As part of the Gamescom news blast,Nintendo Europe has announced (opens in new tab)Game Boy classics Metroid II: Return of Samus and Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins will arrive on its 3DS eShop before the end of the year. Also along for the ride are Mega Man: Dr Wily’s Revenge and Bionic Commando. Nintendo of America hasn’t confirmed this release schedule, but seeing as the US/UK eShops are more or less identical when it comes to Virtual Console releases, we assume we’ll all have access to these titles soon.
Above: Spoiler! The Metroid II ending features a bikini-clad Samus
I’m thrilled to hear Metroid II is coming –as I’ve said before, it’s probably the most pivotal game in the series, kicking off events that fuel Super Metroid, Fusion and Other M. The original black and white version was a strong game lost on a blurry, hard to see screen, so the 3DS version will probably end up as the “best” way to play. Still, I’d love to see Nintendo dig up the colorized (and canceled) Metroid II DX for the eShop… well that or just remake the whole thing, which is totally worth the effort considering how important this game is to the Metroid canon.
August 17, 2011