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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.