Japan's 3DS Ambassador games include Metroid, Zelda 2 [update: North America too]

by JC Fletcher on Aug 30th 2011 10:25AM

Two days before the arrival of the 3DS Ambassador Program games, Nintendo of Japan has revealed the full list of ten NES (Famicom) games being released there. This could be the exact same list of games we get in North America and Europe -- all we know is that the initial five games were consistent worldwide.

The five games revealed today include Metroid, Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link, Yoshi's Egg, Mario Open Golf, and Wrecking Crew. In addition to those, Super Mario Bros., Balloon Fight, The Legend of Zelda, Donkey Kong Jr., and Ice Climber will be available for free, to anyone who qualified for the Ambassador Program by taking their 3DS to the eShop on time. And, of course, these will be followed by ten GBA games.

[Update: Nintendo of America tweeted the rest of the NES games coming to North America ... and it's exactly the same games!]

Source: Nintendo

Tags: 3ds, ambassador-program, ds, japan, mario-open-golf, metroid, nintendo, wrecking-crew, yoshi, zelda-2

Reader Comments (71)

zelda 2 is a very hard game ,on the small screen probably harder

@yuio297

I think the addition of 3DS restore points will make the game much easier, actually.

@yuio297

Zelda II is my favorite one right after OoT. I've played through it so many times that I can beat it in an afternoon.

@greyseal

I believe I read in a Joystiq article that all the NES/GBA games were not going to be fully supported like other Virtual Console releases (IE - there are no save states). Guess we'll find out tomorrow.

@Punkrawk Bbob Nintendo mentioned something about an "update" to these games later, when they're officially released.

Maybe that feature is coming then.

Hopefully the lack of SMB3 means it will be on the GBA List of games

@shinjix2

Hopefully they turn that one into a 3D classic!

Doubtful

The problem is as I recall Nintendo announced that the GBA games in the Ambassador program would be exclusive to said program.

Which means if they release SMB3 on the GBA then they are stuck either not releasing a game that would probably sell quite well to the general public, Or coming off as lying when they do release it to the public.

Tho I suppose they could release SMB3 for the GBA and then release Mario Allstars to the general public seeing as it contains SMB3 along with all the Mario games until and including Super Mario world.

@Scuffles

They said there are currently no plans to release those GBA games to the general public. That's PR talk for timed exclusives. All of the GBA games that Ambassadors get will come out at some point, and I don't mind because I'm getting them for free.

@shinjix2 the remasterd gba version was selected instead

OMG MY OWN PICTURE IN THE POST!!!

@Ospov

*pew**pew**pew*

Metroid: Zero Mission would be a better choice.

But good show. Is this the Famicom Disk System rendition with the better music?

@CaptainProtonX

This is still just the list of NES games. Zero mission may be one of the GBA games coming later in the year (although I doubt it, since Metroid Fusion was already announced for the Ambassador Program).

@greyseal Since the GBA games won't be for sale to anyone, I doubt they would give away Zero Mission. Likely they'll have zero mission on the eshop at some point for sale.

@superfrick Never know. The GBA games they have announced were ones they really easily could have sold boatloads of. Zero Mission has less appeal than, say, Mario Kart for the GBA... which they have already named.

@Softserve

You know, it'd be really funny if Nintendo released Mother 1+2 as an Ambassador game. Then they can say "Hey, we released EarthBound, it's not OUR fault that you didn't get into our early adopters program."

@superfrick - They're giving us Metroid Fusion as part of the program...

Time to finally try beating Zelda 2 without cheating with Save States on emulator lol

I'm Hoping for Metroid, Zelda 2 and Kid Icarus for the US program. Will be happy with just Metroid and Zelda 2 :)

Metroid and Zelda 2? Fun, rock solid times ahead.

Why have I never heard of "Yoshi's Egg" before? I thought Yoshi showed up in the SNES generation. Was this a "late to the party" game like Kirby perpetually is?

@baby sea tuna Yes, and it is a puzzle game.

@baby sea tuna In the US it was just released as Yoshi. Basically you stack familiar Mario characters and items and match them so they disappear. The NES also got Yoshi's Cookie, which was was another match puzzle game.

They're both pretty decent. They hit the NES during that period where the SNES was still catching on. I'm somewhat surprised they went with Yoshi and not Wario's Woods, but whatever.

@Softserve

I don't think they should have gone with Yoshi, Yoshi's Cookie, *or* Wario's Woods; none of them were terribly good (IMO-- though certainly I can see how some folks might enjoy them, I just didn't care for them). It's really a shame that they couldn't use Dr. Mario (so as not to cannibalize sales of the DSi Dr. Mario Express), but...

....okay, so here's an interesting thought. Kid Icarus isn't on the list. Given that Nintendo might want to use this program as an opportunity to promote Uprising, you'd think they would have included the original one in the Ambassador package. Hmm...... maybe they'll include it as an unlockable in Uprising? Or maybe they're working on 3D-ifying it for the Classics line?

@John Z

I know it's not popular to express this opinion, but Kid Icarus is not a great game. I think a lot of people feel nostalgic for it, but most remember it being a lot better than it actually was.

@baby sea tuna

Oh, I agree-- it was insanely difficult (and not in the good way-- goddamn eggplant wizards in the third castle) and there were way too many undocumented upgrades that, unless you knew the game down to the code level, only served to gimp the player's chances even further. Still, people have fonder memories of worse games, so to each their own. I was just speculating on a rather odd incident of cross-promotion that Nintendo doesn't seem to be availing themselves of.

@baby sea tuna I don't really want any of those puzzle games either... but if we're stuck with one Nintendo published puzzle game I'd prefer it was Wario's Woods ll

@baby sea tuna
Yoshi's Egg was a terrible game.

I felt a little disappointed that Excitebike 3DS didn't let you share course data, and so if North America gets Wrecking Crew I won't hold my breath that they'll have figured that out. But anyway, I'm thinking this is a pretty good selection.

What happened to this ambassador ting for people who couldn't get onto the e shop before the 12th i'm here in the uk and id like to get in on this.

purchased before the 12th but didn't arrive till a few days after the did say that you would be able to upload receipt but no newer updates on that.

getting bored of rayman now :-(

@bo1982

Doesn't matter when you bought it. You could have bought it launch day for all they care. The deal was to log into the eShop in time. If you didn't do that, you don't get the free games.

Why did you have it shipped to your house? They were very public about what dates you needed to do this by. I'm sure you could have found a local store to get a 3DS so that you could have downloaded the eShop in time.

@bo1982

Nintendo Japan announced that they'll take care of people like you thru customer service, long as you have proof of purchase and all. Won't hurt to give em a call and see.

Never heard of Wrecking Crew before now. Looks kind of fun.

Looking more forward to the GBA games, I think.

And Four Swords. (Come oooooon, online multiplayer!)

@Gooblechev
I don't think Four swords will have online functionality whenever its released on DSiWare. :( I'm sure its easy to find someone with a DS though.

@Gooblechev Wrecking Crew is fun. I think it's sometimes forgotten amongst Nintendo's more obvious classics. It's not the best game ever, but it's a fun title.

@ColorblindMonk Yea, sadly, I don't think it will either. :( Nintendo doesn't seem inclined to go the extra mile these days.

I don't know anybody with a DSi.

Sweet, free games for me!

Well, I was close. I managed to guess Zelda 2 and Metroid, but I ALSO guessed Punch-Out...

well i for one didn't have access to the net at the time, and i found out at last minuet and reason i got it shipped to house is because i found it cheaper than my only game store.

and Nintendo did states that they would be given a tool so that you could upload receipt, but why am explaining myself on the net i don't' know.

Anyways was simply asking a question , and if people are peeved off it's simple, you shouldn't rush to buy things.

@Theneverendingsoda

Is this where you say its because people who are interested in these games are stupid or drink the Nintendo cool-aid? I bet it is, you savvy shopper you, dont hold back.

So Nintendo said they are going to add simultanious multiplayer to these games, and at first I thought 2 player Zelda or Super Mario Bros, but now Im just thinking they are adding it to games that originaly had simultaneous multiplayer on the Nes like balloon fight... boo

@TwEE

SMB is supposed to have asynchronous "pass and play" multiplayer, afaik.

@Theneverendingsoda

Theneverendingsoda, the only poster that could actually manage to get riled up over a company offering their customers FREE games.

And hey, their servers didn't even have to get hacked/taken down to do it!

I'm ok with this. While my choice would have been Mario 2 and 3 above anything else, LoZ and LoZ II would be nice! My only hope is that we will get access to the Mario Games, even if I have to pay for them, I want Mario 2 and 3 on my 3DS!

I'm really excited for the GBA games though, I hope they hit sooner rather than later. neo

I just wonder how long Nintendo honors the GBA games being exclusive to the ambassador program.

Games are now listed on the FAQ on the NoA website for the Ambasador's program. Same list as Japan. Confirmed!

Metroid and then Metroid Fusion later? I'm good with these alone. The rest is just a bonus after those.

Wrecking Crew is the only strange choice for me. I like that I'll have just a random little golf game and puzzle game on my 3DS. I hope we get the same selection over here.

As much as I wanna complain I can't they're free oh well....

Actually wait technically I paid 80 bucks more then me for 20 games and so far only about 5 look decent so I can complain! These games have been released over and over with the exception of a few. whats worse I have tons of friends that got the 3ds before the deadline but at the 170 price...lucky bastards

| 1 | 2 | Most Recent | Next 50 Comments

Japan's 3DS Ambassador games include Metroid, Zelda 2 [update: North America too]

Reader Comments (71)

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 10:29AM yuio297 said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 10:41AM greyseal said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 11:15AM ItsameMatt03 said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 9:57PM Punkrawk Bbob said

Posted: Aug 31st 2011 5:45PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 10:29AM shinjix2 said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 10:46AM Uncle Jesse said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 12:00PM Scuffles said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 1:49PM gettinmoney662 said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 9:36PM axlr4 said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 10:33AM Ospov said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 10:36AM CaptainProtonX said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 10:35AM CaptainProtonX said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 10:42AM greyseal said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 10:43AM superfrick said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 11:05AM Softserve said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 11:44AM Gibbeynator said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 12:21PM Nintendo Tim said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 10:35AM YanDaMan said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 10:37AM superfrick said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 10:40AM Rain said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 10:41AM baby sea tuna said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 10:42AM superfrick said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 11:08AM Softserve said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 11:48AM John Z said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 11:55AM baby sea tuna said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 1:18PM John Z said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 1:38PM Softserve said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 2:20PM pluupy said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 10:44AM John Z said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 10:48AM bo1982 said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 11:09AM Shockwave said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 11:37AM Muu said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 10:50AM Gooblechev said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 11:01AM ColorblindMonk said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 11:06AM Softserve said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 3:32PM Gooblechev said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 11:06AM Noigel said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 11:38AM Gibbeynator said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 11:47AM bo1982 said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 11:53AM TwEE said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 11:56AM TwEE said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 11:59AM baby sea tuna said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 11:58AM baby sea tuna said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 12:01PM neolego said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 12:02PM Scuffles said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 12:56PM Spiffypants said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 12:57PM spacemanroo said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 1:09PM SonicRift said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 1:16PM MosDeffa said

Info

Description

MSRP

Release Date

Genre

Developer

Publisher

Rating

Breaking News

WB conjures up Harry Potter for Kinect this fall

Featured Stories

Weekly Webcomic Wrapup is a stranger in a strange land

Silver Lining: I Am Alive's unfeeling world

Game Of Thrones and the paradoxes of adaptation

Engadget

TUAW

Massively

WoW