Wii Virtual Console Reviews
Review Spin Master (Virtual Console / Neo Geo)
Not masterful, but still pretty good
With probably about half of the Neo Geo's library of games consisting of fighting games, it's always nice to see another platformer for the system released on VC. In Spin Master, you take control of either Johnny or Tom as you try to recover five pieces of a lost treasure map and rescue Johnny's girlfriend. It's...
Review Super E.D.F. Earth Defense Force ( / Super Nintendo)
Emergency on planet earth
Back in the 16-bit wars, the SNES was unquestionably the comfortable winner when it came to RPGs. Sega's Mega Drive (or Genesis, depending on where in the world you're reading this) was completely and utterly outclassed in this area, despite the presence of brilliant titles such as Shining Force, LandStalker and Light...
Review The Addams Family: Pugsley's Scavenger Hunt (Super Nintendo)
The hunter becomes the hunted
Following their release of the first Super Nintendo Addams Family game, Ocean Software’s programmer, James Higgins, gave an interview to Super Play magazine to promote the development of their second, Pugsley’s Scavenger Hunt. He highlighted the fact that the arcade platforming feel of this sequel was initially...
What the macabre sixties sitcom were they thinking?
Uncle Fester of the Addams Family has to save the world from aliens in this cheap cash in on a beloved franchise. So, why is Fester's Quest so terrible? The reasons go on and on. This will remind you to go enjoy a nice day outside, play a board game or clean your kitchen. Any activity you could...
Woooo-ooh!
As part of our celebration week for the 30th Anniversary of the Famicom system, we'll highlight some key retro reviews to highlight the best of what the 8-bit system had to offer. Today we have DuckTales, and don't forget to click the Famicom banner on the homepage to see our content for this special occasion. Isn't it great when a...
Review Street Hoop (Virtual Console / Neo Geo)
Slam dunk or flagrant foul?
While many of the other consoles of the time were receiving a good variety of basketball offerings, the Neo Geo system was relegated to just one. Data East's Street Hoop passed over the traditional basketball experience in favour of a more playground-esque 3-on-3 style, complete with backboard shaking dunks and a wealth...
Review Addams Family Values (Super Nintendo)
The Legend of Addams
When anyone drops a mention of licensed games, it's generally appropriate to tune out. With very, very few exceptions, almost every single game based on a movie, TV series, comic or what-have-you is mediocre at best, and frequently completely terrible. There are exceptions – everybody knows about classics like DuckTales and...
Review The Addams Family (Super Nintendo)
Morticia's marooned in a maniac mansion
Throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, Manchester-based Ocean Software became synonymous with movie licensed games and established themselves as the go-to developer for Hollywood. They delivered their software on the home computers that were flourishing at the time and handled a huge list of movie...
Review Resident Evil 2 (Nintendo 64)
The horror continues
Leon Kennedy's having a tough first day at work. As with every new job, there are new people to meet and new challenges to face – namely, zombies and killing said zombies. Capcom's Resident Evil 2 follows two concurrent storylines: that of Leon, a police officer, and Claire Redfield, who's in town to investigate the...
Review NBA Jam (Super Nintendo)
The very definition of Boomshakalaka
Released amid a surge in the popularity of professional basketball during the early 1990s, NBA Jam rode the wave along with many other basketball video games. In spite of all the competition, it became a legend in its own time and is still remembered fondly today. Often sport-based games become obsolete a year...
A super-sized side-scrolling McVenture
The time from 1990 to 1994 was the golden age of games as starring vehicles for junk food mascots. Few remember, but some will never forget, the convoluted, hyper-caloric brilliance of Yo! Noid, Chester Cheetah: Too Cool to Fool, and Cool Spot. Of the myriad snack-hocking titles, however, the super-sized,...
Review Snowboard Kids (Nintendo 64)
You won't get board of this one
Although Atlus is undoubtedly best known for its expertise in the field of RPGs, the Shinjuku-based company does occasionally try its hand at other genres. One such example is Snowboard Kids, released on the Nintendo 64 back in 1998 in cooperation with Japanese development studio Racdym. Best summed up as Mario Kart...
Review Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest (Virtual Console / Super Nintendo)
A simplified Final Fantasy experience
Back in 1992, role-playing games were still largely ignored outside of Japan, but Square tried to remedy this with the release of Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest. The game not only added a bit more action to the experience, it also greatly simplified the gameplay mechanics as well. While this certainly offered up a...
The original Rayman
A few years before Rayman hit the scene, there was another lesser known platforming hero with floating hands and feet that he could throw at enemies. Created by John and Ste Pickford, two fairly well-known British video game designers, Plok is perhaps one of, if not the best, examples of a cult classic Super Nintendo platformer...
Review Samurai Shodown III (Virtual Console / Neo Geo)
A new spin on the popular fighting series
It's no secret that the Samurai Shodown series played a huge role in vaulting SNK up to the big boy fighting game table. And as popular as the original release was, it was the sequel that would set the standard by which all future titles of the franchise would be judged. Samurai Shodown III would mark the...
Review Fatal Fury 3: Road to the Final Victory (Virtual Console / Neo Geo)
Fatal Fury Extra Special
With the release of Fatal Fury Special, Neo Geo fighting fans were treated to a rather significant upgrade from the previous release of Fatal Fury 2. Not content to rest on its laurels, SNK decided to give the standard series one last hurrah with this fourth and final instalment. And while long-time fans will appreciate the...
Review Another World (Super Nintendo)
Simply out of this world
Poor old Lester Knight Chaykin (Les to his mates), an unwitting physicist, innocently went to put in some overtime in the lab during a thunderstorm one night. Who’d have thought that playing with a particle accelerator could magically teleport him to a strange alien planet when his lab gets struck by lightning? In the...
Review Parodius: Non-Sense Fantasy (Super Nintendo)
Oh, we laugh at this game! Gradius is fine but this is nicer!
A fiendish giant octopus by the name of Zeo and his intergalactic mutant penguin mates are up to no good, wreaking havoc on the inhabitants of the Parodius Zone. Thankfully, help is at hand as Vic Viper, Pentarou the penguin, Twinbee and a gun-toting octopus have come to save the day. As...
Review Aero the Acrobat 2 (Virtual Console / Super Nintendo)
Everything you could want out of a sequel
About the time mascot games began exploding on the Super Nintendo console, Sunsoft jumped on the bandwagon with the release of their original platformer Aero the Acrobat. While the game featured many of the classic platforming elements that were showing up in the games of the time period, it was criticized...
Review Aero the Acrobat (Virtual Console / Super Nintendo)
Will you go aerobatty for Aero?
Everybody into gaming at the time remembers the "cool mascot" craze during the early 90's; Sega was heavily in on it with Sonic and a whole bunch of other companies tried to cash in on it as well. Sunsoft's attempt came in the form of Aero the Acrobat – a bat with attitude who works as an acrobat in the...
Review Vortex (Super Nintendo)
Transform and tear your hair out
The magical mystery core has been stolen and taken away. The Aki-Do forces are the ones responsible and naturally they've split it in to five parts and scattered them across the galaxy. But forget that cobblers, the cool part about Vortex is that you take control of the Morphing Battle System which as the name...
Review Ufouria: The Saga (Wii Virtual Console / NES)
Easy Mode Metroid
The original Metroid was a ground-breaking game for its time, but it feels incredibly dated to anyone playing it for the first time now. The lack of a map makes navigating the seemingly endless identical corridors way more annoying than it should be for newcomers, whereas those who know the game inside out can beat it within an...
Review Arcana (Super Nintendo)
Magic is on the cards
FTL's seminal RPG Dungeon Master kick-started an entire genre when it was released at the tail-end of the '80s; the gaming public fell in love with the concept of immersive, first-person adventures and developers fell over themselves to replicate the same atmospheric feel witnessed in the Atari ST classic. It wasn't just...
Review Shadow of the Ninja (Wii Virtual Console / NES)
Ninja master or a shadow of glory?
Ninjas suddenly gained popularity during the 1980s, what with their cool moves, cool clothes and unashamed ability to kick ass. It's murky as to why exactly this happened but the legacy left within the fields of media was huge, ranging from the American Ninja films, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the Last Ninja...
Review Mischief Makers (Nintendo 64)
Go Go!! 2D Treasure Makers
With a US release in 1997 Mischief Makers, or Go Go!! Trouble Makers in Japan, was not only an early example of a N64 centric side-scrolling 2D platformer, it also successfully made its mark in gaming history by being the first Treasure game to land on a Nintendo platform. However, it would be shallow to describe Mischief...
Review Illusion of Gaia (Super Nintendo)
This being a great game is no illusion
In the early days of the SNES, Enix made the beloved action RPG Soul Blazer. A strange but incredibly effective mixture of RPG and very light town-building elements resulted in one of the system's most underrated games. Although the game itself did not sell too well, Enix decided to try again, making a...
Review Wild Guns (Wii Virtual Console / Super Nintendo)
Wild West or limp at best?
Whether the game had any influence over the film Wild Wild West is debatable, but what can't be denied is that the two have a similar, inextricable link between cowboys and steampunk. While the traditional steampunk time period might still be Victorian England in the late 19th Century, the setting for both is somewhat...
Review Kirby Super Star (Wii Virtual Console / Super Nintendo)
Suck on this!
Kirby Super Star made its debut on the Super Nintendo console in 1996, and although the game came late in the system's lifecycle, it's gone on to become one of the most sought-after games in the series. Now with the release of the game on the Virtual Console, Wii fans can enjoy the classic in all of its original glory. The gameplay of...
Another Capcom classic
With various versions of Street Fighter II, Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts, a bunch of Mega Man games and two exclusive Final Fight sequels, the SNES was a good machine to own for Capcom fans. They also released many other games on the platform including U.N. Squadron, a frantic side-scrolling shooter originally released in arcades in...
Review The King of Fighters '95 (Virtual Console / Neo Geo)
For those who like having their asses handed to them
After having some solid success in arcades with the inaugural game in the series The King of Fighters '94, SNK wanted to try to address some of the complaints players had with the game in the sequel. Two of the biggest complaints were the inability to customise your own team lineups and the...
