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April 4th, 2007, 15:18 Posted By: wraggster
via racketboy
No one can deny that the Nintendo DS is hot right now. And when a game system is hot (especially when its from Nintendo), it can get away with having ports of older games and have them sell well.
Super Mario All-Stars
The GBA had all of the original Super Mario Bros trilogy in one form or another. However, each game is on a separate, relatively expensive cartridge and was restricted to the Gameboy Advance’s limited resolution.
I’m sure there are some purists that would disagree with me, but I personally think it would be incredible if Super Mario All-Stars from the SNES was ported to the DS. For those of you that aren’t familiar with the compilation, Super Mario All-Stars includes a graphically enhanced version of Super Mario Bros 1, 2, and 3 in addition “The Lost Levels” (which is essentially the original, very challenging Japanese version of Super Mario Bros. 2).
If Nintendo feels especially generous, they could also include a copy of Super Mario World like they did on the later pack-in version of Super Mario All-Stars for the SNES. Anyway, with the success of New Super Mario Bros, I’m sure that a portable re-issue of Super Mario All-Stars would sell like mad on the DS.
Snatcher & Policenauts
Soon after the touch screen abilities of the DS were first shown off, old-school gamers were daydreaming about the possibility of a graphical adventure revival. Early cult classics like Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney and Hotel Dusk: Room 215 have shown that those intuitions were correct.
Hideo Kojima, the man behind Metal Gear Solid, developed two similar “digital comics” back in the 1990’s known as Snatcher and Policenauts. While they aren’t directly related, they are both heavily inspired by some of Kojima’s film favorites. Snatcher has strong cyberpunk influences from movies such as Blade Runner and Terminator, while Policenauts is said to give nods to films such as Lethal Weapon and Basic Instinct.
What makes a port to the DS especially appealing is that the only English version of Snatcher is on the Sega CD, which needless to say, limited its exposure to the mainstream gaming audience. Policenauts could benefit even more more a new release in the US as there has not been an official English release on any platform.
After the huge success of the Metal Gear Solid franchise, Kojima has much more clout in the gaming industry. Combine that with the rebirth of the graphical adventure on the DS platform and a Snatcher and Policenauts remake should be a recipe for success.
As I reported a while ago, there have actually been some rumors about Snatcher coming to the DS after Kojima expressed some interest in bringing the game to a portable platform and the renewing of the Snatcher trademark.
Namco Museum/Pac-Man Collection/Pac-Man vs.
Ok, so most people would see a Namco Museum compilation on the store shelf and instantly go into a yawn-fest. But I still have a soft spot for the Namco Museum and Pac-Man Collection Gameboy Advance cartridges. These budget releases serve as an excellent little retro getaway that would be even better if I could run them on my DS Lite with the ability to close up the handheld and put it to sleep in between rounds.
To make this new compilation a bit more exciting, I think it would be incredible if Namco teamed up with Nintendo again to make a DS version of the the under-appreciated Pac-Man vs. game from the Gamecube. Pac-Man vs. was actually a project of Shigeru Miyamoto, the mastermind behind Mario, Zelda, and most of Nintendo’s most successful game. It lets up five players battle it out in a Pac-Man “simulation”. One person take the role of Pac-Man while the others possess the ghosts and team up on Pac-Man.
Pac-Man Vs. is a surreal but engaging experience that can’t adequately be explained in a short summary. Just trust me when I tell you that with the DS’s wifi capabilities, Pac-Man vs. would be a perfect mulitplayer title.
Metroid 2 / Super Metroid
The Gameboy Advance had great success with Metroid Fusion and then Metroid: Zero Mission (a remake of the original Metroid), so it would be ideal to bring the other Metroid games the a newer portable platform to complement them. Metroid 2: Return of Samus would probably be the most logical choice as it was only available on the original monochrome Gameboy and is probably the least played installment of the Metroid franchise..
Not only could Metroid 2 greatly benefit from a graphical and audio upgrade, but without the use of emulators, the only way to play the game on the go is on an original GB, GBC, or GBA. No DS support for the old Gameboy carts, my friends.
Super Metroid would also be also be great as I haven’t been able to play enough of it yet. Bringing to the DS would definitely help me out since my GP2X can’t emulate it well enough yet. Having every 2D Metroid game playable on the DS would be simply incredible.
Sega Genesis Collection
Old-school compilations don’t usually get much attention by the media or the average gamer, but the Sega Genesis collection was filled with enough high-quality 16-bit classics to be called one of the best compilations of all time and a much better value than buying just a few games on the Wii’s Virtual Console.
Unfortunately, the Sega Genesis collection was only released on the Playstation 2 and the PSP. Sega recently committed to moving their focus from the PSP to the DS (now that the DS is printing money for Nintendo), so maybe this port has a strong possibility.
Much like Sega did with the Sonic Mega Collections, maybe they will add a few extra games for a DS release. The original Genesis collection included almost every great Sega franchise on their 16-bit platform, but the addition complete Shinobi collection in addition to both Shining Force games would make the compilation a dream come true.
Right now, most of my gaming on my GP2X is running a Genesis emulator. But, if a Sega Genesis Collection was released on the DS, I would buy it immediately and my GP2X would probably sit at home much more often.
Wario Land Compilation
Much like MattG from PressTheButtons, I met up with Wario back when he was a platforming star on the original Gameboy. I found the Wario Land games to be an interesting alternative to standard Mario games as they included a bit more humor and puzzle-solving. All the different power-ups gave Wario Land a bit more variety that the portable Mario games at the time.
Like Metroid 2, its getting harder to play these old Gameboy games on current hardware and it’s a shame that the newer generation is missing out on these gems.
In addition to the three Wario Land games on the Gameboy, there was also an relatively-unnoticed, but high-quality Wario Land 4 on the Gameboy Advance. Even though it wasn’t promoted much by Nintendo, it remained one of the best platformers on the GBA.
It would be cool if they could package all four games on a single DS cart, but it would be even nicer if they did a graphical upgrade on the older games. “Super Wario All-Stars”, anyone?
New Super Mario Bros. 2
MattG PressTheButtons also had a really great idea for an original DS game that would serve as a follow-up to the very popular New Super Mario Bros. But instead of continuing with the traditional Mario gameplay, Nintendo would go back to the Super Mario Bros 2. (Doki Doki Panic) action, complete with turnip-throwing goodness.
Would it be quite as successful? Possibly not. But I think Nintendo is currently in the position to take some fun risks with some trademark franchises that could give the gaming community something new to talk about.
Honorable Mentions:
Lumines - The DS has the incredible Meteos, but it would be cool to have the other puzzler from Q! Entertainment that was so popular on the PSP.
Capcom Classics Collection - Another retro compilation that went to the PSP that has some great classics.
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