Your out-of-the-blue reward was announced yesterday alongside a massive price cut for the 3DS going forward. Nintendo wants to make sure that established 3DS owners who paid an extra $80 to own the machine early don't feel slighted by its sudden, steep slip in sticker price. And so you're getting free games.
Twenty free games, in fact -- a massive outpouring that could have only come from a company with as deep and rich a back-catalog as Nintendo. It's a huge event, the biggest promotional stunt and course-correction Nintendo's ever pulled, so we're here to start sorting it out by profiling the first ten freebies.
Nintendo's holding back on revealing what half of the free games will be, but five NES and five Game Boy Advance titles were unveiled amidst yesterday's madness. So here they are. You might know everything about them and you might not. You might already own them in other, older formats and you might not. But whatever your personal history is with these hits from the past, you're about to own them all again for a total of zero dollars.
<a+class='autolink'+href='https://ds.ign.com/objects/114/114348.html'>Super+Mario+Bros</a>.
Nintendo's classic masterpiece and still considered one of the greatest video games of all time, the original Super Mario Bros. is coming back for one more encore. You'll get to control Mario on his first-ever quest to save the Princess in the Mushroom Kingdom -- running, jumping, swimming and grabbing power-ups in memorable side-scrolling stages that have influenced platformer game design for the past 25 years.This release will be the third time that Nintendo has made Super Mario Bros. available in portable form, after 1999's Super Mario Bros. Deluxe for the Game Boy Color and the NES Classics port to the GBA in 2004. Both of those titles had to make visual sacrifices to get the game to fit on the Game Boys' screens, though, so this new 3DS Virtual Console re-issue will be the first time the game has been presented in its uncompromised, original resolution on a handheld. Purists should appreciate that.
Read our Wii VC review of Super Mario Bros.
<a+class='autolink'+href='https://ds.ign.com/objects/114/114349.html'>Donkey+Kong+Jr</a>.
The only game ever made that cast Mario as the villain, Donkey Kong Jr. served as the arcade sequel to Nintendo's groundbreaking original Donkey Kong way back in the early '80s. The young ape's quest to save his Papa from Mario's cruel captivity was then ported to the NES in 1986, making this new 3DS VC version something of a 25th anniversary of that homecoming.Donkey Kong Jr. has been just as prolific as Super Mario Bros. in its portable appearances over the years, but in different ways -- it was used as the launch title and main draw for Nintendo's odd e-Reader device in 2002 and a port of its port to Nintendo's old Game & Watch format came to DSiWare just last year. Sales of that title in the eShop will probably drop off, now that a truer version will be downloadable for nothing.
Read our Wii VC review of Donkey Kong Jr.
<a+class='autolink'+href='https://ds.ign.com/objects/114/114458.html'>Balloon+Fight</a>
One of the rare examples of a Nintendo title that cloned the gameplay of a competing company's product, Balloon Fight is essentially a variant of Midway's Joust. Both games had you competing for survival in single-screen arenas full of foes, flapping your wings (or arms) to get airborne and fly around. Balloon Fight just used, well, balloons in place of Joust's rideable ostriches.The game innovated beyond Joust's concept though and became a classic in its own right, and it's still especially enjoyable to play in its competitive/cooperative two-player mode. You'll have to wait for that functionality to be added later on to this 3DS VC re-release, though, because Nintendo's confirmed that the versions shipping into the eShop on September 1 won't yet have all these features implemented.
Oh well. You can still play the one-player-only Balloon Trip challenge while you wait for the complete version to go live in the eShop later in the year.
Read our Wii VC review of Balloon Fight.
<a+class='autolink'+href='https://ds.ign.com/objects/114/114459.html'>Ice+Climber</a>
One of my personal all-time favorite NES games, Ice Climber was one of the system's launch titles on October 18, 1985 -- and was the only game that went on sale that day that supported simultaneous two-person multiplayer. One player controls Popo, the climber clad in a blue parka, while the other commands pink-wearing Nana.You can work together to reach the top, or, for more devious fun, you can race up the mountain by yourself and try to force your friend to lose a life when the screen scrolls up and leaves them behind. It's vintage Nintendo backstabbing at its best -- but again, like Balloon Fight, that functionality will only be added when the full version of this release goes live sometime after September 1.
So practice your single-player climbing skills until then.
Read our Wii VC review of Ice Climber.
<a+class='autolink'+href='https://ds.ign.com/objects/114/114460.html'>The+Legend+of+Zelda</a>
2011 has already been crammed full of Zelda-related releases. Both Ocarina of Time and Link's Awakening have already made encore appearances on the 3DS, a free DSiWare version of Four Swords is coming in September and the Wii's all-new adventure, Skyward Sword, is shipping to stores soon too. Well, when it rains, it pours. Because here's the fifth Zelda title to arrive in one year's time.The Legend of Zelda for the 3DS Virtual Console will be a new port of the franchise's very first installment, the game that launched Link's adventures 25 years ago and inspired the entire saga. It's a game that I still love to revisit and replay today, as I feel it holds up beautifully well as a complete, thoughtful and engaging exploration design even after two and a half decades. And though I've played it countless times in countless other versions over the years, I know I'll walk into that cave, look at that old man and take that wooden sword one more time on September 1.
Because it's still dangerous to go alone.
Read our Wii VC review of The Legend of Zelda.
Those are the five free NES games we know about, but there are still five more yet to be revealed. What could they be? Will Nintendo also give us the original Metroid, just after its 25th anniversary? Or Kid Icarus, in advance of its sequel Kid Icarus: Uprising shipping later this year? What about Kirby's Adventure, or Punch-Out!!, or Barker Bill's Trick Shooting? (OK, maybe not that last one.)
The speculation for what the final five NES titles will be could certainly fuel its own, separate discussion -- so that's exactly what we'll do. Stay tuned for that feature in the near future, and for now keep on reading this one by clicking over to Page 2 and checking out the free Game Boy Advance games that are coming your way.
When Nintendo announced that the 3DS would have its own, new version of the Virtual Console driven by old-school Game Boy games, fans were excited about the prospect of reliving the glory days of the original black-and-white portable and its follow-up, the Game Boy Color. But the question then quickly arose -- what about the GBA? Backwards compatibility with Game Boy Advance cartridges was removed from Nintendo's portables when the DSi debuted in 2009, and since then we've wondered if and when those titles would start to show up again in digital form.
Well, there's no more need to wonder. It's later this year. Nintendo will offer 10 free GBA titles to 3DS Ambassadors in addition to the 10 NES games, confirming that support for the GBA hardware was planned all along for the 3DS VC -- the timetable's just been advanced a bit.
The difference between these games and the NES ones is that, at least for the time being, Nintendo claims the GBA titles won't be sold to the general public. They're true Ambassador exclusives. I doubt that, of course. Timed exclusives, sure, but give them a year and they'll reconsider that stance when the 3DS is much more well established with a more solid install base.
But even if these GBA games ultimately do go on sale to others, Ambassadors will be getting them well in advance of anyone else. (OK, that's getting bad. I'll stop.)
<a+class='autolink'+href='https://ds.ign.com/objects/114/114470.html'>Metroid+Fusion</a>
It's perfect timing! We're just about to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Metroid series, and what better way to recognize Samus Aran's years of faithful bounty-hunting than by playing a free Metroid game? Fusion is one of her best adventures, too, and still holds the distinction of being the "most recent" game in the series, timeline-wise. It's officially numbered as Metroid 4, and we're still waiting on a 5.Fusion tells the tale of Samus' return to SR-388, a planet she visited once before to eradicate the Metroids living there. Her xenocide of the species caused another, equally pesky predator to thrive though -- the mysterious X parasites. Samus gets infected by the X on a survey mission to the planet and is forced to have Metroid DNA injected into her body to save her life.
And that's only the intro sequence. Metroid Fusion is a phenomenal adventure, and it's a great choice by Nintendo to headline the lineup of upcoming GBA freebies.
Read our original review of Metroid Fusion.
<a+class='autolink'+href='https://ds.ign.com/objects/114/114472.html'>Mario+Kart:+Super+Circuit</a>
Out of all the games Nintendo's giving away for free to 3DS Ambassadors, this one might come closest to stepping on the toes of its own series, since Mario Kart 7 will be shipping to stores for the 3DS in December. There likely won't be too many who planned to buy 7 who will now decide against that purchase because they're getting Mario Kart 3 for free, but it is a funny bit of timing from the Big N.Super Circuit was the original portable version of Mario's mascot racer, following up its immediate predecessor Mario Kart 64 with a design that was actually more similar to the series' SNES originator, Super Mario Kart. You'll get Toad, Luigi, Bowser and more all blazing around the tracks and firing Koopa shells at one another as usual in single-player, and here's hoping that the Link Cable multiplayer functionality somehow makes the cut for this re-release so we can still enjoy the balloon-popping Battle Mode.
Read our original review of Mario Kart: Super Circuit.
<a+class='autolink'+href='https://ds.ign.com/objects/114/114474.html'>Mario+vs.+Donkey+Kong</a>
The timing works out just perfectly for this next title, as Mario vs. Donkey Kong is the GBA sequel to Donkey Kong '94 from the original Game Boy -- and the 3DS Virtual Console just got that game recently. Those who've jumped into the eShop, bought it and played through its excellent adventure will probably be ready for more come September 1, and they'll get it. For free.Mario vs. Donkey Kong continues the spin-off series that its predecessor started, a side franchise where the plumber and the ape continually go to war over a bunch of toys. They're the Mini-Mario toys -- the little wind-up mechanical versions of our hero that have gone on to headline three of their own installments in this franchise. Mario himself is still the hero in this one, though, as he runs, jumps, grabs keys and rescues the Minis throughout dozens of puzzling levels.
DK '94 fans (new and old alike) get ready for your free sequel soon.
Read our original review of Mario vs. Donkey Kong.
<a+class='autolink'+href='https://ds.ign.com/objects/114/114475.html'>Yoshi's+Island:+Super+Mario+Advance+3</a>
Score one for the portable team! Longtime Mario fans have been waiting forever for the SNES masterpiece Yoshi's Island to be re-released for the Wii Virtual Console, but after nearly five years it still hasn't happened. The 3DS is getting it though, totally for free. Way to go, handhelds!Some would probably prefer that the SNES edition serve as the basis of this upcoming download instead of the 2002 GBA port of that 1995 game, but I'm happy to have it any way it comes. What's more, this is like getting two games in one, since all the Super Mario Advance series releases also include updated versions of the classic Mario Bros. arcade game. I wonder if its multiplayer functionality will be included, though. Because then all the 3DS Ambassadors could get old-school Mario Bros. battles going for free, courtesy of Yoshi's Island -- which would be playing a portable remake of an arcade cabinet through an emulated version of a ported edition of an SNES title (for anyone keeping track).
Read our original review of Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3.
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Last of all (for today, at least) we have WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$, the brilliant beginning of Nintendo's long-running, totally wacky and greatly popular WarioWare franchise. This is the game that created the microgame concept. You never play a full game -- instead, you play little five-second snippets of games back to back in rapid succession.It was an insane idea to wrap our minds around back in 2003, and turned out to be so crazy that it worked. Wario's attention-deficit style of fast gameplay bits was so addictive that it spawned a whole series. This original is still one of my favorites of the bunch, though, so consider firing it up maybe even before all the rest of your freebies when you download it -- after all, just playing it for one minute will let you experience 20 different microgames.
Read our original review of WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$.
As with the NES selection, we still don't know about five of the Game Boy Advance games that will be heading our way for free. Will we get the military strategy of Advance Wars? The medieval tactics of Fire Emblem? Or maybe even the epic adventure of The Minish Cap, giving us our sixth different Zelda release of the year?
We don't know yet, but we're going to speculate on those questions just the same as the NES ones in another upcoming feature here at IGN. So stay tuned for that soon.
And, in the meantime, let us know in the comments what you think about the 10 Ambassador games we know about so far. Do you like what you see here? Does it cushion the blow of the $80 price drop news? Celebrate Nintendo's generosity (or viciously attack their methods) right below.
3DS Price Cut Madness
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