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Virtual Console: Now the Best Thing Ever

Posted by Bob Mackey

Remember back when the Virtual Console sucked? Of course you do; it was just this past summer. During those hot, boring months, I sat on about 2000 Wii Points; hope soon became a forgotten concept as Nintendo slowly trickled out games I've never given a damn about. By the time August rolled around, I was half-expecting to see a Virtual Console Monday featuring the Sega Genesis version of Chuck Rock along with a free Wii screen saver that would scroll the words "KILL YOURSELF" across the screen if you left the Wii-mote idle for more than 20 minutes.

But since the beginning of Fall, Nintendo's really gotten their Virtual Console shit together; and today's release of both Secret of Mana and World of Goo is proof of that. Sure, I'm in the dead center of a semester that's left me so haggard I can barely type this post without using my keyboard as a makeshift pillow, but... Secret of Mana.

I should honestly be a little more excited around World of Goo--and I do plan on eventually getting around to buying it. But for now, I have no choice but to pick up Secret of Mana again. Then I can relax on the couch with a glass of wine as Hiroki Kikuta's soothing soundtrack lulls me into a deep sleep.  Oh, and the game is still fun as hell, too.  We should just be happy that Secret of Mana's VC release finally means that, after many attempts to revive the franchise, Square has finally given up.  And it's about time; series director Koichi Ishii has proven that he has no goddamned clue what makes Mana so great.  And we've given him more than a decade to figure that out.

For more on the failure of Mana, please consult this podcast.  Do not go to your local library.  They will ask you to leave.

Related Links:

The Dividing RPG: Secret of Mana
Ten Reasons Why Secret of Mana Sucks
TVTropes' "Woolseyisms"


+ DIGG + DEL.ICIO.US + REDDIT

Comments

Derrick Sanskrit said:

Yes, yes, we finally got the brilliant World Of Goo and the fondly remembered Secret of Mana and even the fourth version of Street Fighter II to hit the Virtual Console (seriously???), but how am I the only one who seems to be excited for ART STYLE: CUBELLO? The first new bit Generations/Digiluxe/ART STYLE game designed specifically for Wii? Sweet!!!

October 14, 2008 12:52 PM

Bob Mackey said:

Just be happy I ignored the sanctity of Columbus Day to bring you that message.  (seriously, why did no one tell me it was Columbus Day yesterday)

October 14, 2008 2:23 PM

Derrick Sanskrit said:

It was also Thanksgiving in Canada, but nobody seems to care about that.

October 14, 2008 3:16 PM

Demaar said:

Square USA (when it still existed) proved Koichi Ishii had no idea what he was doing when they took his awesome game and then crapped all over it with Evermore.

October 14, 2008 10:23 PM

Kikimaru said:

Secret of Evermore is not the sequel to Secret of Mana.

It's not the sequel.

Stop thinking it is.

October 15, 2008 7:19 PM

Demaar said:

I never said it was. But it was clearly inspired by SoM, and then crapped on it.

October 15, 2008 8:18 PM

About Bob Mackey

For a brief period of time I was Bull from TV's Night Court, but some of you may know me from the humor column I wrote for Youngstown State University's The Jambar, Kent State University's The Stater, and Youngstown's alternative newspaper, The Walruss. I'm perhaps most well-known for my bi-weekly pieces on Something Awful. I've also blogged for Valley24.com and have written articles for EGM, 1UP, GameSpite and Cracked. For all of my writing over the years, I have made a total of twenty American dollars. It's also said that I draw cartoons, which people have described with words such as "legible." I kidnapped the Lindbergh Baby and am looking to do so again in the future.

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John Constantine, our superhero, was raised by birds and then attended Penn State University. He is currently working on a novel about a fictional city that exists only in his mind. John has an astonishingly extensive knowledge of Scientology. Ultimately he would like to learn how to effectively use his brain. He continues to keep Wu-Tang's secret to himself.

Derrick Sanskrit is a self-professed geek in a variety of fields including typography, graphic design, comic books, music and cartoons. As a professional hipster graphic designer, his recent clients have included Hooksexup, Pitchfork and MoCCA, among others.

Amber Ahlborn - artist, writer, gamer and DigiPen survivor, she maintains a day job as a graphic artist. By night Amber moonlights as a professional Metroid Fanatic and keeps a metal suit in the closet just in case. Has lived in the state of Washington and insists that it really doesn't rain as much as everyone says it does.

Nadia Oxford is a housekeeping robot who was refurbished into a warrior when the world's need for justice was great. Now that the galaxy is at peace (give or take a conflict here or there), she works as a freelance writer for various sites and magazines. Based in Toronto, Nadia prizes the certificate from the Ministry of Health declaring her tick and rabies-free.

Bob Mackey is a grad student, writer, and cyborg, who uses the powerful girl-repelling nanomachines mad science grafted onto his body to allocate time towards interests of the nerd persuasion. He believes that complaining about things on the Internet is akin to the fine art of wine tasting, but with more spitting into buckets.

Joe Keiser has a programming degree from Johns Hopkins University, a tiny apartment in Brooklyn, and a fake toy guitar built in the hollowed-out shell of a real guitar. He writes about games and technology for a variety of outlets. One day he will stop doing this. The day after that, police will find his body under a collapsed pile of (formerly neatly alphabetized) collector's edition tchotchkes.

Cole Stryker is an American freelance writer living in York, England, where he resides with his archeologist wife. He writes for a travel company by day and argues about pop culture on the internet by night. Find him writing regularly here and here.

Peter Smith is like the lead character of Irwin Shaw's The 80-Yard Run, except less athletic. He considers himself very lucky to have this job. But it's a little premature to take "jack-off of all trades" off his resume. Besides writing, travelling, and painting houses, Pete plays guitar in a rock trio called The Aye-Ayes. He calls them a 'power pop' band, but they generally sound more like Motorhead on a drinking binge.


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