Kelvin

I wonder if it's an update of the classic Barbarian?

@PSL977, quite, and the two brothers had little to do with the Goldeneye engine (as used in Perfect Dark); those developers went on to form Free Radical and create Timesplitters, so if you want to play these games on the Wii, you can... sort of.

Oh god, what have they done to Rainbow Islands? It looks like a bad Amiga game!

@cr00mz, because Super Mario Kart and Yoshi's Island are superb games, while Perfect Dark is merely an okay follow-up to the much better Goldeneye. I think the Virtual Console gets the better deal there.

I loved Perfect Dark when it came out, and played it to bits, but you know what? When we finished it, we put it away and went back to Goldeneye.

The thing is, the X360 version is going to be better than any Virtual Console version because it's going to be online, and it's going to have all sorts of other bells and whistles. The original game on Virtual Console would be fun, but if I want to play it on Wii, I'll just grab one of the Timesplitters games, as they're the same under the bonnet. The real shame is we're not going to get Timesplitters 4.

Oh well, they get Perfect Dark, we get Mario Kart and (hopefully) Yoshi's Island. I think we get the better deal.

C’mon Nintendo, emulating the DSP-1 chip can’t be that hard for you, can it?
I bet that was it.

I was waiting and waiting for this game to come out, as I've never been a fan of the newer titles, but Mario Kart Wii did win me over in the end. I'll still be downloading this one, of course, but I'm more looking forward to Yoshi's Island, now that it looks like they've figured out the technology.

Just... The computer cheats like crazy...
It always has and always will. Even on the newest game in the series, the CPU racers are complete bar stewards!

There were three generations of MS box art. This is from the first, earliest generation, when they all looked pretty awful.

Here's hoping Phantasy Star comes to Europe soon!

@MickEiA, the 3D Zelda games are all quite similar in terms of gameplay, so if you really didn't like Twilight Princess, you may not like this one. That said, Majora's Mask is probably the most unusual and distinctive of the 3D games.

If only we could try before we buy!

Unexpected. Perhaps Nintendo don't hate Europe as much as we thought!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Gauntlet, 1942 and Wiz would be my picks.

Hey, perhaps they can release some more versions of Street Fighter II!

I see. Thanks for the response!

Phantasy Star is the big title here for me, but I'm keen to have a go at Majora's Mask too, as I missed out on it back in the day.

Abolutely superb game, and the Master System's top title, in my opinion. An essential purchase, to my eye, so I hope we get a release in Europe.

How are they handling the "insert coin" mechanic of the arcade titles? Has it been excised completely, or is it a case of pressing a button on the controller, like the Midway Arcade Greatest Hits titles on the PS1?

@Clayfrd, that's good to know. I've got a backlog of games to get through already, but I may look into Madworld once I'm done.

I'm vaguely interested in The Conduit, although I must say that my interest in FPS has waned since Timesplitters 4 went off the radar. Madworld looks very interesting, but the graphics and ultraviolence make me wonder if they're trying to draw attention away from weaknesses elsewhere.

The Wii release to which I'm really looking forward (aside from N64 Mario Tennis) is the WiiWare version of Cave Story. I can't wait for that!

So why "despise" one and not the other, when they're largely the same, beyond some very minor technical differences?

And yet the Game Gear was a shrunken, portable, Master System!

"Safer"? What? No, not really. I just find it hard to believe that anyone who isn't, you know, deranged would actively "despise" a games console, that's all.

It's very strong language for what are, after all, just toys. I'm just surprised by the bizarre vehemence of your reaction.

@63: "Despise"? What the heck did Commodore and Sega do to you?

Wow, such strange and illogical rage for the C64 and Master System!

The Master System Shinobi is one of the better versions of the game, so it's good to see it arrive!

Is... is that it?

Great game! I hope to see it come to Europe soon.

@Edwin, there were some problems with certain games here, because the C64 runs at 50.12hz rather than 50hz. You may be experiencing something similar.

I would not be surprised if multiplayer deathmatch and other "essential" features are added later down the line as downloadable content.

@AngelBlack187, may as well leave it to the PS2 then, as Timesplitters 2 has not been bettered.

It seems to me that using the pointer to aim is far more intuitive than a control stick. After all, if you actually had a gun in your hand, you wouldn't search around for the control stick, would you? You'd just point and shoot. That said, a more traditional control scheme might have been a nice addition for those people incapable of trying something new, but it's not a deal-breaker.

@slangman yeah, this has a stronger single-player game than '93 and is a general improvement in most other areas too.

Brilliant! The Mega Drive version is my favourite Bomberman, so I'll be getting it and retiring '93.

I would have preferred Mario Tennis grumble, grumble...

@lordboswer I'm not sure Livingstone has much involvement with the Warhammer behemoth nowadays (I don't even know if he's still associated with GW beyond being a major shareholder), but it's true that the franchise (and many others) wouldn't exist without Livingstone and Steve Jackson.

Thanks Mayhem. Good news!

Can't get sound at work, so does he mention if the wonderful Creatures 2 will be coming out on VC?

I don't see why you all need Yoshi's Island on the VC so bad. There's both an excellent GBA remake, and an excellent DS sequel out now, and I have both, so I'm probably not going to bother.
Would you mind giving me your GBA or DS then? Because I have neither, and don't intend to buy either just to play one game. Or, you know, I could ask, hurting no one in doing so, for it to be released on the Wii, a machine I do own.

Jeepers...

Can't argue with Yoshi's Island, Phantasy Star and Earthbound (wasn't this last one confirmed?), and I'd like to see Dracula X released, just to see what all the fuss is about.

Super Mario Kart is a must, as is Chrono Trigger, and I would love to see something from the EA Hockey series released. Support for the Amiga would be ace, but short of that, a release of the Mega Drive version of Sensible Soccer would be very welcome indeed.

EDIT: And I'd love to see Mario Tennis released, as it was my favourite N64 game by a long shot.

I think the Virtual Console has not lived up to expectations, particularly in the last year, and especially in terms of public image. There's very little in the way of consistent communication with the audience, the release schedule is erratic, incomplete, and occasionally undermined by Nintendo themselves for no good reason. Frankly, the service is amateurish.

That said, it's easy to fix. Release games on a more regular schedule and in more consistent numbers. Be more forthcoming with what is to be released. Actually release the titles that are advertised, and don't change things round at the last minute. With a more professional attitude, the Virtual Console could better live up to its reputation.

WiiWare is a different question. It's quite obvious that the Wii is slipping behind the other machines in this regard, particularly in losing out on the big names, and Nintendo need to make sure that they don't lose out here. Seeing Nintendo themselves supporting the service would be good; finishing StarFox 2 and releasing it to WiiWare, for example. However, it's easy to forget that WiiWare is a very young service; it's not even a year old. While it could have been a more impressive first six months, there is still plenty of time for Nintendo to impress.

@Clayfrd I was responding to shadows, rather than Bahamut.

@shadows262, you do know who produced Mario RPG right?

Also, I'm not sure anyone apart from Digiki is really "putting down" the game. However, there does seem to be a healthy number of people who don't think it's worth the "10/10 gr8test game evar!" nonsense which seems to follow the game around. As I mentioned before, I'd give it a solid 8/10, but I'd much prefer to be playing Chrono Trigger or Phantasy Star IV.

@shadows262 you're going to have to play some of those rpgs you're so casually dismissing, because you're way off with that. There are far better rpgs out there than Mario, which is nowhere near as good as the best of the releases from either of the parent series, and yet is considered some perfect hybrid.

@Rexy, you're welcome!
@DigiK, I think Super Mario RPG is certainly better than "lame", but it's acquired something of a legendary status over the years which I think makes people rate it higher than the game itself deserves. It should have been brilliant, but it was just plain good. A solid four-star game, but nothing more, and certainly not one of the best of 2008.

@Link 79, this does follow on from the earlier games, but more in a Next Generation way rather than a direct continuation. If you've played the earlier games, you'll recognise people and places, but nothing that will harm the enjoyment of this game; it's pretty much self-contained.

Add me to the list of people surprised by the lack of Secret of Mana! Especially with the overhyped Super Mario RPG sneaking into number one.

I'm still waiting for the first Phantasy Star; come on Nintendo/Sega!

I suspect that I might be the only one more interested in Sonic 2 than Mana!

I've let Dazza know about your concerns, so we'll see what happens.

As for myself, when I do review based on a ROM, I do make sure that I make it as close to the VC experience as possible. This means using a control pad (usually a Gamecube one) with the emulator, rather than the original control scheme; it's not perfect but it does often highlight the differences. The Last Ninja games, for example, don't play at all well with a d-pad, but work better using the analogue sticks of the GC or Classic pads.

Perhaps it's time for the VC "staff" to have a meeting!

I do understand the concerns, and if we had access to the VC ports before release, then there'd be no issue. However, we get to see the games exactly when everyone else does, and we don't get "review copies" either. In order to get the reviews ready for the time of release, we have to review based on the ROM, and as such any technical issues associated with the emulation sometimes get passed over.

I don't know if Damo or Dazza are reading this thread, but I'll mention it to them if no one else already has done so. To my mind, the best solution would be to review based on ROMs as we do already, then amend the review later based on the VC port, as I thought we were doing already.

Bear in mind that not all of us reviewers write our pieces based on the ROMs, and I prefer not to when possible.

Betagam7 the VC publishers find that they're not allowed to tell us anything more than Nintendo will. Nintendo is in charge, and if they say "don't talk" then that's what happens.

I would suggest emailing Dazza or Damo if you want to see the optimisation information put back in. I'm sure it would be easy enough.

Betagam7, at this point, we have to make a choice between making readers wait for reviews while we thoroughly playtest the VC release, or review the ROM. In most cases, there is very little difference between the original ROMs and the VC versions, and any major changes can be added to the reviews after the fact, if necessary. I think that's a fair compromise.

Regarding PAL optimisation, the C64 games are all PAL (or close enough) releases originally, so they're already "optimised". It seems a waste of effort to mention this each time.

And regarding getting the answers from Nintendo, Dazza and others have tried, but the Big N has been rather reluctant to discuss the inner workings of the VC. There is an incredible amount of secrecy involved, and Nintendo don't communicate very well with even the VC providers; this is why we get situations where publishers announce VC releases and then Nintendo release completely different titles (as happened with Hudsonsoft recently, I believe). If Nintendo don't talk to their VC partners, imagine how difficult it is for us to get answers from them.