Topic: The first Castlevania game that's impossible to obtain.

[Roki]

Now, we all know that Castlevania games are rare. Some are pretty high up on the rarity scale, like 'A New Era', 'Akumajo Dracula X6800', or any of the arcade games. However, as far as I'm aware, today is the first day where it is impossible to legally obtain one particular Castlevania game.
The game is question is 'Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth' for the Nintendo Wii.
As of January 30th 2019, the Wii Shop Channel is no longer able to be used. Any titles exclusive to the Wii Shop Channel are now unable to be purchased or downloaded.
In my opinion, I think 'ReBirth' should get a re-release on modern consoles and PC. What do you guys think?

[Jorge D. Fuentes]

They can put it out on the Switch along with Rondo of Blood, Gradius Rebirth, and Contra Rebirth... if they wanted to.
But they don't want to.

As for it no longer being able to be downloaded well... I actually have the file of it somewhere on my PC and it plays with Dolphin, but it's a gray area.  I own the Wii version, though.

I did hear that the Wii Shop is closed for good now.

[Roki]

I'm aware that you can emulate Wii titles via emulators like Dolphin, which is why I mentioned the legality in the original post. I do think it's a shame that it's no longer available. I've personally never played it, but I've heard good things about it, and the music is godlike.

[Abnormal Freak]

Doubtful Konami would do this, but like Jorge said, they could always do a ReBirth collection for Switch, maybe even do a physical copy. That would be ideal. They'd probably wanna keep Rondo as part of the CV Requiem package.

CV ReBirth is like the best WiiWare game out there. I'm also a big fan of Zombie Panic in Wonderland, and the only way to play the original version is on the Wii; the version that recently made it to Switch (also on 3DS) is just the mobile version which made numerous changes and just isn't as enjoyable a game.

[X]

I still have my WiiWware version.

[Succubus]

Technically, if you wanted to acquire it legally, you could buy a used Wii that happens to have it installed (by someone who also acquired it legally, back when the Wii Shop channel was still alive). It's not really any different from buying a physical copy of a retro game. Either way, the publisher isn't seeing a cent of your money, only the reseller. It's just a lot more cumbersome to buy an entire system to get access to a game, and it'd be like trying to a find a needle in a haystack searching for one with all the games you want installed.

I sincerely hope Konami will do a re-release of the Rebirth games someday, even though I do have Castlevania and Gradius on my Wii already. I've actually been playing Castlevania Rebirth for the first time just lately. It's not among the best of the best of the classic-style Castlevania games, but it's still really solid. Puts up a decent challenge on the default settings too, in my opinion. I still haven't beaten Death, but I'm getting good enough at the stage before him that I'll probably reach Drac soon.

[Roki]

While I do agree that that is certainly a legal method, it takes too much time and effort, plus I believe that all devices sold second hand in the UK must be wiped prior to the sale to prevent cybercrime like keylogging. So while that method might work for some, it won't work for everyone.

[Abnormal Freak]

CV ReBirth's biggest appeal mostly stems from it being a Castlevania in the classic style when all the Metroidvanias were still fresh on our minds. It's a serviceable game, and I think the in-level branching paths are pretty cool. It'd be cool if Konami ever allowed M2 to make a sequel or another CV game, but eh, not likely at this point. Pumping out a mediocre Bomberman game is easier.

Contra ReBirth is fun, too. Sloppier than the games it takes inspiration from (namely III and Hard Corps), but it's a worthwhile effort. The best parts of both games are their soundtracks.

[PFG9000]

Sorry if you're trying to forget about them, but Order of Shadows, Encore of the Night, and the mobile versions of Castlevania 1 and Aria of Sorrow are also impossible to obtain legally.  To my knowledge, at least.

[Succubus]

That's a good point. Mobile games are quickly lost to the abyss. And they don't seem as easy to emulate either, since few care about old, forgotten mobile games.

[Roki]

To be honest, I completely forgot about mobile games. I think that out of them, the biggest loss is Order of Shadows. Aria and CV1 are available on other platforms, and Encore of the Night isn't a proper Castlevania game. The only one I know is definitely unavailable is Encore, as that was on iOS, and you can't get it any more. I think that out of these, Aria is the one which has the greatest chance to have survived. My reasoning for this is that the BlackBerry version of Sonic Advance is still available, and both of these ports seem to have been done at around the same time.

[Inccubus]

They can put it out on the Switch along with Rondo of Blood, Gradius Rebirth, and Contra Rebirth... if they wanted to.
But they don't want to.

As for it no longer being able to be downloaded well... I actually have the file of it somewhere on my PC and it plays with Dolphin, but it's a gray area.  I own the Wii version, though.

I did hear that the Wii Shop is closed for good now.

I don't think that's a grey area at all. If you paid for it, you should be able to keep it. It's yours. You own it. Period.
Now if you got by stealing it, then that's on you. (That's general you, not You you, Jorge.)


Anyway. Yeah, Konami should release it on steam or something at least.
Wouldn't take that much by way of investment to get it and the rest of those games running on PC.
but apparently Konami is allergic to intelligence and making money.

[Succubus]

It's possible that Konami might've struck a deal with Nintendo on the Rebirth games that requires exclusivity. Of course, even if that were the case, it probably would be no problem getting them re-released on Switch at least.

[Inccubus]

That's totally possible, probable even and ... Oh My God I just realized who I was talking too!
Warms my cold and blackened heart to see both our names in the same thread. : D  <<33

[Succubus]

Indeed, long time, no see. I hope you've been well.