Growing up with a ZX Spectrum and a Sega Master System and his exhaustive knowledge in the fields of SEO and digital marketing, Darren's organisational prowess helps steer Hookshot's portfolio in the right direction.
Darren has previously worked for companies such as Nokia, as well as a diverse range of high-profile clients.
News US VC Releases - 28th May - Actraiser
This week for North America it's a case of the good, the bad and the ugly. The good being the excellent Actraiser, for those still uninitiated for this wonderful game it is a hack and slash platform game and a God sim game all in one. A strange mix that only Square Enix could pull off. Truly outstanding even now.
The bad is Hudson's J.J. & Jeff,...
News Europe VC Releases - 25th May - Super Mario Bros 2
Another excellent week for the European Virtual Console. OK so you didn't get Streets of Rage 2! Super Mario Bros 2 should more than make up for it! The black sheep of the Mario family will keep you entertained for ages. Mach Rider isn't going to turn..
Another excellent week for the European Virtual Console. OK so you didn't get Streets of Rage 2!...
News Paper Mario coming to the Virtual Console
Nintendo Power have a piece in their May issue which would seem to indicate that Paper Mario is coming to the Virtual Console. No dates are given and as this came out in 2001 it is already ESRB rated so it's harder to validate this from another source at present.
Still we live in hope. With Super Paper Mario doing so well in North America on the Wii...
News US VC Releases - 21st May - Streets of Rage 2
Today is maybe the greatest day the Virtual Console has had with 3 serious heavy hitters from Sega, Nintendo and Hudson all arriving on the same day. Streets of Rage 2 will not need an introduction for seasoned retro gamers. It's generally considered the greatest 2D scrolling beat-em-up there is in existance. A very welcome addition to the VC library.
Not to be outdone by Europe who got this last week North America gets Donkey Kong Country 2 - Diddy's Kong Quest. This is a superb platformer which really shows the graphical abilities of the SN...
News Europe VC Releases - 16th May - DK Surprise!
Nintendo of Europe certainly like to keep us on our toes! To prove they don't hate you as some suspect today two surprise games are added to the Euro VC Shop. It's good news for everyone that Donkey Kong 2 is up on the VC channel, this game builds on the outstanding SNES original. It's even better dare we say it!
Less enthusiasm might be found for...
News US VC Releases - 14th May - Ninja Gaiden and Ninja Spirit
North American retro gamers get a double dose of ninja action with Temco's excellent Ninja Gaiden for the NES and Irem's answer to this in the shape of Ninja Spirit on the TurboGrafx. Both are excellent games are deserve your full attention. Ninja Gaiden is a bit more of a traditional plaformer and not as hard as Ninja Spirit as it was designed with the home audience in mind. Ninja Spirit is a fine arcade conversion and requires a lot of skill to play which is fair enough as no one said being a ninja is easy.
...
News Europe VC Releases - 11th May - Ninja Spirit and NES Golf
There are only 2 games this week for Euro-gamers. They don't seem like a natural couple, a 19th century ninja and a portly Italian plumber on his day off playing golf!
Try to look on the bright side, Irem's Ninja Spirit is a classic and well worth a look. NES Open Tournament Golf may also appeal if you want to enjoy a fun golf game with a mate. You...
News Video Previews for Virtual Console
Whilst Nintendo have embraced the model of the XBOX 360 Live Arcade allowing gamers to download free trials of games they are interested in, they have now done the next best thing. On the Virtual Console section of their website you can now watch videos of gameplay footage.
It's only for USA VC games for now but it's a good sign of things to come...
News US VC Releases - 7th May - Final Fight, Ordyne
A pretty cool week for North American gamers this week. Despite missing a character from the arcade and the 2 player option Final Fight is still one of the best scrolling beat-em-ups on the SNES. Ordyne is a fun horizonally scrolling shoot-em-up perhaps not many will remember on the TG-16, think Paradious, it's a really fun game and deserves a look. Last but not least is Mighty Bomb Jack which is a average platformer on the NES, check it out if you have fond memories but you can do much better on the NES platform.
...
News Europe VC Releases - 4th May
urope gets treated to a mixed bag of Megadrive games today. It's good to see some Sega loving on the VC! Not to be left out NEC manage to twist Nintendo's arm to release Shockman, the PC-Engine's answer to Megaman on the VC. It's pretty good but not a..
urope gets treated to a mixed bag of Megadrive games today. It's good to see some Sega loving on...
News Impossible Mission - the first non-VC game!
System 3 seems set to be the first publisher to put out a game for download from the Wii Shop which is brand new in the shape of a reworked Impossible Mission. Well at least according to the June issue of Nintendo Power.
We'll be reviewing these new non-Virtual Console games of course as and when they come out. It'll be interesting to see what...
News US VC Releases - 30th April - Mystical Ninja
North America is playing catch up with Europe this week as finally two classic Konami games are released in the shape of Mystical Ninja and Castlevania. Both of these games are excellent and well worth a look.
For Megaman fans Shockman may be of some interest. It's the TurboGrafx's take on the genre and worth a look even if it might not be our top...
News Europe VC Releases - 27th April - Final Fight
Hot on the heels of Sega's classic Streets of Rage a few weeks ago Nintendo now bring the original classic that inspired it in the shape of Final Fight. Whilst this isn't a perfect arcade conversion (it's only 1 player and only has Cody and Haggar, no Guy character) at the time this home conversion set the gaming world alight. We will leave you to make your own conclusions on if this is the better scrolling beat em up than Streets of Rage.
To contrast this ballsy arcade classic...
There has been a lot of requests lately for a Virtual Console forum to be launched to compliment the reader comments on the reviews and news items on the Virtual Console Archive.
Whilst Damo and I have been too idle to do this ourselves faithful reader DivineOmega has kindly set one up for us. Please visit the new Virtual Console Forums and have...
News US VC Releases - 23rd April - Gradius 3
rusty old shooter ahoy! Gradius III was one of the first 2D shooters to be released on Nintendo's SNES and as a result it now looks a bit poor compared to best there is out there. I'm sure there will be plenty of Gradius fans out there that will download..
rusty old shooter ahoy! Gradius III was one of the first 2D shooters to be released on...
News Europe VC Releases - 20th April - Lylat Wars
It's a case of beauty and the beast today as Europe get the sublime Lylat Wars and the frankly terrible Donkey Kong Jr. Math.
After the excruciating pain of waiting for Starfox/Lylat Wars since the US got it 3 weeks ago finally European gamers can finally relax! This should surely be enough to keep gamers happy (for a week at least!) Lylat Wars -...
News US VC Releases - 9th April - Alex Kidd
Here's today's Easter treats for the US Virtual Console:
Galaga - NES (1-2 players, 500 Wii Points): Players control their fighters, with their unique ability to combine with other fighters and shoot down the invading aliens. Aliens attack in formations using a variety of attack patterns. Rescue a captured fighter to combine with it, forming a Dual...
News Commodore 64 games on the Virtual Console
Whilst we did originally report on this way back in December (albeit a little sarcastically!) it appears the time has now drawn closer and this month in April we should see the first Commodore 64 game in the shape of Impossible Mission to join the ever growing Virtual Console catalogue.
For some this news will fill them with indifference but for...
News Europe VC Releases - 5th April - Megadrive Trio
For some strange reason the games for the EU were put up 8 hours earlier than expected today! Perhaps someone at Nintendo wanted to take off early for the Easter break!?
It's a trio of Megadrive goodies: The Story of Thor - Megadrive Sonic Spinball - Megadrive Vectorman - Megadrive No doubt most people won't be happy that Lylat Wars / Star Fox 64...
News US VC Releases - 2nd April - Star Fox 64
A great week for US gamers! Even if you only got Star Fox 64 today you'd have nothing to complain about! Woohoo!
Star Fox 64 - Nintendo 64 (1-4 players, 1,000 Wii Points):Players take the controls of their Arwing and complete 15 missions to reach the final objective: a showdown on Venom, the home planet of the interplanetary tyrant, Andross...
News Europe VC Releases - 30th March - Punch out!!
After the crushing disappointment that was Monday's US VC releases (or 'release', to be more specific), Euro gamers were quite rightly concerned about what they'd be getting this VC Friday. Thankfully things a bit brighter, as Hudson unleash an excellent game in the form of Dragon's Curse (AKA: Adventure Island, Wonderboy: The Dragon's Trap). This version was never published in Europe, although Master System owners will no doubt have enjoyed the 'Sega' version of this game. If you want to explore the convoluted history of the Wonderboy/Adventure Island series then head over to Wikipedia, because we simply don't have the space (or time) to do it here. The PC Engine/Turbo Grafx edition has a different lead character but retains the level design of the original, plus there's no sprite flicker! It's not quite the classic it was over a decade ago but it's still well worth looking into. And hey - at least it's not Romance of the Three Kingdoms, eh?
As if that wasn't enough Europe gets th...
News Opera Browser for Wii - Full version in April
After enjoying the beta version of the Wii Opera browser for viewing youtube and other such sites from the comfort of our sofas it comes with great joy to hear that in April Nintendo will be giving us the all singing, all dancing version for free. From Nintendo's press release:
"Since late December, Wii owners have been able to download a trial...
News Europe VC Releases - 23rd March - Zelda Link to the Past (Finally!)
The good people of Europe and Australasia can rejoice today as finally The Legend of Zelda - A Link to the Past is finally available to download. This is TWO MONTHS after North America region got it! Very strange indeed!
Zelda is the game we were all waiting for! Hopefully the weeks of moaning can now stop. Only one other title is available today,...
News Europe VC Releases - 16th March - Splatterhouse
Europe gets treated to one of the PC Engine's most gruesome brawlers today. Yes that's right it's the excellent Splatterhouse! Watch out for those slimey buggers Rick!
A less grisly way to spend your time would be to check out the fun Ice Climber for the NES - North America has had this for a while now. Europe has finally caught up! Last but not...
