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Forums - Nintendo Discussion - Top 5 Ports/VC of Pre-Wii era games I want to see on Switch

OTBWY said:

 Almost my exact same choices except I would replace FFVII with Baten Kaitos.

Baten Kaitos was actually written by one of the FF7 writers - Masato Kato. He worked under the legendary Yoshinori Kitase, who was the head writer and director of FF6, 7, 8, and X. Kitase and Kato also co-wrote Chrono Trigger; and on that project was also Tetsuya Takahashi (Xenogears/saga/blade).

Baten Kaitos does have more than that in common with FF7, as the designers looked to FF7's art style, and decided to replicate the rendering technique. The game was primarily developed by Tri-Crescendo, their first game; they are mostly a contract studio for budget titles and components of larger games, but do have one game that received a lot of attention - Eternal Sonata for the PS3/X360, which I would say is their undisputed masterpiece. And if you like Baten Kaittos, this one is worth checking out if you have the opportunity to do so - it's an action/encounter based RPG in the vein of the Tales games; unsurprisingly, they have been wrapped into the Tales development team in recent times.

Snoorlax said:
Ka-pi96 said:

It would actually be the opposite. Usually the other platforms get the best version and Nintendo gets the cheap knock-off version!

lol. Honestly i don't think most people today other than core FF fans would care for the original because of it's outdated graphics and turn based battles i would like to try the remake myself.

I'm very much one of those people who really love the Final Fantasy games in their original forms. As well as Chrono Trigger. While I do enjoy some aspects of the upgraded versions, I tend to find them more of a one-off, before going back and playing the originals - that I find more satisfying... Well, with the exception of Final Fantasy 4, IMO the Gameboy Advance version is the best one. FF6 and Chrono Trigger are currently best on the Wii Virtual Console and SNES Classic - just my opinion.

While the updated version of FF7 does look very appealing, I am unsure I will enjoy it as much due to changing environments and atmosphere. I actually really like the rendered art style of the game, much more so than FFX-15's full 3D approach. Although some of the stuff I have seen from the remake looks promising, as though they're preserving a lot of that presence that the original game had. My faith in Square is a little on the negative side based on the majority of their remakes, though.

I might be in the small minority. I can accept that though =D
Best case scenario, IMO, is that both the original and remake make it to the Switch.

I don't care as much about Square's later games. But, the way I see it, Square's golden age was from about 1993 until 2000. SNES is where half of it was, but the other half many Nintendo only fans never got to experience, and I still think all of those games are great. I am not saying that FF4 and FFX were bad games, but they kind of fell outside the period of constant great releases from Square.... again just my opinion.
Square was actually very great on handhelds too in the late 80s and early 90s with Mystic Quest (Seiken Densetsu 1) and the FF Legend trilogy (SaGa 1-3).

Many of Squares early titles have yet to have had proper Western releases at any point, so importing was the only way to get them legitimately.



I describe myself as a little dose of toxic masculinity.

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Jumpin said:

This is ignoring any games which already re-released on Nintendo consoles since.

1. If you don't see Final Fantasy 6, Chrono Trigger, or Earthbound on here, it's not that I don't want them there too, but they already have a precedent for release. Same deal goes with newer games like Mario Galaxy and Xenoblade Chronicles X.

2. These games can include games from other consoles if there is a good reason to bring it over (For example, much of the Xenogears team now works for Nintendo, so that's going to be on my list! In fact, while this is in parenthesis, you can ignore this!)

 

1. SKIES OF ARCADIA

This game first launched on Dreamcast, and then was ported to the Gamecube. In my opinion, this is still TONS of fun to play. It was one of the very early examples of a fully 3D RPG that felt modern and open and free. While FFX was visually stunning, it felt very cramped and corridorish... Like you had a trail to go along and certain paths off to the side; it worked very well for pacing, but it completely lacked that feeling of vastness that Skies of Arcadia had. Anyone looking forward to Xenoblade Chronicles 2, this is a game that might interest you.

Unfortunately, this one is often overlooked by Sega. It met with very poor sales... It was one of the major victims to Dreamcast piracy.  Everyone and their grandmother had pirated this game. I recall an article which said that the game was pirated over 1 or 2 million times. Unfortunately, I can't find that article because of the theme of the game... which is, coincidentally, piracy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAOYom5f94c

2. XENOGEARS

This one makes logical sense. It was largely developed and shaped by Tetsuya Takahashi, Soraya Saga, Kunihiko Tanaka, Masato Kato, Yasonori Mitsuda, and Yasayuki Honne. All either currently working for Nintendo or primarily with Nintendo. I don't think it's a stretch to say this game belongs on a Nintendo console. Tetsuya Takahashi is now a very big celebrity designer among Nintendo fans, and they're beginning to get to know Soraya Saga as well.

A lot of people are unfamiliar with the game in the Nintendo camp. It was, at the time, one of the most ambitious projects ever devised in the videogaming universe. It ultimately failed to reach its original vision - as is generally true with ALL of Takahashi's projects - but as is also true of all of Takahashi's projects, his failures are solid gold. It's a case of shooting for the stars, and still blowing up Pluto.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSc59wy4aT4

3. TERRANIGMA

This game didn't get a western release until the end of the SNES lifecycle. All the hype was behind the N64, and so it was largely overlooked by everyone. There were those of us who were massive fans of RPGs and adventure games, and for those of us who played it, Terranigma was the ultimate result of 16-bit era epic fantasy games. It is the spiritual sequel of two other excellent games: Soul Blazer, and Illusion of Time, though some will include ActRaiser in this bunch as well. Those three games are much better known, but Terranigma is to them as Final Fantasy 6 is to Final Fantasy 4... perhaps even wider in the quality gap.

The game begins with a single village in a dark world. First you ressurect the Continents. The next chapter has you landing on a primeval Earth, and going through adventures to ressurect life (if you've played another one of Enix's games, E.V.O. Search of Eden, you'll find some similarities). Then it gets to primitive human civilization, and you adventure on, bringing up their civilization. Exploring further, watching as civilization crosses from anrtiquity into the Medieval period, then the early enlightenment period (you actually help in the Revolutionary struggle, and bring democracy to France). There is an epic story that goes along with it, massive twists and surprises, history transcending conspiracies, and more. In my opinion, still one of the greatest games not yet released on a Nintendo console (or any console) since before the Wii era.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NFmgQqLmSo

4. TURTLES IN TIME

I honestly don't have much to say on this one. It was a beat em up that had strong 80s cultural influences, but made with the best artistic talent available in early 90s console gaming. This game was fun, and I really wanted this to be more of a "5 RPGs I want on Switch VC" list, but RPGs are my favourite genre by far, and the only thing that comes close are adventure/simulation games with RPG mechnics and similiarities in style and appeal (Like Illusion of Time, Zelda,  Rune Factory, etc...).

This game, IMO, was the best classic beat-em up game. There might be better ones available from a mechanical standpoint, better looking games, longer games... but this one hit well in so many different areas, and it came together in such an enjoyable package that I think it earns a spot. Wii fans were highly disappointed in not seeing this classic game on Virtual Console. We continue to be disappointed not seeing it on SNES classic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6IRNfXkMAc

5. FINAL FANTASY VII

This is a sore spot for Nintendo fans. Many, including former Nintendo President and CEO Hiroshi Yamauchi decided to disparage the game... and the people who liked the genre: 

"People who play RPGs are depressed gamers who like to sit alone in their dark rooms and play slow games."
-Hiroshi Yamauchi, 1999

He's a dick! But may he rest in peace.

For us depressed darkness loving gamers, We've been WAITING for 23 years for this game! It was promised to us during the SNES era, and we all took it for granted that Final Fantasy 7 would be coming to the N64... until it wasn't... Thanks for the low-density cartridges and 4KB texture cache Yamauchi!
And while the remake would be nice, I think having the original work, without any alterations )aside from graphical touch-ups so it doesn't look like grainy crap at 720/1080p) is an absolute must. I have a feeling that much of the emotion, feeling, and atmosphere of the game and its characters will be lost in the remake due to a drastically different art styles, gameplay styles, pacing, and vantagepoint as a player.

Some of us Nintendo fans sided with Yamauchi, but a good number of us bought playstations so we could play specifically this game. It's not that we stopped being Nintendo fans, it's that Nintendo seemingly stopped catering to our needs as RPG fans, and Yamauchi's firm statement was the final nail in the coffin. Luckily, Nintendo went back on that statement and released plenty of RPGs on GBA and DS just a few years later. But we never saw FF7.

I've waited for a day when Nintendo has this play as a big surprise during one of their presentations. I would flip my shit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFX594xk4A4

 

Sorry, I didn't proofread this, and I am using the excuse that English isn't my first language for any mistakes I have made!

You can just go buy them and play them on their original hardware right now. No need for more ports.



AlfredoTurkey said:

You can just go buy them and play them on their original hardware right now. No need for more ports.

This is about as silly of an argument as "Just play Breath of the Wild. No need for more games on Switch." or "Just play the original NES. No need for more consoles."

These games and the original hardware are no longer available. In addition, the original hardware are bulky old home consoles that don't work correctly on current TV models. A Switch virtual console service which supplies these games would be substantially better.



I describe myself as a little dose of toxic masculinity.