Nintendo Insider writes:
The Nintendo eShop’s Virtual Console service has really entered its stride within recent months, delivering little known classics that you perhaps didn’t previously know existed.
Mole Mania, for myself at least, falls into such category. A confession that seemed ever the more embarrassing when I realised that it is a further creation from the legendary Shigeru Miyamoto.
Justin from Controller Crusade writes:
"Shigeru Miyamoto is the most talented and well known game designer who ever lived, so it’s downright shocking, perhaps even unbelievable, that he has any work that could be considered to be forgotten. It almost doesn’t seem possible, yet it is. The game in question is known as Mole Mania, a puzzle/adventure game released in North America on the Game Boy in February of 1997. Looking at it’s release date we can see why it may have slipped under the radar as it did – this was only a few months after the launch of the Nintendo 64. With the gaming community being focused on Nintendo’s new machine – and it’s stunning masterpiece that is Super Mario 64 – it’s no wonder this portable game was overshadowed and forgotten."
"Nintendo boasts one of the most robust rosters of intellectual properties and franchises in all of gaming. No doubt, this is helped by the company’s long history (the big N celebrates is 125th birthday this September, but entered the gaming scene in the 1970s). " | Explosion.com
I've always viewed the Paper Mario games and the Mario and Luigi games as semi-successors to Super Mario RPG.
I agree with Kid Icarus, F-Zero, StarFox, Eternal Darkness and Sin and Punishment. The other franchises I think Nintendo has done other recent games that are similar. But Nintendo could have a small team "WWHD" Kid Icarus Uprising onto WiiU with modified dual analog support and online multiplayer battles with some additional battle arenas and this game would be perfect...
Sin and Punishment was a on rail shooter, but I think the game mechanics could be modified to a RE4 style 3rd person cover shooting game. Eternal Darkness was so ahead of its time that it could just receive prettier HD visuals as well and be an amazing experience on WiiU. StarFox and F-Zero need a little more care and direction to bring them to today's gamers tastes. It's either the games just focus on what they do best and they could have major online multiplayer aspects while being eShop games. Or they really try and reinvent both franchises and do something radically different. Some people want StarFox to stick to space shooter element, but people say that StarFox is Nintendo's Star Wars essentially. If that's the case, aren't they selling the franchise short then? What if Nintendo partnered with a 3rd party company to bring a new StarFox that was equally part MassEffect and Rogue Squadron in one universe! Pure epic meltdown.
I would gladly welcome another Startropics. The two games that came out were really great and I'd love a third one.
The Game Boy is a quarter-century old today! Here's a few of the system's best hidden gems.
