The Wii U is better a system than its predecessor. It’s got a more powerful CPU, it outputs HD graphics, and the online functionality is much, much stronger. The Wii U may not have the mainstream appeal of the original Wii, and developers are still struggling to make good use of the system’s second screen, but there’s no arguing that from a hardware perspective, the Wii U is an improvement over the original.

Well, except for one area: compared to the Wii, the Wii U’s Virtual Console doesn’t measure up. Specifically, the original Wii played Nintendo 64 games from launch. The Wii U, on the other hand, has been out for over two years, and still can’t play games from Nintendo’s third major console without booting into a special Wii Mode, which is both awkward and inconvenient.

That changes today. As announced on Nintendo’s latest Nintendo Direct broadcast, both Nintendo 64 and (surprisingly) Nintendo DS games are headed to the Wii U virtual console. Scratch that; they’re already here. Two classics from those systems’ early days, Yoshi’s Island DS and the seminal platformer Super Mario 64, are on sale right now for $9.99 each.

And that’s just the beginning. On April 9, Yoshi’s Touch & Go and Wario Ware: Touched hit the system. Future releases include Mario Kart DS, Donkey Kong 64, and the original Paper Mario – and that’s just in April. Additionally, anyone who’s bought these Nintendo 64 games for the original Wii Virtual Console and transferred them to their Wii U will be able to re-purchase them for $2.

The Wii U’s Nintendo 64 and Nintendo DS emulators both come with a variety of configuration options designed to make the games easier to control. The Nintendo DS in particular boasts a variety of different set-ups. In some DS games, the top screen will appear on the television, while the bottom screen appears on the Wii U gamepad. At other times, the Wii U gamepad will be held vertically, showing both DS screens at once. Nintendo promises that users will be able to switch between configuration options, choosing whatever is best for the game in question. Nintendo 64 games will also include RumblePak emulation.

The addition of Nintendo 64 games to the Wii U virtual console has been rumored for a long time; the DS games, on the other hand, come as more of a surprise. This announcement explains a lot, however, particularly regarding why Nintendo shut down an HD remake of Super Mario 64’s first level. With Super Mario 64 readily available again, the publisher likely doesn’t want the unauthorized port cutting into their profits.