Category: Wii Reviews

Metal Slug (Virtual Console Neo Geo)

This is a bit embarassing. I actually originally downloaded this for the PAL Wii before purchasing a second-hand copy of the Anthology, so technically this is my 3rd time buying this game (not to mention all the quarters I sunk into it at my local laundromat in San Francisco). SNK has definitely gotten it’s money from me so far eh? Well it’s well-deserved as this is a cracking action game and one of a few games deserving of the label “classic” from the 1990s arcade scene. This is naturally the home version and in some ways the better for it because you have a cap on the number of continues per play and options you can set for the number of lives and difficulty to up the challenge if necessary. Just remember that when prompted to save and load data it’s talking about your last continue point and not your score and initials, which are automatically recorded.

No question that this is the version to get – though you cannot remap the controls, meaning you need to get used to the funky remapping from Neo Geo to Classic Controller. God knows why D4 decided to map the 1-4 buttons as A,B,Y,X, rather than following the NG controller layout (which would be Y,B,A,X on the CC), but if you can adjust your play style you’ll probably like it better than using 1 to shoot, 2 to jump and remote jerk to throw a grenade or whatever in the Anthology version.

Metal Slug 2 (Virtual Console Neo Geo)

A sequel that’s even better than its predecessor is a nice thing to see. This is epic in length, has new spaceborne villains and some groovy transformations thanks to poison-gas-breathing mummies. After their experience with Metal Slug it seems SNK got clever and compressed the audio making this game about half the block size of the first one and creating the tantalising possibility that the outrageous Metal Slug 3 could surface for download on the Wii. D4 please make it so!

R-TYPE II (Virtual Console PC Engine)

If you’re thinking this is a port of the arcade sequel to R-TYPE, think again. When released in the States and Europe the entire TG-16 port of R-TYPE magically fit on a single Hu-Card, but apparently when originally released in Japan this wasn’t the case and the game was split into two. As a result, my decision to re-purchase R-TYPE on my Japanese Wii due to a funny desire to have all my arcade-style Virtual Console games on one machine has meant I’ve effectively paid for it three times (I know, more money than sense and all that).

The good thing about splitting the game in two is that R-TYPE II starts out at a stage I’ve NEVER been able to reach previously (I’ve made it as far as the ships that make a web of little dots – the area after the ship boss you blow apart piecemeal). The bad thing is that starting this far into the game means it’s really really hard – so hard that after more than a dozen plays I couldn’t even reach the “first” boss.

It’s actually more challenging than Super Darius – and that’s saying something! The developers did try to compensate for this in a few ways: you get five credits rather than three for extra continues and the majority of power-ups you find are speed-ups to give you a hope in hell of dodging all the crazy enemies and lasers flying at you. Nevertheless I’m satisfied with it and it’s a quality release. If you’re like me and have a Japanese Wii for your VC jones, bite the bullet and get R-TYPE and R-TYPE II – twice the fun at twice the price!

Although on its surface Fantasic Cube resembles Konami’s arcade/MSX classic Quarth, it sadly fails to live up to that positive first impression. It’s not that it’s a bad game, but simply that it lacks the hook that a really good puzzle game needs to hold a gamer’s attention for any length of time and ensure repeat play.

Taking a page from Puyo Puyo in an attempt to compensate, there’s a few play modes on offer: a Story Mode with cute little cut scenes and boss fights, two attack modes where you’re trying to complete levels with the longest play time or clear the most cubes and a two player mode which can be played against AI, a local player or even online. Regardless of mode the gameplay is the same: a ship at the bottom of the screen fires coloured blocks into a downward rolling column of other coloured blocks which need to be cleared in classic “match 3” fashion in order to eliminate a cube containing an enemy robot in the last row.

As stated earlier, the mechanics work fine, though the isometric perspective can make it difficult to spot gaps between rows which can form during the course of clearing chains of cubes. You have a choice of controllers, but it’s all pretty straighforward: d-pad for left/right movement, a button to fire a cube and a button (or two depending on controller choice) to toggle between cube colours.

It’s the latter control that eliminates any of the tension you’d get in any other match three game of this type: the ability to select the colour means you can actively control the set-up of chains and you can clear the closest block to you – though at upper levels cubes appear which have a grey coating until an adjacent block is cleared. There’s also a “star power” gauge that can trigger a “Super Roulette Challenge” which will result in one colour of block being cleared in the visible part of the column, but this just makes the game easier than it already is; other than breaking up the tedium, it’s not clear why this extra bit was included.

The biggest problem in this game that the basic gameplay just isn’t that interesting: the target robot is devoid of character and doesn’t do anything besides rise up from the centre cube in the last row when you get close enough. In story mode the bosses are all different, but the fact that you have to slog through four identical levels to get to them makes the game far more of a chore than it should be: I could only motivate myself to play through half of the dozen or so worlds before pulling the plug.

Though the bosses themselves are different, the boss battles are all the same: the boss is at the top of the screen periodically generating new rows of cubes; you need to clear all of them and fire blocks directly at the boss in order to wear down their life bar. All the while they’ll be throwing explosive blocks at you which will stun you, meaning more rows of cubes to clear. This can actually get quite annoying in the more challenging boss fights as you can be close to eliminating the the last row only to get clobbered and have another three generated before you get control of your ship again.

I’d probably have a better opinion of this game if the story mode had been more like a boss rush without the standard play mode, reserving that for the challenges and multiplayer, but to be honest if you have a Japanese Wii you’re probably better off buying another match-3 game like Puzzle Bobble Wii and the excellent MSX port of Quarth instead.

Pearl Harbor Trilogy: Episode I (WiiWare)

I’m not the biggest fan of “sim” games: whether it’s driving a car, raising a pet or flying a plane. I find the attempt at realism to be rather tedious – after all I already own pets, I can drive a car if I want and if I want to play around with a million controls to fly a plane I guess I’d learn that as well. Arcade style games on the other hand can be a blast: that’s what Pearl Harbor Trilogy is and it’s a damn fine one.

It’s a port of a portion of a PC release, which is what Legendo seems to spend most of their time on, but like many independent developers the growth in home consoles, and the Wii in particular, has gotten their attention. Whilst I didn’t care much for their WiiWare platformer, this ticks all the boxes for me: intuitive and responsive controls, a decent amount of substance in the form of twenty missions split into two campaigns and fun gameplay that won’t take up hours of your life unless you want it to.

You can play an American or a Japanese campaign with the objectives more or less evenly split between attacking ground/sea targets and shooting down enemy planes. The AI is surprisingly good, forcing you to manoeuvre frequently to avoid enemy fire and you can quickly hit a button to have a look back to see how many bogies are on your six if need be.

There’s three control schemes: Remote, Remote+Nunchuk and Classic Controller. The Remote+Nunchuk set-up is similar to that used in Sky Crawlers, though without the ability to remap the fire buttons to the Nunchuk it doesn’t feel right, so I’d suggest using the Remote on its own which is very intuitive and feels almost like playing Excite Truck – surely one of the best implementations of the Remote tilt sensor ever.

Though the mission objectives can seem a bit repetitive the challenging AI and excellent controls more than make up for it. There’s optional enemy markers and a radar scope to keep you from getting lost and you’ll have so many planes around you it has all the frenzy of a real aerial war, minus having to keep track of your ammo – or the threat of actual death.

Given the number of missions, unlockable planes and an extra pick-up-and-play dogfight mode, this game is an absolute steal at 700 Points. If you have any interest in fast and furious aerial dogfighting action with an emphasis on fun over realism, do check it out; especially since more instalments are promised depending on how well this one sells.

Metroid Prime Trilogy

Despite being less than excited by my first Metroid Prime experience (Metroid Prime 3: Corruption), I decided to follow the advice of my fellow NL’ers and give it a go. Only paying £19.99 with credit I had laying about for a used copy helped make that decision a bit easier, but no surprise this wasn’t that different an experience from my time with the 3rd game. I made it all the way to the titular end-boss getting right to the point when it was nearly dead (as was I) and then it changes form and there’s the incredibly annoying regular metroids helping it. That’s when I decided to cut my losses after spending the last month getting to this point.

Most of the game plays okay, but the first-person perspective really makes no sense to me. It’s not really an action game as you would expect: instead most of the time you’re just looking for that next device to help you access new areas. The first-person view just gets in the way of being able to look around – and why the hell do I have to get on top of something to scan it? Isn’t Samus’ suit some kind of advanced alien technology? The endless back-tracking is made more tedious by respawning enemies, though they do change in some areas as you get more equipment. I’m pleased I got to the final boss and only consulted a walkthrough once to find a particularly non-intuitive artefact hiding place, but I couldn’t see replaying that last boss battle given how long it was – seriously, it was a bit much.

I’m frankly surprised at the high regard this series is held in given that it changes the gameplay of the previous Metroid games so radically and is so damn repetitive. Samus has to rebuild her arsenal in every damn one of these games! The extent of creativity seems to have been to have one or two of the beam weapons be different in each game, but given it’s a trilogy you’d think they’d at least refrain from recycling the bosses. I’m very much hoping that Metroid: Other M is going to be a breath of fresh air given the new development team and apparent desire to make it more of an action game than a walk-a-thon.

Pac Mania (Virtual Console Arcade)

After taking a break from the franchise, bringing Pac-Man into the 1990s with a 3D-rendered appearance seemed like a natural. The Legoland look and isometric perspective work really well, whilst still keeping that classic Pac-Man flavour. The addition of a jump button is offset by having the number of ghosts increase and eventually having jumpers among their ranks as well. It’s a great entry in the franchise and well worth picking up, though at present it’s only available for the Virtual Console in Japan. You can also play it as part of the Namco Museum Remix which is available in North America and Europe. An interesting addition to the usual Namco VCA options of starting number of lives and points required to earn a bonus life is the ability to choose how many levels there are in a game or make it endless if you desire – pretty neat!

Xevious (Virtual Console Arcade)

One of (if not the first) video games to use pre-rendered 3D graphics in place of sprites was Xevious, which gives it a much different look from other vertically scrolling shooters. The use of separate shots for air and ground targets and plentiful enemies provides plenty of scoring options and the level of challenge is kept high. Definitely a must-have for shooting fans, the fixed difficulty level of this VCA version feels just right. As with Pac Mania, you can also find this game in the arcade section of Namco Museum Remix.

Dig Dug (Virtual Console Arcade)

Without a doubt one of my favourite arcade games growing up – probably because it was one of the few I was really good at. Though retconned by Namco into Taizo Hori (Mr. Driller’s dad), Dig Dug is a blue guy in a white suit in this game. In another bit of Mr. Driller-related trivia the Pooka and Fygar monsters in Dig Dug appear as random encounters in the adventure mode of the Gameboy Advance game Mr. Driller A!

Dig Dug drills through earth like we walk through air and uses his drilling apparatus to inflate monsters until they explode. A bit on the odd side, but makes for some fun gameplay. As with other Namco games the vertical display is rendered with built-in pillarboxing so folk with widescreen displays need not mess with their TV settings. Namco gives you the ability to remap controls and change starting lives and the score required for extra life bonuses, however you cannot set the game’s difficulty otherwise. As with their other VCA titles the difficulty is skewed a bit north of average so veterans won’t feel too babied.

Gaplus (Virtual Console Arcade)

Galaga is quite possibly my favourite Namco game of all time, though it’s actually the second in a series of four arcade games starting with Galaxian. Gaplus is the 3rd (you may even see it called Galaga 3 – though that makes little sense) game and appears to have been aimed at expert Galaga players given the difficulty level, but sadly it overshoots the mark quite a bit which hurts the experience.

I still rate the game, but it’s incredibly challenging right from the beginning with rapidly moving enemies flying on-screen in shifting patterns that can be hard to predict. Players who are too good at shooting the bugs as they appear on screen will be treated to additional waves even after the rest have finished building their formation; sometimes appearing right on top of the player. The ability to move up and down in the bottom of the playfield can help in avoiding some of these enemies, but can also expose you to attacks from more directions. It’s another Namco VCA game originally displayed on a vertical monitor and has the usual key config and game settings.

Mappy (Virtual Console Arcade)

An odd little platforming game which pre-dates the general use of the term. The main difference between Mappy and other platformers is that Mappy has no jump button: instead you move the little mouse policeman from platform to platform by jumping off your ledge onto a springy surface below – though you need to be careful as you can only make two consecutive bounces before it breaks.

Mappy is trying to retrieve stolen goods from a gang of cats called the Mewkies. Collecting the treasures in matching pairs will get you big bonus points, so it’s worth paying attention to what you’re picking up as you go. Your only weapon against the cat gang is the ability to remotely open and close doors, though you’re also safe if you’re bouncing up and down. I didn’t realise you could manipulate the doors on your platform remotely without touching them until I rediscovered this game on the original Namco Museum on the Sony Playstation despite playing it countless times in the arcade(!)

Despite being a platform game I quite enjoy it – possibly because the characters are so darn cute! It’s a forgotten gem of a game and is certainly worth checking out. Given it’s one of very few Namco VCA titles available outside of Japan you should be able to buy it no matter what Wii you have.

Considering this is my third review of a mahjong game on the Wii (fifth overall if you count the DSiWare previews I did for Nintendo Life) and the fact that I buy all of my Japanese imports, it’s probably fair to ask how many mahjong games one person needs. After all they’re all played with Japanese riichi rules and they tend to have common control interfaces, so if you’ve played one you can pretty much jump into another one cold and know what to do.

Akko de Pon! breaks the mould a bit, not only by having characters which look like caricatures drawn by a roadside artist, but by having gameplay that places a premium on cheating – surely unique in the world of mahjong games.

In the primary Story Mode of play, you’ll move on a wraparound linear track between several locations in the game world, each of which features one or two characters to play against following a brief bit of dialogue with the omnipresent character that everyone else defers to known as Akko-san. Given my lack of Japanese knowledge it’s not entirely clear, but he seems to be mentoring you on the way to becoming the number one ikasama (a slang term which literally translates as “super squid” or “Lord Squid,” but actually means “low-down cheating scum”). At least I assume so, because if you lose a mahjong game he seems unhappy and if you win he’s ecstatic (even though you’re beating him in the process).

As soon as you start a game of “majaan” (as it’s called in Japan) you’ll note the difference between this game and all the rest. Most games like Koei’s Mahjong Taikai series focus on the bare essentials of play: drawing and playing tiles without so much as a virtual die roll to show you whether you or one of your computer-controlled opponents is going first. Instead Akko de Pon! presents a virtual recreation of an actual mahjong game, from mixing up the tiles, through the die roll and drawing of tiles – the only thing missing is building the wall! Of course the reason for all of this is to provide more opportunities to use the many methods of cheating available.

During the first hand it’s unlikely you’ll be doing any serious cheating because you need to build up your “ikasama gauge” first and then buy cheats with it. The gauge builds up naturally via drawing and playing tiles, so partway into your first hand you’ll be able to pull off something small, but you’ll probably want to hold off on pulling up the cheat menu until the second hand. The language barrier does present a problem with understanding how some of these work, but most of them are pretty straightforward and are executed with the pointer or the game’s standard sideways remote orientation and either the d-pad and buttons or motion controls.

The cheats are grouped in different tabs and fall into some basic categories depending on when they’re undertaken. The cheats in the opening tile mixing involve using the pointer to pick out matching tiles which are then planted in the part of the wall closest to you and highlighted so you can try to manipulate events to get those draws. During the game you can either peek at the tiles on the wall in front of you or try to swap tiles from the wall with those in your hand. Cheats involving the wall are a bit fraught as it’s possible to be caught by another player (though I couldn’t figure out how to catch them) which not only ends the hand but costs you a 12,000-point penalty (ouch)!

You can of course decide to play without cheating at all, though the other players tend to do it all the time – mainly swapping out tiles in their hand for ones in their part of the wall. You’ll know this is happening because they always make some kind of verbal announcement – isn’t cheating supposed to be secret or something? In any event it does add a bit of spice to this game mode, which is otherwise pretty brief as there’s only seven groups of opponents. Once you’ve beaten them all there seems to be little incentive to continue playing as there’s no medals to earn or further opponents to unlock, though as with other mahjong games there is a Free Play mode so you can have a quick game; choosing opponents and setting the rules yourself.

What will probably keep you coming back for more is Mission Mode. There are 100 missions in all, each of which has an objective for completion. The game plays normally until the objective is met, which will then end the match and mark the mission cleared. I played the first two which had pretty basic goals: win a hand “tsumo” (from a draw) and win a hand “ron” (from another player’s discard). Cheating was disabled for these, though given the game’s focus and considering the number of missions I imagine later missions will require certain cheats to be pulled off or hands created. Other extras include a guide to playing mahjong, a guide to actual mahjong cheating and the ability to review your game stats.

When Success was getting ready to publish this game around the Wii’s launch they held a press conference showcasing the voice talent behind it, who are apparently famous Japanese actors – though that won’t be much of a draw even if you know who they are since that’s such a small part of the game. I would like to have seen 480p and widescreen support, but given this game came out early in the Wii’s lifecycle I’m not surprised to see it’s 480i and 4:3 given the slower uptake of widescreen TVs in Japan. Success has certainly succeeded in putting out a mahjong game with a difference both in the novel presentation and the equally novel cheating mechanic; developer Horipro have done a good job on the Wii motion and pointing controls in support of the latter.

If you’re looking to put an additional mahjong game on the shelf I certainly think this is a decent one to get for the novelty value, though it’s the Mission Mode that will likely prove the bigger draw in the long term. If you’re only in the market for one mahjong game, it’s probably best to stick with Nintendo’s WiFi-enabled Yakuman Wii or Koei’s Mahjong Taikai Wii, which I still think is the best mahjong game out there.

Art Style: Light Trax (WiiWare)

It’s pretty hard to go wrong with the Art Style series on WiiWare. Though the DSiWare games seem a little more uneven (I’ve only got four of them), the WiiWare titles have all been pretty solid with an appealing minimalist sensibility, bright colours, sharp lines and good sounds. Light Trax is a great addition to the collection and, like Rotohex, it’s based upon a game that was released in Japan for the Gameboy Advance as part of the Bit Generations series.

Light Trax is essentially a race between coloured lines on a track containing obstacles like patches which slow your line down, barriers which stop it temporarily and arrows which will push it in various directions. Your line is one of seven moving at a constant rate of speed through the track, so most of the control is simply pressing the d-pad to change lanes (no two lines can occupy the same space), though you also have a metre that fills over time to give you a temporary speed boost. You can also pick up extra boosts by hitting icons that will come in handy when you need a last-minute charge across the finish.

There’s a couple of game modes, but mainly you’ll be playing Campaign which sees you completing a series of courses across different “GPs.” If you place high enough you’ll unlock a Freeway mode in which you’re constantly driving in order to gain speed and earn enough points to unlock the next GP. This is a bit more relaxing, since there’s no winning the race (though you still jockey for position with the other lines) and you can soak in the sounds and the trippy visuals that flavour the experience.

The ambient techno soundtrack is excellent and the special effects are pretty impressive despite the simple visuals, with the tracks taking turns in three-dimensions accompanied by a smooth but active camera. Of all the Art Style games released thus far this one feels the most like a full retail game to me in terms of polish and content and at a mere 600 points it’s a steal.

Magical Drop III (Virtual Console Neo Geo)

I’m not a big fan of the recent Neo Geo output on the Japanese Virtual Console, but it’s presently one of the only systems actively supported by 3rd parties and the fact that D4 Enterprise is releasing a lot of Data East titles that appeared on the platform gives me hope that some of the games seen in the still North American-exclusive Data East Arcade Classics will appear on the Japanese VCA (Burger Time is all I ask, please!).

Magical Drop III is one such game and being the Neo Geo version (and in Japanese) it feels a bit different from the one in the collection, but the gameplay is the same and that’s what counts. This is considered the best in a series which combines elements of Puzzle Bobble and Puyo Puyo. Like the latter there’s an Adventure Mode which has a story element to it; like the former you’re trying to eliminate objects of like colours by grouping them together.

Rather than firing gems at the other gems above, you pull them down towards you before firing them back up at others of like colours to smash them. It’s an interesting mechanic and adds more challenge than a game of Puzzle Bobble as you need to sometimes collect gems from multiple locations to build a chain or have enough to clear a group. Unlike either of the aforementioned puzzle games there’s no simple match three formula: you need to collect and launch at least four gems to clear a group; moving one or two won’t cut it.

In Adventure Mode you’re moving on a virtual game board towards a goal and having versus battles with other characters encountered along the way between trying to earn as many points as possible on single-player boards with a fixed time limit. You can also play the versus mode on its own, which functions much like a 2-player game of Puzzle Bobble or Puyo Puyo with a split screen presentation and both players trying to keep their own sides clear whilst creating chains to add more gems to their opponent’s screen until they’re overwhelmed. There’s also a puzzle mode which I found less engaging because of its endless nature – rather than having levels to progress through like Puzzle Bobble or Puyo Puyo, but it’s still a nice option.

It’s rare to see a game “inspired” by Puzzle Bobble which isn’t just a shameless rip-off, but instead does something new, so Magical Drop III is certainly one to add to your Virtual Console collection if you have a yen for arcade puzzlers like me.

Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance (Gamecube)

Well, I finally managed to score a copy of this game. Not only did I pay less than the £30+ it normally goes for, but it was a sealed copy to boot! I’m only partway in, but I can already feel the magic. The improvements made in Radiant Dawn are quite apparent, but it’s still got a familiar look-and-feel so I could jump right in and play. My biggest gripe is the lack of widescreen support, but this was pretty much standard on the Gamecube, sadly. Story-wise it’s great to see the events before Radiant Dawn as that game is pretty much a direct sequel without much passage of time. No doubt after playing this I’ll be ready for a second playthrough of that one!

I’ve read comments from people that Path of Radiance is easier than Radiant Dawn, but I really don’t feel that’s the case. I had a few characters die and found myself unable to clear chapter 8 as a result and had to replay from chapter 6 when I lost Oscar; though in Radiant Dawn people were dropping like flies and I was still able to clear missions regardless. There feels like a lot less balance in the weapon triangle as well: lancers do ludicrous damage to people with swords, so I had to have Ike pretty much run away from a lot of conflict which seemed less than heroic.

Nevertheless it’s Fire Emblem and if you like turn-based RPGs with a focus on tactics over running around and chatting to people (not to say that there’s no chat, but it’s more linear and not as key) then you should definitely track it down.

Need for Speed Nitro

I’m not the biggest racing game fan, but I do like a decent arcade racer and this game certainly fits the bill. There’s vehicular damage and a nice bit of crunching when you slam into cars which I love (Destruction Derby 2 being my favourite racer on the Playstation) and a good sensation of speed – especially when you double tap the nitro button. The number of cars is massive and the ability to customise them is incredibly deep with loads of pre-generated artwork you can customise, a dizzying amount of paint colours and then unlockable body modifications and the ability to morph them.

There are some negatives: the fixed camera angle which means your car will sometimes obscure the track ahead, the drifting being initiated with a button press rather than a natural turn of the Wii Wheel a la the Excite games, and the inability to share your cars or race people online. I’d also like to have seen more (and more modern) European car models. There’s just one Renault and two Volkswagens, all of which date from the 60s and that’s about it outside of the odd Italian supercar (okay I think the Audi TT is in there, but I’m not a fan). Very disappointed, but the great selection of American and Japanese motors almost makes up for it.

Despite the flaws it’s an excellent racing game built specifically for the Wii and I’m always glad to see 3rd parties really make the effort. I don’t know how well it sold (I paid full price at retail – well, with store credit anyway), but a sequel that improves on the Wii Wheel control and adds online would be very welcome indeed. I’d love to see Nintendo release Excite Bots in Europe, but until then, this will do me for racing on the Wii.

Blaster Master Overdrive (WiiWare)

Since I sold off my North American Wii I’ve not been able to play the original game on the Virtual Console (I refuse to deal with the PAL conversions we’re stuck with for most games on the European VC) and have been patiently waiting for this to turn up. I finally bought it and have to say that it was worth the wait. Faithful to the original game, but with improved graphics – really, it’s hard to go wrong. It’s formatted 4:3 and 480i, but on the plus side the 4:3 is presented with built-in pillarboxing, so no need to mess with your TV display controls.

I’d still have preferred a widescreen presentation and the game is so close to the original in music, sound effects and gameplay that there’s no real reason to bother with the original game on the VC if you have this and vice-versa. The only other criticism I have is that there’s not enough save points and Classic Controller support would have been nice since more than two buttons are used on the remote. To save you need to find a save-point in top-down mode with Alex in a cave, but only some of the caves have them. The cave with the first boss lacks one and having to backtrack just to save your game is a pain in the backside. I actually beat the boss, but then died afterwards before I got back to the most recent cave with a save-point, so now I have to fight it again – lame!

The open-world play mechanics are excellent and the map makes exploring a lot more intuitive than in the original NES game on the VC. If you don’t already have the game on the Virtual Console (or are just a massive fan and want more) definitely get this one.

No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle

I avoided the first game on release because of it’s “cool violence” look, not realising the brilliant satire on games and gamers contained therein. Once I corrected that oversight I was eagerly looking forward to the sequel which many have raved about, though I was a bit cautious given some of the changes. Having played through it for the first time, those reservations were nicely put to bed and cemented my opinion of No More Heroes as possibly the best franchise on the Wii.

The great thing about this sequel is that it doesn’t replace or invalidate the first game, which can often happen in a sequel due to a misguided attempt to “fix” everything “wrong” in its predecessor. The changes both to the overworld, side missions and mini-games mean the original still has its own flavour and appeal. They are distinct games, but clearly rooted in the same world and use similar control schemes so fans of the first will feel right at home once they start fighting in Desperate Struggle. For the motion-impaired the Classic Controller is also supported, though really I don’t understand how doing wrestling moves can be fun without motions.

The visuals have been tarted up (as have the ladies, with some added “jiggle physics”), but still have that appealing cell-shaded look which makes 3D graphics look a lot less ugly to me. Also welcome is the return of the voice talent from the first outing, though I do miss the garbled, incomprehensible Engrish of some of the shop staff from the first game.

The mini-games are a real treat, mostly presented in simulated 8-bit glory. “Man the Meat” is my personal favourite: as much fun to mess up as to succeed and a great one-button game in its own right.

Though some have complained the battles don’t feel as fun as the first game I have to disagree. There’s some well-designed characters here, it’s just that the nature of the intros have changed. They still have well-defined personalities and the settings for the fights have a lot of variety (the 4th ranked battle is a stand-out). Even in Sweet difficulty you’ll get a run for your money and there’s a surprisingly creepy element to some of the fights.

If you liked the first game then this one is a no-brainer: great music, great dialogue, great gameplay and bags of style. Grasshopper really knows their stuff and I’m ready for more!

Salamander (Virtual Console PC Engine)

I picked this up along with the Gradius games which I reviewed in the last round-up and like the Gradius games on the PC Engine this is a fabulous port of the arcade classic which many outside of Japan will know better by the name “Life Force.” No flickering, great music, great animation and fine detail. It’s a challenging 2D shooter that combines side and vertical scrolling elements. Unfortunately only the inferior Famicom version is available outside of Japan and even then only in North America. Needless to say I strongly advocate anyone who’s a fan of the Virtual Console pick up a Japanese Wii at some point because the VC service is so much more worthwhile and this game is a primary case in point.

Space Invaders: The Original Game (Virtual Console PC Engine)

Why would I buy this again when I already have the SNES version on my PAL Wii? Well, partially it’s because I’m abandoning the VC on the PAL system due to the presence of poor PAL conversions for the Nintendo and Sega platforms and partially it’s down to liking all my VC content in one place. But the biggest reason is I’m a big fan of Space Invaders and I really hate plugging in a Classic Controller simply because the Virtual Console requires it for all SNES games. I had no idea this even existed for the PC Engine and was gutted when I saw I could have the game cheaper and play it remote-only, but Taito cannot have enough of my money so I’ve decided to double-dip.

Now that I have it, I can say it’s a bit of a mixed bag. It’s pretty much the same as the SNES version, so if you have a Japanese Wii this is the one to get, though annoyingly it’s also like the SNES version in not saving your high scores as you need to do a virtual system reset (press start/selected/I/II buttons at the same time) to return to the main menu. As a result I’ve kept it on the version I like best (the planet backdrop with translucent invaders) and resume my game thanks to the handy save-state feature of the VC. Of course if anyone ever wants to play the 2-player versus mode I’ll either have to lose my score or download the SNES version on my PAL Wii for multiplayer, which really sucks.

Gradius (Virtual Console PC Engine)

When you play one of the many excellent arcade ports on the PC Engine like Gradius, it’s not hard to see why this system rivalled Nintendo’s Famicom for console supremacy in the 8-bit era and continued on into the 16-bit generation. I think it’s safe to say that this is the best version of Gradius you can get on the Virtual Console, running smoothly without any flickering and only slowing down when the action gets truly crazy as in the volcano sequence at the end of the first stage. This is an iconic shooter which has been endlessly copied – most often by Konami themselves – with its use of external options and multiple weapon upgrades. At a minimum, this is the one game in the series you should get if you’re a fan of side-scrolling shooters.

Gradius II (Virtual Console PC Engine)

Again, the PC Engine shames the competition with this excellent port of the arcade sequel to Gradius (not to be confused with the MSX game of a similar name, but which isn’t related to the arcade game). The PC Engine was the first console to use a CD-ROM add-on, though unlike Sega they didn’t waste the space with crappy FMV content and instead used it for high-quality soundtracks and voice samples which are included here thanks to modern compression techniques. It’s a great sequel and chugs along nicely despite some often large, animated objects and enemies. Again, if you like shooters and have a Japanese Wii you’ll want to get this, though I expect if you’re a fan of the series you already own it!

Gradius III (Virtual Console Super Famicom)

Well, Nintendo must have paid Konami to bring this third entry in the series exclusively to the Super Famicom and it’s a shame as Nintendo’s 16-bit console simply isn’t capable of pushing sprites like the PC Engine can. Whilst it looks and sounds great, it slows down far too often given how little action is happening on-screen compared to the first two games and I have no doubt a PC Engine port would have been a much better experience. Nevertheless it’s still playable, with the slowdown being more of a frequent annoyance than a game-breaking issue. The difficulty reduction vis-a-vis the original is definitely welcome, as the arcade game is nigh unplayable by mere mortals. If you’re a big Gradius fan and simply have to have them all, get it, but more casual shooter fans should probably stick with the PC Engine for their fix.