Virtual Consolation

As much as I’m desperate for Nintendo to get its Game Boy Advance games onto 3DS, I’m stoked for tomorrow’s launch lineup of titles hitting Wii U’s Virtual Console service.  People love to tout games like Super Metroid and A Link to the Past (as they should!), but I truly believe that GBA had a rich catalogue that easily equalled some of the best 16-bit titles of the SNES era. Games like Metroid Fusion, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, The Minish Cap, and Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance are just a handful of the excellent experiences that players got to enjoy on GBA. It’s essential that this initiative succeeds on Wii U to help insure that these wonderful titles don’t fade into obscurity.

As much flack as I’ve given Nintendo’s Virtual Console service over the years, there’s no denying what a wonderful thing it is for gamers to have access to. There are so many exceptional games to play on VC that most folks can only dream of ever getting hold of as physical copies. Unlike just about every other form of media and entertainment, video games, especially the old, classic ones, are landlocked to whichever piece of hardware they first appeared on. No old NES meant no old NES games for years, until VC launched on Wii. Thankfully, Nintendo is opening the vault to give a greater variety of its handheld games some time in the sun.

GBA remains one of my favorite consoles of all time. All three form factors were comfortable and attractive (yes, even the original, with it’s unlit screen and AA batteries). The SP is usually the default favorite for many when it comes to this generation of Nintendo handhelds, and for good reason, as it represented a true evolutionary leap in design for the company. I’ve always loved the Micro best though; sleek, light, perfect. GBA, like GameCube, was also the end of simple consoles. Plug in a game, flip the power on, and straight to playing a game. No user interfaces or home screens to be bothered with, just pure, unfettered gaming.

Oddly, there’s not much recognition for the fact that GBA helped keep 2D game design alive and thriving. The world was enthralled with polygons and 3D worlds at the time, so classic platformers and top-down RPGS were all but gone from home consoles. GBA let devs continue to produce the sorts of titles that were being shunned elsewhere, up until the industry finally realized there was room for both styles of play. Metroid Prime is an incredible game, but the world would be a less interesting place if Metroid Zero Mission never was released. GBA kept the old traditions alive for an entire generation of gamers that would have been robbed of them, otherwise.

When the eShop gets updated tomorrow, I’ll be ready to start downloading some very fun games. Good luck tomorrow, Nintendo! Here’s hoping folks show these games the appreciation they deserve.

Yoshi’s Cookie Yet Another Virtual Console Loss

News has spread that this is the last week that NES puzzler Yoshi’s Cookie will be available on the Wii’s Virtual Console. An expiring license is being bandied about as the main cause for the impending removal, despite Yoshi’s Cookie being a first-party Nintendo title. Sadly, Yoshi’s Cookie isn’t the first title to disappear from the Virtual Console, as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, R-Type, and all three Donkey Kong Country games have already faded into obscurity. Sadder still is knowing that there’s probably no end in sight for these unceremonious removals.

What frustrates about these losses to the Virtual Console is that the service should be the go-to source for classic, Nintendo gaming. Instead, fans are lucky to get a single new release in a week, and with the transition to Wii U, these releases are now limited to NES and SNES titles. It’s not that Nintendo doesn’t have an abundance of systems and games to draw from; they simple choose not to. As a result, numerous titles remain in limbo, confined to their systems of origin with little hope of being rediscovered.

The issue of licenses is understandable, as titles like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were born under complicated circumstances, and as a result can’t be brought back easily. Other games, though, like Yoshi’s Cookie, don’t seem to have a legitimate reason for being allowed to reach a point where they need to be removed. Even if another developer like Rare or Bullet-Proof Software was involved, if the game used any of Nintendo’s IPs, I can’t understand the logic on Nintendo’s part to just let the title disappear without a fight. The Donkey Kong Country games are perhaps the most glaring example of this. The titles are beloved, and seem a shoe-in to help build hype for the upcoming Tropical Freeze title heading to Wii U. Instead, it’s been nearly a year since they went AWOL and Nintendo’s lips are sealed on the possibility of their return.

As a fan, this sucks. The DKC games are as fun as they are influential, and to see them so callously dismissed is disheartening. I’ve stated before that videogame developers owe it to everyone to keep their back catalogue of games preserved, and Nintendo is no exception. Indeed, Nintendo is the one company above all others that has the biggest responsibility to do so. While games like Super Mario Bros. are always available, the milestones shouldn’t be the only games that warrant their attention. Yoshi’s Cookie going away is just more confirmation that Nintendo doesn’t place enough priority on keeping all of its older games in the minds of fans. Here’s hoping that Nintendo will stop the bleeding sooner, rather than later.

Retro(spective) 4-EarthBound

In light of last week’s abrupt re-release, I thought I’d dust off EarthBound a bit for the uninitiated. Released in 1995 here in the US, EarthBound is actually the second game in the series Mother (as it’s called in Japan) and is the passion-project of Shigesato Itoi and Nintendo President Satoru Iwata. Itoi is madly famous in Japan for a variety of things, ranging from writing to videogame development to his daily blog (you might have even seen him as a judge on the original Japanese Iron Chef TV series). EarthBound‘s pedigree of creators is right up there with classic titles like Chrono Trigger. HAL Laboratory, Ape, and Nintendo united to bring a real masterpiece to the table, but unfortunately it would take many years before the game could truly be appreciated.

So, What is EarthBound?

EarthBound is a very non-traditional RPG. The game revolves around the character Ness and his adventure to end the threat of the alien Giygas. Ness must locate eight hidden “sanctuaries” in order to merge his power with that of the Earth’s and use it to defeat Giygas before it can enslave the universe. The battle system features turn-based action, but with a twist on the typical trappings. Like some very old-school dungeon crawlers, the battle screen features a static image of your enemy and simple menus displaying your various attacks; your party does not actually appear onscreen. The twist comes in the form ofEarthBound’s “odometer” health counter. Your HP ticks down as you take damage, but it is possible to stop the progression with healing magic/items or the defeat of your enemy before the meter hits zero. Thus, an element of “speed” is present during battles that adds a different factor to consider when planning your attack.

Speaking of attacking, the game is famous for its refusal to conform to traditional RPG conventions. No swords or lances, no potions, but instead baseball bats and yo-yos, hamburgers and fries. Along with its semi-surreal depiction of American culture,EarthBound uses food and items synonymous with what you’d find in a typical suburb, not a castle. The game also lampoons RPG currency using a variation of the typical father-son allowance arrangement, with Ness’s dad depositing cash into a checking account as battles are won. The developers did a great job of finding mundane analogues for shops (drugstores) and inns (hotels) in order to make them fit the world of EarthBound. Think being poisoned sucks? Wait until you have to deal with being homesick!

As far as the structuring of the environment, EarthBound has an interesting interconnected overworld, where the player is able to seamlessly travel between towns as though it were a true, open world. Populating this landscape is a plethora of oddball characters that you will probably never forget. I touched on this a little above, but what is intrinsic to the EarthBoundexperience is the developers’ quirky humor and depiction of what appears to be American culture. There’s a wealth of social commentary in this game that gives a fascinating look into how the Japanese might interpret what our culture is like, at least as a parody or exaggeration. From police officers whose sole purpose are to put up roadblocks, to books about the necessity of having ATM machines in drugstores to facilitate convenience, the game casts us in an interesting light (one I find pretty spot-on, in many ways).

Helping channel the unique spirit of this game is its stunning visual style. In 1995, the world had already been spoiled by Donkey Kong Country, causing many at the time to criticize the game’s graphics as being “ugly”. While today we’re becoming more accustomed to game journalists embracing the diversity of videogame art direction, the mid-nineties was a much less receptive era, where everyone simply wanted bigger and better. There’s an illustrator-like quality to the game’s visuals, crafted by the use of thin outlines and oblique projection to present Ness’s world. I’d be remiss in not pointing out the amazing soundtrack. The variety is mind-boggling, ranging from simple, catchy melodies to haunting, stirring ambient pieces. EarthBound’s presentation was a good 15 years ahead of the curve, boldly choosing a deliberate look and sound that didn’t care about anything other than furthering the vision of its creators.

So what went wrong? A number of things. I believe EarthBound simply showed up at the wrong moment. For one, it was expensive for its time, coming in with a higher price due to its extras and the cost of production/localization. Graphically, it felt “inferior” to what was being put out on the market at the time, which put-off some players. Others simply couldn’t get into the semi-psychedelic feel of the game. As much as I love this title, I will openly admit that it’s a bit… weird. Eerie, even. At times, there’s something subtly discomforting about the look and feel of the game and its NPCs, yet palpable enough to be polarizing. That sounds totally negative, and I don’t mean it to be. What I’m saying is that EarthBound relishes in its weirdness at times, and you will either love or hate that about the game. I think it’s also worth noting the translation, as it plays a big part in how the game is perceived. There are moments where you can just tell that the writers weren’t totally sure how to convert the original Japanese sentiment into English as well as they might have liked. I’m of the opinion that this adds a certain charm to the game that makes it special, but others might disagree. Ultimately, there are a number of things that hampered the game’s success, but I believe we’ve reached a point where we can put all that behind us.

With the game finally out, take it upon yourself to download a copy on the Wii U. Give the game the shot it deserved back in 1995, and maybe we can get Nintendo to localize the GBA version of Mother 1, along with Mother 3, and heck… maybe even release that English translation of the NES version that never saw the light of day!

EarthBound is available on the SNES and via download from the Wii U eShop. Released 1995. Developed by HAL Laboratory, APE, and Nintendo. Published by Nintendo.

The EarthBound Misstep

When Nintendo revealed that EarthBound would finally be coming to the Wii U’s Virtual Console, it was the culmination of years of fan petitioning to see a re-release of the revered title. With a vague 2013 release date established in April’s Nintendo Direct, it was with more than a little surprise that people found EarthBound waiting for purchase and download in the eShop. With zero marketing for the game’s release since that initial announcement, it was incredibly odd to see a title with such enthusiastic fan support to be released so unceremoniously. While the Nintendo Direct Mini on Thursday at least partially made up for the lack of pre-release buzz, Nintendo took the strangeness a step further and is selling the game at $9.99, $2 higher than your average SNES title. While I’m thankful to finally have the game on the Virtual Console, it’s incredibly irksome that Nintendo has taken such an unconventional approach to EarthBound’s return.

What makes Nintendo’s moves here so frustrating is that they look completely arbitrary on the surface. The $2 premium is most likely related to the free, Wii U-optimized strategy guide available on Nintendo’s website, but a person would only know that if they watched the Nintendo Direct Mini. The reality is that your average consumer is just going to see a SNES game that costs more than the others and thus be less inclined to purchase it.

That’s the worst case scenario, of course. $2 is $2, and for the most part people aren’t going to be dissuaded by it. Still, there are some people who will, and with a game as good as EarthBound getting a rare second-chance like this, it seems foolish to create any sort of barriers for no reason. The pricing is further confusing when you consider the fact that Japan’s version of the .30 cent sale featured EarthBound prominently!

It’s just a bit insulting as a Nintendo fan that EarthBound couldn’t hit the eShop in a normal way. Other games get build-up, marketing, and don’t see premiums attached for no apparent reason. EarthBound has been a game struggling for acceptance and a second chance for years, so why Nintendo felt the need to take this approach is perplexing to me. I have to say, though, that $10 is a heck of a lot better than $200 on ebay and that supporting the re-release of EarthBound is a big deal. Nintendo doesn’t do this sort of thing often, so to help ensure that we hopefully see more of the Mother series, please do go out and download a copy! (I had to pay for two copies on Thursday!).