This mysterious writer has hundreds of articles to their name, yet nobody is quite sure where they come from.
Some say it's one shy staff member who plies their trade only on the condition of anonymity, though it's been suggested that 'NL Staff' is a superhero-style mantle donned in times past when writers called upon The Voice Of The Site...
Review Space Invaders: The Original Game (Virtual Console / Super Nintendo)
Experience one of gaming's iconic franchises
In 1978 Space Invaders was the talk of the town, people were lining up in their droves to part with pocket change for a turn on this new groundbreaking videogame from Taito. Of course as videogame technology moved on this humble game was surpassed by many cocky new contenders to the shoot-em-up throne,...
Review Sonic the Hedgehog (Virtual Console / Master System)
Sonic's back in 8-bit style.
Following the undoubted success of Sonic The Hedgehog on the Mega Drive it seems only fitting that a version of the game was created for the Sega’s 8-bit wonder, the Master System which still had strong support in Europe at the time. This game was also something of a swan song to North American gamers who had took a...
Review Donkey Kong 3 (Wii Virtual Console / NES)
Bug off
Poor old Stanley the Bugman, not only have all the bugs got into his greenhouse, there’s a big ape pestering him too. To add insult to injury, he would never feature as a playable character in another Nintendo game again and be forgotten forever, whilst Mario went on to international stardom. Donkey Kong 3 started out life in the arcades...
Review Break In (Virtual Console / TurboGrafx-16)
A bit of a break from the norm of Naxat Soft's other games.
Break In could have been a great game where you could play a burglar trying to steal some precious jewels; instead it is pool game simulator. These games used to be ten a penny in the arcade halls of old so it is only fitting that some home conversions were made. I am no expert on the game...
Review Gradius II: Gofer no Yabou (Virtual Console / TurboGrafx-16)
Gordon the Gofer
This is an almost arcade-perfect port of the arcade version of Gradius II, which was also known as Vulcan Adventure. Konami made no compromises in choosing the PC Engine’s Super CD format to release this game on, and the music sounds better than ever as a result. Sadly this never made it to the west as a TurboGrafx-CD game, so...
Review Double Dragon (Wii Virtual Console / NES)
Single Dragon
Double Dragon is a classic NES game that was immensely popular in its day, so much so that it led to a string of sequels. Predictably the NES conversion of the arcade original made some compromises and changes to the game, so the question is whether it stands up well in the current day. In terms of differences from the arcade version,...
Review Wonder Boy (Virtual Console / Master System)
Small Wonder
Wonder Boy was one of the first games I got for my beloved Sega Master System. Having played the original arcade game on seaside weekends of my youth it seemed amazing to have such a faithful conversion of the game in my bedroom at the time. The hero of the game, Tom-Tom isn’t known for providing in-car navigation, rather he is...
Review Powerball (Virtual Console / Sega Mega Drive)
Who will be the powerball champ?
This forgotten futuristic sports game by Namco undoubtedly takes some inspiration from Speedball 2, which was really popular at the time. The basic premise is that Powerball is a futuristic sport that takes the brutal elements of rugby or American football and mixes them with soccer. You can play as eight different...
Review Super R-Type (Virtual Console / Super Nintendo)
The BYDO Empire is back!
That naughty Bydo Empire! You would have thought they would have learnt their lesson last time when a solitary R-9 craft kicked their butt so badly. Alas, they are back and wreaking havoc wherever they go. Time for you to save the universe, again! Super R-Type was one of the earlier games released on the Super Nintendo. It...
Review DoReMi Fantasy: Milon's DokiDoki Adventure (Wii Virtual Console / Super Nintendo)
Doremi Fasol Latido
If you ever read a list of the top 10 platform games on the SNES you will more likely than not see favourites such as Super Mario World and Yoshi’s Island hogging the top spots with DK Country following closely behind. Sadly, DoReMi Fantasy would rarely feature in such a list despite a modest loyal following in the gaming...
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 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 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...
Review Bubble Bobble (Virtual Console / NES)
Hi, Bub and Bob
Bub and Bob are two rosy-cheeked dinosaurs who spit bubbles at their enemies and pop those bubbles for food rewards, all on the quest to save their girlfriends. If you don’t remember this classic arcade game from yesteryear you’ll probably know the two main protagonists from the Bust-a-Move/Puzzle Bobble series. The gameplay is...
Review Power Golf (Virtual Console / TurboGrafx-16)
Every system needs a golf game, right?
If Wii Sports’ gesture controlled club swinging has grown old for you, the more in-depth game offered in Hudson’s Power Golf might be of interest. There are three modes of play on offer here: stroke play is for a solo player, match play lets you take on a friend, and competition play allows for two to three...
Review Super Mario Bros. 3 (Wii Virtual Console / NES)
The Mario Bros get even more super
Back in 1990 when this was released in the USA, Mario fever was at an all time high. A few months earlier, there had even been a movie released called ‘The Wizard’ with that kid from the Wonder Years, which was essentially a commercial for this game. If you never played Super Mario Bros. 3 when it was first...
Review Alien Soldier (Virtual Console / Sega Mega Drive)
Hello Epsilon-Eagle
Treasure produced some of the finest games for the Sega Megadrive such as Gunstar Heroes and Dynamite Headdy, both of which are available on the Virtual Console. Alien Soldier follows in that great Treasure tradition by being a great game that shows off what Sega’s 16 bit wonder was capable of. Outside Japan this game only came...
Review Super Air Zonk: Rockabilly Paradise (Virtual Console / TurboGrafx-16)
Super Zonk!
Fans of excellent Turbografx-16 shoot-em-up Air Zonk will undoubtedly be intrigued by this sequel which was released in the latter years of the console for the CD-Rom attachment. Given the CD format, it would be fair to expect the sequel to be a vast improvement over the HuCard original, but sadly, this is not the case. In this version,...
Review Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos (Wii Virtual Console / NES)
The ninja returns
Ryu Hayabusa is back, and this time he brings his dad along for the ride. Well, not really, that was Indiana Jones, wasn’t it? The storyline is largely irrelevant; the point is this series features Ninja action, and therefore a sequel was inevitable. What we really want to know is how this Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos...
Review World Class Baseball (Virtual Console / TurboGrafx-16)
Batter up!
This game began life known as Power League on the Japanese PC Engine and spawned many sequels due to the popularity of Baseball in Japan. The game offers a comprehensive range of options to fine tune your game. For instance you can switch the players in your roster and play a quick game or play in pennant mode. It’s really as...
Review Lunar Pool (Virtual Console / NES)
Unique and futuristic flair
The humble pool simulator has never made for the most exciting game, so a futuristic version of the classic pub game set on the moon is an intriguing proposition. It is worth noting that Lunar Pool is based on American pool, which is very different game from what the British play. This game is more similar to billiards in...
Review Cratermaze (Virtual Console / TurboGrafx-16)
Cratermaze is a comical action game set in a parallel world
Cratermaze started out life as a Doraemon game but presumably because the franchise wasn't known so well in its native Japan then Hudson thought that changing the sprites might make it make it more attractive to the American audience. So basically you play a little chubby dude who floats...
Review Galaga '90 (Virtual Console / TurboGrafx-16)
Galaga in the 90s
This game started out life as Galaga ’88 in the arcades and saw a conversion to the Japanese PC Engine under the same name. Understandably in the two years it took to get released in North America the name needed incrementing so it didn't appear too out-dated but the excellent gameplay remains intact. Sequels to classic games...
Review Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master (Wii Virtual Console / Mega Drive)
The ninja master returns
Nasty Neo Zeed is back causing trouble again, and it’s up to our hero Joe Musashi to teach them a lesson they won’t forget with his supreme ninja skills. Unlike the original arcade classic, however, there are no hostages to be rescued and you now have an energy bar to spare you from one-hit kills. You have a limited...
