NO
VIRTUAL CONSOLE, BUT NEO GEO GAMES!
BY
EDITOR AND PUBLISHER C.
A. PASSINAULT
Nintendo really took more steps backwards than forwards with the
Switch.
For now, at least.
I would consider their portable gaming high point to be the 3DS.
Of course, the Switch isn’t exactly a dedicated portable console,
is it?
That said, that is how I have been using the Switch. I have been
keeping the JoyCons attached and have been playing it as a “Super”
handheld console, exactly as a 3DS, a DS, a Vita, a Playstation
Portable, or a Gameboy Advance. Sure, I have been playing Zelda
more than anything, but I have also been playing a lot of retro
games, such as Neo Geo arcade games and the recently released Namco
arcade compilation, the latter missing classics
such as Ms. Pac Man and Galaxian, but which is otherwise awesome
(and one thing that portables have been good at would be retro and
arcade video games).
Regarding going backwards, the Switch doesn’t have Street
Pass, and it doesn’t do some things as well as the 3DS, such
as system migration and saves. Its Mii support is also not prominent
enough, and it is buried in the menu system (did anyone review what
they Nintendo with the 3DS before designing and putting together
this console? If it isn’t broke........)
Oh, and there is no EShop or proper Virtual Console games. What
the hell?!?!?
One reason that I obtained the Switch was because of the promise
of Super Nintendo and Gameboy Advance games (I, wrongfully, assumed
that there would be an eShop and Virtual consoles games available
within weeks of my April 2 purchase of the Switch and Zelda, and
that the same Super NES games which were available for the “new”
3DS would be available for the Switch. How wrong I was!). Super
Nintendo games supposedly could not be done on the “normal”
3DS (I know that is B.S.), and are limited to the “new”
3DS (My opinion is that Nintendo needed as much leverage as possible
to prevent the older 3Ds from undermining the sales of the “new”
3DS, and that they made those Super NES virtual console games only
available for the “new” 3DS to make gamers like me buy
the “new” 3DS console. Well, I still don’t have
one, as I already have THREE; my original 3DS, which my mom borrowed
to go back and forth between Animal Crossing: New Leaf
villages with her 3DS XL, and my two 3DS XL consoles, which literally
have every 3DS, virtual console, and downloadable game worth owning).
As I already have two 3DS XL’s and I am not happy with the
placement or the size of the second analog nub on the “new”
3DS (the design isn’t complete, nor balanced, IMO. The analog
nubs, or “sticks, should be the same size and should have
mirrored, symmetrical placement on the face of the console), I am
in no hurry to get one.
I thought that Super Nintendo games would be available on the Switch,
and they will be, eventually, I would imagine. It is just not the
case as of August, five months into the life span of the console,
and I really want my Super Metroid and
Super Castlevania IV on the go (Why Nintendo
keeps punishing gamers with these easily avoidable mistakes is beyond
me. Listen, I would buy those games if you made them available!
Do I have to get a Galaxy S2 9.7 tablet and a bluetooth video game
controller and play games on emulators until you come to your senses?
I would already have that ultimate portable gaming system if it
were not for Zelda making me invest in the Switch).
For now, however, SNK Playmore (drop the Playmore, SNK) isn’t
waiting for the eShop to go online or the virtual console games
to become available (Thank God. They seem to have more sense than
Nintendo). They are making their Neo Geo arcade
games available, however, and that is cool.
Can you say portable Neo Geo? My 90's dream has come true!
As of now, I have purchased and downloaded Magician
Lord (difficult and tedious platformer, and not very
fun, but a personal classic), Garou:
Mark of the Wolves (One of the greatest 2D
fighting games ever made. I want Last Blade 2
so bad, though, as it is incredible), Samurai Shodown,
Samurai Shodown IV,
Blazing Star (One of the best
side scrolling shooters ever made, and the broken English makes
it hilariously special, actually spawning famous Internet memes.
Awesome fun!), Last Resort, Super
Sidekicks (A soccer game; I don’t like
it, being a sports game, aside), Neo
Turf Masters (I hate sports games, and usually
avoid them, but this is an exception. It is a golf game which is
awesome. I especially love the temper tantrums that the characters
have, as they are supremely entertaining; the game plays well and
has personality. Oh, and there is some funny English, too, just
like Blazing Star. I consider this game to be the “Outrun”
of golf games, which is a compliment), Metal
Slug, Metal
Slug 2, Metal
Slug 3 (I love all of the Metal Slug games,
as they are superb platform shooters; the first one is the best,
however, but my favorite is Metal Slug 3 because it has
Zombies and, if you are turned into a Zombie, your grenade turns
into a stream of projectile vomit blood. It’s awesome!),
Shock Troopers
(What Ikari Warriors, also from SNK and extremely difficult,
should have been), Shock Troopers 2nd squad
(not as good as the first), and King of the fighters
98 (I love me some Mai Shiranui.
She is a Ninja, you know, and her rhythmic moves are graceful and
artistic! Mai is a master of using distraction in hand to hand combat.
I just want a Mai game where you do nothing but move her around
all day).
These are all great games, except for a couple, buuuuuut that left
JoyCon does not have a proper D-Pad; some of the games don’t
play as well using the analog stick (not tight enough controls)
or the buttons being substituted for a D-Pad (weak diagonals. I
am sorry, people, but video games are about GAMEPLAY, and if you
cripple that, they suck. That is why mobile gaming can never compete
with real portable game consoles and real gamers prefer anything
but those and their touch screens being shoe-horned into every game).
I don’t know. The buttons being used for a D-Pad works very
well for the new Sonic game for the Switch, Sonic
Mania, and it is pretty much because most Sonic
Games (the real ones which are based on the classic 16 Bit Sonic
games) mainly use left, right, and jump.
Nintendo really does need to come out with a left JoyCon with a
D-Pad instead of those buttons, however, and it would be easy for
them to do so due to the modular nature of the Switch and the ability
to change out JoyCons.
I would buy a left JoyCon with a D-Pad, even if that
single one cost as much as a $70.00 pro controller
(Since I use my Switch as a portable gaming console, a pro controller
would be inconvenient for me to carry, such like the Amiibos, which
need to be issued with Amiibo cards that you can keep on you, keep
in your Switch case, and use).
At any rate, what I hate is that there is no way to transfer games
to a new Switch console or backing them up. Talk about putting all
of your eggs into one basket. Fortunately, my Switch is holding
up well to the abuse of me constantly playing it (my 3DS’s
are not getting any love at the moment!). For more about some of
the issue with the Nintendo Switch, please click on the link to
read in this issue of Frontier Pop.
Thank you, SNK, for giving me some great games to play on my Switch!
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