While Nintendo has added a steady stream of downloadable games to its Wii Virtual Console service every Monday since the system's November launch, the publisher has generally offered its legitimate classics with less renowned offerings. That won't be the case this coming Monday, as Nintendo is celebrating the Christmas holiday by releasing a quintet of high-profile retro games on the Virtual Console.
For its own part, Nintendo is releasing the original NES classic Super Mario Bros. for 500 Wii points ($5). Backing up the company's portly plumbers will be a pair of best sellers from the Super Nintendo era: Capcom's Street Fighter II: The World Warrior and Konami's Super Castlevania IV. Each of those games will sell for 800 Wii points ($8).
The final two games announced for release Christmas Day are pulled from non-Nintendo platforms. The Sega Genesis game ToeJam & Earl dances its funky way onto the Virtual Console, followed by the TurboGrafx-16 shoot-'em-up R-Type, both for 800 Wii points ($8). The R-Type price is notable since all previous TurboGrafx-16 games on the Virtual Console have sold for 600 Wii points ($6).
Finally, Nintendo also announced a pair of games that would be released for the Virtual Console the Monday after Christmas, New Year's Day. The publisher will start the new year by swinging for the fences with Baseball and fighting in the streets with Urban Champion. Both games debuted on the NES and will sell for 500 Wii points ($5).
Nintendo has said it will release new games for the Virtual Console service every Monday at 9 a.m. Pacific time.