VC Monday Madness video wrap-up 4/23/07 [update 2]
by David Hinkle 
{ Apr 23rd 2007 at 7:25PM }
Update 2: We've re-uploaded the video to GameTrailers and it is good to go. Sorry we got off to a rocky start, should be a smoother ride next week.
We figured we'd try something new in regards to our VC Monday Madness feature. So, we're now offering up our coverage in two distinct flavors: spicy and bold. You can either check out the video above, which has us giving you the skinny on how each game plays, or you could head past the post break for our usual coverage of pictures and words. Pssh, if you ask us, words are for chumps.
Choose your path, hero!
Battle Lode Runner (TurboGrafx 16, 1-5 players, 600 Wii Points)
Wii Fanboy says: download it!
With simplistic gameplay that demands you only destroy blocks, thus trapping your enemies, this game is easy to pick up and play. It features some battle mayhem, as well, pitting you against four other competitors (CPU-controlled or human players). There is also a pretty lengthy puzzle campaign, where you must collect pieces of gold while avoiding the enemies on-screen. Overall, it's worth the price of admission.
Gradius III (SNES, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points)
Wii Fanboy says: download it!
We love ourselves the Gradius series, as well as the side-scrolling shooters of old, so the release of Gradius III to the Virtual Console this week made our jobs that much easier. This game is absolutely worth the price of 800 Wii Points and we suggest you download it as soon as possible.
Wonder Boy in Monster World (Genesis, 1 player, 800 Wii Points)
Wii Fanboy says: do not download
Maybe this game has a special place in your heart, but we were never able to give it a try when it originally released on the Sega Genesis. Instead, we have only played it today for the first time and, during that play session, we found the gameplay to be both slow and painful. The game's story is absurd, as well. Overall, this game just didn't get it done for us and we found it wasn't worth the 800 Point admission price.
As always, if you have any tips or rumors regarding Nintendo's Virtual Console service, be sure to let us know and come back next week when we take a look at the latest titles available on the Nintendo Wii.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
JAH75157 @ Apr 23rd 2007 8:05PM
they need to hurry up and release lifeforce on the vc, that and bionic commando (my two favorite games from the nes)
Kevin Lehnert @ Apr 23rd 2007 8:52PM
Supreme idea on the video thing, especially if they are posted timely. Bummer about the GameTrailers issue though; I'll hve to check back. Seems to me YouTube buffers the best, but maybe GT is better for your purposee, dunno.
David Hinkle @ Apr 23rd 2007 8:56PM
Kevin,
GameTrailers is better because their cap is 200mb, where You Tube sets theirs at 100mb. The video came in at about 124mb this week, so we felt it better to just set it up at GameTrailers for the long term.
Thanks for reading!
Dave
Hoffer @ Apr 23rd 2007 9:56PM
Very Nice!!!
I had been looking for gameplay video on Youtube for games so I knew what they were. Now I'll be coming here every Monday to see what's going on.
Taylor @ Apr 23rd 2007 10:03PM
Cool, I like the video. I didn't play most of those old Nintendo games, so it's nice to see what they look like.
David Hinkle @ Apr 23rd 2007 10:10PM
Exactly what we thought when we decided to do this, Taylor. Thanks for letting us know it's appreciated.
Thanks for reading!
Dave
Nushio @ Apr 23rd 2007 10:28PM
Watched the whole video. Video quality suffers a bit, but its understandable.
Is there a way you could plug the Wii into a PC Video Card thats capable of capturing video from S-Video or other any other kind? Either way, its fine.
Here's something I'd like to hear from these reviews/wrap-ups:
Game Controls: Ever since I bought Contra III, I have to ask... Is it playable/enjoyable? Contra III is an awesome game, but the way they mapped the controls is horrible. Same with Super Mario World.
Multiplayer: Does it have it? Against others, or coop? Is it any fun?
Perhaps some sort of worth value, as in 1/5, or ABCDEF, or to be a bit more bold, Illuminated Wii remotes out of grayscale Wii remotes.
Just typing some suggestions I thought of, if its too much hassle never mind them :P
Nushio @ Apr 23rd 2007 10:30PM
I forgot to add: I appreciate the video. The mushroom game looked pretty fun, but a bit too easy. I have a feeling I could make a clone in a weekend :P
george manzanilla @ Apr 23rd 2007 10:40PM
how about 3-d worldrunner from the NES... and Super Monaco GP from Genesis.???
Mathieu Bonin @ Apr 23rd 2007 11:05PM
I have a bit of a different reaction toward Wonder Boy in Monster World,
I had never played the game until 2 years ago, and, well, at first it's pretty hard not to enjoy the looks of it. The controls are a bit odd, but the again it's pretty much the same controls as you got in Dragon's Curse (and with a reason). But the depth of the game is really where it shines.
Nostalgia played no part whatsoever in my enjoyment of the game, And in my opinion, this week is one of the hardest on the wallet, because all titles are very strong on their own - nostalgia or not.
hvnlysoldr @ Apr 23rd 2007 11:09PM
I suggest trying manual focus and manual f-stop/shutter speed. The brightness kept switching high and low when the screen went black. Overall nicely done.
David Hinkle @ Apr 23rd 2007 11:09PM
As usual, Nushio brings us the goods! Criticisms are well-received, thank you for helping us to make this feature better. To answer your question about s-video capturing: my laptop has a S-Video out port I use to display it on TV, but I have no way of capturing video from my TV digitally. Not only that, but I'd also have to record the voice track separately, which would eat up more time between me recording and posting (something we all want to slim down, I'm sure).
I'll look into doing something with my laptop though, as I agree the video is pretty crummy.
Thanks for reading (and helping)!
Dave
the real mii @ Apr 23rd 2007 11:36PM
like the video, keep doing these. if you can, work towards a direct feed with voice over.
ramuji @ Apr 24th 2007 3:38AM
"Not only that, but I'd also have to record the voice track separately ..."
Well, I was going to suggest that you reduce the narration significantly, or maybe even do away with it completely. In addition, since there is a lot of wasted time between actual demo footage, an edited version of the video would be greatly appreciated, if possible.
Basically, the ideal design for me would be a nicely edited, narration-free video packed with a few different sections of gameplay from each game. Add to that succinctly edited, to-the-point text reviews (like what you are already doing).
realstar @ Apr 24th 2007 3:52AM
I would strongly disagree with your MonsterWorld summary, to me it's easily the best release this week. The game has a very nice charm to it and some good gameplay as you get further through the quest. The music is very well compsed, particularly for a Sega Genesis title. It's almost something that might appeal to fans of SuperPaperMario or fans of stylish rpg/platform hybrids in general. Gradius 3 is good but suffers from a lot of slowdown and generally isn't perfect on the SNES by comparision.
Marius @ Apr 24th 2007 8:23AM
Usually I agree with your short vc-reviews/summaries, but your treatment of Monster World is an exception to this. I bought it on eBay a couple of years ago (after yet again having finished Dragon's Trap and desperately wanting more adventures with Wonder Boy) and I wasn't disappointed at all! As realstar points out, the music is really good, the levels are well-designed, the graphics are decent for a 16-bit game, and what's wrong with an absurd story? :) Fans of rpg/platform hybrid (good description, realstar), and most definately fans of Wonder Boy, at least Dragon's Trap, gonna love this game. Worth the download? Yeah!
eich @ Apr 24th 2007 8:26AM
I read most of my wii news here. The video review idea is awesome!!! Keep it up.
Mick @ Apr 24th 2007 11:28AM
I love the videos. I've only been buying games I knew were good.
Valien @ Apr 24th 2007 10:39AM
I like the video work as well. Just a quick suggestion - maybe have the camera more directly in front of the TV instead of slightly below? Looks great for a 1st time video preview too.
Keep up the good work guys.
zenprism @ Apr 24th 2007 2:33PM
I also take umbrage with your treatment of Wonder Boy in Monster World. Having never played the game until last night, I found that I liked it even better than Dragon's Curse, which I had a great time playing through for the first time a few week ago.
Not that you aren't entitled to your opinion, but some people may be turned off from buying this exceptional game based on your review, which seemed a bit abbreviated.
well that sucks @ Apr 24th 2007 3:45PM
I would really like this as a weekly video podcasts for my podcast feeds in iTunes. Is that possible?
Chris @ Apr 24th 2007 6:00PM
This seems very similar to something that I've been doing. Here's what I'm talking about -
http://www.gametrailers.com/umwatcher.php?id=54170
http://www.gametrailers.com/umwatcher.php?id=59127
Are you ripping me off? Oh well, your's are better anyway :-).
Pwortlandbwoy2 @ Apr 25th 2007 1:04PM
Excellent work on the video guys! I too agree that a direct feed video with voiceover would be ideal, but its great to see the game before you invest in it.
Anybody know why the hell Super Metriod isn't on this list yet? C'mon Nintendo!