@Betagam7 I went for Monster Land instead as at least SEGA present their arcade games in 60Hz.

50Hz only has put me off many VC downloads.

@Alucard The 'waggle' jump exploit seemed to increase the number of 68 golds earned, I didnt play the arcade before so not sure if its altered. Snow Kong took many attempts to beat, but as is the sign of a great arcade game, I kept hitting continue!

@Alucard I'll be trying again with the subquest and extra gold exploit, Snow Kong was very difficult to beat! I did download the Master System version but found it a bit slow in 50Hz, glad to see this arcade release.

I really enjoy this game, it balances arcade gameplay with a bit of exploration, strategy and character upgrading - really tough bosses, the autofire on my Hori arcade stick helped!

Managed to get to the last (maze like) stage then must have forgot to add credits, or you cant continue from there, as found myself at the title screen when I lost. Another very worthwhile SEGA VC arcade release. Also runs in 60Hz in PAL regions, with a nice scan line option on the emulator for that 80s look.

50Hz only, that is such a poor way to present this gave after the effort of translating it. I wont download Monster World IV as I dont want to play a slow and bordered version. SEGA Europe should change this and offer 60Hz display, at least with imports as Nintendo does on the VC.

Sounds like they have not optimised for PAL at all...

I like their new VC arcade emulation fuctions though - scan lines for that authentic 80s screen look, glad to see Monster Land get released.

I will still be disappointed if after all this effort, SEGA supply Monster World IV without a 60Hz display option in PAL regions, leaving us with a slower and bordered 50Hz version of the game.
I'm still hoping the original Game Gear Sonic makes it to 3DS VC, I think its the best one on there.

@madgear Agree about the quality of players online - I played SCE for hours on end when it was released in the 90s, playing through the game with all characters. Playing this game online now, I get the feeling a few other people did the same!

@James though the 50Hz thing really does annoy me with the VC, I think the four star speed is ok. What is confusing is that both players have control on the menus but you cant communicate, so it is easy to set the wrong speed, or adjust the strength setting by mistake when you are trying to select a stage. The borders are also annoying, but at least the music is the right speed.

@Betagam7 Be interesting to see, if they've gone to the trouble of adding online play it would seem simple to add a 60Hz display mode, I think may also sell better with that option.
On the Megadrive, I preferred Special Champion Edition anyway.
Surprised that the Wii shop still claims Megadrive imports run at 60Hz when they don’t, I recall Ironclad had the same misinformation when it was first released.

@Betagam7 Yes - the SNES version has the usual partial optimisation on the VC, reducing the boarders.

I'm also interested to see how this game is presented, if it runs in 50Hz only, I wonder would that limit potential online play to other PAL regions...

Playing through the Game Gear version of Shinobi last night reminded my why I was such a big SEGA fan back in the early 90s. The 3DS would be great for new versions of SEGA Rally or OutRun 2.

I’m hoping for continuing Game Gear VC support at least, I really like the emulator they have put together for 3DS.

I'd rather play the first Sonic on Game Gear than any of the later titles. Its relative simplicity allowed the game to move at a decent speed and smaller sprites accommodated a better overall view of the stages. Weird SEGA has chosen not to start at the beginning.

I'd prefer the arcade version of Strider, I still have the original cart for the Megadrive.
On VC this will almost certainly be 50Hz in PAL regions, as everything else (even imports) on the Megadrive is.

I still have both the Master System and Game Gear versions of Sonic 1 and much prefer the redrawn colourful look of the Game Gear version (his shoes are red for one thing). Levels were slightly adapted for the smaller screen size. For PAL gamers it also ran faster than the 50Hz Master System version.

I think Sonic Adventure DX did not emulate the game very well, as I found glitches that were not present in the original.

I think the original Game Gear Sonic is one of the best on the platform - so I hope SEGA put that game on the VC at some point.

First Sonic game on the Game Gear is an excellent version, better than the Master System with nice redrawn graphics for the small screen.
Hope they release that, as I prefered it to the sequels such as Triple Trouble.

Very cool, with this and Game Gear games (re)confirmed, its a good day for news!

Great news - my Game Gear screen has seen better days (as has the speaker), so playing on a 3DS should be good! Hope Sonic 1 comes to 3DS VC at some point as the Game Gear version looked nicer than the Master System. Also really liked GG Shinobi.

@James - I still have the Saturn version of KoF '97 (& Metal Slug), plays great but the loading is a bit slow!

Have the Orochi Saga on Wii (which also supports 60Hz), so will be skipping this VC release.

With the 3DS I just went for lowest priced available colour at the time, so have the black version which looks cool to me. I have a white DS lite and the 'Classic NES' GBA.

Sega should put some racing games on 3DS, imagine how great Sega Rally or Outrun 2 could be...

I have fond memories of playing Balloon Kid, will be downloading it!

@JamieO No problem, any excuse to dig through the Megadrive collection!

@Jazzem
@JamieO

I've not played this one for ages but just tried the original PAL cart in 50Hz and 60Hz on a Megadrive.

The music played correctly in both, which is weird as I also thought I remembered that the music was slow in the PAL version... Oh well, seems the music may run at the correct speed afterall.

The fluid gameplay does suffer a bit at the slower speed, also there are the borders... still, not as badly as PAL Sonic!

This is one of those early Megadrive games with no PAL optimisation at 50Hz, I have the cart and can play that at 60Hz, so I wont get this version.
I would download Strider if it was the arcade version...

Another EU release that weirdly didnt show up in the UK. Suppose I could now import from the US.

Played the demo, bought the game. £3.50 is around what I'd pay for a C64 game in the early 90s, afterall. I've played through the first Championship on easy and had no problems drifting with the tilt controls myself, seems like a fun racer and I like the various retro references.

Ha, first time I played the first was rental from blockbuster too. I knew almost nothing about the game and had just bought a Saturn. The opening seems cheesy now, but looked so cool then.

I remember playing as Chris and meeting the first Zombie - scary stuff! RE2 impressed me too, but the later games never really matched those initial impressions.

@James - cheers for the information, even if it is disappointing...
Odd though, SEGA are normally quick to make their retro games available to download services and there was the initial announcement in Japan, back in March. The 3DS VC really needs to improve, Game Boy alone is wasted potential.

Terrible update. Any word from SEGA about the Game Gear, I'm starting to think we wont see it at all on 3DS.

Well, its no 'Hello Kitty' Dreamcast or 'this is cool' saturn, but it looks quite neat. Cant really afford to collect these special editition consoles these days though, can only justify buying one to play games, and I already have a Wii.

Great review Jamie, played the game for a few hours today and also think it'll make me watch the movies again. Much like Alien 3 on the Megadrive, it seems to capture the atmosphere really well.

I played this on the Dreamcast to the point were I had almost unlocked Green Hill, could never quite get those last few icons required though. Then I bought a memory card 2nd hand and there it was, a completed game save.

I actually still prefer the original with its 'adventure fields' (forget the voice acting, I'd prefer Japanese with subtitles anyway). Adventure 2 is not a game I've really gone back to play, none of them beat the first Megadrive game for me.

@misswliu81 I still have these three games, Quackshot is great.
The Master System also had some excellent 8-bit Disney games, it's own different version of Castle of Illusion and Donald in The Lucky Dime Caper.

Quack Attack, or Quackshot?
World of Illusion is also good, with differing levels if you play as Mickey, Donald or both. Very easy though.

Not too worried about this on VC as I always have the cart near the top of my Megadrive collection. Could make a great '3D Classic' or remake on 3DS, if done well.

Looks like she stepped out of 'No More Heros'. I prefered the Gamecube remake style character designs to those since RE5. Seeing a hulked up Chris punching a boulder was pretty silly too.

Still, the game does look good so far.

@JamieO - I think without been able to attach a screen to the Saturn and carry it about, GBA SEGA Arcade Gallery is where its at.

Retro Gamer is first and only games magazine I've bought every month since the 16-bit days.

Emulation on Smash Pack was bad on Dreamcast and GBA. I might need to check out that TMNT game as well. GBA has so many great games, listing ten cant be easy...

@JamieO - Yep, I remember playing Double Dragon, Final Fight and Shinobi in the arcades way back when. The GBA updates were great, with the exception of Shinobi. I'd give a mention to the GBA versions of Out Run and Super Hang-On too, as they are pretty good considering the hardware.

Retro Gamer Magazine has a feature on the GBA this month and also reminded me about Ninja Cop / Five-O as a great Shinobi type game, so I'll be looking to get a copy.

I hope they dont mess this up, NL's early impressions didnt sound great. I'm also hoping for Spring yard, UP ON CPU.
I think the one on the right is Casino Night, I recall that had buildings in the background and some neon palm trees.

Final Fight One was good, but daft that Capcom repeated the SNES censorship on the GBA, which made me go for the Japanese version. For me, Double Dragon Advance (which I had to Import from the US) is probably the better game overall.
Good choices, I really need to try Ninja Cop as I'm a fan of classic Shinobi games.

I read that the city is somewhat similar to that found in 'COP the Recruit' on DS, which is odd as that game had more traffic and people on the streets. This game looks a bit lazy overall.

I was still thinking of getting it as I like driving games and you can turn the voices off, but at £40 for such little content... I'll wait for a price drop.

I have a US copy I'm intending to play on the Wii, I did play it on Gamecube but never finished the game. Doesnt seem like ten years ago, but then my first games console was Atari 2600...

I am a fan of these games! Be good if you could get retro consoles for your house in this one, where you could play the VC games off the SD card. I suppose it would be a bit pointless, but neat - I had a whole NES games room set up in the Game Cube version.

I liked the DS version and it really suited a handheld console, but a shame it lacked many features of the original. This has the potential to be the best Animal Crossing yet.

Nice one, good to see a site as well put together as Nintendo Life get some exposure on the e-shop too.

Looks weird, I dont like the fact that the screen would now be a bit to the left while playing - not that I expect any of the games I would be interested in playing on the 3DS would benefit much from this.

Good for those who want to play Monster Hunter or FPS games on 3DS though.

There are some classic games here and I am very pleased to see NES games finally get released in Europe running at the correct speed. I agree they look great on the 3DS screen too, better that the GBA versions released individually as NES Classics.

I'm also getting used to the d-pad on the 3DS and find it quite precise for games I played for countless hours back in the day, like Super Mario Land.

I found the reaction a bit over the top... I really doubt there will be a two stick redesign, but if there is, good for people who enjoy Monster Hunter or those as yet to be produced 3DS fps games.

If I decide to get into that genre, I suppose I could buy the add-on. Now, when is the 'arcade stick' attachment coming out?

I still think the 3DS will do ok, and getting the console out there is half the task.
Many people have less money at the moment though, so I really think Nintendo should also improve the content of the e-shop (VC and 3DSware) as an affordable alternative to retail releases.

Regards retro collectng - I actually find buying Megadrive games can often be cheaper than VC downloads, and I can buy games that would not get a legal re-release on modern consoles.

I would say space can be an issue, but I'd also rather play games on the original hardware if possible. I wouldnt swap my retro collection for a bunch of downloads.