Though it was awesome that the Wii U had the ability to emulate titles from the Wii, it’s safe to say it was a bit cumbersome and downright awkward switching to the separate “Wii Mode”– especially since navigation in said mode required a Wii-mote.

If you managed to ignore some of the inconveniences of playing old titles on the new system or were too annoyed to try it, this announcement from today’s Nintendo Direct will hopefully make you happy. Several Wii titles will be made available for download via the Wii U eShop. That means you’ll be able to load some of your cherished titles from last generation directly from the Wii U menu!

Among the titles that will become available in North America are Super Mario Galaxy 2, Punch-Out!! and the Metroid Prime Trilogy which will be made available January 14th, January 22nd and January 29th respectively. All three titles will normally be available for $19.99, but will be discounted to $9.99 during the first week of released.

Instead of Punch-Out!!–which will arrive later on–Europe will be receiving Donkey Kong Country Returns on January 22nd. Other titles slated for release include Kirby’s Return to Dream Land, Pandora’s Tower, Successor of the Skies and Sin & Punishment. While these games were not revealed for North America, we think they’re likely to make their way over the pond as well.

Nintendo also confirmed that the Wii U GamePad would be compatible with the the games. As for the glorious Wii U Pro Controller, we don’t know yet. It would definitely be nice to be able to play the games–especially the Metroid series–with Nintendo’s “hardcore” controller.

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Are you looking forward to downloading any of these titles this month? Let us know in the comments below.