VCTuesday
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VC Tuesday: The Master System arrives
Sure, Hokuto no Ken (aka Fist of the North Star, aka Black Belt on American Master Systems) isn't exactly a red-carpet debut for Sega's 8-bit system (that would be Phantasy Star or maybe one of the Alex Kidd games), but there are certainly worse ways for the Sega Master System to make its first appearance the Virtual Console lineup. Hokuto no Ken is joined in Sega solidarity by a Mega Drive shooter called Gleylancer, made by Cho Aniki creators and frequent VC supporters Masaya.Much like Hokuto no Ken is the big Sega news today, overshadowing Gleylancer, the PC Engine CD version of Military Madness, Neo Nectaris, is going to drown out any attention the Power Eleven soccer game was going to get. Which, to be fair, wasn't much. But even though one of them is a soccer game, it's worth noting that four games came out this week in Japan, without any contributions from stingy old Nintendo. Hokuto no Ken (Master System, 1-2 players, 600 Wii Points) Gleylancer (Mega Drive, 1-2 players, 600 Wii Points) Neo Nectaris (PC Engine CD-ROM, 1 player, 800 Wii Points) Power Eleven (PC Engine, 1-2 players, 600 Wii Points)
VC Tuesday: The Case of the Custom Wrestling
We love it when a bunch of previously Japan-only games come out on the VC, because that improves the chances, however slightly, of a release outside of Japan, like Sin & Punishment got. It's even a decent number of games! Well done. Three of the four games this week fall into that import-only category; unfortunately, they're also pretty text-heavy and would require serious localization. Tantei Jinguuji Saburo is the first in a series that is finally coming to the U.S. as Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles. Aksys may be tempted to localize the Famicom game to promote the DS game, but with the amount of text required, it's not likely.Atlas is a simulation game like Colonization or Civilization, about Portuguese sailors in the 1500s. So, again, text. The sepia-only graphical style is neat, though. Custom Robo you may be familiar with from the Gamecube or DS. This N64 version has four-player robot fighting -- not bad for 10 bucks!The only U.S.-released game in the bunch is Wrestleball, which we absolutely would have bought had it been released under that name instead of the non-awesome Powerball. Tantei Jinguuji Saburo: Shinjuku Chuuo Kouen Satsujin Jiken (Detective Saburo Jinguuji: Shinjuku Central Park Murder Case (Famicom, 1-2 players, 500 Wii Points) Custom Robo V2 (Nintendo 64, 1-4 players, 1000 Wii Points) Wrestleball (Mega Drive, 1-2 players, 600 Wii Points) Atlas (PC Engine CD-ROM, 1 player, 800 Wii Points)
VC Tuesday: Slow Release Week: The Puzzle
Wow, two whole games? Nintendo certainly knows how to spoil their Japanese audience. It's not as if these are the worst games ever, but we would certainly love to see some more games as usual. We'll try not to dwell on it too much, and instead focus on this week's releases. Both of them.Both newly-available games are currently available in the U.S., though they might not be instantly recognizable. Super Contra is pretty obviously Super C, the NES Contra sequel and all-around 500-point-worthy run-and-gun. Cosmo Gang: The Puzzle is actually Pac-Attack. It turns out that before it was a Pac-puzzler, the game was a video puzzle spinoff of a popular redemption game. Speaking of Cosmo Gang: it's Irrelevant Anecdote Time! When I worked at a Namco arcade during college, I got a couple of sheets of Pac-Man temporary tattoos. In addition to Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, some ghosts, etc., there was this one pinkish, antennae-bearing character that I didn't know. It was a Cosmo Gang character! I learned something today. Super Contra (Famicom, 1-2 players, 500 Wii Points) Cosmo Gang: The Puzzle (Super Famicom, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points)
VC Tuesday: Skeleton Crew
After last week, we thought Nintendo might be returning to form with Virtual Console releases, at least in Japan. We didn't get our hopes up, which is good, because we would be disappointed right now otherwise. Nintendo is continuing to do their best to make people forget about the Virtual Console, with another week light on releases. Not that many games for Japan means even fewer games making it out West. We don't even really care that the games aren't Goldeneye or Earthbound or whatever. We'd all be able to find something right for us if only Nintendo would give us a selection. At least nobody's going to have to clean out their refrigerators this week.To be fair, Dungeon Explorer II does look really great, and we wouldn't mind the opportunity to play it ourselves. And Wrecking Crew is pretty good, even if it is ancient. We're sure we'll hear about it if we are, but we don't think we're being unreasonable by saying that regardless of the quality, Nintendo should be able to offer more every week. The games are already made. Wrecking Crew (Famicom, 1-2 players, 500 Wii Points) Dungeon Explorer II (PC Engine CD-ROM, 1-5 players, 800 Wii Points)
VC Tuesday: Japan wins at having VC games
Sometimes, we can't help but compare the Japanese Virtual Console releases to the American ones. In some cases, they're about equal in quantity (which, lately, means low). Not this week. In the U.S. we got one game. Japan? Four. And one of them is Phantasy Star II. We desperately wish that we could say this marks a return to 2007-level release density, but we really can't predict that. Next Monday and Tuesday could roll around and drop one game on us again. Let's just try to be optimistic!Anyway, Phantasy Star II is really awesome. It's a beautiful futuristic RPG that is totally worth eight bucks (if you don't have a PS2). It makes us sad that Sega isn't really doing much in the way of RPGs these days. We certainly wouldn't mind seeing Super R-Type, either. Mappy (Famicom, 1-2 players, 500 Wii Points) Super R-Type (Super Famicom, 1 player, 800 Wii Points) Phantasy Star II (Mega Drive, 1 player, 700 Wii Points) CD Denjin: Rockabilly no Tengoku (Air Zonk: Rockabilly Paradise) (PC Engine CD-ROM,
VC Tuesday: It's a Small World
Despite both of this week's North American VC releases being quality games in their own right, we found the selection disappointing. We only got two games, one of which is only a minor upgrade over an existing release. Why did Nintendo skimp on the releases? And why have they been skimping for the last three or four weeks?The situation is actually not that much better in Japan. This week only one new game is available: Devil World, the weirdo Famicom maze game designed by Miyamoto. With the game's dancing Devil making an appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, it's not terribly surprising that the original Famicom game is showing up on the VC. Is it going to join imports like Super Mario Bros. 2 and Sin and Punishment on Western consoles? It's got a lot of religious imagery -- more than Devil's Crush, which was censored -- so we're going to say no and hope we're proven wrong. Devil World (Famicom, 1-2 players, 500 Wii Points)
VC Tuesday: Adventure Mountain
This week brings another rare (not Rare) Nintendo 64 release, and a seasonally appropriate one at that. 1080 Snowboarding is making its appearance on the Virtual Console for the first time. When it hits the American download service, we look forward to playing it and pretending it's cold outside. Until then, we can just look at screenshots and pretend we're playing it and pretending it's cold outside.The other two releases are distant cousins. Adventure Island is a remake of Westone's original Wonder Boy game with a different protagonist (which, of course, spun off into its own series), and Monster World IV is part of a Wonder Boy spinoff series. It's ... a lot more confusing when they release two of them at a time like this. We're all familiar with Adventure Island, at least. Takahashi Meijin no Bouken Jima (Hudson's Adventure Island) (Famicom, 1 player, 500 Wii Points) 1080 Snowboarding (Nintendo 64, 1-2 players, 1000 Wii Points) Monster World IV (Mega Drive, 1 player, 600 Wii Points)
VC Tuesday: Hot Fighting History
After a week off, Japan's Virtual Console is slow to pick back up. Really slow. Only two games made it to the download service this time, both martial-arts related, and both not very good. Konami's Yie Ar Kung-Fu at least deserves a bit of respect for being one of the first fighting games. Of course, that means it suffers the fate of all pre-SF2 fighters and isn't much fun. But at least it's better than Urban Champion. Yie Ar Kung-Fu is also notable for its deceptively banal title. Yie and Ar are Mandarin for one and two, which means that the game's title is actually the adorable One-Two Kung-Fu.The other game is Samurai Ghost. It's not really any better in Japanese. Yie Ar Kung Fu (Famicom, 1 player, 500 Wii Points) Genpei Toumaden Kannoni (PC Engine, 1 player, 600 Wii Points)
VC Tuesday: ...
Looks like Nintendo of Japan's game-uploading team is taking the holiday off (or took the holiday off, because technically it's early Wednesday morning over there), leaving the Virtual Console sadly neglected. We feel a bit awkward without having any obscure PC Engine CD-ROM games to pretend we know something about, or Japan-only favorites to cry over. So here's an Ultraman song-and-dance number to the tune of "Scatman." Happy new year! Nothing (No system, nobody, free)
VC Tuesday: HP Christmas
It's a wonderful Christmas for people in Japan who have the day off work. In fact, it's a pretty great Christmas on the VC for people who have the month off work. Japan gets a VC lineup this week that is wall-to-wall RPGs, including one of the rare VC appearances from Square Enix, foisting off another of the few games they don't feel like remaking for the DS, PSP, PS2, or cell phones.Also appearing this week is Langrisser II, the second in Masaya's strategy-RPG series to appear on the VC, and Nihon Falcom's Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes, part of a big old series that never saw much action outside of Japan. The weather outside is frightful, but the level grinding is so delightful! Treasure Hunter G (Super Famicom, 1 player, 800 Wii Points) Langrisser II (Mega Drive, 1 player, 600 Wii Points) Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes (PC Engine Super CD-ROM, 1 player, 800 Wii Points)
VC Tuesday: Second best week ever
As you've probably surmised from the hypnotic image already changing your life, more Cho Aniki is now available on the Japanese Virtual Console. Ai Cho Aniki is when the series really took off, when original, non-awesome protagonists Idaten and Benten took off and allowed the muscular Adon and Samson to take center stage. Significantly less mantastic are this week's other games: Metal Slader Glory, a text adventure from HAL, Party Quiz Mega Q, which is ... you know, a quiz game, and another Street Fighter II game. Guess which of those three we'll get first? Hint: it's the one you've already had two chances to buy on the VC. Metal Slader Glory (Famicom, 1 player, 600 Wii Points) Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers (Super Famicom, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points) Party Quiz Mega Q (Mega Drive, 1-5 players, 600 Wii Points) Ai Cho Aniki (PC Engine Super CD-ROM, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points)
VC Tuesday: Big threes
One of the most celebrated Virtual Console games of the year finally makes it to Japan this week. It's already made its way to the VC in other territories, while Japanese gamers waited patiently for the chance to download it themselves. Now the long wait is over and they can finally get their hands on Pony Canyon's Lunar Pool.As for new releases that we don't already have, we're looking forward to IREM's Image Fight II. Sure, it's another Turbografx-16 shooter, but we liked the first one so much, and we've never played the sequel. And Columns III is more Columns, but with heavier emphasis on multiplayer. And adorable chickens. Super Mario Bros. 3 (Famicom, 1 player, 500 Wii Points) LunarBall (Famicom, 1-2 players, 500 Wii Points) Columns III Taiketsu! Columns World (Mega Drive, 1-5 players, 600 Wii Points) Image Fight II (PC Engine, 1 player, 800 Wii Points)
VC Tuesday: Things of Thunder
Two games this week involve things being thundery, at least in terms of title. Of course, neither Gate of Thunder nor Rolling Thunder 2 has much to do with actual thunder -- Rolling Thunder 2 is about dudes shooting guns at each other, and Gate of Thunder is about spaceships shooting space guns at each other. Pokémon Snap we've already discussed. It's really easy, but surprisingly fun for a Nintendo 64 game Pokémon spinoff game, and with added functionality that will let you bug the hell out of your Wii friends with annoying spam.What should have been the biggest news on the list -- a Kunio game -- is instead not. When Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari came out, we feared we were mistaken and that it was actually Downtown Nekketsu Koushinkyoku Daiundokai, a street-Olympics game that predated the game known as Crash 'n the Boys Street Challenge. Well, this week, it actually is Downtown Nekketsu Koushinkyoku Daiundokai. So, uh, yeah. Downtown Nekketsu Koushinkyoku Daiundokai (Famicom, 1-4 players, 500 Wii Points) Pokemon Snap (Nintendo 64, 1 player, 1000 Wii Points) Rolling Thunder 2 (Mega Drive, 1-2 players, 600 Wii Points) Gate of Thunder (PC Engine Super CD-ROM, 1 player, 800 Wii Points)
VC Tuesday: Poor King's Knight
We have a soft spot in our hearts for King's Knight. Not enough of a soft spot, we don't think, to pay 500 points for the thing, but it's still just such a weird product. It looks pretty much like Ultima in screenshots, but it's totally a vertical scrolling shooter. And the Square nostalgia crowd just has no interest in shooters -- unless they're Einhänder. Square couldn't even get the title right in the game's own title screen. Something as maligned as this, you just have to love a little. By the way, this brings the number of Square Enix games on the VC worldwide to three. And only one of those is really any good.King's Knight faces tough competition this week in the weirdness category. Panel de Pon is pretty normal, although we suppose that being remade as Yoshi, Tetris, and Pokemon games is kind of weird. Still, it's just a great puzzle game. But Legend of the River King is a fishing RPG, and Langrisser is a strategy game from Masaya. And, as a Masaya game, it features cameos from Adon and Samson from Cho Aniki. In fact, they appear as hidden bosses, and, once defeated, grant you the ultra-powerful "Aniki" summon. Cho Aniki is basically the weirdness-in-games trump card. King's Knight (Famicom, 1 player, 500 Wii Points) Panel de Pon (Super Famicom, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points) Langrisser (Mega Drive, 1-2 players, 700 Wii Points) Kawa no Nushi Tsuri (Legend of the River King) (PC Engine, 1 player, 800 Wii Points)
VC Tuesday: Featuring Nuts and Milk, and other games with less funny names
It's another week of high quantity on Japan's Virtual Console -- but that doesn't necessarily mean that, when employing their shovel, Nintendo didn't pick up some good stuff. In fact, overall, this is a very solid Virtual Console week, featuring five games new to the VC in any region. We're pretty likely to at least get Ghosts 'n' Goblins soon in the U.S., and Eternal Champions's Japanese release makes an upcoming release pretty likely. We're hoping for Nuts & Milk ourselves, just because the name makes us laugh every time we see it. Not because of any prurient reason -- we just think it looks like a shopping list. Ghosts 'n' Goblins (Famicom, 1-2 players, 500 Wii Points) Nuts & Milk (Famicom, 1-2 players, 500 Wii Points) Eternal Champions (Mega Drive, 1-2 players, 600 Wii Points) A-Train III (PC Engine, 1 player, 800 Wii Points) Top Hunter (Neo Geo, 1-2 players, 900 Wii Points)
VC Tuesday: Balloon Fight wasn't already out?
The biggest surprise for us this week is right there in the title. Balloon Fight is one of the canonical first-generation NES games. It's already out in the U.S. and Europe, and it was even remade for the DS in Japan in a Club Nintendo-exclusive Tingle version. So why has it taken so long to show up on the Virtual Console in Japan? In the time that Japanese Wii owners have been waiting for Balloon Fight, they've gotten two versions of Wonder Boy in Monster World. Similarly, today brings the second version of Gradius II. Speaking of repeat performances, we'd like to point out how awesomely Treasure is represented on the VC. Light Crusader is the fourth Treasure game to appear on the VC so far, and we appreciate every one. Even Light Crusader. Balloon Fight (Famicom, 1-2 players, 500 Wii Points) Light Crusader (Mega Drive, 1 player, 600 Wii Points) Dragon Spirit (PC Engine, 1 player, 600 Wii Points) Gradius II GOFER no Yabou (PC Engine, 1 player, 800 Wii Points) Baseball Stars 2 (Neo Geo, 1-2 players, 900 Wii Points)
VC Tuesday: The King of Mystical Heroes, Jr.
For the second week in a row, American gamers have gotten the red carpet in comparison to Japanese Wii owners. The Virtual Console uploads for this week are tame compared to the wish-fulfilling awesomeness of Super Mario Bros. 3 and the VISUALSHOCK! SPEEDSHOCK! SOUNDSHOCK! of Alien Soldier.The Japanese releases are by no means bad, and, in fact, there are some games that will genuinely interest people, like the first King of Fighters and the first console Goemon game, which would lead to the beloved Legend of the Mystical Ninja. Then there's ... the "Sega Club" educational Ecco sequel, and the Wonderboy game with yet another character swap. Poor Wonderboy. Why couldn't he ever star in two console versions of the same game? Dynastic Hero is actually another version of Wonderboy in Monster World, which ... is already on the VC. Interesting choice for one of the first CD-based PC Engine games on the VC. And by "interesting" we mean "a terrible waste." Ganbare Goemon (Famicom, 1-2 players, 500 Wii Points) Ecco Jr. (Mega Drive, 1 player, 600 Wii Points) Cho Eiyuu Densetsu Dynastic Hero (PC Engine CD-ROM, 1 player, 800 Wii Points) The King of Fighters '94 (Neo Geo, 1-2 players, 900 Wii Points)
VC Tuesday: Relax
Well, we needed some time to settle down after last week's megaton. Being heartbroken about awesome games being released in other regions is hard work, you know! We're sure you all felt a bit of the agony as River City Ransom saw a release in not-here.The highest-profile release for Japan this week is an N64 game we already have and don't care much about anyway; backing that up is a humorous NES RTS from Square Enix, which we'll probably never see, and a very early Genesis shooter/platformer that was the first in the series that produced Cybernator. Some good stuff, to be sure, but we're glad to have the time off from freaking out. Hanjuku Hero (Famicom, 1 player, 600 Wii Points) Yoshi's Story (Nintendo 64, 1 player, 1000 Wii Points) Assault Suits Leynos (Target Earth) (Mega Drive, 1 player, 600 Wii Points)
VC Tuesday: Best week ever
Nintendo of Japan just completely outclassed the meager offerings we got on the VC yesterday, even if we did get an import game. It was not a fair fight. Most significantly, our favorite NES game the best NES game is available for download in Japan today. As we read the title, we tried to temper our excitement, afraid that we'd make an assumption out of the Downtown Nekketsu part and miss that it was actually Downtown Nekketsu Koshinkyoku: Soreyuke Daiundokai (otherwise known as the predecessor to Crash 'n the Boys Street Challenge, otherwise known as not a big deal). But we saw that the word Monogatari was in fact there, and we desperately searched for someone to high-five. It's River City Ransom! On the Virtual Console! It's only a matter of time until we're throwing garbage cans at Generic Dudes in the U.S.Just as we were starting to catch our breath and regain feeling in our extremities, we read down the list and found Cho Aniki! Dare we even dream of such a wealth of awesome on our on VC? Probably not, but we're kind of happy just being reminded that it exists. Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari (River City Ransom) (Famicom, 1-2 players, 600 Wii Points) Donkey Kong Country 2 (Super Famicom, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points) Dyna Brothers 2 Special (Mega Drive, 1-2 players, 700 Wii Points) Cho Aniki (PC Engine CD-ROM, 1 player, 800 Wii Points) Raguy/Blue's Journey (Neo Geo, 1-2 players, 900 Wii Points)
VC Tuesday: Sonic Samurai Assault Club
SNK is wasting no time getting all its big fighting franchises onto the VC. Even though their VC offerings are already dominated by fighters, we imagine that most Neo fans will be pleased to see the arrival of Samurai Spirits, also known as Samurai Shodown, as it heralds the release of the game in our region.Other releases include one-time Turbo CD pack-in Ys I&II, a collection of two lovely action RPGs from Nihon Falcom; Assault Suits Valken, which you may recognize as Cybernator; and Famicom Tantei (Detective) Club, a graphical text adventure from Nintendo.Also there's Sonic 3D Blast, whose title is 2/3 accurate. Famicom Tantei Club (Famicom Disk System, 1 player, 600 Wii Points) Assault Suits Valken (Super Famicom, 1 player, 800 Wii Points) Sonic 3D Blast (Mega Drive, 1 player, 600 Wii Points) Ys I&II (PC Engine CD-ROM, 1 player, 800 Wii Points) Samurai Spirits (Neo Geo, 1-2 players, 900 Wii Points)
