Virtual Console Roundup Review

Streets of Rage 2

• Platform: Megadrive
• Wii Points: 800

Oh, cruel fate. What hast thou donest? Only last week I encouraged scrolling fight fans to give Streets of Rage a go, given that its superior sequel had yet to make an appearance. And, lo, here it is.

Admittedly, it's more of a subtle evolution of a solid template than a miraculous overhaul, but the improvements are more than enough to justify its place atop many fans Best Of lists.

The biggest addition is a special attack move, which replaces the police-assisted smart bombs from the original, and leathers the poop out of nearby enemies at the cost of some of your own health. This alone lifts the game above its brawling peers and introduces just enough strategy to avoid brainless button-bashing. Enemies now also have their own energy bars (cribbed from Final Fight, the game Streets of Rage was designed to compete with) while there's a smattering of new weaponry to be picked up and used.

On the downside, the scenery is less interactive than in the original and foes will no longer work together as a team to flank you. It's also not the hardest game in the world and, fun though the two-player mode is, you'll speed through it in less than an hour. Still, it's that rare thing - a side-scrolling beat-'em-up that improved on what went before, and still holds up today.

8/10

Toejam and Earl in Panic on Funkotron

• Platform: Megadrive
• Wii Points: 800

The original Toejam and Earl didn't exactly set Kristan's pants aflame back when he covered it in the first batch of VC reviews, but this follow-up switched the viewpoint from top-down exploration to side-on platforming, so it gets some kudos at least for not following the "more of the same" game sequel mentality.

This time the comedy duo are back on their homeworld of Funkotron, and are tasked with tracking down rogue earthlings. On the surface, things are pretty much what you'd expect from an early '90s platformer with comedy overtones. It's all very wacky, with an abundance of squelchy farty sound effects, but it soon becomes apparent that there was admirable ambition behind this offering.

For a start, emphasis is placed on interacting with the environment. An upwards prod on the d-pad investigates your surroundings - rummaging in bushes, shaking trees, pressing buttons - and you're almost always rewarded with some power-up or bonus. There are also forward-thinking additions like a radar view - which switches the graphics to charming crayon squiggles - allowing you to find secret items.

However, for all its bold ideas, the basic platforming mechanic is pretty shonky. If you're the sort of player who can forgive rough edges in pursuit of mild innovation then give it a try. Otherwise, save your points.

6/10

Kid Chameleon

• Platform: Megadrive
• Wii Points: 800

Do we really need another cute kid scrolling platformer on the VC? We've got Wonder Boy. We've got Alex Kidd. Even Kid Icarus.

Kid Chameleon does, at least, have some semblance of originality. He's a plucky teen sucked into a VR world (and if that doesn't tip you off to the game's vintage, nothing will) where he can take on nine different identities by picking up masks. Each one grants varying abilities, almost always pertinent to whatever situation awaits you.

It's hardly the worst game on the VC service, and I'm aware it has its defenders, but while the mask gimmick is cute, it's really no different to the way Mario changed his form by collecting mushrooms and feathers. Add it to the list of quite good games that just aren't worth 800 points because of the console they appeared on.

6/10

World Sports Competition

• Platform: TurboGrafx 16
• Wii Points: 600

It's about time someone got around to re-releasing one of the many joypad-spamming sports games as a retro download and it's fitting that it's the Wii, a console launched on the back of a cute sports compilation, that breaks the tape barrier first.

Sadly, Hudson's World Sports Competition is no HyperSports. It certainly looks the part, from the chunky arcade style graphics to the endearingly garbled speech samples, but the gameplay balance is just skewed enough to limit the pick up and play appeal. Most damaging is the ferocious difficulty level, with qualifying scores set just out of reach and opponents given to superhuman feats of speed and accuracy.

It's generously proportioned, with eighteen events spread out over six categories - track, field, rowing, shooting, archery and swimming - but the only way you'll get to sample them all is in training. When playing the main Olympic mode, if you fail one event, you're out of the tournament.

It doesn't help that there's no in-game explanation of how some of the games work - there are some notable differences from the better known button-mashers - and if you're playing with the Wiimote, the tiny buttons and d-pad can prove a real hindrance.

Worth a punt if you're gagging for some athletic action, but not the best in its field.

6/10

Pac-Man

• Platform: NES
• Wii Points: 500

Oh God. Do I have to? Do I have to open the door to a parade of hilarious "So, better than Halo 2 then?" comments down below? Do I have to tread where only Kristans dare?

Actually it's always a pleasure to revisit Pac-Man, for reasons that are often misunderstood by bleating score-nerds. That's because Pac-Man is one of those pioneering games that still plays just as well in 2007 as it did in 1979. Or 1990, in the case of this NES port. And, like all the gaming greats, it's a wonderfully efficient and concise execution of a brilliantly simple idea. Your aim is clear, the method is obvious - all that remains is to get better and better and better at staying alive as long as you can. A battle for your life against supernatural foes in a claustrophobic maze? Yeah, Pac-Man pretty much invented survival horror.

So, at the risk of inflaming the rabble, is it as good as Halo 2? Pretty much. In a very different way, of course, but just as a classic film can still act as both cultural history lesson and barnstorming entertainment, so too does our wakka-wakka pill-munching pal. It's certainly hard to imagine anyone who's serious about gaming never having played this seminal title.

The only downside is that, while it's preferable to the GBA re-releases in terms of price, this VC release still isn't great value. It looks rather sparse compared to the slightly cheaper and enhanced Live Arcade version, which also has the advantage of being the original not an emulation of a console port and is therefore worthy of that notorious 8. This, however, only gets...

7/10

Donkey Kong Jr Math

• Platform: NES
• Wii Points: 500

Gorillas and homework. Mmmm. Two great tastes that taste... peculiar together. As Nintendo lavished all its attention on Mario, poor old DK - the original star of the show, lest we forget - was crudely shunted aside into this curious edutainment offering. As a kitsch reminder of How Things Used To Be, it raises an ironic smile. As a game you'd want to pay almost a fiver for? Not so hot.

The concept involves DK Jr and his nameless pink female alter ego leaping from platform to platform, rope to rope, collecting the right numbers and mathematical symbols to reach the target total displayed at the top of the screen. Yes, that's right - it's the really hard numbers bit from Countdown, only with apes instead of Vorderman. And easier sums.

Back in the early '80s, the era of Johnny Ball and his ebullient numerical evangelism, a combination of ultra-basic platforming and maths might have been enough to interest truculent youngsters but it's unlikely to have a similar effect today.

3/10

Street Fighter II: The World Warrior

• Platform: SNES
• Wii Points: 800

It is, of course, the Greatest Fighting Game EVAH. There really shouldn't be too much debate on that front. What is worthy of debate is whether or not you should download this particular version.

Just as with Streets of Rage, the knowledge that this was merely the opening salvo in a series that had yet to hit its peak might lead you to be prudent with your points. And, really, I wouldn't blame you. Certainly, the line-up of just eight fighters - beautifully balanced though they may be - feels limiting compared to the larger casts of later sequels.

If, for some unfathomable reason, you haven't yet managed to obtain a copy of Street Fighter II from the numerous compilations and re-releases already available then you'll certainly get 800 points' worth of entertainment out of this download - especially if you have two controllers. However, patience is advised. Wait and see if any of the Turbo follow-ups crop up before making the investment.

9/10

Super Mario 64

• Platform: N64
• Wii Points: 1000

"Please come to the castle. I've baked a cake for you." Such an inauspicious opening, and yet...

I remember my first encounter with Mario 64 very clearly. I was on the staff of a PlayStation magazine, and everyone was giddy as a goose about upcoming 3D titles like Tomb Raider and Resident Evil. Violent, scary, generous of breast and wearing very tight shorts - the future of gaming seemed pretty clear. The grown-ups were here to stay, and kiddie crap was history.

Then the first N64 arrived in the office and a bright and colourful game that looked like it took place in Tellytubbyland attracted an immediate crowd. That "look at me!" tracking shot around the castle, followed by Mario - in 3D! - bursting out of a green pipe? How weird, and yet so right, those analogue controls felt? The fluid camera? Exquisitely designed levels that begged for exploration? And those wonderful flying sections, where the exhilaration of swooping through the air couldn't be dimmed by the lack of grungy colours or sexualised violence? It was sublime.

Right then, the chasm between Nintendo and the rest of the industry - a chasm that would ultimately lead them to forge their own next gen path with the Wii - tore open in front of us. We all eventually sloped back to the PlayStation paddock, and continued to enthuse about games with stodgy controls and broken cameras, but inside I think we all knew that there was another way.

So, yes, it's the greatest platform game of all time and an eleven-year-old title that, chunky polygons aside, still looks like it could have been released last year. Feel free to insert your obvious "Wii is just a fancy GameCube" retorts here. 1000 Points is a hefty price but, as with all four N64 titles on the VC, it's worth every penny. Point. Whatever. Get it.

10/10

Gain Ground

• Platform: Megadrive
• Wii Points: 800

If there's one thing the VC can be applauded for, it's that the games on offer aren't always the obvious or marketable choices. ActRaiser is one such oddball curio and Gain Ground, while sharing absolutely nothing in common in gameplay terms, is another bizarre "lost" title that would otherwise have been forgotton.

If Gauntlet, Robotron and Dead Rising all fell into Jeff Goldblum's teleportation pod, this is the inside-out baboon of a game that would emerge. It's a top-down action fantasy game in which you must rescue prisoners, and dodge or kill enemy warriors, before leading your trail of survivors to the exit. Rescued characters, of which there are twenty, can then be selected for future levels.

There are elements of RPG in the different character classes, and the statistical benefits thereof. There's a definite shoot-'em-up element in the often frantic scrambles to clear the level of bad guys. And there's even an element of RTS in the later levels (there are 50 in all) as you plot the best way past strongholds of tiny sword waggling foes.

As with ActRaiser, this isn't a download for those averse to quirky genre-muddling oddities - and nor does it really justify its 800-point price tag - but I'd be lying if I said that fans of gaming's weird forgotten corners wouldn't have a lot of fun with this.

7/10

Vigilante

• Platform: TurboGrafx16
• Wii Points: 600

With Streets of Rage and Final Fight already on offer, the VC isn't short of solid side-scrolling beat-'em-ups. You can therefore safely skip past this middling effort from Irem, which benefits from the more arcadey aesthetic of the TG16 but is dragged down by uninspired gameplay and some troubling collision detection.

Much like Splatterhouse, torn asunder by the power of my column last week, Vigilante takes a linear genre framework and manages to make it even more on-rails than before. With no freedom of movement up or down, all you can do is move from left to right, using flurries of punches and kicks to clobber the cloned skinheads who helpfully march towards you in single file.

There are a few weapons to pick up, but it all becomes monotonous long before you reach the bug-ridden boss fights, where victory can be won by trapping them in a corner and hitting the same button over and over.

2/10