Nintendo Drive

There’s been some rumbling lately that Nintendo is pretty much done with NES and SNES games when it comes to Wii U Virtual Console. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but if you ask me, it would be a huge mistake. Off the top of my head, I can think of dozens of games that I would buy if they were released on Wii U’s Virtual Console service, and I suspect others would, too — and that’s not even counting imports or games that are impossible due to rights issues, expired licenses, or technological holdups. With those caveats, here are my top 25 NES and Super NES games that deserve to be playable on Wii U.

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars This is currently the biggest hole in the Virtual Console line-up. Not just a Nintendo-published game, but a Mario game — one that broke new ground and established a whole new genre for Nintendo’s mascot — has yet to make it to Wii U. If you’ve played it on SNES or the VC port on Wii, then you already know that this is an epic that no one should miss, so hopefully Nintendo and Square Enix can get their act together. Speaking of which….

Dragon Warrior I, II, III, and IV A classic draws near! Or, rather, it doesn’t. This is the grandfather of all Japanese RPGs, and it deserves a place on Virtual Console. And they shouldn’t just stop with the first one; all four NES Dragon Warrior titles should be made available. Dragon Warrior IV is especially notable, not only for its quality, but for its rarity in cartridge form. Incidentally, back when Nintendo Power was still around, the editorial team really wanted to get an arrangement in place where if you subscribed to the magazine, then you’d get a voucher for a free VC copy of Dragon Warrior on Wii, as a nod to NP’s old free NES game promotion back in the day. Sadly, the game hasn’t shown up on Virtual Console in any form, let alone in a nifty promotion.

Final Fantasy I, IV, and VI If you’re talking about classic RPGs, you’re talking about Final Fantasy. We already got these games on Wii, and they hit Wii U’s Virtual Console in Japan ages ago, so what’s keeping it off of Wii U in North America!? It goes without saying that the original FF is another breakthrough RPG _ the one that started it all and established what’s arguably the most popular RPG series in the world — while the 16-bit sequels, Final Fantasy IV and VI (originally released here as FFII and III respectively) took RPG gameplay to previously unseen heights. Gripping stories, compelling characters, world-shattering plot-twists, amazing music, spoony bards…these games still stand out as some of the best RPGs ever created.

Chrono Trigger Out of fear that I’m just going to drone on and on about RPGs forever, I’m going to keep this one brief, but needless to say, it’s one of the most beloved games in the genre. It’s gorgeous, features an awesome time-traveling gameplay hook that lets you change the world by visiting different eras, and is just a heck of a lot of fun. At least if the SNES version never makes it, Square Enix could consider porting the DS version.