During the Famicom/NES era, both titles were only released in Japan and had limited exposure outside of the country. Prior to 2021, they were mostly known as obscure Nintendo series, with mentions in games like Kirby and Super Smash Bros. by creator Masahiro Sakurai. Sakurai had considered including Ayumi Tachibana, the second main character in the series, in Super Smash Bros. Melee but ultimately decided against it. However, she did receive a trophy in Melee and a spirit appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Following their original Famicom release, The Girl Who Stands Behind was remade for the Super Famicom and also had a Satellaview game called BS Tantei Club: Yuki ni Kieta Kako. The Satellaview system was a Super Famicom peripheral that allowed players to access games via broadcast. I had only been familiar with the names “Ayumi Tachibana” and “Famicom Detective Club” until the February 2021 Nintendo Direct.
During the Nintendo Direct, remakes of the Famicom Detective Club games for the Switch were announced and later released worldwide on the EShop in May of that year. The transition from the pixelated art style of the Famicom to smooth 2D animated scenes in the remake was a significant update that brought the games into the modern age. Initially, I overlooked them due to no physical copy and being an EShop exclusive, but with Emio on the horizon, I finally had a reason to play them.
