4. Breath of Fire
It’s a bit puzzling that Breath of Fire, the game recognized as Capcom’s first traditional RPG, has yet to be released on the VC. It becomes particularly more puzzling when you find out that the direct sequel, Breath of Fire II, has been on the Wii’s VC since 2007 and has just released on the Wii U’s VC earlier this month. I wonder if it had to do with Square being the original publisher in North America. However, I doubt that was the case, since Japan and Europe didn’t get the game, either. On top of that, Capcom ended up publishing the game themselves when it was ported to the GBA in 2001.
Either way, this is a great game with wonderful character designs from Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune, as well as a great soundtrack. (A Capcom game with a great soundtrack? Who knew?) Here’s hoping we’ll see this game again in the future, especially with new games being created for the series.
3. Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals
And add Lufia & the Fortress of Doom to this number, as well. It would’ve made our list, too, if not for the one-game-per-franchise rule.
Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals was developed by Neverland (the developers of the Rune Factory series) and published by Taito in Japan, Natsume in North America, and Nintendo in the PAL regions. The game also received a re-imagined port to the Nintendo DS, Lufia: Curse of the Sinistrals, with Square Enix, having bought Taito in 2005, co-developing with Neverland and publishing in Japan. For that, it could be a bit problematic with what appears to be Square Enix and Natsume both holding the rights to the series, as well as a new version of the game being released recently.
However, even with that said, Rise of the Sinistrals is an excellent prequel that deserves its time in the sun. Hundreds of puzzles appear throughout the game, random encounters are removed, and new skills and attacks have been included in the game. On top of that, the soundtrack is amazing. Here’s hoping we’ll see this soon.
2. Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem
Just like Seiken Densetsu 3, we do recognize that it could be difficult for this game to release on Western Virtual Consoles due to the game never releasing outside Japan. But we couldn’t help ourselves. We are big Fire Emblem fans (in case you didn’t know that from everyone on staff with a 3DS saying they were looking forward to Awakening this year). As a matter of fact, if we didn’t have the one-game-per-franchise rule, Genealogy of the Holy War and Thracia 776 would’ve been 3rd and 4th respectively.
It would also be an easier translation job (I think) than Seiken Densetsu 3, since the first book is already translated. In case you don’t know, Mystery of the Emblem is a remake and continuation of Fire Emblem: Ankoku Ryū to Hikari no Tsurugi (translated “Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light”), the first Fire Emblem game. Coincidentally, both books were remade for the Nintendo DS. The first book, Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon, was released in 2008 in Japan and Europe and in 2009 in North America and Australia. However, Fire Emblem: Shin Monshō no Nazo: Hikari to Kage no Eiyū (“Mystery of the Emblem: Heroes of Light and Shadow”) never left Japan.
With that said, Mystery of the Emblem would be a welcome addition to the Virtual Console, as it has features that weren’t included in later games and continues the story of the first protagonist, Marth.
So, what game could possibly temper our love for Fire Emblem enough to become the top SNES game we want on the Virtual Console? Well, that would be none other than…
Bill Laimbeer’s Combat Basketball
What an upset! I didn’t know our staff liked this game. Heck, I didn’t even know our staff knew about this game. Well, fresh off winning back-to-back NBA championships, Detroit’s baddest of the Bad Boys…
You’re right. This joke sucks, and so does this game. (Sorry, Bill.) Here’s the real number one.
