Virtual Console

The Virtual Console was a service available on the Wii, the Nintendo 3DS, and the Wii U. It allowed players to download games that were originally for older consoles, such as Nintendo's own NES (all models), SNES (Wii, Wii U, and New Nintendo 3DS), Nintendo 64 (Wii and Wii U), Game Boy Advance (Nintendo 3DS ambassadors and Wii U), Nintendo DS (Wii U), Game Boy, and Game Boy Color (Nintendo 3DS). Sega has provided the Wii and Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console with, , and games.

With the discontinuation of the Wii Shop Channel in January 2019 and the Nintendo eShop for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U in March 2023, Virtual Console games can no longer be purchased, though many of the games that were available on Virtual Console are available through the Nintendo Switch Online service.

History
A preliminary version of the Wii's Virtual Console was demonstrated at E3 2006, and it was the only one that also showed the Classic Controller. Participants could play demos of five classic games on it, each game being for a different console. Three of them are Super Mario series games: Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo Entertainment System), Super Mario World (Super Nintendo Entertainment System), and Super Mario 64 (Nintendo 64). The other two are from non-Nintendo systems, ' (Sega Genesis) and '. The game selection menu has a selection screen for each game. Each screen shows a large banner of the game's name, a side view of the game's original box art, and a faint image of the console it was created for. During gameplay, once the player has progressed up to a certain point, the gameplay would stop and display a thank you notice, allowing the next attendee to try out the Virtual Console kiosk.

Wii Points
Wii Virtual Console games were bought with Wii Points via the Wii Shop Channel. Wii Points Cards, which were once sold at most game retailers, each came with 2,000 redeemable Wii Points on them. However, in Japan, cards were worth either 1,000, 3,000, or 5,000 Wii Points. Wii Points could also be purchased directly through the Wii Shop Channel with a credit card in blocks of either 1,000, 2,000, 3,000, or 5,000 Wii Points.

On March 26, 2018, it became impossible to obtain Wii Points on the Wii Shop Channel. However, Wii Points added before this date could still be used to purchase software until January 31, 2019.

eShop Credit
Nintendo 3DS and Wii U Virtual Console games are bought with eShop credits via the Nintendo eShop. Nintendo eShop cards are sold at most retailers with the following values; $10*, $20, $35, and $50. In Australia and New Zealand, there are $15, $30 and $60 cards.

*Note: $10 eShop cards are only available at Wal-Mart, GameStop, Best Buy, and Target in the United States only.

Wii
While this pricing was used for most games, a few select games were priced differently. Games released in regions that they were not originally released in, such as Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars and Mario's Super Picross in Europe and Oceania and Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels outside Japan, cost 100 Wii Points more than usual.

In the United States, retailers once sold 2,000 points cards for $20 apiece, at a price of one cent per point.

Similarly, in Australia, retailers only sold 1,000 points cards for $20 apiece.

*Note: Games released on the Virtual Console Arcade were automatically set to 500 points. However, most Virtual Console Arcade games were priced higher than 500 points.

Wii U
*Note: A discount price was given if the game had been purchased on the Wii Shop Channel via Wii Mode.

Controllers
Various controllers are needed used to play Virtual Console games.
 * Wii U GamePad - Can play all Virtual Console games in Wii U Mode. Can only display screen in Wii mode.
 * Wii U Pro Controller - Can also play all Virtual Console games in Wii U Mode.
 * Wii Remote - When turned sideways, it can be used as an NES substitute. It is also compatible with Sega Genesis/Mega Drive and Master System games. Works on both Wii U and Wii as well as Wii U SNES and GBA games if is held while the game boots.
 * Classic Controller - Can play any game. It is made to fit the design of the SNES Controller. Works in both Wii U and Wii mode.
 * Nintendo GameCube controller - Compatible with all Nintendo console games, but SNES games may pose issues from the different button mapping.

Wii
Note: The Donkey Kong Country series has been delisted shortly before the Wii U's release (except in South Korea), likely due to Microsoft's desire to renegotiate licensing agreements with Nintendo before re-releasing it. Yoshi's Cookie for the NES had been delisted in October 2013 (except in South Korea). Panel de Pon is the original Japanese version of Tetris Attack, which was released as a Yoshi game for the Super NES outside of Japan.

Nintendo 3DS
Games on the Virtual Console of the Nintendo 3DS do not have 3D capabilities, except for 3D Classics. They are sold via Nintendo eShop. They have various sound effects that play upon selecting a game depending on their originating game system. The Game Boy and Game Boy Color games have the standard Game Boy boot-up screen sound effect play. The Game Boy Advance games have the Game Boy Advance bootup screen occur. The NES/Famicom Disk System games have a coin sound effect from Super Mario Bros. playing in the background. Finally, the Super NES games have the coin sound effect from Super Mario World playing in the background.

The following Super Mario games have been released on the Virtual Console of the Nintendo 3DS:

a. Available for free to participants who purchased Mario Golf: World Tour from the Nintendo eShop from May 2, 2014 to May 29, 2014. b. Available only to participants who registered their Nintendo Network ID before January 13, 2014. It was not made available to the general public. c. The European edition of the Nintendo Direct December 18, 2013 revealed a promotion for Nintendo 3DS users, as those who registered their Nintendo Network ID before the end of January 2014 would be eligible to receive a free download code of Super Mario Bros. Deluxe from the Nintendo eShop on February 13, 2014. d. Available only to participants who registered Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and one of Pokémon Omega Ruby or Alpha Sapphire with Club Nintendo from November 21, 2014 to January 20, 2015. It was not made available to the general public. e. Available only on New Nintendo 3DS systems. f. Panel de Pon is the original Japanese version of Tetris Attack, which was released as a Yoshi game for the Super NES outside of Japan.

Nintendo 3DS Ambassador Program
All of these games are available as free downloads for consumers who purchased a Nintendo 3DS prior to the August 12, 2011 price drop. The NES titles were first available in Japan on August 31, 2011 for these ambassadors, and available worldwide on September 1, 2011. The Game Boy Advance games were released in Australia on December 15, 2011, and worldwide on December 16, 2011. The Legend of Zelda became available in the Japanese eShop on December 22, 2011, making it the first Ambassador game released to the public. Currently, all NES titles offered by the Ambassador Program are available worldwide on the eShop. GBA games were not made publicly available on the 3DS and were instead released on the Wii U.

Super Mario NES games

 * Donkey Kong Jr.
 * NES Open Tournament Golf
 * Super Mario Bros.
 * Wrecking Crew
 * Yoshi

Super Mario Game Boy Advance games

 * Mario Kart: Super Circuit
 * Mario vs. Donkey Kong
 * Wario Land 4
 * WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!
 * Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3

Wii U
Games on the Virtual Console of the Wii U can be played on the Wii U GamePad and Wii U Pro Controller. As with the Nintendo 3DS, they are also sold via Nintendo eShop.

a. Panel de Pon is the original Japanese version of Tetris Attack, which was released as a Yoshi game for the Super NES outside of Japan. b. Available for free to participants who purchase Yoshi's Woolly World from the Nintendo eShop from June 25, 2015 (Oceania)/June 26, 2015 (Europe) to July 23, 2015. c. Available for free to participants who purchase Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash from the Nintendo eShop from November 20, 2015 (Europe)/November 21, 2015 (Oceania) to December 17, 2015. * In the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Famicom, Virtual Console titles were on sale at a reduced price of 30 cents until July 12, 2013 (Yoshi) and August 13, 2013 (Donkey Kong).

Wii

 * Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels was only available in Europe and Australia from September 15, 2007 until October 1, 2007. It was then still available to freely re-download for those who purchased it while it was initially available. On August 22, 2008, it was made available again, this time without any time restrictions.
 * This is also the first time that the NES version was made available outside Japan, having been remade for the SNES elsewhere. Thus, its title screen reads "Super Mario Bros. 2", its Japanese name, and on the Wii Shop Channel and Wii U eShop it is considered a import game.
 * Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars was regarded by Nintendo as the 250th game to be released on the Virtual Console in North America. Its European Virtual Console release was the first official release of that game in the region.
 * Timed demos of several Virtual Console games are included in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, all of which star the game's various fighters. The only default Super Mario title is Super Mario Bros.; Donkey Kong, Super Mario Bros. 2, and Super Mario World are also included, but they must first be unlocked.
 * For reasons unknown, the NES version of Yoshi's Cookie was de-listed in all regions except South Korea, and it can be re-downloaded by those who purchased at its time of availability.
 * In November 2012, the Donkey Kong Country SNES trilogy was unlisted from the Wii Shop Channel in all regions except South Korea. On November 25, 2012, the games became "unavailable for purchase" on the European Wii Shop, though they were removed in North America without any prior warning. Nearly two years later, in October 2014, the Donkey Kong Country trilogy was released on the Wii U Virtual Console, and were added back to the Wii Virtual Console around the same time. It is unknown why the games were unlisted, but it could be due to legal issues with Microsoft, who acquired the games' development studio, Rare, in 2002. At its time of removal, each Donkey Kong Country title was still available to be re-downloaded by players who had purchased the games during their time of availability.
 * Transfer Pak functions and online N64 Tournaments like the Mario Tennis Ring Tournament mode are not supported.
 * N64 & Neo-Geo games don't support suspend functionality.
 * N64 Controller Pak functionality is not supported.
 * N64 games do not support the Rumble Pak functionality, despite GameCube controllers having built-in rumble controls.

Nintendo 3DS

 * Only NES titles support multiplayer due to the GB, GBC, and GBA (Ambassadors only) games being too complicated to recode the games to add wireless features and there being no link port for multiplayer. NES games that have simultaneous multiplayer utilize 3DS Download Play, and Game Gear games, as well as Pokémon Red, Blue, Yellow, Gold, Silver, and Crystal, use local play while NES games that only have alternating multiplayer are played on a single 3DS. To alternate players when playing NES games, simultaneously press and  to display a pair of controllers in the lower-right corner of the top screen; press  while they are displayed to switch control between players 1 and 2.
 * This feature can also be used when playing Game Boy titles to change the screen color from gray to the classic green.
 * While loading Game Boy, Game Boy Color, or (Ambassadors only) Game Boy Advance titles from the HOME Menu, by holding or  the game on the top screen will be shrunk to its original resolution.
 * Game Boy and Game Boy Color titles will also display virtual versions of their respective consoles surrounding the screen to give the illusion of playing on the actual console. GBA, DS, and DSiWare games just shrink the screen to the screen size from the original consoles.
 * Many games (excluding the aforementioned Pokémon games) have been given the ability to create one save file each. This can be disabled or enabled by simultaneously holding, , and.
 * GBA Ambassador games do not rely on hardware emulation; instead, they rely on hardware simulation with the 3DS booting into the GBA's firmware to play the games natively, the same way the 3DS handles DS backwards compatibility. Due to this, GBA games do not support Virtual Console features like Save and Restore Points, sleep mode, and Home Menu Access.
 * This occurs because the 3DS is not powerful enough to emulate the GBA in the same way it does other Virtual Console games. (This is also why GBA games are not available for purchase on the 3DS eShop.) Through hacking, it is possible to load GBA games into a regular Virtual Console emulator, but performance is slow and the ability to do this was removed in a later update.

Wii U

 * The player can create save states and remap controller buttons. For GBA games, there are options to change scaling, enable pixel smoothing, and view scans of the original paper manual.
 * The Wii Remote can be used for SNES and GBA games if is held while the game loads.
 * The NES games have a bilinear filter applied while the N64 games have a filter applied that doubles their resolution.
 * N64 games support Rumble Pak functions, but won't support Transfer or Controller Pak functions.
 * GBA and DS titles can only be played in single player mode.

Changes
Although Virtual Console games are mostly faithful to the originals, some games have received slight changes:

Wii

 * Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
 * The attacks Flame Wall and Static E! are both recolored to avoid the risk of seizures.
 * For the PAL Virtual Console release, the offensive word "bugger" (used when Croco says "You're a persistent bugger") is replaced with the word "pest".
 * Moleville has a notably darker color scheme.


 * Super Mario 64
 * During gameplay, the drop shadows located at the top and bottom of the screen have been removed and can only return if Mario loses all of his Health Points.
 * Chain Chomp's mouth is purple instead of red, possibly because the game in general is made a bit darker.
 * The player can't put a small Block between and on top of a larger Block.
 * Vanish Mario appears purely transparent instead of flickering in dithered colors for unknown reasons.
 * All lag and loading times have been removed, and the game is impossible to crash.
 * The sound is slightly quieter.


 * Mario Kart 64
 * When Lightning is used, the flash that appears during the use of that item has been adjusted to avoid the risk of seizures.
 * The Kalimari Desert course's train has its wheels recolored from red to black for unknown reasons.
 * In Koopa Troopa Beach, the waterfall at the end of the shortcut is recolored blue from the original gray.
 * The game timer is spaced slightly further apart. This is most notable between "00" and between the second quotes and the number preceding it.
 * Saving ghost data is impossible, due to the lack of Controller Pak functionality.


 * Mario Party 2
 * When selecting the amount of players in a game, all four options appear at once, regardless of how many controllers are plugged in. In the original, only the options equal to the amount of controllers plugged in are shown.


 * Mario Golf
 * The Transfer Pak feature to transfer characters from the GBC version (Sherry, Joe, Azalea, and Kid) is removed, as are the extra four square boxes used for transferred characters on the Character Select screen. Consequently, said characters cannot be played as.


 * Mario Tennis
 * The Ring Tournament mode in Special Games is removed and cannot be selected, since the service is no longer supported after the official website was replaced with its sequel Mario Power Tennis in 2004.
 * The ability to unlock characters and courts via the Transfer Pak (e.g. Alex, Nina, Harry, Kate, and each characters' personal courts, except for Donkey Kong's) is removed. They still exist in the game coding, but cannot be played as during normal gameplay.


 * Paper Mario
 * The brightness of the light from the Super Block has been adjusted to avoid the risk of seizures.
 * The walls in the temple in Dry Dry Desert appear more curved.
 * The Crystal King's clones are more transparent, making it easier to spot the real Crystal King.
 * Monstar has a cluster of stars surrounding it rather than stars falling into its center.
 * The ground of Star Haven is entirely purple instead of being rainbow-colored based on the distance from the camera.


 * Donkey Kong Country
 * The blinding flash that occurs when Squawks faces the screen in Torchlight Trouble was removed to greatly reduce the risk of seizures.


 * Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
 * The blinding flash that occurs when Glimmer faces the screen in Glimmer's Galleon was removed to greatly reduce the risk of seizures.


 * Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!
 * The lightning flash that occurs when it strikes the ground in Lightning Lookout has been dimmed to greatly reduce the risk of seizures.

Nintendo 3DS

 * Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy, and Game Boy Color games
 * NES games include restore points and download play but Game Boy and Game Boy Color games don't support multiplayer. However, Pokémon Red, Blue, Yellow, Gold, Silver and Crystal allow players to trade Pokémon via Wi-Fi in place of a game link cable. With the exception of the Pokémon games, only NES, Game Gear, and TurboGrafx16 games fully support 2-player options. All ten NES games from the ambassador program did not gain these features until they were respectively re-released for public purchase. Original Game Boy games also include two switchable color palettes; black and white and black and green, in which the latter is a nostalgic approach to original "brick" Game Boy players since the first Game Boy model has a green-tinted screen.


 * Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels
 * The color scheme is noticeably lighter than in the Wii and Wii U VC versions.


 * Super Mario Bros. 2
 * The ground, sky, and waterfalls have a darker color scheme than in the Wii and Wii U VC versions.


 * Super Mario Bros. 3
 * The game's pixels appear more filtered and the background border is less dim compared to the Wii and Wii U VC versions.


 * Super Mario Bros. Deluxe
 * The game's print and trade features have been disabled due to the lack of a Game Boy Printer accessory and infared port.
 * In the Fortune Teller, all references to multiplayer features were removed, and replaced with duplicates of other existing text strings.
 * In the album, the pictures that are normally unlocked via the use of link and infrared features are impossible to obtain without hacking.


 * Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins
 * The lightning strikes that occur at the entrance of Wario's castle are toned down to reduce the risk of seizures.
 * The pipe glitch that was possible to perform in the Game Boy version was fixed in the 3DS version.


 * Mario Golf and Mario Tennis
 * Characters that could be unlocked in the Nintendo 64 version are omitted due to the lack of Transfer Pak functionality in the Wii VC versions and visa-versa in the 3DS versions.


 * Donkey Kong Land 2
 * In Lava Lagoon, Glimmer's Galleon, and Clapper's Cavern, the flashing that occurs in certain situations is slowed down to half of its original rate to avoid the risk of seizures.


 * Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3
 * The level skip glitch that was possible to perform in the Game Boy version was fixed in the 3DS version.


 * Wario Land 3
 * Various cutscenes, such as the one where The Steep Canyon initially becomes accessible, have altered color palettes to reduce the risk of seizures.

Wii U

 * NES, SNES, N64, Game Boy Advance, and Nintendo DS games
 * All games include restore points, Wii U GamePad Off-TV play, and previously included Miiverse support. Unlike on the Wii VC, N64 games support Rumble Pak functions which are replicated by the GamePad rumbling when needed. GBA, N64, and DS games also include their original instruction booklets.
 * GBA and Nintendo DS games do not support multiplayer. They also do not include GameCube/Wii connectivity. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass simulates sleep mode by accessing the home or Virtual Console menu. N64 games do not support Transfer Pak functions.
 * All changes made to Wii VC versions of games were retained unless stated otherwise.


 * Game & Watch Gallery 4
 * This game was originally not released in Japan. For the Japanese Virtual Console release, there was an unreleased Japanese version, with its title being Game Boy Gallery 4.


 * Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3
 * The Virtual Console version has all 38 e-Reader levels built-in the game, including the ones that were previously only released in Japan, and they can be accessed from the Data Select screen. Originally, this required the use of the Nintendo e-Reader to scan Level Cards, which is incompatible with the Wii U. Also, the original game could only support up to 32 levels at a time. This is also the first time these levels are released in Europe and Oceania, as the Nintendo e-Reader was never released there.