A handful of new import titles were recently given ratings by the OFLC, leading many to believe that Europe and Australia would be on their way to the fifth Hanabi Festival, and thus another nice batch of import Virtual Console games.
Nintendo of Europe has now practically confirmed that this will be happening soon, as they've added four import titles to their VC game list, all marked with a "coming soon" tag. It looks like a 50-50 split this time – two of the titles aren't really good, but the other two will easily be among the best imports available.
The four imports which should be coming soon are:
- Castlevania: Rondo of Blood – Turbografx CD. Never released outside Japan until quite recently, this could very well be the most requested import yet.
- Ironclad – Neo Geo. The very first Neo Geo import, it's an awesome shoot 'em up with great graphics and music.
- Lode Runner – NES. One of the oldest versions of the game available. Battle Lode Runner has been available for ages and is better, so don't bother with this one!
- Milon's Secret Castle – NES. DoReMi Fantasy's predecessor, which is pretty much completely based around trial and error gameplay. Not very good!
So, who's willing to place bets on when these will be released? Perhaps this week? Maybe not until next month?
[source nintendo.co.uk]
Comments 64
Where is Chrono Trigger. They rip us off by making us pay for a DS version. (which kicks, dont get me wrong)
I wish the US had a special event like this. Imports rule. :3
No Ogre Battle 64?
No Final Fantasy I see...I guess that means I'll buy the iPhone version after all.
Adamant,don't reply on this comment and tell me that the NES version is the best one,k?
Just Rondo of Blood for me out of that list. I'm surprised there's only four though; should be more. And there are hundreds of games yet to appear on the VC, not just Chrono Trigger.
@Smileoscar - I think the Dawn of Souls version for the GBA is actually the best, I don't think the PSP/iphone version have the bonus content but they have nice sprites.
EARTHBOUND, EARTHBOUND, EARTHBOUND, EARTHBOUND, EARTHBOUND, EARTHBOUND, EARTHBOUND, EARTHBOUND, EARTHBOUND, EARTHBOUND, EARTHBOUND, EARTHBOUND!!
Rondo of Blood will be a must-buy for me.
@Smileoscar: Can I reply and say the PS1 version is the only non-NES version that doesn't suck?
I'd rather watch Angry Video Game Nerd's review of Milon's Secret Castle again than play it
http://nintendo.co.uk/NOE/en_GB/games/virtual_console_1778.html
I think its safe to say the listings are in order of release. Maybe Ironclad is this week?
A Hanabi festival would be nice since Virtual Console is starving nowadays (especially in Europe). Rondo of Blood would be a must buy for me, I'm unfortunately not interested in the other games though (I will consider Ironclad maybe).
Nintendo should definitely support the Virtual Console again. It's really sad to see only two games released per month. At the time WiiWare was launched I thought it couldn't hurt to have an additional (!!!) service for Wii users. I didn't expect that Nintendo would even consider replacing Virtual Console releases with WiiWare games in the long run. I mean Virtual Console was the main feature of Wii why many gamers bought the console at launch time and afterwards (despite waggle controls and outdated hardware).
Like everyone else said this can't be all, what about Ogre Battle, FFI, FF"II"...
Nice to see Rondo of Blood at long, long last.
Nice for you, now I need my bloody rondo in NA.
I´d buy Ironclad, and if we would get Ogre Battle 64 that would be awesome too.
I recently played through Akumajou Dracula X Chi no Rondo, and I still found it as good as I did back when I first played it in 2007 on Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles. I got 100%, again!!
iron clad looks pretty damn good, i`m glad this is getting a VC release.
I hope we get more than these four. Aren't ogre battle 64, the final fantasy series and princess tomato in the salad kingdom supposed to be coming soon. It would also be nice if we get a few suprise like the mother series.
It would be nice if these four games were released over two weeks and they have yet to add a third week's games. But I think that would be hoping for too much.
NES Lode Runner wasn't released in Europe? Huh. Could've sworn it was. I had fun with it when I was little.
OK this is good news - I just hope we get Mario Kart this weekend before it starts. If not my Mario Kart points (which I've had on my Wii since bloody November now!) will be going on Rondo. At least they'll be gone - there's no time limit on when you have to use them is there?
Rondo of blood , my dreams come true at last, i can not wait for this game, easily is the best 16 bit castlevania version of all time.-
Technically Akumajou Dracula X Chi no Rondo was released on an 8-bit console with 16-bit hardware. Still, it's nice to hear that it's coming to the Western VC.
Gonna get castlveania the first day
Hudson usually list the TG games coming in the month on their VC website on the 1st, so unless Nintendo have told them to shut their trap, then it could be April...
Will be getting Rondo for sure, Ironclad is going on the maybe list, too many other games to play first. I'd like to see Orge battle 64, really got into the snes version.
NA's had Milon's Secret Castle and Lode Runner for a couple of years. Better late than never for Europe.
I'm looking forward to Ironclad.
I hope they sneak Ninja Gaiden 2 in on that list as well.
Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos was known in Europe as Shadow Warriors II. I still don't understand why it was considered taboo in the '90s for Europeans to use the word "ninja".
Finally its coming out. The journeys nearly at the end for me with VC. Rondo of blood and then after that any decent arcade games that come out.
Yes starboy you have right but is the best 16 bit version ever miles better than the snes and megadive versions of castlevania series.
@StarBoy91: It was largely Germany, not Europe as a whole, but since we got the same releases, we got stuck with the censorship, too. Germany still gets horribly censored games nowadays, but they generally stay in that country so other Europeans don't have to suffer.
@Adamant - oh.
@jaguarman - I concur that it's better than Super Castlevania IV (imo), but I've still yet to experience Castlevania Bloodlines/A New Generation (MegaDrive) and Akmajou Dracula XX/Castlevania: Dracula X/Vampire's Kiss (SNES).
Adamant you have right.The Germany has to many taboos about video games but the rest of EU countries thanx god not.
Now everyone (well, almost everyone) will get to experience what it's like to play as Maria Renard and cheese through the game as her (especially with her secret, ultra powerful move).
Though, personally, I like the game more challenging when I play as Richter. Hooray for backflips!
I don't like to play with Maria,i prefer the Richter too StarBoy91
Also, hooray for Item Crashes and anime cutscenes and alternate pathways.
Boo to the fact that Dracula is very easy when either defeated by Richter or Maria.
@27: Better never than late for those two.
The sequel, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, is my favorite Castlevania ever; and Akumajou Dracula X Chi no Rondo is my second favorite in the series.
The best version Astroboy of castlevania symphony of the night is saturn version.
Astroboy, lol?
oh man im sorry ,hahahaha
Nah, it's okay, jaguarman.
I already played Rondo of Blood on my PSP (Dracula X Chronicles). Not as engaging as Castlevania IV, but the branching paths and multiple characters make for an interesting game.
I don't really see the big deal about Rondo. I think Bloodlines is the best older Castlevania title.
By the way, is Castlevania Bloodlines really that good? I've been wanting to try that game for years.
.......Oh please Let Rondo of Blood be released soon. >_<
It's nice to see EU catch up with some NES games that NA has had for years.
It's amazing how, despite Maria being a cute character, it works so well in a dark-themed game.
I wish they'd put as much care into their "Hanabi Festival" as Microsoft does with their Xbox Live Arcade promotions (like their "Summer of games" last year that gave us Shadow Complex and Trials HD). Also, I wish they'd do this here in the 'states, seeing as how we haven't gotten an import in a looooooooooong time.
And with Sunsoft back in action (somewhat), I can think of no better time to bring over gems like Gimmick and Ufouria. Which I believe both came out in the EU already, but to us Americans they'd be new. I really don't wanna have to resort to emulating them. A PC is a poor excuse for an NES, even with a controller. One machine was designed for games, the other was designed for...spreadsheets and stuff. It'd just be far superior to have it on Wii...
@Vinsanity: You forgot "The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition", "Splosion Man" and "Battlefield 1943". Summer of Arcade was really awesome last year. I don't understand why Nintendo can't boost Virtual Console like this.
I am really hoping we will see Ironclad this friday!
aww, no FFIV this hanabi (or isnt it official yet?)
thats the only import i'm waiting for which makes it to VC
It will be interesting to see if Ironclad follows the standard Hanabi template of giving PAL gamers the original version running in 60hz or treads the dubious downgraded 50hz path of SEGA's Hanabi imports.
Rondo of Blood and Ironclad are sure downloads for me. I just hope that it comes out in NA soon.
Where's Super Mario Kart?
Mario All Stars Please Nintendo.
ONM were speculating the same in the latest mag too!
Yippee.. NOT.
Where's Super Mario Kart?
@Pj Mario All Stars is not going to Happen, need to get realistic.
All four games (the original NES and FamiCom Disk System games) that are on Super Mario All-Stars are already on the Virtual Console.
Also, ain't that anime cutscene in Akumajou Dracula X Chi no Rondo where Richter meets Maria for the first time so cute? :3
I get Castlevania for sure and Ironclad looks interesting.
Super Mario Kart isn't an import, why would it appear in a Hanabi Festival?
@Drake
I know its not an import, I just want it released in Europe.
Oh, did I forget to mention that Akumajou Dracula X Chi no Rondo has the most dazzling parallax scrolling I've seen from the PC-Engine?
No offense, Star Parodier.
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