Virtual Console: Difference between revisions

[[File:Virtual Console.png|thumb|300px|The Virtual Console logo.]]The '''Virtual Console''' ({{ja|バーチャルコンソール|Bācharukonsōru}}, ''Virtual Console''), sometimes abbreviated as '''VC''', is a feature of the [[Wii]], [[Nintendo 3DS]], and [[Wii U]] that allows players to officially emulate games from older video game consoles. Supported by the  {{h2|Wikipedia:Wii Menu|Wii Shop Channel}} on the Wii and the [[Nintendo eShop]] on the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS, the different consoles have differing coverage as to what games they feature. The Virtual Console has since been retired, with the currently available [[Nintendo Switch]] offering classic games with a Nintendo Switch Online subscription. The currently supported consoles on this service are NES, SNES and Game Boy/Game Boy Color with the base package, with N64, GBA, and Sega Genesis costing extra as part of the Expansion Pack.

A majority of the [[Masterpieces]] featured in ''Brawl'' and {{forwiiu}} work via the Wii's Virtual Console engine. In addition, all Masterpieces are timed, and when the timer runs out, the player is told about how the full version can be purchased for the Virtual Console.

Unusually, ''Smash 4'' features Masterpieces of Game Boy titles, which are not supported by the Wii U's Virtual Console. As a result, players are told about how they can download the two Game Boy titles, ''Kirby's Dream Land'' and ''Dr. Mario'', on the Nintendo 3DS's Virtual Console.

''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'' was released onto the Wii Virtual Console for Japan on January 20, 2009, as to celebrate the ten years since the game's first release in Japan on January 21, 1999. It was later released to Europe and Australia on June 12, 2009, and later still, to North America on December 21, 2009. While not officially available for the Wii U's Virtual Console, the Virtual Console re-release of ''Smash 64'' could still be purchased and played when the Wii U was running in Wii Mode. However, the game is no longer legitimately available for purchase since the discontinuation of the Wii Shop Channel as of January 30, 2019.

While the Virtual Console version of ''Smash 64'' is tournament legal, most players prefer other options like original [[Nintendo 64]] hardware or [[Project 64k]]. This is due to the limited support of controllers for the Virtual Console compared to either of the two previous options; furthermore, the Virtual Console emulator can suffer from performance issues like frame-skipping, which can potentially disrupt players' inputs.