Wii Virtual Console News

February2008

  • News US VC Releases - 18th February - Ninja Gaiden III

    There’s a bit of a surprise this week for North American Virtual Console fans - seemingly out of nowhere comes Tecmo’s Ninja Gaiden III.

    We’ve already had the first two Ninja Gaiden NES titles and this release completes the trilogy, but sadly it also turns out to be the weakest of the three in terms of gameplay. This game is so frustrating it...

  • Review Phantasy Star II (Virtual Console / Sega Mega Drive)

    Hailed as one of the greatest games of all time by fans

    The original Phantasy Star never really had the impact it deserved, mainly thanks to the fact that its host platform - the Sega Master System – failed to sell in significant numbers in the US. The series would have to wait until the introduction of the Genesis/Megadrive before it would gain...

  • News EU VC Releases - 15th February - Sega Week - Phantasy Star II

    In a rather welcome change of pace, this week finally sees more than one new release in Europe. It also brings back Sega Week, which was strangely absent in January (Well, unless you count a single Mega Drive game as a Sega Week).

    The obvious top pick today is Phantasy Star II, a rather well-known Mega Drive RPG which has been rereleased a bunch of...

  • Feature Global Inequality on the Virtual Console

    Time for change?

    In the early days of the Virtual Console it looked likely that although timing differences existing between US and European releases, most (if not all) games would make an appearance in both regions. However, as the US passes the 200 game mark (leaving Europe trailing at 187) we’re seeing a massive disparity between the software...

  • Feature The Great Internal Memory Debate

    With over 200 games currently available on the Virtual Console service and the impending arrival of WiiWare, one thing seems to be concerning a vast number of Wii owners (if the comments on VC:R are anything to go by) and that’s internal memory storage.

    The Wii comes equipped with just 512MB of internal storage for things like game saves, Virtual...

  • News US VC Releases - 11th February - Harvest Moon

    North America is playing catch-up with Europe for a change this week as Harvest Moon and Lords of Thunder hit the Wii Shop. Don't get too excited and rush to your Wii just yet though, we are being a bit naughty in breaking the news two days early! You'll have to wait until Monday to download these beauties!

    The good old days of getting 3-4 new games...

  • Review Lords of Thunder (Virtual Console / TurboGrafx-16)

    Lords of Thunder is a side-scrolling shooter that has you take on the role of a legendary warrior, blasting enemies to heavy-metal tunes.

    TG16 fans thought they’d died and gone to heaven when Gate of Thunder was published for the system. A shooter of truly epic magnitude, it rocketed the underrated machine to the top of the pile when it came to...

  • News EU VC Release - 8th February - Lords of Thunder

    The third (!) week in a row with just one game! You can now download Lords of Thunder, a Turbografx-CD sequel to Gate of Thunder, which is a fantastic game.

    Aside from the fact that the game was listed as costing 600 points instead of the usual 800 (which has now been fixed), there's not much else to report here. Obviously it's annoying that...

  • News Virtual Console Passes 10m Downloads Milestone

    Nintendo has confirmed that its Virtual Console service has successfully recorded 10 million downloads in its opening year.

    Nintendo Supremo Satoru Iwata revealed: Virtual Console saw over ten million downloads by the end of last December. That's the total number of titles people paid to download. I think that selling over ten million classic games...

  • News Kirby's Dream Land 3 Reclassified by ESRB

    After the somewhat dismal pair of US Virtual Console releases this week we thought you could all do with some slightly more joyous news. Kirby’s Dream Land 3 has been re-classified by the ESRB!

    For those of you that don't know, ESRB stands for Entertainment Software Rating Board. These guys rate all of the software that is released in the US and...

  • Review Columns III: Revenge of Columns (Virtual Console / Sega Mega Drive)

    Oooh it's the revenge of Columns - I'm really scared!

    Sega’s answer to Tetris is back once again. The first Columns has already been released on the Virtual Console and Sega never bothered to port the Columns II arcade game to the Megadrive/Genesis, so we swiftly move on to Columns III. While not terribly innovative in terms of concept, the...

  • Review Operation Wolf (Virtual Console / NES)

    Operation initiated! Rescue the prisoners!

    Operation Wolf was a massive hit in arcades when it was released in 1987. Although the concept of light gun games wasn’t a new one, Taito’s imposing arcade cabinet (replete with uber-cool replica Uzi) certainly made a lasting impact on gamers worldwide. Predictably, it was ported to pretty much every...

  • News Hardware Focus - Sega Master System

    When Nintendo announced that the Virtual Console would be supporting the Sega Master System console you can bet that there were a fair few American gamers scratching their heads in a rather quizzical manner.

    The console was a complete failure in the US thanks to a combination of poor marketing, terrible distribution, woefully misjudged software...

  • News US VC Releases - 4th February - Operation Wolf

    You can practically hear the sound of a funeral march as this week’s North American Virtual Console releases slowly appear from out of the impenetrable mist…

    Those of you that moaned about the solo-game weeks will be heartened to learn that you have two games to choose from today, but the bad news is that both aren’t really worth downloading...

January2008

  • News EU VC Releases - 1st February - Adventures of Lolo 2

    The drought on new games coming to the Virtual Console continues for yet another week as Europe gets just one game today. We’ll try our best to smile because Adventures of Lolo 2 is a great game for anyone who likes puzzlers but we can’t help feeling a little disappointed at Nintendo’s lack of support for the VC of late.

    Lolo and Lala are back...

  • Feature Are Virtual Console games good value for money?

    Here at VC Reviews we keenly appreciate the advantages of owning Virtual Console games as opposed to tracking down the original cartridge releases from car boot sales and eBay. If anything it frees up our living room from all those consoles, controllers and wires which used to once dominate. However are we getting a good deal? Is it better value for money to track down the original carts of games we used to play back in the days rather than cough up for downloads from the Wii Shop?

    ...

  • News Check out the updated Check Mii Out channel

    As it is my birthday tomorrow I had hoped the glowing blue light emitting from my American Wii this morning was a VC gift from a generous friend. Unfortnately it was not to be - it was a prompt to update the ‘Check Mii Out’ channel instead!

    These are the improvements made to the channel: It's now easier to find Miis you've put up in the Posting...

  • News Wii Neo Geo Joystick Coming in April

    It had to happen. With SNK supporting the Virtual Console and consequently making some of its wonderful 2D fighting games available for download, it was almost inevitable that someone, somewhere would look at producing a more ‘suitable’ control method than is currently offered by the Wiimote, Cube pad and Classic Controller.

    Japanese retailer...

  • News Phantasy Star II Confirmed by ESRB

    Lucky Japanese gamers got their chance to enjoy the game today, but the recent certification of Phantasy Star II by the ESRB confirms that the classic Genesis/Megadrive RPG is coming to Western shores, too.

    This isn’t a tremendous surprise as the game has been released in the West several times, but it’s certainly worth looking forward to...

  • Competition Win a Classic Controller! - Caption competition

    At 'Virtual Console Reviews' from time to time we like to give a little back to our readers. This is your opportunity to win a brand new Classic Controller from PlayAsia which we will send directly to your door (Anywhere in EU, North America, Australia, etc)

    The Classic Controller is a must have peripheral for anyone who is serious about gaming on...

  • Feature The Sega Master System Rap

    Now that the Sega Master System is joining the ranks of consoles that are emulated on the Virtual Console we thought it would be the ideal time to reveal the infamous "Sega Mastermix '90" to the world!

    Back in 1990, Virgin (then the UK distributors of Sega hardware and software) were aggressively marketing the Sega Master System and...

  • News US VC Releases - 28th January - 1080 Snowboarding

    The days of getting three (or more) Virtual Console games each week seem like a distant memory to us now. Yet again, Nintendo has released just one game for the US Virtual Console, but the blow is softened considerably by the fact that it’s an excellent N64 release! Better to spend your Wii points on one decent title than three rubbish ones, eh?

    1...

  • News Japanese Virtual Console list - February 2008

    Quite an uninteresting month this time. It seems like all companies are just putting out a bunch of backlogged games so that they're on there and they don't have to worry about them anymore. Japan also gets the Sega Master System this month, but with only one game. As usual there's also a new N64 game! Here's the list:

    Japanese VC list - February...

  • News Master System Games Coming to The VC!

    The first new Virtual Console channel of 2008 has been confirmed and Sega fans should be rejoicing as it's the 8-bit Master System that will be getting the VC treatment. Game Gear software will also to be released under the same channel (which makes sense as technically the two consoles shared the same technology).

    The first games in Japan will be...

  • News Smash Bros. Brawl to include VC Demos!

    As announced on the Smash Bros. DOJO website, Nintendo is including several Virtual Console demos with the upcoming (and eagerly awaited) Smash Bros. Brawl!

    The idea is that gamers can have the chance to familiarize themselves with the past exploits of the many famous Brawl fighters. So you can kick Koopa ass with Mario, hack and slash with Link or...

  • News EU VC Releases - 25th January - Super Street Fighter II

    VC gamers in Europe only get one game tonight in what seems to be becoming a trend for recent releases on the VC. C'mon Nintendo, surely you can give us more games than this each week? Anyway, lets not look a gift horse in the mouth - when the game is as good as Super Street Fighter II on the SNES who can complain?

    For somebody only wishing to buy...

  • Feature Portable Virtual Console - A Reality?

    It’s safe to say that the Virtual Console has been a massive success for Nintendo. The company has confirmed that an astonishing number of gamers are delving into the past and gleefully downloading retro content to their Wii consoles. So long as Nintendo can keep a steady flow of quality titles then the future of the service is all but assured.

    Bu...

  • News Original Smash Bros Coming to VC?

    The eagerly awaited Wii release of Super Smash Bros. Brawl may have been delayed slightly but fans are busy filling the time from now until March by getting all excited about the possibility of the original N64 game making its way to the Virtual Console.

    The cause of this excited chatter is the latest issue of Nintendo Power, which apparently...

  • Review Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers (Wii Virtual Console / Super Nintendo)

    Street Fighter made super

    Gazing back into the mists of time, you can’t help but be amazed that Capcom managed to get everyone so excited about each new Street Fighter II update. On the Virtual Console alone we’ve already had two versions of the game, and now here’s the third! Thankfully, the improvements between the first SNES release and the...

  • Review Adventures of Lolo 2 (Virtual Console / NES)

    Lolo and Lala are back in this sequel to the popular puzzle game Adventures of Lolo.

    So you liked the original Adventures of Lolo and want more? Well, look no further. The sequel's basically the exact same. Like the first game, the objective is to collect all the Heart Framers in a room to open up a treasure chest. Then you enter the next room, and...

  • News US VC Releases - 21st January - Super Street Fighter II

    The second update to Capcom's legendary fighter Street Fighter II arrives in the US today - Super Street Fighter II introduces many new things (Including fan favourite fighter Cammy), but also removes some things from the first update - Street Fighter II Turbo. There's only one SNES Street Fighter game left now - Street Fighter Alpha 2!

    It was a bit...

  • News Revamped Site is Now Live!

    VC Reviews gets an upgrade

    No, your eyes are not deceiving you. Your favourite Virtual Console resource has undergone something of a facelift. At first glance the cosmetic changes may seem a bit on the minor side, but it would be an understatement to say that behind the scenes the site has been revolutionized. You’ll notice there’s now a rather...

  • Review 1080° Snowboarding (Virtual Console / Nintendo 64)

    Thrills and chills

    1080° Snowboarding is a title that divided gamers when it was first released. Here was a game that mixed Nintendo's usual penchant for killer gameplay with a more serious subject matter than the company was used to dealing with. It got lazily compared to fellow N64 stable mate Wave Race and came out looking worse, because it was...

  • News EU VC Releases - 18th January - 1080 Snowboarding

    Tennnn Eightyyy

    Hot on the heels of Japan, who got the game on Tuesday, Europe has gotten the next N64 game - 1080 Snowboarding! This is another "realistic" racer, similar to Wave Race 64, except that you're, of course, snowboarding instead of riding jetskis. Like the other 3 N64 racers on VC, it holds up quite well and is well worth checking out...

  • Review Pac-Attack (Wii Virtual Console / Super Nintendo)

    Watch your back or Pac will attack, you don't want that!

    Not even Pac-Man escaped the 8 and 16-bit eras without a spinoff puzzle game to his name. Pac-Attack was an obvious cash-in by Namco on games like Tetris, Dr. Mario, and Puyo-Puyo, but it's actually quite good! The game is an edited version of the arcade game Cosmo Gang the Puzzle (based on...

  • Review Riot Zone (Virtual Console / TurboGrafx-16)

    I predict a riot!

    Released back when the scrolling fighter was still seen as a massive money-spinner, Riot Zone (AKA: Crest of Wolf in Japan) was Hudson’s attempt at muscling in on the territory traditionally presided over by Capcom (Final Fight, Captain Commando, Knights of the Round, etc) and Sega (Streets of Rage, Golden Axe). Now let’s not...

  • News Pac-Man Munches His Way To The US Virtual Console

    Another fun-filled week in retroland

    First, allow us to have a grumble. Since the New Year started Nintendo seem to think VC gamers are happy with less rather than more; the usual policy of releasing three games each week has been thrown out of the window and we're lucky to get two some weeks. Shame. Anyway, rant over. This week's North American VC...

  • News US VC Releases - 14th January - Pac-Attack

    Pac Attack

    From out of nowhere (It was not previously announced or rated) comes Pac-Attack, a surprisingly good Pac-Man rendition of the falling block puzzle genre. In this one out of few Pac-Man spinoffs, your job is to keep the screen clear of blocks and ghosts, by creating rows of blocks and letting Pac-Man eat the ghosts. Today's other game is...

  • News Euro VC - Alien Storm And Startropics

    A weather report concerning xenomorphs?

    European Virtual Console fans expecting the normal ‘three game’ service to be resumed this week are likely to be disappointed by the news that only two (count ‘em) titles were made available for download today. Startropics (which was released on the North American Virtual Console on Monday) is an...

  • News EU VC Releases - 11th January - StarTropics

    Once again, Europe does not get 3 or more games this week. And once again, Nintendo seems to try and make up for it by making one of the games they do release a great one (The other is ok). Well, at least it wasn't just one game again! The great game this time is StarTropics, the first of only two games in Nintendo's (unfortunately) dead franchise of the same name. It's a lot like the original The Legend of Zelda, with some improvements, leading some to refer to it as "everything Zelda II should've been". It's still a mystery why Nintendo killed this franchise off. Let's hope for StarTropics 3 someday!

    ...

  • News Goldeneye NOT Virtual Console Bound?

    Xbox site Xbox Evolved has posted a rather worrying story regarding the N64 classic Goldeneye. According to the site, Rare is gearing up to publish the game on Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade service.

    Rare apparently has already started to seek the permission of current Bond licence holder Activision. Other classic Rare titles such as Perfect Dark and...

  • News Goldeneye Not Coming To Virtual Console After All?

    N64 fans, look away now

    Since the Virtual Console appeared there's been one game that Nintendo fans have called for at the very top of their voices. Rare's Goldeneye is rightly seen as a classic N64 title and, for a while at least, it seemed like the chances of it appearing on the download service were actually quite good. Until now, that is. A...

  • Review StarTropics (NES)

    Embark on an extraordinary adventure

    On first sight, StarTropics looks eerily like Zelda (in fact, when you start it up, there's the same name entry screen!). So you might be thinking, what's all the fuss about? StarTropics is about a typical American teenager, Mike Jones, who heads to the tropics to meet his archaeologist uncle after receiving a...

  • News King Of Fighters '94 And StarTropics Hit US Virtual Console

    Fighting or island exploration - the choice is yours

    It’s Monday and that can mean only one thing – more Virtual Console games to enjoy. Thankfully US Wii owners have two brilliant titles to download and enjoy this week. King of Fighters ’94 is the first in the long running series and represents one of the best 2D fighters of the era. The...

  • News US VC Releases - 7th January - StarTropics

    Two cult classics for the US today. First is StarTropics, the first in an (unfortunately) dead Nintendo series which spanned only two games. The game borrows heavily from Zelda, but is a lot more light-hearted and, according to quite a few people, more fun. The original game required a letter which came packed with the game in order to progress at one point - If anybody who played the game on NES can download it on VC and see for us how they fixed this, it would be appreciated.

    ...

  • Review Harvest Moon (Wii Virtual Console / Super Nintendo)

    Farm life

    Harvest Moon, a role-playing game based around the noble profession of farming, was one of the later Super NES releases when it arrived in 1997. If you are not familiar with this series, stay with us — it's not as bad or as boring as it sounds on paper This is basically The Sims on a farm. So, if you're a fan of simulation and RPG...

  • News Harvest Moon Is Sole Euro VC Release

    Time to get your hands dirty with Natsume's classic farming simulator

    If crop rotation, livestock breeding and getting up at the crack of dawn seem like entertaining concepts to you, then you’ll no doubt be over the 'moon' (ho ho!) with the latest serving of retro goodness on the European Virtual Console. It’s hard to believe that a game about...

  • News EU VC Release - 4th January - Harvest Moon

    After ending 2007 with a one-game week, people hoped Nintendo would start the next year with multiple games. Unfortunately, they fail to deliver, and it's one game once again!

    Just like last week, it's not a complete mess, however, as it's a quality title - Harvest Moon for the SNES. This is the first game in the popular farming series, and it's...

December2007

  • News US VC Releases - 31st December - Light Crusader

    The US plays catchup today, as they get three games Europe's already had a while. All of them are good, though, so hopefully no complaining this time!

    Leading the pack is Treasure's Genesis RPG, Light Crusader. This is to this day probably Treasure's only Western game, featuring almost no obvious Japanese influence. It's also usually named as one of...

  • News Japanese Virtual Console List - January 2008

    Not quite as much games for Japan in January as in previous months, but that doesn't really matter when almost every one that's getting released is a "big" title, including the next N64 game. Take a look:

    Japanese VC schedule for January: Famicom: Yie Air Kung Fu (January 8th) (Master Takahashi's) Adventure Island Devil World Mappy Super...

  • Review Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! (Wii Virtual Console / Super Nintendo)

    Double the trouble, double the fun?

    After the stellar Donkey Kong Country 2, people were wondering if the third game would be even more amazing. It was released very late in the SNES's lifecycle, so naturally it was expected that Rare would be pulling out all the stops. In DK Country 3’s storyline, both DK and Diddy have been kidnapped. You're...

  • News EU Christmas surprise - Donkey Kong Country 3

    Many gamers in Europe and Australia were feeling left out when North America got Donkey Kong Country 3 for their Christmas Eve update. Don't worry Nintendo of Europe haven't forgotton you and have sneakily released it on Christmas day instead! Now stop your moaning! :-)

    DKC3 is the final game in the DKC trilogy. The game was released late in the...

  • News US VC Releases - Christmas Eve - Donkey Kong Country 3

    Merry Christmas! Nintendo's gift for Americans is the final game in the DKC trilogy, Donkey Kong Country 3! The game was released late in the SNES's life, meaning a lot of people missed out on it. Now is the time to make up for that mistake, as it's a great game, although not as good as DKC2. Here's a secret - Enter your name on the file select screen as "MERRY" for a very Christmas-y experience!

    Today's other releases probably won't cater to as much people, unfortunately. Blades of Steel is one of very f...

  • Review Skate or Die! (Virtual Console / NES)

    Hop on your board and take part in five extreme skate events!

    Long before the Tony Hawk’s franchise made skateboarding games mainstream the cool kids got their kicks on Skate or Die for the NES. The action begins in Rodney Recloose’s skateboard shop. He’s a crazy middle-aged dude with a blue Mohawk who organises different event such as...

  • Review Blades of Steel (Virtual Console / NES)

    With sharpened blades and a lethal stick, you slash into a rink surrounded by thousands of screaming fans.

    Blades of Steel, much like one of Konami's other NES sports games, Double Dribble, was loved all over the world back in the day. Double Dribble didn't hold up that well, so you may wonder how its ice hockey has fared. Actually, it has aged...

  • News Euro Virtual Console - 21st December

    Admit it - you were expecting Super Mario RPG, weren't you?

    With Christmas just around the corner you might have expected Nintendo to release something really special for download on the Virtual Console. Sadly, they've pushed out three titles that don't exactly get pulses racing. Here's the lowdown from our friends at Virtual Console Reviews: Our...

  • News EU VC Releases - 21st December - Blades of Steel

    Our pals at Nintendo haven't exactly pushed the boat out this week with festive spirit sadly. Still it could be worse! We finally have Blades of Steel on the NES, even before North America! For those not in the know this is one of the best, if not THE best ice hockey game from the 8-bit era. Very often NES games feel tired with age but the gameplay is still as much fun as ever with this one!

    Another NES game in the shape of Skate or Die is also up for grabs on the VC today. It's quite a fun skateboarding game but unlike Blades of St...

  • News Lords Of Thunder Coming To The VC

    Superb retro-style 2D blasting action is coming to a Wii near you!

    Although we don’t usually do individual updates for Virtual Console releases, this latest bit of news is so special we think it’s warranted - Lords of Thunder is VC inbound, people. The Australian Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC for short) has rated the game,...

  • News Stars Points For Wii Points Debacle

    The Wii points exchange dream is slowly turning into a nightmare...

    A few days ago we reported on the news that long suffering PAL Wii owners had wanted to hear since the machine hit European stores: Nintendo had at long last given us the chance to trade our (generally useless) Stars/VIP points for Wii points! The result? Nintendo's new-look site...

  • Review Alien Storm (Virtual Console / Sega Mega Drive)

    Shape-shifting aliens have infiltrated the city, creating chaos and panic!

    There’s an alien invasion. Save the people! Kill the aliens! Not the most original premise for a game, granted, but Alien Storm carries its heart on its sleeve. Pretensions of artistry and greatness are laid aside; the story serves only as fodder to introduce baddies that...

  • Review Monster Lair (Virtual Console / TurboGrafx-16)

    Join young Adam and Laura as they embark on a fantastic adventure in this comical action/shooting game.

    Before you get excited, this isn’t your traditional Wonderboy adventure. Although we’ve already been blessed with Virtual Console versions of the quite frankly sublime Wonderboy in Monsterworld (Genesis / Mega Drive) and the exceptional...

  • News Hardware Focus: SNK Neo Geo

    Of all the machines covered by the Virtual Console service, the Neo Geo is easily the most coveted and unattainable.

    Never before had a console screamed 'elite'; when it was first released it comfortably outstripped the performance of rival machines and made good on SNK's promise that you could have an arcade in your living room. Then again, there...

  • News US VC Releases - 17th December - Cybernator

    A lot of shooting in today's three US games! First up is Cybernator, the SNES game where you control a large robotic suit and blast your way through a multitude of stages. It's one of the more popular "lesser known" SNES games and as such is quite a cult classic.

    The second game today is Monster Lair, the TurboGrafx-CD version of Wonder...

  • News Europe: Stars = Wii Points

    Nintendo Europe have finally relaunched their website, its looking nice and tidy and has one special new feature you've all been waiting for...

    It’s the news that our most loyal members have been waiting for, and today we are happy to announce that we can finally unveil the eagerly awaited Wii Points Card Shop! The Wii Points Card Shop is the...

  • Review Mega Man 2 (Wii Virtual Console / NES)

    Can Mega Man save the world again?

    Surprisingly, the original Mega Man (or Rockman, as the series is known in Japan) did not perform very well. Initially reluctant, Capcom allowed its creator Keiji Inafune to create a sequel as a side-project in his own spare time, however, and with the effort of a few colleagues and a lot of time, he created Mega...

  • Review Top Hunter: Roddy & Cathy (Virtual Console / Neo Geo)

    Take on the role of either Roddy or Cathy, bounty hunters in this side-scrolling action game set far in the future when humans have colonized space.

    I'm sure many have played at least one game in SNK's awesome shoot 'em up franchise, Metal Slug. But did you know that SNK also created a game that's similar, yet at the same time quite different? They...

  • News EU VC Releases - 14th December - Mega Man 2

    After already releasing Pokemon Snap earlier in the week, some people wondered whether Nintendo would release games at the normal time as well. Thankfully they did - And they included one of the greatest NES games in the update as well! Mega Man 2 is usually called the best classic Mega Man series game ever made (With heavy competition from Mega Man 3 - Which I personally find better). It's the only Mega Man game with an easier mode (Making it perfect for series newcomers), it's got an absolutely amazing soundtrack for the time, it's slightly less linear, and it's just plain fun! If you've never played it, do yourself a favour and do so now!

    ...

  • News Surprise EU VC Release - Pokemon Snap + worldwide Photo Channel update

    As some of you might have already noticed this morning, everybody's favourite blue Wii light was flashing. If you turn on your Wii you'll have gotten a message from Nintendo alerting you that the Wii Shop gift feature is now available (After a Wii Shop update). But that's not all!

    Nintendo of Europe also saw fit to release Pokemon Snap together with...

  • Review Ghosts 'n Goblins (Wii Virtual Console / NES)

    Arthur's first ghostly quest

    You thought Ghouls 'n Ghosts and Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts were hard? The NES original, Ghosts 'n Goblins set the bar. The main focus of the game is pretty much the same as in the sequels. Princess Prin-Prin has been kidnapped by demons and Arthur, the one-man army, sets out to rescue her. He's armed with only a lance and...

  • Review Pokémon Snap (Virtual Console / Nintendo 64)

    Playing this is a snap

    Pokémon Snap's an odd one - it's not an adventure game like the handheld versions or a fighting game like those on the console. Instead, you have to take pictures of Pokémon! You play as Todd, who you might know from the anime. He has been asked by Professor Oak to take pictures of the various Pokémon around the island for...

  • News Give Virtual Console Games As Gifts

    Nintendo have announced a new feature of the Wii Shop channel, allowing users to buy VC games as presents for friends registered via the friend code system.

    Later in the day on Monday, Nintendo will make your holiday shopping just a little bit easier. If some people on your gift list have visions of classic video games dancing in their heads, you're...

  • News Wii Gift feature out now in EU and US

    The long-awaited Wii Shop gift feature has launched in both Europe and the US! Now you can send your friend(s) VC games! Naturally you have to pay for them first, and there's no discount or anything, but hey, surely you want to let your friends enjoy Urban Champion as well, right?

    The full quote about the feature from today's press release is as...

  • News US VC Releases - 10th December - Pokemon Snap

    The first Pokemon game hits VC in the US today! It's the strange but fun Pokemon Snap for Nintendo 64, where instead of capturing Pokemon in Pokeballs, you capture them on film. The game itself is good fun, but as an overall package it is a bit lacking. Still, if you're a Pokemon fan, better make do with this, because this will most likely be one of extremely few Pokemon titles to come to VC (We think the only other one will be Pokemon Puzzle League). Another thing worth considering is that this version of Pokemon Snap has a VC-exclusive feature!

    ...

  • Review Cybernator (Wii Virtual Console / Super Nintendo)

    Don't be a Cybernator hater

    The Japanese have a real love for big robots that hasn't entirely crossed over into the West. Thankfully Cybernator (AKA: Assault Suit Valken) - a follow up to the Megadrive Assault Suit Leynos/Target Earth - made the jump from East to West and remains one of the more memorable SNES shooters. After the mission-based...

  • Review Rolling Thunder 2 (Virtual Console / Sega Mega Drive)

    Bring the thunder!

    Rolling Thunder 2 is a conversion of Namco’s 1990 sequel to its original James Bond themed Shinobi-like game. The Megadrive home version is faithful to the arcade original in terms of gameplay and features a few improvements, including cut scenes between levels that feature some lovely artwork, 3 additional stages and some new...