GBA Wii U Virtual Console Details

The Game Boy Advance Virtual Console on Wii U will be receiving a few more upgrades than expected which is sure to please fans looking to experience the many great games coming to the service. In addition to Save States and control customization, GBA games will have specific alterations to aid in their transition to the big screen. It should also be noted that GBA games will support just about every controller on the Wii U (GamePad, Wii U Pro Controller, Wii Classic Controller & Wii Classic Controller Pro). Below is a breakdown of the new GBA VC features as well as the file sizes of the games coming in April. Enjoy!

Gamma Reduction: Many may not know that GBA games were artificially made brighter to compensate for the system not having a backlight for much of its life. This means that the Wii U versions of the games will be a little darker and more in line with what the developers had intended. While the games will look good on your TV, you may notice them being displayed a touch darker on the GamePad due to this change.

Screen Smoothing: The GBA had a screen resolution of 240x160 which may look a little shocking when blown up on a 1080p HD TV but steps have been taken to make things look their best. There will be an option to enable a screen smoothing feature that will give the games a softer look and decrease the pixel edges. This feature can be turned off and on by pressing down the Right Stick.

Resolution: As stated above, the difference in screen resolution between the original GBA and current HDTV's has brought about the need for upscaling. There will be 2 options when increasing the screen resolution but it should be noted that neither will fill the entire screen (you will notice some black bars which border the game). The full screen option will fill most of the screen with a resolution of 1620x1080 (an increase of 6.75 time the original GBA). The "Original Resolution" option will bring the game closest to the GBA with a resolution of 1440x960 (an increase of 6 times the GBA). It should be noted that these changes are made within the Virtual Console settings menu and only impact the games on your TV and not the GamePad.

Virtual Manual: In a nice touch, Nintendo has scanned in the original Game Boy Advance game manuals for each game. These manuals are available at any point during gameplay with the touch of a small question mark on the lower left of the GamePad touch screen. You will also be able to zoom in on the manual which is nice when you consider the artwork in the original printed manuals. Also, you will be able to navigate the manual on the touch screen while playing the game on the TV.

File Sizes:

• Advance Wars - 62MB
• Mario & Luigi Super Star Saga - 63MB
• Metroid Fusion - 57MB
• Kirby & The Amazing Mirror - 57MB
• WarioWare, Inc: Mega Microgame$! - 55MB
• F-Zero Maximum Velocity - 55MB
• Golden Sun - 82MB
• Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3 - 51MB

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