Super Mario Bros. 3 for VC

Nintendo of America has announced a special treat for US Wii owners to celebrate the impending launch of Super Mario Galaxy.

Today will see the Virtual Console release of Super Mario Bros. 3, "considered by many to be the greatest video of all time" as Nintendo puts it.

It will cost 500 Wii Points (GBP 3.50 / EUR 5) and be released alongside Mega Drive side-scroller Alien Soldier (available here last week) and TurboGrafx-16 title Power Golf (available on Friday according to the official Hudson site).

There is no word on whether Super Mario Bros. 3 will be here on Friday, unfortunately, but we have our fingers crossed.

Until then you can catch up with our thoughts on last week's releases in our Virtual Console roundup.