Nintendo has always tried something new and innovative with their games, for better or worse. One major attempt at trying something new was the Satellaview add-on. Thus was a way to bring new games through satellite broadcasts, and brought new versions of several games like The Legend of Zelda and F- Zero. The intention was that these could only be played during the broadcast time , and afterwards they were gone for good. These were only available in Japan and not released anywhere else.
Now fast forward several years and fans outside Japan have learned of these games and developed an interest in them. The most well known Satellaview games are the Zelda games, which are remakes of the first game and A Link to the Past, complete with new content and stories. The latter, known as the Ancient Stone Tablets, has been restored and fan translated, allowing new players to try them.
Zelda wasn’t the only series to get this treatment however, as there was also a Satellaview version of Excitebike which had a lot of new content. There was a major change to in this version where the racers were replaced by Mario characters, and also included a “SUPER” mode where the player has unlimited turbo, as well as the addition of coins. The coins are spread out on the courses and increase top speed, very similar to the Mario Kart series. Yes there was a Mario Kart-like Excitbike well before Mario Kart 8.
Other games for the Satellaview were F-zero sequels that had new tracks and vehicles. More importantly however, they included a track editor if you were bored of what was offered already. It was way ahead of its time and yet the game can only be found via rom dumps. Then there are the Mario Paint games, Super Mario Bros, Wario’s Woods, Wizardry, Super E.D.F., Kirby, Harvest Moon and Square Enix RPGs on the service. All of these games had something new to them and yet players outside Japan never got to experience them. These include games like Dragon Quest 1, which actually got a SNES remake this way in Japan. This disappointing that the were not ever brought to the west but this got me thinking, that ff the games’ source codes still exist, should Nintendo and the other publishers/developers bring them back now?
Obviously for some games this would require localization and may not be worth it, such as for the minor games. For a series like Zelda on the other hand, there would definitely be a market. The Chrono Trigger games brought to Satellaview would definitely be big sellers for Square Enix, along with the Dragon Quest remake. The games like the F-Zero sequels and Excitebike. have some great new content that players outside Japan would love to play. If these games could be brought over to the Nintendo Switch eShop when the online service for classic games launches, they would be some of the top selling games. VS Excitebike and The Mysterious Mursame Castle prove there is a market for the games by being big sellers when they were brought to the Wii U and 3DS eshops respectively,
I truly hope Nintendo does consider this, as not only would gamers in the west be thrilled to finally play these games, but it would also open up new fandoms and generate new sales. It might be labour intensive, but it is a risk worth taking.
Disclaimer: The above was the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect that of Real Otaku Gamer or its staff.