Review Super Mario Bros. 2 (Wii Virtual Console / NES)
A strange, but entertaining dream
The 'lost' Final Fantasy is at last made available to the English-speaking world. Is it a glorious reinvention of a genre classic, or merely a pointless step back in time?
Review Mario Strikers Charged (Wii)
Another frantic season of arcade style football action
Review Metal Slug Anthology (Wii)
Wooden Snail. Concrete Spider. Papier Maché Butterfly. Metal Slug. One of these is the moniker of a near-legendary platform-action series that is celebrating a glorious decade in the spotlight. The others are nonsense names made up merely to justify this rather pointless opening paragraph. Can you guess which is which?
News - May, 2007
Wednesday30th May 2007
Review Mario Strikers Charged (Wii)
Another frantic season of arcade style football action
Some of you will remember Mario Smash Football on the Gamecube, Mario Strikers: Charged Football simply builds on that original concept, adding a few new features and ideas but is generally the same game updated for Wii. One of the big additions that has been heavily promoted by Nintendo is...
Tuesday29th May 2007
Review Kid Chameleon (Virtual Console / Sega Mega Drive)
Karma karma karma karma karma chameleon.
The first thought that enters your head when playing Kid Chameleon is probably 'Mario Clone'. The game steals ideas from Nintendo's finest, such as jumping on the heads of enemies and bashing item boxes from below. It's not the first game to copy Mario and it certainly won't be the last, but back in the early...
Monday28th May 2007
Review J.J. & Jeff (Wii Virtual Console / TurboGrafx-16)
Two bungling detectives on a crazy adventure
The PC Engine (Japanese name for TurboGrafx-16) has always been a console to attract weird games. If you've ever played Toilet Kids and Photograph Boy then you will know what I mean. This particular game started out life as Kato Chan & Ken Chan in Japan, aside from the characters being changed to...
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 Japanese Virtual Console list - June
Here's a taster of what the Japanese Virtual Console will be getting in June straight from Nintendo of Japan themselves. There are no real surprises here. Most of these games are ESRB rated already or even out in North America or Europe at present. Still it is nice to see Paper Mario and F-Zero X due for release so soon.
Famicom (NES)Adventures of...
Saturday26th May 2007
Review Mach Rider (Wii Virtual Console / NES)
Return of the Mach
The action is fast and furious in this crazy motorbiking game. You have to blast your way through enemy vehicles and barrels on the track in addition to avoiding oil slicks. The pressure is always on to keep going fast to avoid enemies ramming into you from behind! Getting to the end of each course before the timer runs out adds...
Friday25th May 2007
Review Super Mario Bros. 2 (Wii Virtual Console / NES)
A strange, but entertaining dream
It should be no secret by now, so let's get it out of the way first - Yes, the Super Mario Bros. 2 that most of us know, that is, this one, is technically not really a Mario game. Originally released in Japan as Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic (Dream Factory: Heart-Pounding Panic), it was designed by Shigeru Miyamoto,...
News Mario Charged Football Out Today
Europeans get a small treat for missing out on Super Paper Mario, the remixed Mario Strikers Charged Football is out today across the UK and Europe.
"Precision passing, skilful saves and phenomenal goals are not all that make up the beautiful game as Mario Strikers: Charged Football adds that little bit extra to one of Europe’s favourite sports...
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 EU Virtual Console Releases - 25th May, 2007
Nintendo this week add Super Mario Bros 2, Mach Rider and Blazing Lazers into the European Virtual Console service.
"This week sees NES classic Super Mario Bros. 2™ hop onto the Virtual Console. In this 1989 classic, Mario, Luigi, Peach and Toad go for a picnic which doesn’t quite go to plan when they end up in the mysterious land of Subcon...
Thursday24th May 2007
Just incase your missing those furry little Rabbids, Ubisoft announce a sequel, Rayman Raving Rabbids 2.
"Those mischievous bunnies are back in a hilarious sequel, a party comedy game that is guaranteed to be even crazier and funnier than the first with even more insane games to play. Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 will push the envelope of the Wii...
Wednesday23rd May 2007
Review Medal of Honor: Vanguard (Wii)
Surprisingly still playing it months later, we decided to revisit this war game to see what lessons can be learnt for furture first person shooters.
What to say about the game that has already been extensively put through the media machine. As a major Wii title, you will find tens of reviews about the game all over the internet and popular game...
Tuesday22nd May 2007
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...
Monday21st May 2007
Review Streets of Rage 2 (Virtual Console / Sega Mega Drive)
The best one
For many of our readers this game will need no introduction. If you haven't yet played Streets of Rage 2 then you are in for a treat. Simply put this is probably the best scrolling beat-em-up available on any console. Yes it is that good! Sega didn't do just a lazy update of the original - this sequel got the full treatment. So what's...
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 Prime 3 To Launch In August
Nintendo have today announced the summer line-up in the US, the big news is that Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is all set for a August 20th release date, bada-bing!
"Whether you're a longtime gamer who likes classic franchises or a newcomer aiming to keep your brain sharp, Nintendo's summer lineup of games has something for you. Nintendo's offerings...
Review Blazing Lazers (Virtual Console / TurboGrafx-16)
Blazing Lazers is a vertical-scrolling shooter that was praised for surpassing the limitations of the hardware of its time.
Originally released in Japan as Gunhed, Blazing Lazers was one of the most heavily featured titles in the original TurboGrafx-16 adverts, and with very good reason. Considering the age of the title (it was originally released...
Sunday20th May 2007
Virtua Cop developers to try their hands at a Wii Shoot-em-up in the form of Ghost Squad, coming early next year.
"Set in a world overrun with terrorism where the U.N. has been forced into creating the Global Humanitarian-Operation and Special Tactics Squad aka “Ghost Squad.” This team of elite soldiers comprise of the best of the best from both...
News New Smash Bros. Brawl Info Tomorrow
Nintendo is set to re-launch the offical "Super Smash Bros. Brawl" tomorrow, according to the big count down thingy.
One of the better websites for a an "in development" game was the SmashBros.com aka "Smash Bros Dojo" website. Nintendo used the site to unveil all the characters and a few secret ones, the site hasn't been updated in quite a while...
News Mario Gets Charged This Week
Nintendo are all set to release Mario Charged Football this week in Europe, backing the game with a large TV ad campaign.
"Ian Wright and Shaun Wright-Phillips line up against Mario and Co. as the stars of the Mario Strikers Charged Football campaign which goes live across terrestrial TV from 19th May featuring in major sports events such as the...
Saturday19th May 2007
Capcom have formally named their upcoming pirate adventure "Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros’ Treasure", formerly "Project Treasure Island Z".
“Innovation has been the cornerstone of Capcom’s successful history ,” said Jack Symon, director, brand marketing, Capcom Entertainment. “By introducing a whole new level of interactivity, this title...
Thursday17th May 2007
Review Yoshi (Wii Virtual Console / NES)
An eggciting puzzler?
In the early 90s, presumably following the success of Tetris, Nintendo went through a phase of releasing one falling block puzzler after another. Dr. Mario, Yoshi’s Cookie and Wario’s Woods are key examples of this. Many gamers will no doubt have forgotten this puzzler simply known as Yoshi in North Amer
Wednesday16th May 2007
Review Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (Wii Virtual Console / Super Nintendo)
More monkey business
For anyone familiar with the original DK Country game this is more of the same. This is a good thing as the original was almost perfection in every way and this game manages to build on the franchise even more! For a 16-bit console the graphics are amazing. The smooth animation and wonderful artwork create a 3D feel which works...
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...
Tuesday15th May 2007
Review Ninja Gaiden (Wii Virtual Console / NES)
The nimble ninja
Ninja Gaiden ranks as one of the finest 'ninja' style games ever made, right up there with The Revenge of Shinobi. When it was first released it amazed gamers with the degree of control it allowed over the main character, Ryu. He felt so quick and mobile - just like a proper Ninja should - and within seconds of picking up the pad,...
Monday14th May 2007
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.
...
Friday11th May 2007
Review NES Open Tournament Golf (Virtual Console / NES)
Tee off with Mario in this classic sporting simulation from 1992
Mario is no stranger to appearing in sports game crossovers these days; he’s virtually done it all now from baseball to soccer. This sporting career began of course with his appearance in NES Open Tournament Golf, which is something of a sequel to the original NES launch title...
Review Ninja Spirit (Virtual Console / TurboGrafx-16)
Ninja Spirit is a side-scrolling action game that amazed the gaming world with its precision graphics and quality game play.
While it would be easy for someone to dismiss any ninja action title that doesn't have the name Ninja Gaiden or Shinobi in the title, doing that would cause you to miss a little-known, but outstanding ninja action title...
Thursday10th May 2007
Review Super Swing Golf PANGYA (Wii)
Super Swing Golf. A hole in one, or a double bogey?
[screenshot=45ed93df615da]Now Lads, Keep Your Eye On The BallIt is inevitable that we have started to see a large amount of interactive sports games on the Wii- Wii Sports ensured this. Naturally it will be the case that some of these games will be fantastic, while others will be shameless...
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...
While the DS and PSP may have replaced the Game Boy for back seat journeys and train rides - it's nice to know you can still wear retro Nintendo.
The Game Boy Color makes a mighty fine pair of shoes as showcased by orthopaedic footwear expert Helen Red Richards. Ironically these shoes look like they will create more bunions than they are worth...
Wednesday9th May 2007
Review Metal Slug Anthology (Wii)
Wooden Snail. Concrete Spider. Papier Maché Butterfly. Metal Slug. One of these is the moniker of a near-legendary platform-action series that is celebrating a glorious decade in the spotlight. The others are nonsense names made up merely to justify this rather pointless opening paragraph. Can you guess which is which?
Give your average next...
The Playstation 2 and XBOX versions of Mortal Kombat: Amageddon allowed players to compete in online multiplayer - so why has this feature been stripped from the Wii version.
"Obviously we had online on other platforms so it wasn't going to be a technology challenge for us," said the game's producer, Shaun Himmerick, to advancedmn.com. "Nintendo...
News Wii Is The Stage Of History
Japanese magazine Famitsu confirms Soul Calibur will see a Nintendo Wii release.
GoNintendo.com stated today: Last week we talked about Matt Casamassina’s comments concerning a “popular third party fighter heading to the Wii, but with a twist”. We all figured it would be Soul Calibur, and Famitsu now confirms our guesses. Soul Calibur Legends...
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...
Tuesday8th May 2007
Review Ordyne (Virtual Console / TurboGrafx-16)
A colourful shmup
For those who have never come across this gem in Namco's history Ordyne is a cutesy horizontal scrolling shoot-em-up in the vein of Konami's Paradious. It's a lot more obscure than it ought to be as in fact it was quite a novel game at the time. You're cast as Dr. Yuichiro Tomari, a brilliant and eccentric research scientist who...
Monday7th May 2007
News Atari Leave You Alone In The Dark
Atari seem to have "confirmed" that Alone In The Dark 5 will be making it onto DS consoles later this year.
After a bunch of rumours and hearsay, it now seems that thanks to Cubed3 we can confirm that a port of Alone In The Dark 5 is heading to the portable DS sometime this year. Previously the title was only due for Xbox360, PS3 and PC, but now the...
News Umbrella Chronicles Details
The boys over at Cubed3 have uncovered some facts from a German magazine surrounding Capcom's Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles game heading for Wii later this year.
"First of all, whilst we have already seen the mansion scene from the game, it has been confirmed that the police station from Resident Evil II and the train from Resident Evil Zero...
News Virtual Console Video Previews
Nintendo has added Video Previews to each of its of its Virtual Console games on its website.
If you head on over to the Virtual Console section of the Wii website, you'll now find video previews of all the games. This is obviously better than it was before, afterall you can't actually "demo" the games before you download them, I guess Nintendo...
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 Iwata To Satisfy Hardcore Gamers
Wii Believe
GameDaily BIZ have translated the fiscal press conference, Nintendo's President has stated that Hardcore gamers will be happy by the end of the year with 3 key releases. "So when can we expect some of Nintendo's "AAA" first-party games? According to Iwata, Nintendo will be able to satisfy the hardcore gamers this year. " when we will...
A preview of EA's new Dance-Em-Up "Boogie" has appeared on IGN, whilst the game is still quite a way from release, it looks interesting for all you dance fans!
"At its core, Boogie is a dancing and singing rhythm based party game. In the dancing portion of Boogie, you bust your moves using the Wii Remote and Nunchuk combination; specific dance moves...
Sunday6th May 2007
News Resident Evil 4 At Budget Price
It has been confirmed that the port of GameCube classic Resident Evil 4 will come at budget price.
For Capcom to release a full price game practically the same as the version you've seen in second hand boxes around the country would have simply been bad business. So it's great news that the official Capcom site though the remake of Resident Evil 4...
Saturday5th May 2007
News New SEGA Classics Hitting The Virtual Console This Week
The Virtual Console feature of the Wii already has an impressive collection of old classic games you can enjoy while waiting for the next Wii title to hit the shelves. And this week the line-up is bolstered up additionally, as the famous game developer SEGA releases some of their best games of the 90's.
Perhaps the most prominent of these new titles...
News Suited Samus Enters The Brawl?
Nintendo Power seems to reveal that both Suited Samus and Zero Suit Samus will both appear in the upcoming Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
Spotted by the news hounds over at Infendo earlier this week: "Nintendo Power quietly revealed another new character for Super Smash Bros. Brawl last month (in the May 2007 issue). A non-Zero Suit version of Samus was...
Friday4th May 2007
Can you honestly think of anything better than Dr. Pepper and Nintendo Wii? Ok, so it could be Pepsi Max but seriously it's a pretty good combination.
The Nintendo Wii will be promoted on 182 million packs of Fanta, Sprite and Dr. Pepper thanks to a marketing partnership with soft drink monsters Coca-Cola. The campaign is set to run across TV and...
Following on from my new found love of video game remixes imagine my glee when I found "The WiiMixes".
"It's The WiiMix" is a conceptual audio project from ROBOTOBOTS (agent b & gustodian) created as a homage to both video game culture and instrumental hip hop. The goal was to produce 3 songs, each of which sampled the music from a different...
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...
Thursday3rd May 2007
Leading gaming store GAME buys its rival Gamestation and seeks to takeover the high-street gaming market in the UK.
It was announced yesterday that GAME had bought the entire Gamestation stores for a total of £74 million. Whilst this comes as abit of a surprise, all is not lost as GAME promise to develop the brands independently. GAME - Mainstream...
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...
Wednesday2nd May 2007
The 'lost' Final Fantasy is at last made available to the English-speaking world. Is it a glorious reinvention of a genre classic, or merely a pointless step back in time?
Given the stature of the Final Fantasy series, it’s somewhat surprising to think that only very recently has the entire franchise been made available to a worldwide audience. Up...
