the first two games.

Woohoo...yeah...

So, a 2 games catch up week for EU, and not a very good one, this is a bad sign .

Eh, Donkey Kong 3 is quite a fun game, and Enduro Racer isn't horrible or anything. It's not THAT bad an update, really.
Plus, DK3 has taken it's sweet time to get released, too. Nice to finally get it.

And you gave DK3 the same two-star rating as DK and DKJr, so I don't really see where the "pretty terrible" is coming from.

Well, the games are out the way at least, right?

Enduro racer is not too bad. I played through it and its kinda fun. It's a shame they did not release another stellar game but now you know how us Americans are feeling.

Not too bothered to be honest. The sooner the crap gets out of the way the sooner the better stuff can come out. Pity they couldn't throw in Wizball too though. Wonder what's happened to that. Perhaps its got lost in the draw Nintendo are keeping Beetle Adventure Racing and Pilotwings in.
Got to many VC games on the go at the mo anyway so happy to let the drivel come out while I chip away at those.
Will have a go at finishing Mystical Ninja, DoReMi and SMRPG instead and then maybe pick up Orbient now that the Nintendo Stars shop finally has a ready supply of cards available for points.
Strange that VC reviews doesn't have an outcry over a 2 game fortnight wheras every American release day is greeted with a predictable "You'll never guess what they've done"...as if they don't do it every week!

:S Looks like two slaps in the face for the price of one. Catch-up weeks are already not very good, but catching-up those really must feel like a waste of time. Hang in there

Oooohhh ouch. Sorry 'bout that, Europe.

rubbish. is this a meant to be a joke $£%%^

Europe has been having slightly better VC luck recently, but not this time. Man, that's a crappy update.

Mario Golf as a third game or a replacement to one of the two we got (heck, even just Mario Golf alone) would really have made a difference this week.

And you gave DK3 the same two-star rating as DK and DKJr, so I don't really see where the "pretty terrible" is coming from.

Well, considering the fact that I consider both DK and DKJr to be terrible, being of the same quality must make it terrible as well.

As for Euduro Racer, it's a sub-par conversion of an average arcade game. Sure, it's not quite terrible, but it certainly isn't good either.

Poor Europe. It seems like every update for all regions have a certain level of suckishness thesee past 2-3 weeks

except for Kirby's Dreamland 3.

i know what two VC games you guys over in europe arent going to buy!
Anyone have a guess?

@Adamant

Believe me, the arcade versions are better.

Horrible update.

@Angelic Lapras King: Funny you should say that - I'm currently staying at a motel that has one of those arcade cabinets with a dozen games built in, including the three DK games. I'm typing this comment shortly after having played the original arcade version of Donkey Kong 3 for the first time (well, 3 first times - I had to give it a couple more gos).
Yes, the arcade version is definitly better than the downgraded NES port (I don't think DK throws coconuts in the NES port, does he?), but that doesn't mean the NES version is BAD or anything (though I wish Nintendo would make some of their arcade classics available too... on Wiiware, maybe?). In fact, playing the arcade original mostly served to remind me how fun DK3 actually is, and I'll download the VC game once I get my system back.

Bad update? Nah.

(or, to put things into perspective - staying here, I've spent 1.50$ playing DK3 and 2$ or so playing the original Donkey Kong (a credit is 50c), and the only reason i didn't spend more was because I ran out of quarters. 5$ for an infinite amount of credits, even if it's a slightly downgraded version of the game? A bargain if you ask me.)

^That is a very good perspective!

I think I have DK3 on some e-Reader cards, along with DK Jr. and I have the original DK on my C64... with that pie factory stage still in it! I think I might have DK3 on it even... somewhere in all these floppy discs.

Dude you guys got screwed.

I didn't like DK3 but that was cause I couldn't beat the damn thing ... Also, buy Exitebike and ignore EnduroRacer.

You can't beat DK3. It's an endless arcade game where you try to get the highest score.

Yeah, but I couldn't get past the 3rd level ...

"And Europe is now only TWO games behind America in total."

Only from the help of EU getting C64 games (which no other region has).

Boy...wow...I'm at a loss for words...

"And Europe is now only TWO games behind America in total."

Again Bass is obsessed with how many games Europe is behind the U.S. Face it, you'll never pass us. The U.S. will get 2 games over the next 2 weeks, and you guys will get 2 games 2 weeks from now. Get used to Nintendo's new crappy release schedule. This update blows.

I'm not a happy panda right now.

Well, as a Donkey Kong fan it's fun to see Donkey Kong 3. But it's not the same as owning the original package.
Boring, I'll buy something off PSN instead.

Where is Mario Golf 64? We still have 26 Games to catch Up with the USA! And then only a 2 Games Release today? What a shame!

NIce update. I'm glad I've decided to not buy any VC stuff for a while. I can just hope and pray that next week's WiiWare line up doesn't suck this bad.

It's a shame Nintendo couldn't make at least one region happy. Instead the reheat a couple of sh@!-burgers on toast for you to swallow with a smile. I'm gonna go play Castle Crashers, and then stream a Netflix movie. I have no use for the VC anymore. And the European VC update kind of reinforces my loathing.

At least it was solid for a while, and I have a good 60+ games. What I haven't downloaded I'll play by way of cartridge!

But i digress, and I wish you well when you get your import 'festival'. Hopefully Nintendo will do right by you then!

Oh good lord I knew we would get those games this week. This is the most craptacular update we ever had.

It is clear that WiiWare is to blame for this...

Seriously, I'm surprised nobody has said that yet. In the other topic you are all too happy to blame Wiiware

I would rather play these 2 games compared to what we are getting on Wii Ware monday. Let's just say were not getting Cave Story.

Nothing for me this time, but although i have 92 VC games, there are still games on my download list, so it's not that bad for me^^.

@Starwolf_UK: I agree completely. WiiWare is Nintendo's main priority currently and all the shovelware released on it prevents classic games being released on the VC.

I'm hoping the import festival improves things and I'd love to see Wrecking Crew '98. Whenever these bad games are released, we're closer to getting good ones.

Again Bass is obsessed with how many games Europe is behind the U.S. Face it, you'll never pass us.

Hey, its just like cheering on your own horse during a horse race.

@ Mike (#32): "Again Bass is obsessed with how many games Europe is behind the U.S. Face it, you'll never pass us."

How can you know? The difference is just 2 games, don't be so confident .

this is the wrost week for about 3 months i was hopeing that start of new year with mario golf 64 and clu clu land. i dont like many nes and master system games. donkey kong 3 is the best out all the donkey kong games on the nes but still a rubbish weak for us europens but what is relly bad is how come we have gotten axelay and super turrican 2 for the snes yet.

Oh well... better one festering crap fortnight to get these catch-up games out the way. Now we can go back to fortnights of one decent one average game

Honestly, DK3 isn't THAT bad of a game. It can be pretty fun in small doses. @post46: You really think DK3 is the best huh? Let's get serious now. DK Jr. will forever be the best in the arcade series and I love DK3 but DK Jr. is the best of the three hands down. I also just noticed this is your first two VC game week in a long time. The way it was going over though I thought it wasn't going to change.

Ouch, that's one rough update for you guys. Well, for the most part, though, you at least seem to be catching up to us. Mario Golf shouldn't be too far behind.

Well, they were always going to happen at some point. I'm just glad they're out of the way, although i would have liked another game aside it but who wouldn't in all honesty?

Also, guess my hopes of a new Hanabi aren't to be yet but i'm not giving up hope on a new one just yet.

Only two games left? Does that mean that we're only missing Kirby's Dreamland 3 and Star Tropics II, which are both hanabi titles? Great!

@Kevin. Why did you just reply to yourself?

As for DK3, I played the NES version on e-reader and it's alright to play for a couple of minutes, but it's definitely not worth waiting 2 weeks for.

@ Bensei (#49): "Only two games left? Does that mean that we're only missing Kirby's Dreamland 3 and Star Tropics II, which are both hanabi titles?"

No, that means there are 272 VC-games released in Europe and 274 VC-games released in the USA, but not the same ones.

Here you have an overview, scroll down to see which games are missing in each region:

http://www.vc-reviews.com/games?sort=eudate

http://www.vc-reviews.com/games?sort=usdate

@Ness
Sadly, I know I'm right because Nintendo are going to give us only 1 game a week. That's their new sh*tty standard. The U.S. is only going to get 1 game a week, and Europe will only get 2, every 2 weeks. I hope I'm wrong and we get at least 2 Monday instead of more shovelware, but I won't be surprised if we get 1 game. As long as Castlevania 3 is one of them!

Terrible update, whats the story with the delay bringing mario golf to euro vc, I notice we're not kept waiting too long for crap like booger man and enduro racer to make it over.
I've had enough of waiting around for a game that has been out months in other regions I am going to download the rom, I didn't want to do this as I wanted to pay my money fair and square like a lot of others on here, but clearly Nintendo doesn't want my money.
Rant Over.

I wondor when we'll be getting our final Virtual Console? Europe has the C64, so will we be getting ours soon or will w have to wait forever?

Also, just thought of this, will there be more Virtual Consoles or are we done (europe is done, we need one more)? It'd be neat to see, say, the Game & Watch on there, though I don't know how difficult that'd be to emulate.

@ Shadx (#54): "Also will there be more Virtual Consoles or are we done (europe is done, we need one more)?"

There are still so many classic consoles out there to bring on Virtual Console, consequently i don't think the C64 will be the last.

@ "Europe has the C64, so will we be getting ours soon or will w have to wait forever?"

I think there are problems because of the current license holder of the C64.

There may also be problems with the C64 emulator full stop if Cybernoid and Last Ninja 3 are anything to go by.

On the subject of potential consoles, let's examine this properly. I have removed consoles that have already been emulated for the VC. Also, apart from the ZX Spectrum, I have not included Home Computers as I got the list of Wikipedia and where i got the lists from on there didn't include them. Another thing to note is that I haven’t included console add-on’s for the list. I will at some point but not yet.

Here's a list of all the major consoles up to the 5th Generation as i doubt any consoles beyond that would be emulated on the Vc

First generation
Magnavox Odyssey
Philips Odyssey
Pong
Telstar series

Second generation
Fairchild Channel F
RCA Studio II
Atari 2600
Interton VC 4000
Odyssey²
Intellivision
Arcadia 2001
Atari 5200
ColecoVision
Vectrex
SG-1000

Third generation
Atari 7800
Amstrad GX4000
Sinclair ZX Spectrum

Fourth generation
CD-i
Super A'Can

Fifth generation
FM Towns Marty
3DO
Amiga CD32
Atari Jaguar
Sega Saturn
PlayStation
NEC PC-FX
Casio Loopy
Playdia

I would say it's fair to assume that all first and second generation consoles won't ever appear on the VC, with the possible exception of the Atari's, Colecovision, Intellivision and maybe even the SG-1000, mainly due to either obscurity or that the systems haven't aged well or they didn't have a good library or because they're technologically pretty poor by the VC standards or maybe that's its not worth the effort to get them on the VC.

Coming on to the third generation consoles, the Atari 7200 has very little in terms of exclusive games so it wouldn't be worh it and the Amstrad GX4000 was a complete market failure. The ZX Spectrum though, was pretty successful and had a large fanbase and a fairly good library so that could appear.

Onto 4th Gen consoles, the Super A’Can was exclusive to China, so we’ll almost certainly never see that in these regions and the CD-i is another unlikely due to low consumer interest at the time and the infamous Nintendo games that appeared on the system, so I don’t think Nintendo will want to bring those back into the public eye.

For the 5th Gen, Playdia, FM Towns Marty and Casio Loopy were exclusive to Japan, so they won’t happen. They’re far too obscure and have little games for their systems so it’s very unlikely it would happen. Also, pretty much all of Playdia’s games were based off licenses so that’s another factor.

The 3DO is very unlikely, mainly due to its game library and the fact that most of its games were multi-platform by the looks of things. Also, because of its failure in the market, it would be a very long shot to see this appear.

The Amiga CD32 is more likely because of the C64 being available (In Europe anyway) so there’s always a chance other consoles from commodore could appear. As for the Jaguar, I wouldn’t rule it out completely due to its large fanbase. However, it’s rather thin library may damage hopes of an appearance.

With the NEC PC-FX, it was rather obscure and Japan only so that won’t appear. Onto the Saturn, it would be great if it could appear on the VC but in the past, there have been a number of issues with Saturn emulation, so that dampens any chances of it coming to the VC, although I would say its not out of the question. Also, I think most people know the odd’s of PS1 games on the VC. It’s more wrong than my friend who emulated Mario Sunshine on his PS3.

Oh if I’ve missed any consoles, can someone tell me and I’ll add it to the list. That took awhile for sure.

He emulated Super Mario Sunshine, an exclusive GameCube title, on the PS2? Are you sure? I would go as far to say it's impossible. I mean, the GCN had more power than the PS2, and to emulate a GameCube game needs much power, so i can't really believe this. How should that work?

(Or do you mean Super Mario 64? Or Super Mario Sunshine on the PS3? Both would be more realistic^^.)

Agreed, the gamcube was very powerful for it's size. Emulating Sunshine on a PS2 would be near impossible, and even if you managed it, there would be hundreds of problems and it would likely crash alot.

@Terranigma. Playstation games on a Nintendo system? Are you nuts? Sony would never allow their past games to appear on a rival console!

Well...... maybe we should get these type of games before we get better ones but sadly these don't interest me. SO hope fully we're get a better VC update on the 23. Does any-one know when SNK-Arcade classics comes out in the UK????

^The only interesting topic above (skipping how lame the update is, self-explanatory) is that Europe can "never" catch up to the US. Do you remember when their region was about 30-35 games behind us? (I think it was in Mid 2007 and I could be wrong with when and exactly how many.) Anyway, now they are only 2 behind. So it could happen. Do I really care who has the most games? No, because we'll just be raped by Japan, which has over 100 more than both regions. Pointless conversation--closed.

Europe sometimes gets three games on its VC days, America usually gets just one game a week. If America continues to get one game a week, all Europe needs is two lots of three game weeks to catch up. It can happen.

Wouldn't count on it, LOL! But all kidding aside, who really cares? I would prefer something nice for a change like getting 3 or 4 games on Monday. Not likely though.

Besides Bass, why are you getting so excited that you are now only 2 games behind America? Two weeks ago, you were also 2 games behind America after the Christmas update, so nothing has changed.

ಠ_ಠ What a horrible update for Europe

That was a spelling mistake, as i did mean to say PS3 (Changed it now). My friend knows a few guys who are very good with emulating games and also modding, so he got them to do it for him. Had a few problems sure, but he then had his PS3 modded specially for emulated games. The PS2 is near impossible to do Sunshine on.

@Ricardo91
All i said was "I think Most people know the odds of PS1 games on the VC".
I didn't say those Odds were good, they're near impossibly high. Most people would know that. It was only on the list because i wanted to include all consoles, not counting add-ons and most home computers

@Terranigma. Sorry, I missed that part. I didn't realize you were simply listing every past console. I thought they were consoles you think would appear on VC. My bad.

This, my friends, is why people choose ROM piracy .'''

Yeah, but roms are never as good as the real deal (or vc, which is the closest thing your gonna get) they always flicker or have graphics or audio errors.

@Shadx

Actually, emulators these days are pretty good. Sure they still have problems here and there, but so does the VC. The main thing I don't like about using emulators is that you never really feel like you "own" any of the games, the way you do with games that you've spent your hard-earned money on.

#43. ness & #62. Objection_Blaster & #63. Bass X0
Just a quick update guys, the U.S. is currently 11 games ahead of Europe as of 6/10/09. Guess I was right!