Nintendo have recently decided to put video samples of all of the Virtual Console games up on a special website. The videos are only 30 seconds long and aren’t available on the Wii Shop channel itself, but it’s a start. Hopefully we’ll see full demos soon. That over with, let’s get on with the round-up.
Four games were released on Friday. Virtua Fighter 2, Wonder Boy in Monster World and Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle for the Mega Drive, and Shockman for the TurboGrafx. Mega Drive games come in at 800 points, and TurboGrafx games come in at 600 points.
First up is Virtua Fighter 2, which was awesome in the arcade and on the Saturn. But this is the Virtual Console, so Nintendo have given us the shittest version possible, the Mega Drive one. It’s sluggish, boring and looks like pure turd. It’s no longer in 3D, but 2D, taking away the biggest selling point of the series. As it is, the best part of the game is that you can injure people without actually making contact with them. If you want some play fighting, just wrestle your pet. This is turgid.
Next up is Wonder Boy in Monster World, which is a platformer-RPG, where you can upgrade your weapons and equipment, and learn various forms of magic. It does quite a good job of mixing the elements, with loads of townsfolk to talk to and loads of crabs to stab. It’s actually quite long, too.
Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle, on the other hand, represents most that was wrong with the 16-bit generation. It’s a run-of-the-mill 2D platformer, with rubbish inertia and no charm whatsoever. Avoid it.
Shockman is a side-scrolling platformer, with bits of shoot-em-up in. It’s a bit crap, though. It feels all too soulless, and it takes itself far too seriously. The multiplayer co-op is good, and reminds me of playing Streets Of Rage for hours on end at a friend’s house. If you’re after that kind of kick, it’s not bad, but don’t expect it to be much fun in single player.
Game Of The Week: Wonder Boy in Monster World
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