This is a list of Virtual Console games that were available on the Nintendo 3DS in North America prior to the eShop's closure on March 27, 2023.
Available titles
The following is a list of the 192 games (203 including those available for Nintendo 3DS Ambassadors, and the promotional-exclusive Donkey Kong: Original Edition) that were available on the Virtual Console for the Nintendo 3DS in North America, sorted by system and in the order they were added in Nintendo eShop. To sort by other columns, click the corresponding icon in the header row.
Game Boy
These titles were originally released for use on the Game Boy system, which was launched in 1989. The first three Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console titles were Game Boy games and debuted alongside the Nintendo 3DS eShop in June 2011.[1]
There were 51 games available to purchase, of which one (Tetris) was delisted before the Nintendo 3DS eShop's closure, due to Nintendo's Tetris license expiring.[2]
- ↑ Delisted on January 1, 2015.
- ↑ Marketed as Pinball: Revenge of the Gator outside of the Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS.
Game Boy Color
These titles were originally released for use on the Game Boy Color system, which was launched in 1998.
There were 31 games available to purchase.
Game Gear
These titles were originally released for use on the Game Gear system, which was launched in 1991.
There were 16 games available to purchase.
Title | Publisher[4][3] | Developer(s) | Release Date | ESRB |
---|---|---|---|---|
Dragon Crystal | Sega | Sega | March 15, 2012 | E10+ |
Shinobi | Sega | Sega | March 15, 2012 | E |
Sonic the Hedgehog: Triple Trouble | Sega | Aspect Co. | March 15, 2012 | E |
Columns | Sega | Sega | June 13, 2013 | E |
Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine | Sega | Compile | June 13, 2013 | E |
Shining Force: The Sword of Hajya | Sega | Sonic! Software Planning | June 13, 2013 | E10+ |
Sonic the Hedgehog | Sega | Ancient | June 13, 2013 | E |
Defenders of Oasis | Sega | Sega | June 20, 2013 | E10+ |
Sonic Blast | Sega | Aspect Co. | June 20, 2013 | E |
Tails Adventure | Sega | Aspect Co. | June 20, 2013 | E |
Crystal Warriors | Sega | Sega | June 27, 2013 | E10+ |
Sonic Labyrinth | Sega | Minato Giken | June 27, 2013 | E |
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 | Sega | Aspect Co. | June 27, 2013 | E |
G-LOC: Air Battle | Sega | Sega AM2 | July 4, 2013 | E |
Sonic Drift 2 | Sega | Sega | July 4, 2013 | E |
Vampire: Master of Darkness | Sega | SIMS | July 4, 2013 | E10+ |
Nintendo Entertainment System
These titles were originally released for use on the Nintendo Entertainment System, which was launched in 1985. The first 10 NES games were released on August 31, 2011, to Nintendo 3DS Ambassadors.[5] These games were later released to the general public with additional features, such as the ability to save the game at any point; the Ambassador versions were patched to add the new features.[6]
There were 64 games available to purchase on the Nintendo 3DS eShop. The Mysterious Murasame Castle and Summer Carnival '92: Recca made their first official appearances in North America when they were added to the 3DS Virtual Console. Donkey Kong: Original Edition also made its North American debut, but it was available only as a promotional bonus and was removed from availability after the promotion ended.[7]
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
These titles were originally released for use on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, which was launched in 1991. These Virtual Console titles are exclusively available for New Nintendo 3DS platforms (New Nintendo 3DS, New Nintendo 3DS XL, and New Nintendo 2DS XL).[9] Nintendo has claimed that the reason for this is due to technical issues regarding the CPU in older Nintendo 3DS models for rendering the emulation,[10] but some fan-made emulators compatible with the old 3DS exist that will run SNES games at full speed.
There were 30 games available to purchase on the New Nintendo 3DS platforms (New Nintendo 3DS, New Nintendo 3DS XL and New Nintendo 2DS XL).
Promotion-exclusive titles
Nintendo Entertainment System
There was one title that was exclusively available as a promotional bonus, which was removed from availability after the promotion ended on January 6, 2013.[7]
Title | Publisher | Developer(s) | Release Date | ESRB |
---|---|---|---|---|
Donkey Kong: Original Edition[lower-alpha 1] | Nintendo | Nintendo | October 1, 2012 | E |
- ↑ Available only to users who downloaded select titles from the Nintendo eShop prior to January 6, 2013.
Game Boy Advance
These titles were originally released for use on the Game Boy Advance, which was launched in 2001. Like the initial NES Virtual Console games, these titles were released exclusively to Nintendo 3DS Ambassadors. Unlike the NES titles, these games were never released to the general public.[11] Additionally, since these titles run natively and are not emulated, they do not support typical emulation features, such as suspended play and restore points.
There were 10 Game Boy Advance games available exclusively for Nintendo 3DS Ambassadors.
Title | Publisher | Developer(s) | Release Date | ESRB |
---|---|---|---|---|
F-Zero: Maximum Velocity | Nintendo | NDcube | December 16, 2011 | E |
Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones | Nintendo | Intelligent Systems | December 16, 2011 | E |
Kirby & the Amazing Mirror | Nintendo | HAL Laboratory | December 16, 2011 | E |
The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap | Nintendo | Capcom | December 16, 2011 | E |
Mario Kart: Super Circuit | Nintendo | Intelligent Systems | December 16, 2011 | E |
Mario vs. Donkey Kong | Nintendo | Nintendo Software Technology | December 16, 2011 | E |
Metroid Fusion | Nintendo | Nintendo R&D1 | December 16, 2011 | E |
Wario Land 4 | Nintendo | Nintendo R&D1 | December 16, 2011 | E |
WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgames! | Nintendo | Nintendo R&D1 | December 16, 2011 | E |
Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3 | Nintendo | Nintendo EAD | December 16, 2011 | E |
See also
References
- ↑ Morgen, Alex (June 2, 2011). "Nintendo eShop June 6 Update details from Nintendo; Free Excitebike 3D and Nintendo eShop titles announced". Gaming Bits. Archived from the original on August 8, 2017.
- ↑ Brian (1 January 2015). "Tetris for Game Boy, Tetris Axis pulled from the North American 3DS eShop as well - Nintendo Everything". Nintendo Everything. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Games – My Nintendo Store – Nintendo Official site". Archived from the original on 2018-10-18. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
- ↑ Sega's Official Virtual Console Site
- ↑ Joseph Volpe (August 31, 2011). "Nintendo's 3DS Ambassador Program line-up revealed, games available September 1st". engadget.com. AOL Inc. Retrieved January 30, 2015.
- ↑ JC Fletcher (February 16, 2012). "NintendoWare Weekly: Metal Gear Solid 3D demo, Strider". joystiq.com. AOL Inc. Retrieved January 30, 2015.
- 1 2 Stephen Totilo (October 1, 2012). "You Can Now Get Donkey Kong: Original Edition For 3DS, In a Roundabout Way". kotaku.com. Gawker Media. Retrieved January 30, 2015.
- ↑ Gancer, Stefan. "The History of SUNSOFT Part III: The Golden Age Part 1". VGArc. Archived from the original on 18 August 2017. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
[A]ccording to Gimmick! creator Tomomi Sakai, Tokai is just a dummy company, like Konami's Ultra and Palcom brands, created to circumvent Nintendo's rules restricting the number of games a developer could publish for the Famicom/NES in a year. Former Sunsoft programmer and Trip World creator Yuichi Ueda, Blaster Master creator Kenji Sada, and current Chief Director of SUNSOFT Shigeki Shimizu confirm this. Tokai is a dummy company.
- ↑ Andrew Goldfarb (March 3, 2016). "ZELDA, METROID, EARTHBOUND, MORE SNES GAMES HEADED TO NEW 3DS VIRTUAL CONSOLE". ign.com. Ziff Davis. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
- ↑ Barder, Ollie (March 13, 2016). "Nintendo Clarifies Why SNES Games Will Only Work On The New 3DS". Forbes. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
- ↑ "None of the Ambassador Program Games Are Appearing in the eShop". Nintendo Support. Nintendo. Retrieved March 17, 2016.