It seemed hard to believe.

Once I played it, I realized Trinen was right. And enough people at Nintendo other than Trinen must have concluded that as well, because the "Jungle Beat" team's next gig wound up being the next "Super Mario" game, "Super Mario Galaxy."

"Jungle Beat" has remained a hidden gem of a Nintendo-made game, but is now set to be the first of seven "Play on Wii" GameCube re-makes being produced for the Wii. The re-made "Jungle Beat" will be released in Japan on December 11, with a re-made "Pikmin" following on December 25.

A short video Nintendo has released for the game suggests that the Wii release is essentially a port of the GameCube game -- but with new controls. Check it out in motion near the bottom of this Nintendo page.

Nintendo of America has not yet announced details about these re-makes or even if they're coming to the U.S. I can recall that, back in March 2006, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata told me in an interview that he was proud that the Wii's backwards compatibility with the GameCube would allow overlooked GCN titles to get a second shot with consumers. With this new program, his company has made its best effort yet to make his wish a reality.

Just don't ask me how players can clap their hands while their holding a Wii remote and nunchuk.