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SNES Classic Edition review: Worth it for the games alone
The success of last year's NES Classic Edition clearly took Nintendo by surprise. The company was completely incapable of meeting demand, leaving many people unable to buy what became the must-have gift of the holiday season. Now Nintendo has given its SNES the Classic Edition treatment and promises it's going to build way more than it did last year. Having grown up with the SNES (OK, we had a Sega Genesis and my best friend had SNES), it's easy to assume that everyone knows what it is and why people are so excited that it's back. After dominating the 8-bit era with the NES, Nintendo came late to the party with its sequel. The SNES launched in '90 in Japan, '91 in the US and '92 in the UK. The Genesis had a two-year head start in almost every country, but Nintendo's second-generation home console was worth the wait. The SNES arrived with Super Mario World and F-Zero, among other titles. The former is regarded as one of the greatest games of all time while the latter had faux-3D graphics with fluidity and speed unseen on a console before. For the next five years or so, some special games graced the system: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Donkey Kong Country, Super Mario Kart, Metroid, Final Fantasy III, Chrono Trigger, Super Mario RPG, Star Fox. I could go on, but essentially, short of Sonic and a few other Sega exclusives, Nintendo destroyed the competition in terms of quality, with dozens of games that have stood the test of time. That puts the SNES Classic in different territory than its predecessor, which, nostalgia aside, featured many games that, for obvious reasons, aren't up to modern standards. While I utterly adore Metroid, trying to introduce someone to the original today is tough. But nearly all the games Nintendo has included in its latest console are as enjoyable today as they were when they were first released.
Playdate: Breaking the sound barrier in 'Fast Racing NEO'
Nintendo's seemingly forgotten about the futuristic, hyper-fast racing series F-Zero when it comes to a Wii U release, but developer Shinen hasn't. We first caught a glimpse of Fast Racing Neo at PAX this year and came away incredibly excited, so of course we're streaming it today. But that's not all: We're also going to spend some time with the troubled The Devil's Third from Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive mastermind Tomonobu Itagaki. Join myself and Sean Buckley as we broadcast two hours of Wii U games starting at 6 PM Eastern / 3 PM Pacific.
Dojo update: Lyn emerges
Another Assist Trophy was revealed over at the dojo today in Lyn, a character from the GBA game Fire Emblem. Wielding a weapon of similar stature to another Assist Trophy, her attacks are more deliberate and less on the reckless side like Samurai Goroh. Aside from that, the site suggests that once you summon her, you grab your enemy and hold on to them, allowing her attack to hit them point blank for massive damage. %Gallery-6869% %Gallery-3347%
VC Monday Madness: F Zero X and Street Fighter
Fans of the Virtual Console are finally getting F Zero X, a game we know many of you have voiced your want of throughout many posts here on Wii Fanboy. Of course, it will cost you, but for such a fan favorite, we're sure you're eager to pay. The other games available are: F-Zero X (N64, 1-4 players, 1000 Wii Points) Street Fighter II Turbo Edition: Hyper Fighting (SNES, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points) China Warrior (TurboGrafx-16, 1 player, 600 Wii Points) Be sure to stop back here later for our VC Monday Madness video wrap-up.
F-Zero X, Street Fighter II Turbo rush onto Virtual Console
Today's Virtual Console releases, scheduled to go live at 9AM PST, are all about pushing the pedal to the metal in our quest to satisfy the need for speed and finally outrun the terrible writing clichés and racing game references pursuing us. Europe's 100th Virtual Console game, F-Zero X, has you hurtling about futuristic tracks at absurd speeds, Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting has you hurting Chun Li even quicker than before and China Warrior has... uh... released much faster than we expected! Yeah, let's go with that. F-Zero X (N64, 1-4 players, 1000 Wii Points): The N64's hover-car racer pushed the series forward in the best way that was possible at the time -- it added a prominent "X" to the title. It wasn't until later that we learned that adding a "GX" was the ultimate masterstroke. Street Fighter II Turbo Edition: Hyper Fighting (SNES, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points): With mention of both the words "Turbo" and "Hyper" in the title, it becomes clear that this game is indeed a bit faster than The World Warriors. Enjoy it before those fancy HD characters start punching your eyeballs. China Warrior (TurboGrafx-16, 1 player, 600 Wii Points): A side-scrolling action game depicting either gaming's most fragile hero ever, or just some tough guy in China.
VC Friday: Hey, look, an N64 game!
This week, Europe gets its own milestone 100th game on the Virtual Console in the form of an N64 racer. And it also gets a Turbografx-16 game that most people apparently hate. Not us, though. If we lived in Europe, we'd be downloading right now. Just sayin'.This week's offerings: F-Zero X - N64 - 1000 Wii points J.J. & Jeff- TG16- 600 Wii points Let us know if you go for either of these fine games! We kind of like to talk about games occasionally.
F-Zero X is Euro Virtual Console's 100th game
The N64's ludicrously kinetic racer, F-Zero X (or F0X, if you want to be trite) today marks the 100th release on Nintendo's European Virtual Console service. Pro-G reports that the game arrives on the PAL Wii at a cost of 1000 Wii Points and is joined by side-scrolling TurboGrafx platformer, J.J. & Jeff, for 600 Wii Points.America's Virtual Console received its 100th title last week in the form of Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, highlighting Nintendo's steady release of retro titles since the Wii launched in November 2006. The quantity of titles is certainly not an issue, but the lack of enhancements and the occasional, questionable release makes passing judgment on quality and pricing more difficult, especially when we so easily get ourselves wrapped in the warm blanket of nostalgia. We expect things to get interesting once the Wii Shop joins Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network in providing original games.
Rumor alert: Pretty much everything you could think of
Hey, rumors are fun! We see two possibilities regarding this list of Wii games that "will be coming out" according to WiiYou.com. First: they scooped the entire world and got an exclusive look at a list of unannounced Wii games that nobody has heard anything at all about. Second, they didn't. We're looking at the list, and it seems to be about half educated guessing and half dreaming. Call us cynics, but we're going to wait for verification before we go put our money down on F-Zero or Metroid Xterme.Of course Sega Nerds latched on to the listing for Shadow the Hedgehog 2, but, in our minds, that's not the biggest news item on the list. We'd be more interested in hearing about the two Zelda games. Check after the post break for the full list.
