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VC Friday: Clu Clu Lair
This week on the PAL Wii Shop, two Virtual Console games have been added to the selection. One of the new releases is a somewhat underappreciated Nintendo game, and the other is a previously underappreciated game that is now way overexposed, thanks to the Virtual Console.If you've never played the NES's Clu Clu Land before, be prepared for confusing controls that will eventually give way to a pretty fun vintage-style maze game. If you've never played the Genesis's Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair before, don't -- download the Turbografx-16 CD version instead for the same price!Grab the post break and swivel around it to see footage of both games.
VC Tuesday: Too Wonderful
Of all the gamers and non-gamers that the Wii is designed for, we think we've identified the audience that would be happiest with the system: people who love Wonder Boy. Specifically, people who love Wonder Boy and don't already have the games, either in their original form or the Monster World Complete Collection. If you're over-the-top crazy over Wonder Boy, the Wii is easily the best system that has ever existed. Monster Lair is just the latest Wonder Boy game to arrive in Japan.Also up for download: Kirby 64, which everyone decided they didn't like anymore when it came out in the U.S., and Digital Champ Battle Boxing, the game about a brave pair of free-floating boxing gloves facing off against familiar-looking boxers. Kirby 64 (N64, 1 player, 1000 Wii Points) Digital Champ: Battle Boxing (PC Engine, 1 player, 600 Wii Points) Monster Lair (PC Engine, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points)
April VC releases for Japan: Dracula X leads an awesome month
It's finally happening. When Hudson announced Turbografx-16 support on the Virtual Console, we thought "Oh, great, maybe we'll be able to get Dracula X!" Then when they revealed that CD-ROM titles would start coming out, we got really excited about being one step closer to Dracula X. Next month in Japan, Akumajou Dracula X: Chi no Rondo will be released on the Virtual Console for 800 points. As if Hudson hadn't already won at being awesome today.Other than the amazing Dracula X, there's actually a lot of really great stuff coming out in April. It has actually renewed our faith in the Virtual Console, which is why we're starting to think we're being fooled by a tragic April Fool's Day joke on Nintendo's part. Metal Slug and The Legend of Valkyrie are standouts, as is the incredibly vintage RPG Bokosuka Wars, if only because it reminds us of this shirt. Famicom: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Sky Kid Volguard II Bokosuka Wars Super Famicom: Famicom Detective Club Part II Heracles no Eikou IV Master System: Wonder Boy Mega Drive: Musha Aleste Phantasy Star III Phelios N64: Kirby 64 PC Engine: Riot Zone Legend of Valkyrie Dracula X: Rondo of Blood Digital Champion: Battle Boxer Monster Lair Neo Geo: Metal Slug
VC Friday: Give the gift of Wonder Boy this Christmas
We've already discussed how much of a holy mess the Wonder Boy series is, and today European and Australian folk will be able to sample a small part of the jumbled franchise, with the release of Monster Lair, as it appeared on the Turbografx-16 (a Sega Mega Drive version appeared a year later, though only in Europe).Whereas Monster Lair is perhaps the highlight of this last VC update before Christmas, this blogger will admit to having fond recollections of the fighting sequences in NES ice hockey title Blades of Steel, while those of you with an "Extreme!!!" bent may wish to throw 500 Wii points in the direction of Skate or Die! Skate or Die! -- NES -- 500 Wii points Blades of Steel -- NES -- 500 Wii points Monster Lair -- Turbografx -- 800 Wii points
The VC Advantage: The Wonder Mess
The internet has made it easy to find cheats for games, but we miss the tips pages from game magazines, when the discovery of a new code could inspire you to go back to an old game. These codes aren't exactly new, but oldness is the essence of the Virtual Console! We're bringing back the classic codes every week on The VC Advantage.There are a lot of games in the Wonder Boy series, but it's not always apparent which games are. For example, there are five Wonder Boy games on the American Virtual Console, a number beaten only by the Mario series and matched by Donkey Kong (according to our quick count). Of those five games, only one has the words "Wonder" and "Boy" in the title. The rest are just similar-looking (or not-so similar) side-scrolling action games, some of which have some light RPG elements. Two of the games on the Virtual Console are the same game. To put it succinctly, it's a big mess -- and one that, thankfully, has been explained for us already. We're just going to provide some codes for those of you who have dared to get into the series.
