Adamant

@WillTheLion What are you even talking about? There's 20+ different Pokemon manga series out there, several of which have characters named Red and Green, and you're seeing a vague similarity to what I assume is the only one you've heard of and assuming it's a direct reference despite the sourced article clearly stating it has nothing to do with neither that nor any other manga series.

@EmmatheBest Nothing? Of course this isn't based on the anime. Where did you get the impression I was claiming that?

@WillTheLion Or, you know, the Mew event they're currently promoting as a tie-in to the VC releases of the original games. You're seeing connections where there are none. The figures are directly said to be based on the game characters and have nothing to do with any manga or any manga chapters.

@WillTheLion @EmmatheBest @itzdanburton ...but you're being equally wrong by assuming these figures have anything to do with some manga series. The articles sourced very VERY specifically refer to them as "the protagonist Red and his rival Green" from "Pocket Monsters Red and Green, the first games in the series".

shakes head

Where DID you people ever get the idea that Get TV, in an episode that wasn't even advertised to have anything to do with these games even, would show more than a tiny bit of footage? You'd think it'd be smart to actually investigate what kind of show this actually is before starting your misguided hype.

This is the Turbografx R-Type, actually. The PC Engine release of the game was split into two versions titled "R-Type I" and "R-Type II", each containing 4 of the game's 8 levels, due to it being impossible to fit the entire game on one hucard at the time of release.

R-Type I and R-Type II were released on the Wii Virtual Console in Japan, but they're giving us the complete Turbografx version for the 3DS VC.

The 3DS Mario & Sonic games are completely different from their console counterparts (well, aside from being olympic games), so that's doubtful.

This thing looks fun, though, and I liked Mario & Sonic Beijing much better than Mario & Sonic Vancouver, so a new summer olympics version is right up my alley.

Do note that the actual original title of the game is "Creatoy", not "Picture Lives". America is allowed to change the name of the game, but no one else are?

I was thinking of getting this game... now I guess I have to get it.

@pizzacore, yes, it's in 3D. The full name is "ARC STYLE: Jazzy BILLIARDS 3D Professional", I was just too lazy to type it all out

I agree, this is rather low. Yeah, the updates from the DC game are minimal, and there's little point in getting this if you have that, but it's still the best 3D Sonic by far (some might say the only good one). Also, most people who bought this never owned a Dreamcast in the first place. It didn't exactly fly off the shelves.

(You're also the first person I see calling Eggman and Tails' levels rubbish. At least you have to admit they're a major improvement from those horrible Gamma levels in the first SA)

@pizzacore, Jazzy Billiards Professional is on the 3DS download service in Japan. I can't imagine that not getting a worldwide release, so that'll probably be your best bet.

That's a bit more fair, I guess.

But still, once you get good at the game, you'll be able to play pretty long sessions, won't you? That's generally not a good thing in a score-based game.

Seems like a really bland and not overly interesting Luxor clone (or whatver game that was a clone of). 1001 levels is not a bad amount of bang for your buck, though.

(but really, leaderboards? These things have an absolute insane amount of levels that can take you months - do people actually replay individual levels many times for a high score, or worse yet, replay the entire GAME multiple times to get a high total score? Seems so pointless)

Pinball seems to be getting a comeback nowadays, with many malls, bars, airports and the like having a table or two. The recent Indiana Jones table is very common, and is an excellent game. My local arcade when in liked in North Dakota also happened to have my all-time favorite pinball table, Addams Family.
Genre ain't dead yet.

Catrap/Pitman has also been on the Japanese VC for quite a while now. They're just catching up, people. Japan is getting the catch-up title Radar Mission next week while you're having fun with Super Mario Land 2, too.

@Motorbass, yup, my first thought when starting to read the review was "this sounds exactly like King of the Zoo".

You're being awfully kind to the single player mode. Yes, it's nice of them to add it considering this is a straight remake of a game that originally didn't have one, but the game is clearly not designed to be played this way, and the mode suffers as a result.
The GC Four Swords game was intended to be played in both single and multiplayer from the get-go - play a couple stages from that in single player with the Dsiware game fresh in your mind to see what a huge difference that makes.

@Corbs, of course it's worth 4$, but is it deserving of a 9/10? What are you going to give Wario Land, 11/10? And a 15/10 to Wario Land 2?

The problem isn't that it's easy, it's that it's so easy it becomes bland and boring. Kirby is easier than this, but it's still a fantastic and very well designed game that's never boring. Picture taking some other Mario game, then removing half the enemies and pits. It would be nowhere near as fun - a barren wasteland of nothingness as you desperately searched for points of interest. That's how this game is.

The level design is uninspired, too. They come up with interesting ideas, but don't do much with them. The original Super Mario Land was a far more solid game, and I always preferred that over this.

Pretty sure the Japanese videos are all floating around on Youtube if you really want to see them, btw.

Mario Land 2 is definitely the weakest Mario/Wario Land game, but it's certainly no bad game.
Don't expect much in the way of challenge, though.

I'm willing to bet Japan gets this in two weeks, then - we're playing catch-up with Radar Mission next week.

Yup, R-Type has always been known for its incredible difficulty. Stick with it and learn the stages, and you'll get a bit further each time. I've made it to level 6 on the Turbografx one, things get really insane after a while.

Yeah, these have been out in Japan for a while now. The complete set of such trailers there are:

*Monster Hunter 3G
*Biohazard Revelations
*Metal Gear Solid 3D Snake Eater
*Labyrinth no kanata
*Winning Eleven 2012
*Slime Morimori Dragon Quest 3
*Theatrhythm Final Fantasy
*Sonic Generations
*Hatsune Miku Project Mirai
*Rhythm Kaitou R
*SD Gundam G Generation 3D
*Ace Combat 3D Cross Rumble
*Tekken 3D Prime Edition
*Girls RPG Tsundere Life
*Hana to ikimono rittai zukan
*Super Mario 3D Land
*Mario Kart 7
*Kid Icarus
*Fire Emblem
*Mario & Sonic London Olympics
*"Karuchobitto"
*Culdcept
*Girls Mode
*Animal Crossing
*Paper Mario
*Mario Tennis
*Luigi's Mansion 2
*Fatal Frame

Very unlike what the series would later evolve into, and kind of hampered by its rather low difficulty, but still a very well designed platformer. Look forward to this, kids - it's quite a lot better than Mario Land 2.

No mention of it being out in Japan too?

Yeah, this price isn't bad at all - it's comparative and/or cheaper than what it will cost almost everywhere else. Stop thinking you're the center of the world, Americans. This isn't expensive, it's your price that's ridiculously cheap. Be happy.

I had this, but it never saw all that much play. Goldeneye was just so much better in every way it seemed so pointless to pop this game in. Absolutely not a bad effort, but not enough to pull Rare off the throne.

"it was at last featured on the Konami Classic Series: Arcade Hits compilation for the DS... only it was inexplicably rechristened RainbowBell."

Only in North America. It kept the TwinBee name in Europe.

(oops, scratch that, we're getting a super exciting "spot the differences" DSiware game next week, too. Mwahahah, take that!)

(and also 2 3dsware games (Family Tennis and a masyu game) and Metroid 2 on the VC and... ok, we ARE better off than you. Teaches you for not importing )

The handheld online service update this week was one VC game (Mario's Picross, which you already have). Next week it seems we'll get one DSiWare game (Four Swords) and nothing more.

You'll catch up at this rate.

That's 2 more DSiWare and one more 3DSware than Japan got this week. Don't complain.

The Mega Man Zero series are some of the finest action platformers ever produced, and among my favorite GBA games.

Zen Studios definitely know their pinball. This game will be fantastic.

I have the 360 version, Pinball FX, and it's an incredibly good game. This is definitely a title to save up some money for, kids.

Twinbee borrows a lot from Xevious, yes, but it adds a bunch of new stuff, and is a far more entertaining game as a result.

The 3D Classics style suits this type of multi-layer shmup very well, which is probably why we got two of them. They have to choose games that work in 3D. (speaking of which, a 3D Classics Bump'n Jump would've been awesome.

@KDR_11k, have the Carry selected as your weapon for that segment. That way you can make a nice waiting block off to the side for those areas where a block will spawn right above the one you're standing on, as well as having a way of saving yourself if you miss a block.

Even without the Carry, this section is much easier than doing the Wily 1 spike corridor in the first NES game without the Magnet Beam, though.

Just downloaded - and beat - the game. Didn't find a single spot where the cramped space led to annoying situations... anyone got any examples of where this is supposedly the case?

Oh yeah, and a tip for newcomers - the Ice Slasher is an incredibly useful weapon in this game. Iceman is by far the easiest robot master too (he was hard in the NES game, but in this game they cut his ability to fire at medium height, so his shots are much easier to avoid), so get it early.

" Although not game-breaking, this does lead to some very annoying situations; the sheer size of the characters means it's sometimes very hard, or in some cases even impossible, for Mega Man to dodge an attack. The Robot Masters are, of course, the same size as Mega Man, so you’d better make sure every shot you fire at them counts, because there's no way to avoid bumping into them constantly, and they'll kill you fast."

Eh, you're not being quite fair here. The stages are all well designed to work with the smaller screen, and there aren't any more "cheap hits" than in the earlier NES releases. The game is lacking a bit in originality, but it's just as polished as you'd expect of an MM title at the time.

(also, using restore saves is for cowards)

I downloaded this. It's ridiculously hard, but quite entertaining.

Didn't play the first one, but there's no combat in this - you either need to avoid enemies, or kill them instantly if you picked up a specific item. Stages involve touching "cells" to add dots to the maze, then grab the dots before they disappear. Each world has 4 standard levels, plus a "speedrun" level (it's not an alternate mode) where you need to grab all the dots as quickly as possible (the standard levels involve more backtracking and enemy-dodging, though they're also timed, so you can improve your time. Highest score and shortest time is saved per level.

Ah, and you will definitely be looking at the top screen. This game is all about speed, and since your dude moves relative to the direction he's facing, you need to plot your route on the bottom screen (and note where monsters and the like are), while focusing on the top screen for turning and sliding for maximum efficiency.

Ah yeah, and this isn't "New Picdun", it's "New Pickdun". Yes, there's a difference - it's the sequel to this game, not to this game. Note the urls

@scubasteve It's a pretty obvious ripoff of Dodge Em, actually.
No clue what the review is talking about when it tries to claim it can only be thematically similar to Dodge Em, since it looks - and according to the review, plays - pretty much the same, just with the odd added element.

As someone who played this game to death as a kid, I defintely welcome its addition.
And at the time, this game was incredible - it was on the tiny little gameboy, which couldn't even do Space Invaders all that well, and yet it was still up to par with any console game at the time.
NES Open Tournament Golf is better, yes, but this baby is no slouch.

Slot machines where you pay in advance, but have zero chance of winning?

Oh, Spinmaster? Yeah, that was pretty fun.

"On a somewhat related note, you do realize Marcel (a.k.a. Drake) is located in the Netherlands, yes? :3"

Yep. As I mentioned, these myths are so common online that even Europeans, who should've known better, just accept them as straight facts.

"And I don't think that Americans are just too dumb to know the actual rarity of something - I'm more inclined to think that eBay sellers try to hype up how hard to find what they're selling is. Maybe some fall for it more than others, but Americans exclusively?"

From what I've seen, Americans in general have a tendency to only look for things in American stores, American flea markets, America online auction sites... and when the game pops up so seldom in these places, they write it off as "extremely rare" without considering the fact that the game was never actually released there, and if they want to find it, they might want to search in places where it was actually on sale in the first place. They're wrongly seeing the explanation to "I can't find it" as "it's hard to find" rather than the correct "I'm not looking for it in places it can be expected to be found".
Since the English-language internet is largely dominated by Americans, these things spread and are accepted as facts.

Ouch, how could they possibly screw this one up so bad?

"it's one of the rarest NES games around and a complete English copy can go for hundreds of dollars on auction sites, if you're lucky enough to even see one of them."

That's somewhat of a stretch - Americans have a tendency to exaggerate the rarity of something not available right there in their back yard, and are seemingly too dumb to look in the right places. PAL games are obviously not THAT commonplace on the American-centric ebay.com, which spreads the word that the game ITSELF is rare, which means people become willing to pay higher prices than normally for it.
The game isn't really much rarer than your average PAL game, you just need to search for it in places that largely deal in PAL games.

Ufouria? Awesometastic - now why did I get an import Wii again?

Come to America, please.

"Ultimate Eleven" is Super Sidekicks 4, yes. They gave it an unrelated English name for whatever reason.

Fighter's History Dynamite is notable for being the sequel to Fighter's History, a Street Fighter II ripoff so blatant Capcom sued Data East over it. They lost.

Dynamite's pretty durn good, though.