Donkey Kong, Zelda, Kirby, More Nintendo Classics Coming to Wii

There are a few things—like, oh, say, blowing on those cartridges to get them to work—that we don’t miss about old-school Nintendo. But some of the old games and characters make us pine a little more. According to an announcement at the E3 gaming conference this week, there’s good news for those who find themselves in exactly this predicament: Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda, Kirby and GoldenEye will all receive the Wii update, and another new Mario game will be released soon as well.

The addition to the Legend of Zelda series, a game called Skyward Sword, capitalizes on MotionPlus technology, which emphasizes player movement over controller skills. Donkey Kong Country Returns will bring back barrels, bananas and Diddy and Donkey Kong, as imagined by Retro Studios. Kirby will return in Kirby’s Epic Yarn, wherein Kirby’s character is actually a piece of yarn living in a world made of zippers and fabric. Activision’s GoldenEye 007 will allow players to choose from one of 16 game modes and one of eight James Bond characters. Perhaps the oldest favorite of all, Mario, will appear in a new sports game called Mario Sports Mix, which will feature games such as volleyball, dodgeball, hockey and basketball. All games are due to hit store shelves for this year’s holiday season or in early 2011.

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