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VC/WiiWare Tuesday: Contra and more
Today's Virtual Console and WiiWare offerings in Japan are shockingly good. So good that if a release week like this happened outside of Japan even once every six months or so, nobody would complain about Nintendo's downloads. Even if we ignore the three WiiWare games that are already out in North America, it's wall-to-wall quality. Well, we're kind of assuming that Contra Rebirth is quality. Even if it's terrible, we know we're in for a $10 download of an original Contra game when it shows up here. We know that the WiiWare Art Style games are fantastic, because we've been playing them since last year. On Virtual Console, the PC Engine CD-ROM version of SimEarth and the arcade release of the brutal Tower of Druaga pale before Downtown Special, a Japan-only sequel to River City Ransom starring Kunio and friends as samurai. Virtual Console: Downtown Special: Kunio-kun no Jidaigeki Dayo Zenin Shuugo (Famicom, 1-2 players, 500 Wii Points) SimEarth (PC Engine, 1 player, 800 Wii Points) The Tower of Druaga (Arcade, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points) WiiWare: Art Style: CUBELEO (1 player, 600 Wii Points) Art Style: DIALHEX (1-2 players, 600 Wii Points) Art Style: ORBITAL (1 player, 600 Wii Points) Contra Rebirth (1-2 players, 1,000 Wii Points)
VC/WiiWare Tuesday: Phantasy World of Goo
Today would be an incredible day on the Japanese Wii Shop even if World of Goo weren't debuting. In addition to one of the best games on Wii, the Virtual Console is updated with four high-quality titles. In fact, Phantasy Star alone would ensure that today was a winner. It's hard to imagine a better deal than Phantasy Star for just 600 Wii Points. Other VC games available in Japan today include Castlevania 3 (awesome), the PC Engine version of the NES Ninja Gaiden (quite the curiosity!) and an arcade rail shooter from Namco Bandai. The other WiiWare game, and basically the only unknown property, is Hajitte! Block Rush, which looks like a radial Breakout in which the paddle is in the middle of the screen. We'd try that!Virtual Console: Akumajou Densetsu (Castlevania 3) (Famicom, 1 player, 500 Wii Points) Phantasy Star (Master System, 1 player, 600 Wii Points) Ninja Ryukenden (Ninja Gaiden) (PC Engine, 1 player, 600 Wii Points) Starblade (Arcade, 1 player, 800 Wii Points) WiiWare: Hajitte! Block Rush (1 player, 500 Wii Points) World of Goo (1-4 players, 1,500 Wii Points)
VC/WiiWare Tuesday: Out of Galaxy, into the Wii Shop
This week's Japanese Virtual Console releases aren't going to thrill anybody: another Langrisser strategy game that we're unlikely to see, and Mappy, which you can and should play on your North American or European system. But the WiiWare releases this week should prove pretty exciting -- to Japan. Except for Onitore, which is Drill Sergeant Mindstrong.Out of Galaxy: Koshika is a new manga from Leiji Matsumoto, creator of Galaxy Express 999 and Space Battleship Yamato (as well as, yes, that Daft Punk thing). It's the first manga title to premiere on Wii, and it's a big deal! Also exciting: the return of Tecmo's classic Tsuppari Oozumo sumo wrestling series. The new 3D models are nowhere near as cute as the Famicom sprites, but we're still happy to see the game's return. Is WiiWare low-risk enough for a localized sumo game? Virtual Console: Der Langrisser (Super Famicom, 1 player, 800 Wii Points) Mappy (Arcade, 800 Wii Points) WiiWare: Out of Galaxy: Koshika (1 player, 500 Wii Points) Onitore (1-4 players, 800 Wii Points) Tsuppari Oozumo Wii Heya (1-4 players, 1,000 Wii Points)
VC/WiiWare Tuesday: Majora's Mask arrives in another region
On one extreme, this week Japan's Virtual Console offers one of the most technologically advanced games the service can support, on one of the first systems the Virtual Console emulated: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask on N64. On the other extreme, it offers a game that happens to be ancient for the brand new Virtual Console Arcade service. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (Nintendo 64, 1 player, 1,200 Wii Points) Space Invaders (Virtual Console Arcade, 1 player, 500 Wii Points) As if Majora's Mask weren't enough, WiiWare is loaded with stuff, not all of which is Evasive Space! In fact, two welcome retro revivals make their debuts, hopefully hastening their arrival outside of Japan. Evasive Space (1-4 players, 1,000 Wii Points) Adventure Island: The Beginning (1-2 players, 1,000 Wii Points) Puzzle Bobble Wii (1-2 players, 800 Wii Points) Minna de Puzzle Taisen Shanghai Wii (1-4 players, 800 Wii Points)
VC/WiiWare Tuesday: New first-party WiiWare and other things worth exclaiming
It's a very exciting day for game downloads in Japan! Not just because one of the Famicom's most infamously difficult games, Beat Takeshi's Takeshi no Chousenjou, is out, though that is exciting! Three new WiiWare games are available today, every one of which bears at least one exclamation point! In fact, Nippon Ichi's Let's Zenryoku Hitchhike features no fewer than nine! Tecmo's Atsui 12 Games Furifuri Party is the Playshake prototype from TGS, made more adorable, but still based on furious shaking! Most exciting, however, is Asoberu Ehon Tobida-Suguroku! (Playable Picture Book: Suguroku Flies Out), a multiplayer board game from Nintendo itself, based on the same Monopoly-like board game as Family Pirate Party! There's a long trailer up on Wii.com that demonstrates the gameplay!Virtual Console: Takeshi no Chousenjou (Famicom, 1 player, 500 Wii Points) Samurai Ghost (Arcade, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points) WiiWare: Atsui 12 Games Furifuri Party! (Tecmo, 1 player, 500 Wii Points) Let's Zenryoku Hitchhike!!!!!!!!! (NIS, 1-4 players, 1,000 Wii Points) Asoberu Ehon Tobida-Suguroku! (Nintendo, 1-4 players, 1,000 Wii Points) [Image via 4Gamer]
Majora's Mask, Phantasy Star on Japanese Virtual Console in April
Wow! This has been a really great week to be a Nintendo fan. It's been a really great week to be a Virtual Console fan in particular -- when was the last time we could say something like that? The week has just gotten a lot better with the release of the list of upcoming Virtual Console releases for Japan.Why? Two reasons. First: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. Like Ocarina of Time, it costs a painful 1,200 Wii Points -- and like Ocarina of Time, it will probably drop to the usual 1,000 in North America. Second, and possibly even more exciting: Phantasy Star! The Sega Master System RPG masterpiece is also coming to the Virtual Console. Maybe it's not a big deal to those of you with Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection, but personally, it's awesome news.We fully expect to see both of these games in North America soon. Neither SMS games nor N64 games seem to take long to make it overseas. Also of interest: Hudson's PC Engine port of the NES Ninja Gaiden. And the arcade version of Space Invaders, which marks the third time the "original" Space Invaders has been released on VC. The full list is after the break.
VC/WiiWare Tuesday: Revenge of Clu Clu Land
It may seem like unimaginable luxury to us, but for Japan, a week with just two new games on the Virtual Console and one on WiiWare is light. The last time the releases were this sparse was three weeks ago, with an update that, coincidentally, also included a Sega franchise game (a franchise that also included a Shinobi game) and a WiiWare minigolf title. Spoooooky. We are quite jealous of The Revenge of Shinobi, which Japan gets this week as The Super Shinobi, and which we may never get.Virtual Console: Clu Clu Land (Famicom, 1-2 players, 500 Wii Points) The Super Shinobi (Mega Drive, 1 player, 600 Wii Points) WiiWare: Okiraku Putter Golf (1-8 players, 500 Wii Points)
VC/WiiWare Tuesday: Rainbow Islands!
Wow! Just a few weeks after the release of Bubble Bobble Wii, Taito just sneaked out a WiiWare version of its sequel, Rainbow Islands! As with Bubble Bobble, we knew that it was coming at some point, but we had yet to see any screens or gameplay information. Now it's out, and it appears to feature timed ascents up huge, vertical stages. Also out this week: a WiiWare version of The Game of Life. Rainbow Islands: Towering Adventure (1-2 players, 800 Wii Points) Madsecta (Onslaught) (1-4 players, 1,000 Wii Points) Jinsei Game (1-4 players, 1,000 Wii Points) In other Taito news, today marks the release of the second version of Space Invaders: The Original Game on the Japanese Virtual Console. This time, the PC Engine version of the ancient shooter is being released -- at exactly the same cost as the Super Famicom/SNES version, making the decision between the two basically a matter of platform preference. Unless silly anime-girl backgrounds make a big difference, in which case it's PC Engine all the way. Dragon Slayer: Legend of Heroes II (Mega Drive, 1 player, 700 Wii Points) Space Invaders: The Original Game (PC Engine, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points) %Gallery-46292%[Screens via Inside-Games]
VC Tuesday: Mr. Driller World's world debut
Arc System Works finally brings the classic Double Dragon to Japan's Virtual Console today. In the US, we've been lucky to have the opportunity to be killed by those two Abobos who come out of the cave since April! However, our "victory" in the Double Dragon availability department is eclipsed by the availability of Wallaby!!, a kangaroo-race betting game that will most certainly remain in Japan. Double Dragon (Famicom, 1-2 players, 500 Wii Points) Wallaby!! Usagi no Kuni no Kangaroo Race (PC Engine, 1 player, 600 Wii Points) Once again, WiiWare is the real attraction in Japan, with downloadable Mr. Driller and the second installment of Square Enix's Crystal Defenders series. Mr. Driller World (1 player, 800 Wii Points) Crystal Defenders R2 (1 player, 1,000 Wii Points)
VC Tuesday: Super Darius finds Fun! in The Lost Stars
To NES-only kids, Sega's Alex Kidd games must have seemed like a really weird choice for Sega's flagship series: some rambling platformers with a not-so-appealing main character, completely different settings each time, and rock-scissors-paper for some reason. To people who grew up with Master Systems at home, however, they were ... still really weird. The Lost Stars is the most Mario-like of the bunch, with simple running and jumping in place of Miracle World's block-breaking and janken, but it is really, really freaky. Like "nude, mohawked enemies who shake their butts at you, somehow resulting in skull projectiles" freaky.Super Darius 2 lacks rump shaking, but manages to be a good shooter regardless. Both games are out in Japan on the Virtual Console today. Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars (Master System, 1 player, 500 Wii Points) Super Darius 2 (PC Engine Super CD-ROM, 1 player, 800 Wii Points) The single WiiWare release is Shin'en's Fun! Fun! Minigolf, whose title actually increases the fun content of the game. Fun! Fun! Minigolf (1-4 players, 1,000 Wii Points)
VC Tuesday: Bubble Bobble Wii rises to the top
There's a lovely selection of retro gaming available on the Japanese Virtual Console today, including Ogre Battle and one of Falcom's myriad Dragon Slayer games, but the real retro hotness is found on WiiWare. Lucky Japanese Wii owners will get to play Bubble Bobble Wii, and we certainly hope it isn't terrible. The last Bubble Bobble on Nintendo hardware wasn't so great, but that was back when Taito was licensing its properties out to whomever. We also hope Okiraku Slot Car Racing isn't terrible, if only because a game about slot car racing sounds kind of hilarious. After Family Glide Hockey, we're not holding out too much hope. Tactics Ogre (Super Famicom, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points) Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes (Mega Drive, 1 player, 700 Wii Points) Winning Shot (PC Engine, 1-4 players, 600 Wii Points) WiiWare: Okiraku Slot Car Racing (1-2 players, 500 Wii Points) Let's Play with Kappa: Kappa and the Three Kittens (1 player, 600 Wii Points) Board Warriors (1-4 players, 1,000 Wii Points) Bubble Bobble Wii (1-4 players, 800 Wii Points)
VC Tuesday: Super Pole 'n Ghosts
Though we aren't monitoring an actual Japanese Wii to be sure, we're quite confident that the SuperGrafx version of Ghouls 'n Ghosts, originally slated for October, will actually be available today on the Virtual Console in Japan. Hudson is totally not making much of a big deal about it, labeling it as a plain PC Engine game and selling it for 600 Points -- not the 800 that CD-ROM titles command! But we think it's really cool to see a representative from such a rare and obscure system on the Virtual Console.It's joined by some shmups: L-Dis, a cute-em-up from Cho Aniki developer NCS, Formation Z, a Famicom shooter from the late Jaleco, and Galaxy Force II, which might as well not exist without the super-fun arcade machine. Formation Z (Famicom, , 500 Wii Points) Galaxy Force II (Mega Drive, 1 player , 600 Wii Points) L-Dis (PC Engine, 1 player, 800 Wii Points) Dai Makaimura (SuperGrafx, 1 player, 600 Wii Points) The one WiiWare game this week is the fantastic-looking retro-parody game from Sega, Pole's Big Adventure. Pole's Big Adventure (1 player, 500 Wii Points)
February's VC releases in Japan: Tactics Ogre and more
Nintendo has released the list of Virtual Console games planned for release in Japan next month, including eleven games overall. The biggest news is probably Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together, which was released in North America on the PlayStation, but will be released on the VC in its original Super Famicom form. If the PlayStation release were to come out on VC, that would definitely be news. In any case, don't look for it outside Japan any time soon: as Siliconera points out, Atlus's English translation was only used for the PlayStation version, and Square Enix isn't going to license that work and recode the game to put it in. It's rather miraculous that they've deigned to dump one of their ROMs on the service as it is.Other items of interest include the Alex Kidd sequel The Lost Stars, which contains one of the most ridiculous digitized screams in history, and the return of the SuperGrafx Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts! Will it actually come out this time? And we must mention Wallaby!! which is a game about rabbits betting on kangaroo races.
VC Tuesday: Japan's Theater
On the Japanese Virtual Console this week: two games we'll never see outside of Japan! Aw. Neither Konami's NES side-scrolling action game Getsu Fuuma Den nor Falcom's sidescroller/action RPG Legend of Xanadu II were seen in the West, and they're a bit too low-profile to warrant a release as an import. Of course, we thought that about Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa, as well, and look how that turned out (hint: it turned out with Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa on the VC in the West). Getsu Fuuma Den (Famicom, 1 player, 500 Wii Points) Kaze no Densetsu Xanadu II (PC Engine, 1 player, 800 Wii Points) WiiWare this week holds significantly more promise for those of us speculating for future US/PAL releases. The video streaming service Minna no Theater Wii is launching with an already-impressive lineup of anime (including free episodes!), live-action sentai shows, and variety shows. Fujisoft has already expressed interest in releasing this service in the US. We can safely assume Crystal Defenders R1 from Square Enix will appear worldwide (and on every platform). And we are absolutely certain that Aksys will release every single Family series game Arc System Works puts out, even if it's based on a Japanese dice game nobody's ever heard of.The only game in the group unlikely to see the world is Popple and the Magical Crayon, a children's adventure game. Oh, well. Okiraku Sugoroku Wii (1-4 players, 500 Wii Points) Crystal Defenders R1 (1 player, 1,000 Wii Points) Popple and the Magical Crayon (1 player, 800 Wii Points) Minna no Theater Wii (0 players, 500 Wii Points) Source -- Virtual ConsoleSource -- WiiWare
VC Tuesday: Japan celebrates Super Smash Bros. Day
The day is finally here! Well, not here here. But there are people in the world playing vintage Super Smash Bros. on their Wiis right now, and we declare that to be boss. They're paying 1,200 Wii Points for the privilege, but Japanese Wii owners have probably forgotten how much Nintendo 64 games are supposed to cost on the Virtual Console anyway.Poor Champion Wrestler is doomed. This just isn't the week for another 4-player competitive fighting game starring at least one vintage game character (Rastan Saga's title character, in the Ultimate Warrior-esque guise of "Miracle Rastan"). Nintendo All-Star! Dairantou Smash Bros. (Nintendo 64, 1-4 players, 1,200 Wii Points) Champion Wrestler (PC Engine, 1-4 players, 600 Wii Points) There's no competition between the VC and WiiWare this week. Here's Japan's WiiWare lineup: Nothing (Just Play Smash Bros., Seriously)
VC Tuesday: Fantasy Zone mark 2: Zoids of Opa Opa
We really can't say that this week's Japanese VC lineup is awesome in comparison to North America's, though it does outnumber our single release. Too bad for the Zoids game that we got Castlevania III! Zoids aside, even if the releases aren't Grant Danasty-level cool, they're pretty cool, featuring two side-scrolling shmups in addition to the Zoids strategy game. Fantasy Zone II is the console-only sequel to the original cute-em-up, Fantasy Zone, featuring more of the series' sort of spacey garden take on Defender. If you'd like to try it, Sega produced a System 16-esque remake for the PS2 Fantasy Zone Complete Collection, and distributed a free PC demo!Spriggan mark 2 is a rare side-scrolling shooter from Compile, who made Aleste and MUSHA and Blazing Lazers and lots of other wonderful shooters. Zoids Mokushiroku (Famicom, 1-2 players, 500 Wii Points) Fantasy Zone II: Tears of Opa Opa (Master System, 1 player, 500 Wii Points) Spriggan mark 2 (PC Engine, 1 player, 800 Wii Points) Two fairly unexciting WiiWare releases join the three VC games. Hudson's SameGame Wii is a new version of the ancient, and frequently cloned, puzzle game, which nerds of a certain vintage will recognize as Sega Swirl. Sugusuro Wii is a detailed simulation of two slot machines, with performance graphs. Woo. Samegame Wii (1-4 players, 500 Wii Points) Sugusuro Duo New Pulsar R & V (1 player, 1,000 Wii Points)
VC Tuesday: Reopening the case
Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles on the DS didn't really set the American gaming community on fire, in terms of sales or critical response. The American debut of Workjam's detective series was marred by text errors and omitted content that caused the game to lose points with reviewers, and it just flew too far under the radar for even the Phoenix Wright audience to hear much about it. All of that is just a roundabout way of saying this: the third Tantei Jinguuji Saburo game, with a scenario by Final Fantasy VII/VIII/X and Super Smash Bros. Brawl scenario writer Kazushige Nojima is out in Japan today, and we shouldn't expect Aksys to pay to translate it for the few people who would drop $5. Prospects are significantly better for Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair -- so much better, in fact, that it's already out in the US and Europe, albeit on a different console. Rastan Saga 2, an awkward-looking Taito action-platformer about a big barbarian dude, is pretty much a lock as well, because Hudson is nice. As for WiiWare, judging by Nintendo of Japan's WiiWare page at the time of writing ... nothin'. Tantei Jinguuji Saburo: Kiken na Futari Zengo-hen (Famicom Disk System, 1 player, 500 Wii Points) Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair (Mega Drive, 1-2 players, 600 Wii Points) Rastan Saga 2 (PC Engine, 1 player, 600 Wii Points)
Super Smash Bros. leads January VC lineup in Japan
Nintendo of Japan has announced their plans for the next month's Virtual Console games, and, for once, the list includes a Nintendo 64 title. Super Smash Bros. is headed to the Japanese VC in January. Pokémon Snap came out in the US within a week of the Japanese release last year, so maybe this year's big winter N64 game will follow suit. Nintendo has lovingly appended an extra 200 points to the normal cost of a Nintendo 64 game for this release.Super Smash Bros. is likely to be the only thing anyone reading this will care about, given the combined Brawl obsession of the Wii audience and the first-party-franchise domination of VC sales, but we've got the whole (rather small) lineup for January after the break just because.
VC Tuesday: Salamander's Firey Ambition
What a delightful variety of games on the Japanese Virtual Console this Christmas week! Compare that to the American selection, which is delightful but not at all varied. Japan has four new old games, from four different systems, in four different gameplay styles, including a shmup, a strategy game, a platformer, and a wrestling game -- and great examples of all four genres! Salamander (Famicom, 1-2 players, 500 Wii Points) Super Nobunaga no Yabou (Super Famicom, 1-8 players, 800 Wii Points) Super Wonder Boy: Monster World (Sega Master System, 1 player, 500 Wii Points) Fire Pro Wrestling 3 Legend Bout (PC Engine, 1-4 players, 600 Wii Points) WiiWare is also a treat this week, but one the rest of the world has already been served: LostWinds, published in Japan by Square Enix.
VC Tuesday: Let's Catch Earthworms
This week is (slightly) special for the Japanese Virtual Console, because a previously import-only game is making its debut on the service, even if it isn't entirely new to Japan. The Genesis version of Earthworm Jim never made it overseas, so the VC release is the first for this particular version of Earthworm Jim. There isn't even a 100 point surcharge for the import!The other VC download is Jigoku Meguri, a Taito platformer about a monk in hell. The name "Jigoku Meguri" (Tour of Hell) also apparently refers to a real-life tour of a bunch of hot springs! Neat. Earthworm Jim (Mega Drive, 1 player, 600 Wii Points) Jigoku Meguri (PC Engine, 1 player, 600 Wii Points) Along with those two games, three rather interesting WiiWare titles are available. Prope's Let's Catch is officially the first release from Yuji Naka's new Sega-funded studio, and probably the first game Yuji Naka has done any real work on in quite some time. Sorcery Blade is the first WiiWare RPG. And 1 Meke! Dasshutsu Game My Home-hen (something like One Extraction! Escape Game * My Home Edition) basically came out of nowhere. It appears to be a cutesy, comedic "room escape" game, like a colorful version of The Crimson Room. Let's Catch (1-4 players, 1,000 Wii Points) Sorcery Blade (1-2 players, 1,000 Wii Points) 1 Meke! Dasshutsu Game My Home-hen (1 player, 500 Wii Points)
