25 Games We'll Never See on the Virtual Console

Synopsis: Based on a 1989 arcade game, DJ Boy was a 2D brawler featuring roller skating punks and bizarre (and totally offensive) bosses. In the game a young boy attempts to rescue his girlfriend while skating through various levels and beating up thugs with his hands and feet. Sound familiar? It should, because that's the same plot every one of these games has. Only this one is on rollerskates!

What's the Hold Up? There are a lot of reasons why you won't see DJ Boy on the Virtual Console any time soon, from the fact that a Double Dragon rip-off on rollerskates is patently ridiculous to the fact that nobody has actually heard of this game. But the biggest problem with this Genesis game is that it's strangely racist. It's not the kind of accidental racism that you sometimes get from old games, this stuff is so foul that I'm surprised Reverend Al Sharpton didn't gather a million men and march against it. Of course, we Americans never received the most heinous version of DJ Boy (which included a male stripper and cruelty against animals), but that's hardly consolation in the grand scheme of things. The American version did feature Wolfman Jack, which may or may not require some kind of updated licensing agreement. Either way, there's no way we'll be seeing this crazy brawler on the Virtual Console any time soon.

Synopsis: Mother is the story of a 12 year old boy who journeys around the world to explore his psychic powers, collect eight melodies and ultimately save the planet from an evil race of mind-controlling aliens. In a lot of ways Mother resembles the Dragon Quest series. Mother was originally intended to be released in the U.S., but due to the Super NES it never showed up. This is one of the most popular game series in Japan, even though most American gamers have yet to hear about it.

What's the Hold Up? There's technically no reason Nintendo can't release the original Mother on the Virtual Console, the game has already been translated into English and is ready to go. As you may already know, Nintendo was planning on releasing this game in the U.S. back in the early 1990s, but thanks to the release of the Super NES they got cold feet and opted against it. We did get EarthBound, the sequel to Mother, but it didn't sell particularly well and has not been heard from since. There have been numerous chances for Nintendo to rerelease these games in the U.S. (including a Game Boy Advance compilation), but so far they have yet to give Mother any love. Unfortunately I have a hunch that this tragedy is not going to change any time soon. The Mother series just seems like it's one of those franchises that was never destined to be popular in the States, which is a real shame given the game's enormous cult following. Hopefully I'm wrong, but if Nintendo was to actually release this game on the Virtual Console I would be shocked.

Synopsis Released at the peak of Michael Jackson's success, Moonwalker was a brand new game based on the 1988 movie of the same name. This game showcased the badass side of Michael Jackson ... no, really! It also features 16-bit recreations of some of Jacko's biggest songs, including Smooth Criminal and Bad.

What's the Hold Up? Sure this has a lot to do with licensing, but you and I both know that's not the "real" reason we'll never see Moonwalker on the Virtual Console. Let's be honest with ourselves here, when Michael Jackson decided to go all bizarro on us and sleep with drunken children we pretty much knew that was the end of his video game career. Oh sure, Rockstar Games would probably be more than happy to get Jacko for some 1980s rhythm game, you won't see Nintendo or Sega jumping at the chance to publish this 2D crapfest. So hang on to unopened Moonwalker boxes, you Michael Jackson collectors, because it doesn't look like this will be one game you'll be playing on the Virtual Console.

Synopsis In the early 1990s the general thinking was that every company needed some sort of mascot character. Nintendo had Mario, Sega had Sonic, and Konami had Sparkster. Accolade did not want to be left out, so they came up with Bubsy the Bobcat, a smart ass cat with a big smile and awful fashion sense. Bubsy starred in several 2D adventures before being introduced to 3D, which effectively put the final name in his coffin.

What's the Hold Up? Face it, there's just too much negative press about Bubsy the Bobcat. Despite solid reviews back when it was first introduced, Accolade's smart mouthed mascot doesn't stand a chance in the 21st century. If you were to read EGM, GamePro or any other long-running video game magazine you will no doubt realize that everybody hates Bubsy. They seem to hate Bubsy more than Aero, Blasto and a whole bunch of other terrible characters. That's a shame, though, because Bubsy wasn't that bad. Maybe this game isn't worth $8, but the game is nowhere near as bad as some would have you believe. There's really no technical reason they couldn't get Bubsy on the Virtual Console, it's not a matter of licensing or anything, but I have a hunch that at this point nobody wants to see this crazy character return.

Synopsis: Based on the popular television cartoon, Duck Tales featured Scrooge McDuck on an adventure to save his family and keep his money intact. Although this was just one of the Disney-related games released by Capcom in the 1990s, Duck Tales also proved to be one of the best (if not the best). Duck Tales proved everybody wrong by offering strong game play and a lot of interesting levels.

What's the Hold Up? Laugh all you want, but that laughter only proves that you haven't played one of the most exciting Capcom games of all the 8-bit era. It's easy to poo poo a game like this based entirely on the dippy license, but once you get past the name you will realize that this is a deep experience that is on the same level as Mega Man or Bionic Commando. Sadly Capcom will never have the chance to bring this 8-bit classic to the Virtual Console because they no longer hold the rights. I suspect we're going to see a lot of the Capcom original content released before we ever see Duck Tales, and that's too bad, because Capcom wasn't real consistent in the 1980s. Sure it would be cool to get the Genesis version of Strider, but how much do you want to bet it's the NES version that storms the Virtual Console? Forget Mega Man and all of those other popular franchises, I would much rather have Duck Tales.