The NES Mini isn’t the only way to play official versions of classic Nintendo games outside of buying the real thing!
Over the years there haven’t been many console announcements that have caused such a furore as the NES Mini. From the moment Nintendo first showed off their miniature plug and play version of the world’s best selling 8-bit console expectations were set extremely high. Reviews soon suggested that Nintendo fans would not be disappointed thanks to the high quality hardware, great selection of games and attention to detail. Selling out everywhere within days of being released, the NES Mini started to generate an equal amount of negative attention as scalpers everywhere started flipping units for double the price trying to take advantage of those who were unwilling to wait for the next batch to arrive in stores.
Many of the more educated retro gamers pointed to the use of the Retro Pi and other such similar devices as a far more price conscious and ultimately more flexible way of playing NES games. But on the flip side it was also pointed out that this way of playing NES games was far from legal and lacked the authenticity of Nintendo’s own offering. But there is a half way house between the two, a compromise if you will. One that is both official and allows money to go back to the original developers, one that many people seem to have forgotten about – Nintendo’s own Virtual Console on the 3DS. At the last count there were over 60 NES titles available through this service, certainly very comparable to the NES Mini, and you are not just restricted to NES titles through this service either with Game Boy, Super Nintendo, Game Boy Color and Sega Game Gear games also being offered for download.
This list looks at 10 of the best NES games that you should be downloading to your 3DS. Ones that you may not have initially even thought of or games that are just too good to leave out. Hopefully this list will show you that there is a very viable alternative to the NES Mini out there, one that you can take with you everywhere and also help you discover a few games you might not have even tried before. Make sure you let us know what your own Virtual Console favourites are!
Star Soldier
Hudson Soft’s Star Soldier is rather notable in several regards. Firstly it was one of the games that really put the famous Japanese developer on the map when they originally published it for the MSX computer. Secondly it launched a series of incredible shoot ‘em ups, which would mostly be released on the PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16, including the spectacular sequel Super Star Soldier. This early effort really pushes the limits of the NES when it comes to pushing sprites and the hardware does admittedly struggle at times to cope. But that doesn’t take anything away from what is actually a very fine vertically scrolling shoot ‘em up. The impressive graphics culminate with some huge bosses and look fantastic. The soundtrack is equally impressive and also squeezes the most out of the limited hardware. When it comes to the 3DS there aren’t an awful lot of options when it comes to old-school arcade shoot ‘em ups, so Star Soldier is a game that should definitely be lighting up your dashboard.
