Author: Sean

Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars

Yet another great 3D action platformer on the Wii – it’s so nice to see these finding a home on this system. The only real negative is the use of Remote wave for primary attack: it’s completely unnecessary (how about combining the block/roll moves on C, use Z for jump and attack with A guys? It’s been done before!), but the motion detection is good and you’re doing more exploring than fighting so it’s not a big deal. The spore powers add a lot of depth in giving the player different ways to approach combat and puzzle solving with great use of the pointer and motion controls for flinging things about via “sporekinesis.”

The visuals are incredible as are the character designs and the soundtrack and audio effects are wonderful complements to the look of the game. It’s a good thing there’s a strong focus on exploration as there’s a lot to see in the huge levels filled with nooks and crannies to check for items that unlock concept artwork, “scav” you use to build your weaponry and meteorite chunks for powering up your little ‘shroom man.

The game doesn’t overstay its welcome at under 7 hours (depending on how much exploring you do) and there’s no settable difficulty level, but the manageable length and fun factor should encourage repeat plays on their own. There’s also bonuses in the form of the aforementioned art gallery, a music station for listening to the soundtrack (where’s the CD guys?) and some mini-games.

It’s a great package which can be had for a bargain price, so check it out!

The Three Musketeers: One for All! (WiiWare)

Legendo should be proud of the technical achievement in managing to cram a PC port into the WiiWare format size limit without compromising it overmuch. There are some load times due to decompression, but the artwork and voice samples are terrific.

The game plays well enough generally with some decent platforming action, but the motion control implementation clearly could have used a little work. Using a remote swipe for your sword isn’t an automatically bad decision, though the amount of motion required for your swipe to register does cause wrist/shoulder strain during sequences requiring you to fight multiple consecutive enemies.

The most irritating part of the game actually had nothing to do with motion, but bouncing on the top of barrels to reach high places. You’re told to hold the A button to bounce high, but there are multiple degrees of “high” most of which aren’t enough. You get so used to failure that when you do bounce high enough you’ll forget to move the stick and be forced to continue the senseless bouncing in a vain hope of attaining the right altitude again.

Most of the game was pretty decent for a platformer, but the rooftop sequence – which I presume is towards the end – used up the last of my good will. The typical platforming “repeat death syndrome” combined with the broken barrel bouncing forced me to purge the game from my SD card or risk certain damage to my remote and TV. The potential is clearly there, so hopefully the next Legendo release will be more to my taste. Strictly for hardcore platforming game fans who have patience in abundance.

Front Line (Virtual Console Famicom)

This arcade game featured some unconventional controls with a rotary click dial that could turn your soldier’s arm in a complete circle, allowing him to shoot and move in different directions simultaneously. The Famicom controls are much more conventional with the d-pad controlling both movement and aiming, but the gameplay is the same and is easier to control. The home conversion looks very much the same as the arcade, with the main differences being more muted sound effects, abbreviated death animations and no snipers in the trees. Also worth noting is that the big tanks die after one hit regardless of whether you’re shooting them with the small tank gun or the big one. Still it’s a decent quality port fans of the arcade game should be able to enjoy. Hopefully someday Taito will give us the real thing with a VCA release.

Pooyan (Virtual Console Famicom)

This home conversion is courtesy of Hudson Soft, so you won’t find it under the Konami listings in the Japanese Wii Shop despite it being a Konami arcade game. The conversion is terrific and fans of the arcade game will be pleased to find the graphics are extremely close to the arcade, the music is intact and best of all the interstitials with the little pigs chasing the wolves from stage to stage is present as well. Definitely worth checking out if you have a Japanese Wii and like the classics.

Bit.Trip CORE (WiiWare)

2nd in the Bit.Trip series, this one is possibly harder than Bit.Trip BEAT – which is saying something! Still, the sounds are excellent and the simple 8-bit Atari 2600-style visuals are impeccable. As with BEAT the Wii Remote is also held on its side, though no motion is used. Instead you need to press the d-pad in the direction the dots are coming from and then press the 2 button at the right time to eliminate them. It gets frantic at times and demands excellent reflexes. 3 levels with high-quality audio tracks are on offer as with the first game. Not for the faint-hearted or easily frustrated!

Bomberman ’94 (Virtual Console PC Engine)

This is regarded as one of the better Bomberman games from the 8/16-bit era and it’s not hard to see why. It maintains the concept of multiple worlds subdivided into stages, but rather than simply eliminating all enemies on the screen you need to retrieve pieces of a shattered emblem. There are naturally enemies to dispatch on the way and help is available in the form of a kangaroo you can ride which is able to kick bombs and increase your movement speed. The kangaroo also features in the multiplayer game which is like normal multiplayer Bomberman. The difficulty curve in the single-player game is more forgiving than Bomberman ’93 and different enough that they’re both worth having so give it a go!

Heracles Chariot Racing started out life as a PS2 game released in Europe by developer Neko and it shows in terms of medium poly-count 3D graphics and overall appearance. Of course on the WiiWare service this is actually quite impressive; even moreso when you consider the number of racers and tracks on offer and the low price of 800 Nintendo Points.

This actually feels like a full retail release in terms of content: there are 10 tracks (though 5 of these are repeats with some different sections) with 9 different racers (though this is mostly cosmetic) and 2-4 splitscreen multiplayer. You can race tournaments, individual tracks or time trials as single player and tournaments, individual tracks or Battle Mode in multiplayer.

The visuals are quite nice with colourful tracks and backgrounds containing static 3D elements like looming gods and animated obstacles to avoid such as giant rats in the Augean Stables and the 3-headed dog Cerberus spewing out great fireballs in the Realm of Hades. Chariot drivers are well-animated and turn to face the camera before the green light is given for the race starts; miss a turn and go off the track and they’ll look back again as if to ask what your problem was!

Sound consists of a dramatic fanfare whilst the camera does a quick run around the track before the race starts and some quiet in-game music that’s nondescript but pleasant. The characters driving the chariots make the odd exclamation after being hit with weapons fired from opposing racers or flying off the track after missing a turn. Chariots themselves make a rather pleasing sound of wood wheels rolling across various surfaces in place of the usual engine noise you’d associate with a kart racing game.

The chariots have colourful characters driving them like the titular Heracles; all of them introduce themselves with a little “hello” as you point at each in turn. There are differences between chariots in handling and acceleration, but you’re not likely to notice until rounding bends at high speed. There are bonus items which will give you a boost of speed or harry your opponents that vary according to the character such as homing projectiles like nasty beetles or Zeus Himself. None of them are very special, but they do add some spice to the race without feeling cheap like the infamous Blue Shells of Mario Kart.

Your primary offering as a solo player is the Championship tournaments. There are three tournaments creatively labeled Bronze, Silver and Gold. Achieving a top 3 placing in Bronze unlocks Silver and doing the same in Silver unlocks Gold, which is simply the Bronze and Silver tracks raced back-to-back. It’s unnecessary padding and really could have been left out; especially as there’s nothing further to be gained by getting a top placing in the Gold tournament other than signing your name up. The Bronze and Silver tracks have the same names, but parts of the tracks are changed about which keeps them fresh. The tracks are impressively large by any standards and well-designed except for the use of nearly 180-degree turns in the last two tracks of the Bronze and Silver tournaments.

The final Mount Olympus track is the worst with a series of hairpin turns linked by brief straightaways. The problem is not just the fact that the bends are at the top of hills or that the AI drivers rarely have difficulties with them, but more that the colour schemes are badly chosen. The track is often made up of light rainbow colours against a light sky background with gold railings; it’s often hard to tell you’re hitting the bend until you’ve come to a stop against a wall or flown off into space. Add the fact that the reverse control takes a few seconds to engage and you’re lucky to place anything other than dead last.

Wii Remote and Nunchuk are the only supported controls which seems an odd choice given this game was originally on a system using a controller similar to the Classic Controller. The omission of any alternative control schemes will make getting a 4-player game going (no online play is supported) more challenging, but the controls are well implemented. A on the Remote is the accelerator, B activates bonus items, Z is brake/reverse and C jumps (alternatively move the Remote upward) — though jumping is something I didn’t see much use for during the game. The Nunchuk control stick steers and, in a great implementation of motion control, tilting the Nunchuk allows for a “drift” manoeuvre that’s intuitive and makes racing the non-Olympian tracks a lot of fun.

There’s no camera control, but you can change view by pressing down on the D-Pad to see behind your chariot and up for another alternate view, but if you can press up on the D-Pad whilst accelerating I’ll shake your hand! As with the lack of controller options the lack of configuration options is strange in its omission, though the game works well enough with the default button layout.

If you want a change from going up against other racers you can also go for high scores in the Time Trials which features the full selection of unlocked tracks. It’s missing a 1st place ghost racer to spur you on towards a better result, but if you want to simply see how fast you can run through a given track it does the job. There is selectable difficulty, though opponents offer a decent challenge at the Normal difficulty setting. It’s a bit annoying that the high score tables simply present initials and times regardless of difficulty chosen; taking away from score attacking a bit.

The main multiplayer addition is Battle mode where up to four players can fight it out in one of five themed arenas based up on the tracks. Bonus items are scattered about with which to dispatch your friends/foes. Each match is a last-man-standing affair where each player is knocked out after taking three hits and the last one remaining wins. A nice extra if you want a change from racing.

Neko has done a great job in bringing a retail PS2 title to WiiWare and the game stands out as a result. There’s nothing really competing with it on the service presently, though that will change when Super Mario Kart eventually gets released to the Virtual Console outside of Japan. Noted issues aside, it’s a fun racing experience on the Wii at a great price and definitely worth a punt.

The Munchables

Excellent arcade-style game that’s sort of like a free-form Pac-Man. You control one of two “munchables” which are cute aliens from the planet of Star Ving (get it?) that eat all the time. When their planet is invaded by aliens that look like fruit and veg the only thing for it is to EAT THEM! Two player co-op is implemented a la Super Mario Galaxy (player 2 controls a reticule and zaps baddies) as you move through different islands on Star Ving ridding the world of veggie critters; growing as you eat more and more of them. The giant bosses are hilarious and look great. Replay incentive is present in the form of unlockable accessories for dressing your munchables. It’s charming, goofy and fun and has quality written all over it. Namco has really served up something special at a budget price, so please check this out – oh and cheers to Atari for publishing it in Europe!

Cosmo Gang: The Video (Virtual Console Arcade)

This is the second Cosmo Gang arcade game to grace the Japanese VC. Unlike the first – which was basically a Columns clone, this one is a cutesy version of Galaga – basically Namco’s version of Parodius. It’s got all the gameplay appeal of Galaga with cutesy graphics – hard to go wrong there. If you have the means, I do recommend getting this one.

Pengo (Virtual Console Mega Drive)

A Bomberman-style version of the classic Sega arcade game. You can play with one or two players as you try to get your source of power back from some naughty creatures. Pengo can create ice blocks as well as push them to smash enemies as in the original arcade. There are several worlds made of a few stages each and ending in boss fights. It’s not a pushover, but there are 4-digit passwords so you can continue your game later. There’s also a decent port of the arcade original, though the graphics suffer in comparison and the music isn’t present, so if that’s your only reason for buying better wait to see if the arcade game comes to VCA on its own in the future. Great title for the Japanese VC; hopefully it will be coming to other territories eventually.

Phelios (Virtual Console Arcade)

A little-known shooter that has already had a port released for the Mega Drive in Japan. It’s graphically impressive and has simple controls: fly your pegasus through environments that rotate and scale to create a 3D feel as you change elevation. Press one button to fire; hold to charge the shot so you can take out multiple enemies. Sub-bosses and bosses appear with regularity. It’s not going to set the world on fire, but it’s a fun vertical scroller and has the normal level of button customisation and widescreen-friendly display we’ve come to expect from Namco’s VCA releases.

Toki Tori (WiiWare)

One of the WiiWare launch titles, this is a nice puzzler where you need to guide your funny-looking chick to his eggs. Quite challenging at times and a real noodle-bender, so people addicted to action games need not apply. I made it all the way to the underwater levels before throwing in the towel, but there’s always a chance I’ll revisit it.

Lost Winds (WiiWare)

Another early WiiWare entry and one that got a lot of well-deserved press and a long run in the Top 20 downloads list in the Wii Shop. It’s a great-looking platform game using wind generated by motions to help a little boy jump and get through various puzzles to help out a Wind Spirit in his quest to stop an ancient evil that’s been freed. A longer sequel has also been released, so if you’re a fan you’ll want to give that a go as well.

Nyxquest (Icarian): Kindred Spirits (WiiWare)

Another platform game with excellent visuals and interesting mechanics like Lost Winds; these are the twin champions of platforming on WiiWare at the moment and not to be missed by genre fans. Players guide Nyx on her quest to find Icarus and save the world using the remote to create updrafts. The developers at Over The Top games have really done themselves proud with this title so definitely give it a try!

Shinobi (Virtual Console Arcade)

Classic action game from Sega and far superior to its Mega Drive Sequel: The Super Shinobi. The emulation is excellent bar one change no doubt made to avoid lawyers: the “Spider-Man” character seen in the first three stages has had a paint job and is now yellow and green; otherwise the game is the same. Typical for Sega VCA releases the screen is not preformatted for widescreen display, so you’ll need to adjust your TV settings for 4:3 display if you have a modern flat panel. Controls are fully customisable and there’s an extra button available which does a shuriken burst fire of 3 at once. Definitely one to pick up.

Volfied (Virtual Console PC Engine)

A Taito import that I wasn’t aware of until I saw it featured in an episode of Game Center CX on the Japanese Nintendo Channel. It’s basically a tarted-up version of Qix (or clean version of Gal’s Panic – if you’re familiar with that “H” arcade title), where the object is to draw squares on a playfield to fill in as much territory as possible whilst avoiding enemies which are bouncing all over the place. This port is substantially different from the arcade game and the Mega Drive port so it’s definitely worth a look even if you know those two games (and have a Japanese Wii, of course).

Rolling Thunder (Virtual Console Arcade)

Namco continues their seemingly endless release schedule for the VCA in Japan with a classic action platformer that was published in the USA and elsewhere by Atari Games. As with all Namco games on the VCA the screen is already formatted for widescreen display with bars on the sides and control customisation is limited to the main game buttons. I prefer the Classic Controller for Namco VCA titles because that way ZL and ZR are used for coin insertion and game start rather than the awkward +1 and +2 they’ve chosen for the Wii Remote on its own. The only game setting is adjusting the number of starting lives. I was surprised not to see some kind of settable difficulty in terms of the score required for an extra life as has usually been the case with Namco VCA titles, but the game is challenging enough anyway. People familiar with the MAME ROM will note that some of the enemies in the stairway part of Stage 2 are different so looks like this is a different build of the game from that commonly seen ROM.

Bit Boy (WiiWare)

Bplus’ 3rd title for the WiiWare service, Bit Boy attempts to service the retro gaming desires of older gamers, but doesn’t completely succeed. The player is taken on a journey through different gaming eras using the vehicle of a maze game – a genre that is pretty much unheard of in the post-8-bit era.

The different game eras are standalone games in their own right so you can play whichever you like after initially completing all of them. The 2D games work the best, though the challenge may seem unfair to some with items to collect near enemy spawning points and loads of dead-ends. The 3D levels add little to the gameplay – other than making it easier by allowing the player to jump over walls to places enemies cannot reach, but they lack the charm of the retro 2D levels. If you like 8-bit maze games like me you’ll get some enjoyment from it, but I think Bplus would have done better by making a series of more fleshed-out games with each game focusing on a single era.

The Conduit

An original IP from veteran developer High Voltage Software published by Sega, this is a stand-out first-person action title on the Wii. The story unfolds quicker than I would have liked, but the short length makes replay more appealing and will hopefully lead to a more fully fleshed-out sequel. It has great customisable controls and visuals and is quite challenging even on the 2nd of five difficulty levels. The online multiplayer mode is compatible with Wii Speak – a first for shooting games on the Wii. If you have even a passing interest in the first-person action genre it’s definitely worth a look.

Mojipittan Wii Deluxe

Mojipittan is a successful puzzle game series from Namco in Japan where the object is to clear a board of tiles bearing hiragana characters by forming words using tiles from a reserve stock. Like the WiiWare version this also features Wi-Fi play, but adds many more levels. Being able to read hiragana characters and knowing some Japanese words will certainly help, but is by no means necessary to play – though it’s likely you’ll get trounced in online matches with native Japanese speakers if you don’t!

Sky Kid (Virtual Console Arcade)

This classic arcade title from Namco is quite difficult, but has some charm. Pilot your little plane against cute-looking fighters and tanks, then pick up a bomb and try to blow up your primary target. It’s a mission-based alternative to traditional side-scrolling shooters and also unusual in moving from right to left. As with other classic Namco titles you can adjust the starting number of lives and score required for extra lives, as well as the primary button layout on the controller. Currently only available in Japan. It’s probably a good idea to check out a video of the game in action on YouTube if you’re not already familiar with it before buying. Also available on the Namco Museum 50th Anniversary collection for the Gamecube elsewhere.

Wii Music

The subject of much hate and ridicule on the internet, this title contains some mini-games, but as a whole is more of a musical software toy. The brilliance of it is that whilst you can play the included tracks by the numbers – either in concert with the included Tutes (Mii substitutes that look like The Muppets) or a band of your own Miis, you’re also able rearrange songs and craft new pieces by playing “between the notes” using simplified controls for dozens and dozens of virtual instruments. There’s also a drum lesson mode for people with Balance Boards which gives you full control over a drum kit for use in your own videos. The ability to vary tempo and have the music played in a variety of styles (about a dozen all told including rock, pop, jazz and latin) is the icing on the cake.

Sure you can quibble about the sound quality (which really isn’t that bad; I’d rate it over a budget synthesizer) and the fact that there’s only 50 tracks (why no DLC Nintendo?), but if you have an interest in music that goes beyond listening to the radio on your commute it’s really worth checking out. It gets even better if you have Wii friends with Wii Music because you can collaborate and then share the results with others.

It’s a highly recommended title that I hope has a follow-up with a lot more musical styles (really not enough World Music and Classical Music in here), DLC and a better video sharing feature (presently recordings made can only be shared with others who own Wii Music and are registered as friends using Wii system codes).

Star Parodier (Virtual Console PC Engine)

One of several cutesy shooting games that appeared in the arcades and on consoles in the 80s-90s. Gameplay is fun – if a bit challenging – and the visuals are great. Who wouldn’t want to fly around in a PC Engine shooting baddies? This game was released elsewhere as part of the Hanabi Festival, so people who don’t own Japanese Wiis can also enjoy it.

Starblade (Virtual Console Arcade)

Originally a cockpit arcade game using a flight yoke, Starblade controls well using the IR pointer on the Wii remote to move the on-screen cursor. Being an on-rails space shooter this game probably isn’t going to warrant many replays as the whole game is complete in about an hour; given it was originally designed to suck coins out of the pockets of arcade-going youth, there’s plenty of cheap deaths to be had. The control interface alone is what makes this a better game than Space Harrier, however superior 3D visuals don’t hurt. If you’re a fan of this kind of game then check it out, but otherwise save your points for something better.

Super Darius (Virtual Console PC Engine)

This hard-as-nails side-scrolling shooter was originally a fairly large cockpit arcade game which had three displays linked together to create a panoramic view. This arcade-perfect home conversion re-formats the game to fit in a 4:3 screen and has lower resolution than the arcade, but otherwise plays the same. The difficulty is just as punishing as the arcade game and there are no continues, both of which seem odd choices given this is a home console port! You’ll need to be a big fan of Darius and have a pretty high frustration threshold (or brilliant shooter reflexes) to get enjoyment out of this Japanese VC exclusive.

Super Darius II (Virtual Console PC Engine)

This is an arcade-perfect port of the arcade game Darius II, which is very similar to the first Darius, though with a more forgiving difficulty level. Like the first one the screen has been re-formatted from three displays in the arcade to one – with a corresponding reduction in graphical resolution, but the gameplay is still the same. Unlike Super Darius this game has continues (whew!). Despite being easier than the first game, it’s still quite a challenging shooter and not for newcomers to the genre.

Super Fantasy Zone (Virtual Console MD)

The Mega Drive entry in the Fantasy Zone franchise, this is presently the closest thing to Defender on the Virtual Console in that your ship scrolls back-and-forth through a series of closed levels with a radar scope on the top to tell you where you are in relation to the baddies. That’s where the resemblance to Defender ends as the graphics have a cutesy look to them and levels are ended with a boss fight. There’s also a shop that appears from time to time where you can use money collected from shooting baddies to buy upgrades and temporary weapons like missiles as in Namco’s arcade classic Ordyne. Don’t let the cutesy look fool you though, as this game is quite challenging. Definitely one to check out for shooter fans.

Super Ghouls ‘n’ Ghosts (Virtual Console SNES)

Not simply an arcade port of Ghouls ‘n’ Ghosts, Super Ghouls ‘n’ Ghosts has different levels and enemies and a more forgiving difficulty curve. I think it’s a lot more approachable and better to play than the two arcade games that preceded it, so give it a try if you like arcade-style action-platforming games.

Super Shinobi (Virtual Console MD)

The console-only sequel to Shinobi, this game was sold in other territories as Revenge of Shinobi or Shinobi II. Apparently it features Batman and Spider-Man in an unlicensed fashion, which is why people speculate it hasn’t appeared outside of Japan yet (though apparently this hurdle has been overcome). It’s more difficult than Shinobi and not really in a fun way given that your character tends to bounce back from enemy attacks into other things that damage them such that a nice “juggle of death” can occur in certain parts of the game. Personally I’d opt for the Virtual Console Arcade release of Shinobi.

Wonder Momo (Virtual Console PC Engine)

I played Wonder Momo’s arcade port in the Japanese exclusive Namco Museum R on PlayStation and somehow the game grew on me. It’s a bit of a strange arcade title — released exclusively in Japan — which is set up like a “Super Sentai” stage show in front of cheering men. The titular Momo is a young woman with poofy hair who walks back-and-forth across the stage kicking baddies in the face until a boss comes out which looks like a guy in a giant beetle or robot suit. Near this time a whirlwind appears which turns Momo into Wonder Momo, who can then throw a glowing hula hoop at opponents as well as deliver a boot to the choppers. The PC Engine version is nearly identical to the arcade, but adds some interstitial stills of Momo that lean towards cheesecake and make this the preferred version of the game to get. I did a retro review of this game for Nintendo Life, so check it out!

Yōkai Dōchuuki (Virtual Console Arcade)

This is another Namco arcade game only released in Japan (and likely to remain exclusive to Japan since it never saw release elsewhere) in which you control a boy who appears to be platforming through Hell, fighting ghosts and demons on the way. It’s a nice bit of fun though it’s pretty tough. There’s also a PC Engine port on the Virtual Console, but given I’ve never played the game I figured the arcade version was the one to go for.

Paradroid (Virtual Console C64)

A nice slice of 8-bit computer-gaming goodness. You guide your robot through various rooms on a star cruiser attempting to take over more powerful robots in order to take control of the ship. Robots are represented by ovals with a 3-digit number to demonstrate relative power. You can shoot them or better still transfer your consciousness into them via a mini-game where you’re trying to highlight the greater number of data-paths than your target in a set time limit. Don’t let the simple graphics fool you, there’s quite a challenging game on offer which is pretty good fun.

Parasol Stars (Virtual Console PC Engine)

The console-only sequel to Rainbow Islands, Parasol Stars sees Bubby and Bobby still in human form travelling through various worlds battling various critters using umbrellas and water droplets of all things. The mechanics are quite good and the game is just as fun as Bubble Bobble and Rainbow Islands. The VC offering is on the PC Engine so keep an eye out for it in a future Hanabi festival if you don’t have a Japanese Wii.

Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure (Virtual Console MD)

Not a bad platformer, but a platformer nonetheless. The action takes place in a jungle and whilst it’s well-animated it’s quite confusing where you’re supposed to go. Expect to do a lot of falling and having to climb back up to where you were. Although the main game is a bit on the tedious side of the equation you can enter a lengthy code to play a reasonable facsimile of the 2600 classic Pitfall. Unfortunately you need to enter this code every single time you want to play it. Unless you’re a diehard platforming fan it’s probably safe to avoid this one.

R-TYPE (Virtual Console TG16)

This arcade shooter was a classic in the truest sense of the word: great animated sprites, an interesting power-up system and the movable weapon made for varied strategy and fun gameplay. There are several versions of this game on the Virtual Console, but I remember the TG16 version being the best. In Japan it was released in two parts, so folk outside of Japan have it good being able to get the whole game in a single 600 point download. Until Irem arcade games start appearing in the Virtual Console, this port is the best way to play this game on the Wii.

Rolling Thunder 2 (Virtual Console MD)

Rolling Thunder was a classic action platformer from Namco and it’s coming soon to the Virtual Console Arcade. The sequel is less well-known and whilst it’s not quite as nice visually, Rolling Thunder 2 still offers much of the fun and challenge of its predecessor. Definitely worth checking out.

Soldier Blade (Virtual Console TG16)

Soldier Blade is the last in a series of vertical shooters on the TG16 and worth checking out if you like shooters that consist of a series of sub-bosses and bosses. Just hold down fire and maneuver. The game takes its time ramping up the difficulty, but there’s certainly some challenge on offer. Enemies are varied and look nice. A safe bet for shooting game fans.

Solvalou (Virtual Console Arcade)

Namco has loads of games on the Japanese Virtual Arcade and Solvalou is one of the newer ones from the 1990s. A 3D sequel to Xevious, it’s got some familiar enemies in an unfamiliar perspective. The Wii remote pointer has replaced the arcade flight yoke and does a great job. There’s limited control over your flight direction and as with the first game you need to blast all comers whilst heading for the showdown with the Andor Genesis mothership. It’s a pretty challenging game and a treat for fans of 3D arcade shooters.

Space Invaders: The Original Game (Virtual Console SNES)

I just love Space Invaders, so it’s great to see this collection released. Originally released on three platforms in Japan (Playstation and PC Engine were the others), Space Invaders: The Original Game is a collection which includes an arcade perfect port of the arcade game with three different appearances: original B&W, simulated colour film bands (the original low-tech method of making a colour video game) and my favourite, the planet backdrop (marketed by Midway as Deluxe Space Invaders). In addition you get a two-player battle mode which is a novel addition. The price for the SNES version and the requirement of the Classic Controller make me wish I had known the PC Engine release of this was coming out in Japan. If you have the choice, get that version instead. A colour version of the arcade game alone (sans filmstrip effect) is also available through the Japanese Virtual Console Arcade.

Splatterhouse (Virtual Console Arcade)

Another classic game from Namco, this one has a horror theme with you controlling a Jason Voorhees-esqe character in a side-scrolling action title fighting monsters and trying to rescue a girl. It quickly becomes quite difficult, but thankfully you can increase your life bar and the number of lives on offer as well as change the score required to earn bonus lives. There are a couple of ports already available in the Virtual Console for the TG16 and Megadrive, but the arcade is the original and best, so get it if/when it’s released outside of Japan.

Star Force (Virtual Console Arcade)

I’ve been playing arcade games for decades, so it was a bit of a surprise to find this among the initial offering for the Virtual Console Arcade because I’d never seen it before. It’s an early example of the vertically scrolling shooter from Tecmo and it’s a decent bit of fun. Not the greatest, but it’s an arcade game with all the intensity and difficulty that implies. Worth a look for fans of the classics.