VC Tuesday: Taito Shrine

Before Natsume got hold of the series and made the beloved Pocky & Rocky, Kiki KaiKai was a fairly unassuming arcade/PC Engine shooter from Taito. The graphics aren't as vivid, Manuke the tanuki (Rocky the raccoon) isn't playable, and the levels are more sparse, but it's still a top-down game about a shrine maiden shooting ghosts. And it's on the Japanese Virtual Console as of today.

Chack 'n Pop is a pre-Bubble Bobble game that looks, but doesn't play, like Bubble Bobble. Instead, as a chick ... thing ... you climb walls and ceilings and blow stuff up with grenades.

Rounding out the week's Japanese releases is Big Tournament Golf, a Neo Geo golf game by Metal Slug developers (and IREM expatriates) Nazca.

• Chack 'n Pop (Famicom, 1-2 players, 500 Wii Points)

• Kiki KaiKai (PC Engine, 1 player, 600 Wii Points)

• Big Tournament Golf (Neo Turf Masters) (Neo Geo, 2 players, 900 Wii Points)