NO VIRTUAL CONSOLE, BUT NEO GEO GAMES!

BY EDITOR AND PUBLISHER C. A. PASSINAULT

Nintendo really took more steps backwards than forwards with the Switch.
For now, at least.
I would consider their portable gaming high point to be the 3DS.
Of course, the Switch isn’t exactly a dedicated portable console, is it?
That said, that is how I have been using the Switch. I have been keeping the JoyCons attached and have been playing it as a “Super” handheld console, exactly as a 3DS, a DS, a Vita, a Playstation Portable, or a Gameboy Advance. Sure, I have been playing Zelda more than anything, but I have also been playing a lot of retro games, such as Neo Geo arcade games and the recently released Namco arcade compilation, the latter missing classics such as Ms. Pac Man and Galaxian, but which is otherwise awesome (and one thing that portables have been good at would be retro and arcade video games).
Regarding going backwards, the Switch doesn’t have Street Pass, and it doesn’t do some things as well as the 3DS, such as system migration and saves. Its Mii support is also not prominent enough, and it is buried in the menu system (did anyone review what they Nintendo with the 3DS before designing and putting together this console? If it isn’t broke........)
Oh, and there is no EShop or proper Virtual Console games. What the hell?!?!?
One reason that I obtained the Switch was because of the promise of Super Nintendo and Gameboy Advance games (I, wrongfully, assumed that there would be an eShop and Virtual consoles games available within weeks of my April 2 purchase of the Switch and Zelda, and that the same Super NES games which were available for the “new” 3DS would be available for the Switch. How wrong I was!). Super Nintendo games supposedly could not be done on the “normal” 3DS (I know that is B.S.), and are limited to the “new” 3DS (My opinion is that Nintendo needed as much leverage as possible to prevent the older 3Ds from undermining the sales of the “new” 3DS, and that they made those Super NES virtual console games only available for the “new” 3DS to make gamers like me buy the “new” 3DS console. Well, I still don’t have one, as I already have THREE; my original 3DS, which my mom borrowed to go back and forth between Animal Crossing: New Leaf villages with her 3DS XL, and my two 3DS XL consoles, which literally have every 3DS, virtual console, and downloadable game worth owning). As I already have two 3DS XL’s and I am not happy with the placement or the size of the second analog nub on the “new” 3DS (the design isn’t complete, nor balanced, IMO. The analog nubs, or “sticks, should be the same size and should have mirrored, symmetrical placement on the face of the console), I am in no hurry to get one.
I thought that Super Nintendo games would be available on the Switch, and they will be, eventually, I would imagine. It is just not the case as of August, five months into the life span of the console, and I really want my Super Metroid and Super Castlevania IV on the go (Why Nintendo keeps punishing gamers with these easily avoidable mistakes is beyond me. Listen, I would buy those games if you made them available! Do I have to get a Galaxy S2 9.7 tablet and a bluetooth video game controller and play games on emulators until you come to your senses? I would already have that ultimate portable gaming system if it were not for Zelda making me invest in the Switch).
For now, however, SNK Playmore (drop the Playmore, SNK) isn’t waiting for the eShop to go online or the virtual console games to become available (Thank God. They seem to have more sense than Nintendo). They are making their Neo Geo arcade games available, however, and that is cool.
Can you say portable Neo Geo? My 90's dream has come true!
As of now, I have purchased and downloaded Magician Lord (difficult and tedious platformer, and not very fun, but a personal classic), Garou: Mark of the Wolves (One of the greatest 2D fighting games ever made. I want Last Blade 2 so bad, though, as it is incredible), Samurai Shodown, Samurai Shodown IV, Blazing Star (One of the best side scrolling shooters ever made, and the broken English makes it hilariously special, actually spawning famous Internet memes. Awesome fun!), Last Resort, Super Sidekicks (A soccer game; I don’t like it, being a sports game, aside), Neo Turf Masters (I hate sports games, and usually avoid them, but this is an exception. It is a golf game which is awesome. I especially love the temper tantrums that the characters have, as they are supremely entertaining; the game plays well and has personality. Oh, and there is some funny English, too, just like Blazing Star. I consider this game to be the “Outrun” of golf games, which is a compliment), Metal Slug, Metal Slug 2, Metal Slug 3 (I love all of the Metal Slug games, as they are superb platform shooters; the first one is the best, however, but my favorite is Metal Slug 3 because it has Zombies and, if you are turned into a Zombie, your grenade turns into a stream of projectile vomit blood. It’s awesome!), Shock Troopers (What Ikari Warriors, also from SNK and extremely difficult, should have been), Shock Troopers 2nd squad (not as good as the first), and King of the fighters 98 (I love me some Mai Shiranui. She is a Ninja, you know, and her rhythmic moves are graceful and artistic! Mai is a master of using distraction in hand to hand combat. I just want a Mai game where you do nothing but move her around all day).
These are all great games, except for a couple, buuuuuut that left JoyCon does not have a proper D-Pad; some of the games don’t play as well using the analog stick (not tight enough controls) or the buttons being substituted for a D-Pad (weak diagonals. I am sorry, people, but video games are about GAMEPLAY, and if you cripple that, they suck. That is why mobile gaming can never compete with real portable game consoles and real gamers prefer anything but those and their touch screens being shoe-horned into every game).
I don’t know. The buttons being used for a D-Pad works very well for the new Sonic game for the Switch, Sonic Mania, and it is pretty much because most Sonic Games (the real ones which are based on the classic 16 Bit Sonic games) mainly use left, right, and jump.
Nintendo really does need to come out with a left JoyCon with a D-Pad instead of those buttons, however, and it would be easy for them to do so due to the modular nature of the Switch and the ability to change out JoyCons.
I would buy a left JoyCon with a D-Pad, even if that single one cost as much as a $70.00 pro controller (Since I use my Switch as a portable gaming console, a pro controller would be inconvenient for me to carry, such like the Amiibos, which need to be issued with Amiibo cards that you can keep on you, keep in your Switch case, and use).
At any rate, what I hate is that there is no way to transfer games to a new Switch console or backing them up. Talk about putting all of your eggs into one basket. Fortunately, my Switch is holding up well to the abuse of me constantly playing it (my 3DS’s are not getting any love at the moment!). For more about some of the issue with the Nintendo Switch, please click on the link to read in this issue of Frontier Pop.
Thank you, SNK, for giving me some great games to play on my Switch!

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