US Releases News, US Releases Features - Page 5 of 5

After last week's disaster, this week's releases are a bit more bearable. First up is Sega's answer to Street Fighter - Eternal Champions. Instead of having fighters from around the world, Eternal Champions has fighters from various time periods! This of course leads to wildly different movesets for each character. The formula has obviously been bettered nowadays, but if you like the genre it's still worthwhile to check out the game.

Hot on the heels of Eternal Champions for pick of the week is Zanac. You might be thinking - "A NES shoot 'em up? Aren't all of those average at best?" For the most part, yeah, they..

After last week's "big" releases for the Wii's one year anniversary, calling this week "underwhelming" would be an understatement. While it's a total of three games, we can't really seriously recommend any of them to everybody. The only good game this week is Vegas Stakes, a gambling simulation for the SNES. It's all well and good for gambling fans, but everybody else (Which is very likely a lot of people) would be better off skipping it unless they're really interested in finding out how the casino world works.

...

The Wii's out a year today in the US, so to celebrate, have another Mario game! Wrecking Crew is one of the more unknown Mario games, frequently not even being mentioned in lists of his games. Despite this, the game has held up very well, and those who've played it agree that's it really fun. With 100 stages and a level editor it's more than worth the price.

Nintendo also apparently found it a good..

Only one exciting VC game for the US today, but it doesn't matter too much - Super Mario Galaxy is out in the US today!

This week's great game is Axelay. One of the SNES's finest shmups (And one of the most loved ones of all time!). It has very unique 3D-esque effects which give it a unique style almost no other game has copied. This one's worth checking out if you like the genre! Whether you like..

With the release of Mario Galaxy next week our pals at Nintendo have decided that the long wait is finally over. Today the North American region gets the sublime Super Mario Bros. 3 for the NES. This game will not need much introduction for most Nintendo fans. You'll have either played it back in the days, on a SNES with Mario All-stars or the GBA port. Either way you cannot afford to be without this. The best game on the Virtual Console to date! (Well next to Super Mario World of course!)

...

Two sequels and a standalone game today, the highlight of the bunch being the standalone one - Magician Lord. This is a great arcade-style platformer (And thus also the first non-fighter Neo Geo game) which features some pretty tough challenges. It's certainly not for the less skilled players! One could argue that it is currently the most arcady game on VC, so if you want that quarter-munching feeling of the good old days, this is for you.

To tie in with Halloween this week, the US gets the appropriately themed Castlevania II. While not completely the same as the first Castlevania, it features m..

Nothing too grand for the US today - two average games and one that leans slightly towards the bad side. Still, you should check them out, as one of the games, Ninja JaJaMaru-kun, is a previously Japan-only game. It's a strange little arcadey platformer, in which you take out ever-stronger enemies through an infinite number of rounds in order to rescue your love, the princess Sakura, from the evil Lord Namazu Dayuu. As with all other import games, it comes at an increased price - 600 Wii Points.

Another NES offering today comes in the form of Lunar Pool. T..

You only got Neo Geo games last week, but now it's time for another treat - The first TurboGrafx-CD game! Gate of Thunder is a stunningly good shoot 'em up that has the power to pretty much destroy any other shmup on VC. A fantastic soundtrack, great graphics (Check out the parallax scrolling!), and fair, fun gameplay (Nothing overly cheap!) all make this a great game to have for any shmup fan. Not one to miss!

Second today is the second title in most peoples' favourite NES ninja series - Ninja Gaiden II. It's a great sequel to the already available original game, but don't expect it to be any easier! Damn..

It's fighting time for the US today, as not one, but three Neo Geo games hit VC. And all three are fighters! All three are the first in their respective series.

First up is Fatal Fury. This is pretty much one of the most well-known fighters besides Street Fighter. It has some neat ideas, such as being able to hop into the background and back to the foreground, but it also has some negative points..

Apparently trying to imitate Europe's past couple of weeks, the US gets two previously Japan-only games this week.

First up is Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels. This game was never released in it's original form outside Japan, no matter what anybody says. The All-Stars and Super Mario Bros. DX versions are both easier, and the SMBDX version even...