Filed under: Virtual Console

VC Tuesday: Bubble Bobble Wii rises to the top

by JC Fletcher { 4 months ago }

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 Friday: Sonic Clayos

by JC Fletcher { 4 months ago }

There's a decent surprise for Europe today on the Virtual Console: the Mega Drive version of Clay Fighter, whose title is a 100% accurate description of the game. It's a fighting game whose characters are made of clay! It accurately parodies the attitude and "edginess" of Mortal Kombat with goofy Claymation characters, and happens to be entirely playable on top of that.

The other Mega Drive release is the Master System Sonic Chaos. While it wasn't exactly lauded upon release in the US this week, it's even less noteworthy in Europe: while we never got the Master System version of the game (only the Game Gear one), Europe did, so it's totally not special.

Clay Fighter -- Mega Drive -- 800 Wii Points
Sonic Chaos -- Master System -- 500 Wii Points

Footage of both games is available after the break.

Continue reading “VC Friday: Sonic Clayos”

VC Tuesday: Super Pole 'n Ghosts

by JC Fletcher { 5 months ago }

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

by JC Fletcher { 5 months ago }

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.

Continue reading “February's VC releases in Japan: Tactics Ogre and more”

VC Friday: A new day for Samegame

by JC Fletcher { 5 months ago }

This week on the PAL Wii Shop, it's WiiWare's time to ... uh ... "shine", with two new family-friendly multiplayer experiences -- one of which may be fun! Arc System Works' Family Glide Hockey is pretty much a non-starter, but Hudson's Pop Them, Drop Them SameGame might be of interest, should you be able to surmount the mental hurdle of oh come on another puzzle game. The core gameplay is, shall we say, proven (read: old), and the "Fame Game", "Shame Game", and "Blame Game" multiplayer modes are certainly named cutely enough to attract our attention.

Family Glide Hockey -- WiiWare -- 500 Wii Points
Pop Them Drop Them SAMEGAME -- WiiWare -- 500 Wii Points

Glide past the post break for videos of both games.

Gallery: Pop 'Em Drop 'Em Samegame

Continue reading “VC Friday: A new day for Samegame”

Mercs on Virtual Console in North America soon, Twinbee, Bomberman '94 in Australia

by JC Fletcher { 5 months ago }

Capcom announced today via their official blog that Mercs, the Sega Genesis sequel to Commando, will be available "soon" on the Virtual Console in North America. It's changing the title to Wolf of the Battlefield: Mercs, which both matches the Japanese title for the game and makes the connection more explicit between this game and Capcom's XBLA/PSN release, Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3. The name change, as implied by Capcom's Seth Killian, has less to do with branding and more to do with the Mercenaries series: "Let this be a lesson kids, register your IPs!"

In other Virtual Console news, the OFLC ratings board has revealed that Konami's Twinbee and Hudson's Bomberman '94 could show up on the VC soon. Twinbee for the Famicom never left Japan, though we got a sequel, Stinger.

VC Tuesday: Japan's Theater

by JC Fletcher { 5 months ago }

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 Console
Source -- WiiWare

Retail and download releases for the week of January 26th

by David Hinkle { 5 months ago }

This week, Wii owners get some new, quality titles to play. On the retail side, we've got three new games on offer. On the downloadable side, it's slim pickings again with only one WiiWare game and one Virtual Console game up for grabs. Plan on treating yourself this week? Let us know what interests you in the comments!

Gallery: Rygar: The Battle of Argus

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VC Friday: Tee up and club some Monsters

by Chris Greenhough { 5 months ago }

Yours truly has hazy memories of spending an entire summer holiday glued to Mario Golf, unlocking Metal Mario, and jumping on the bed after fluking a hole-in-one (shamefully, I was nineteen at the time). And now, it's the fifteenth N64 game to appear on the PAL Virtual Console. Hell yeah! It might suffer heavily from the N64 fuzz, but for our money it's still the best in its respective series. It's accompanied this week by Wonder Boy in Monster Land.

Mario Golf -- Nintendo 64 -- 1,000 Wii Points
Wonder Boy in Monster Land -- Master System -- 500 Wii Points

Videos of each follow the blue text.

Gallery: Mario Golf (Nintendo 64)

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VC Tuesday: Japan celebrates Super Smash Bros. Day

by JC Fletcher { 5 months ago }

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)

Retail and download releases for the week of January 19th

by David Hinkle { 5 months ago }

Another week, another slew of new gaming content for the Wii. This week, we've got two new WiiWare titles that we've all been waiting for, as well as one new Virtual Console game and a handful of retail releases. Hop past the break for this week's full list. Planning on getting anything? Let us know in the comments!

Gallery: High Voltage Hot Rod Show

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Wii Warm Up: Dracula's Choice

by JC Fletcher { 5 months ago }

We got release dates for various Sega games (and a Japanese release date for Muramasa), WiiWare announcements, news of available Rock Band DLC, and more this week, and yet, for us, the best news all week was about something old: the release of Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse. And now that all three NES Castlevanias (not counting stuff like Konami Wai Wai World or Boku Dracula-kun) are out and you guys bought them all (you bought them all, right?), we can ask you to pick a favorite. Yeah, we're asking you the same thing in the contest post, but that's of all time, and we'd like to exclude the Metroidvanias from consideration.

Is it the straightforward, brutally punishing action of Castlevania? The light platforming and completely obtuse puzzle-solving of Simon's Quest? The varying locations and playable characters of Dracula's Curse? Or do you just like whipping Medusa heads in general?

VC Tuesday: Fantasy Zone mark 2: Zoids of Opa Opa

by JC Fletcher { 5 months ago }

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)

Retail and download releases for the week of January 12th

by David Hinkle { 5 months ago }

This week, we've got fresh content for the Wii, on WiiWare, through the Virtual Console, and even with a couple of new retail releases. There's plenty to choose from, so stop wasting time here and jump past the break to check out the full list of gaming content available to Wii owners this week.

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Super Punch-Out!! and rare Ogre Battle rated by ESRB

by Chris Greenhough { 5 months ago }

That copy of Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen you stashed under the mattress to partly fund your early retirement just got a whole lot less valuable. The ESRB has rated the rare Enix RPG for a Virtual Console release, along with another, more widely known SNES gem: Super Punch-Out!!. Is Nintendo planning to release the classic pugilist title alongside its modern Wii equivalent, as it did in the case of Super Metroid and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption? Perhaps!

Those aren't the only surprises in the latest ESRB ratings: Lonpos, a launch title for the Japanese WiiWare service no less, has also been classified. As it's been a while, here's a reminder of what it looks like:

Gallery: Lonpos