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Virtual Console Roundup Review
Wii Review by Dan Whitehead
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Do you like hitting people? Kicking them in the face? Maybe you prefer clobbering them with lead pipes or even an axe. If so, it's a good week in the VC lounge with no less than three fighty favourites joining the line-up, including the first fruits from Nintendo's new saucy romance with the beloved-by-hardcore-gamers Neo Geo format. There's also a clunky old helicopter and a fellow called Nigel. Don't pretend you're not intrigued.
Fatal Fury
- Platform: NeoGeo
- Wii Points: 900
- In Real Money: GBP 6.75 / EUR 9
A fitting opening salvo from the NeoGeo catalogue since, along with Metal Slug, this fighting series is the one that most people associate with the cult console. As such, there's a certain thematic sense in starting at the beginning with the first game. After all, it's a finely balanced no-frills beat-em-up with an eclectic cast of characters, and deserving of its many accolades.
On the plus side, it introduces the dual-plane fighting system in which fighters can shuffle between two lines of attack, and a very nifty two-player co-op mode that lets you and a friend team up to work your way through the array of enemies. But, on the other hand, it does only offer three playable fighters which makes it rather hard to swallow the 900 point price tag, especially since Fatal Fury Special has already punched up Xbox Live Arcade with more game for less dosh, plus online gubbins.
So while Fatal Fury remains a slick and fun experience, and a significant game in the history of the NeoGeo and beat-em-ups in general, the knowledge that there are even better games in the series, and that they'll certainly offer better value when they inevitably get added to the VC, is reason enough to hold off on this purchase for the time being.
7/10
Streets of Rage 3
- Platform: Sega Megadrive
- Wii Points: 800
- In Real Money: GBP 6 / EUR 8
Received rather sniffily on its 1994 release, and selling so poorly that the planned fourth game was axed, this seminal side-scroller has since undergone a reappraisal and emerged as arguably the finest game of its type from the 16bit era.
There are more characters than in Streets of Rage 2 - both immediately playable and secret - while the gameplay itself is about as refined and nuanced as the genre could offer at the time. Mostly, it's just enormous fun with a wide variety of enemies, each requiring actual tactics to defeat, and the usual spread of weapons and combos, all slightly tweaked to make them more useful and/or interesting. It's fast, but the game rewards thoughtful play over button mashing. There are dodge and dash moves, grappling counter movies, special attacks that recharge rather than running out, and loads of nice little visual touches - like the way scenery will shake when you body slam an enemy.
The game even boasts multiple endings, depending on your performance. It's nothing wildly innovative - if you fail to save a key character in level 6 then you play a different final stage, but it does give you that little added incentive to go back for another playthrough.
The music is still rather garish, an unusually atonal industrial cacophony from the normally chilled-out Yuzo Koshiro, but Streets of Rage is a varied and inventive take on a genre that suffers far too many uninspired knock-offs. Well worth the effort for casual fans, downright essential for fighting fans.
9/10
Are you excited about Landstalker: The Treasure of King Nole (Virtual Console) on Wii?
View Eurogamer readers most anticipated games
Related Games
Fatal Fury (Virtual Console)
Streets of Rage 3 (Virtual Console)
Golden Axe 3 (Virtual Console)
Super Thunder Blade (Virtual Console)
Landstalker: The Treasure of King Nole (Virtual Console)
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Comments: 1-32 of 32 in total
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Der_tolle_Emil
06/10/07 @ 07:33
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Doesn't look too good sadly with the exception of Streets of Rage 3. I never had a SEGA console so I could not even reminisce about the good old times when I play them.
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convercide
06/10/07 @ 08:12
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I remember Landstalker being raved about my every magazine at the time. Looks REALLY dated now though. It's no Story Of Thor that's for sure. SOR3 isn't as good as 2 mainly because I HATE Zan and his crappy attacks.
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I'll take Bombergames Streets Of Rage Remake, thanks:
http://www.bombergames.net/sorr_gallery/... |
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thefilthandthefury
06/10/07 @ 13:02
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New games? Pfft. The VC is for retro classics and whatnot. New ones would just clutter it even more than it already is.
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Each to his own ... but Landstalker is one of the greatest 16-bit era games. A true classic. 5/10 is understandable if Dan only had a short time to play it and hadn't played it before, but that's the problem with these retro-roundups - there's no way he had time to sit down and give it a real go, in which case it's always going to look a bit shit.
Anyway, it's a genuinely classy piece of gaming. |
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Ouch for that Landstalker score!
Admittedly, the first few hours of play seem a bit repetitive, but it's only after those few hours that the depth and true character of the game begin to show (right around Mir's tower, story-wise). Money is indeed used a lot to buy health, but some of the shops do have a wide variety of things to buy, that you'll actually want to have. This game is huge, and can be frustrating at times when you miss that decisive jump. However, the satisfaction you'll get at times will be unmatched! I'm sure many of you will remember the feeling you had when you reached the end of greenmaze ;-) I played it through again, emulated, about a year ago. Despite the dated graphics it was still a blast, and definitly provided for more fun than many of the 'modern' adventure RPG's. |
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paul_haine
06/10/07 @ 16:45
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"I want original, new games on the Virtual console. Not too much to ask one year after the launch. Thanks."
"Isn't that coming with Wiiware?" Yep, it's coming next year last I heard. |
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Streets of Rage 3 isn't terrible by any means but you'd have to be judging it on some pretty weird criteria to favour it over Streets of Rage 2. More is not always better, especially when most of the extra stuff is very lazy and silly. And the music is shit.
The Landstalker review is disappointing as well. The years haven't been kind, but it's still a really cleverly designed, charmingly written game. Certainly a better bet than the assortment of useless and rudimentary (mostly 8-bit) adventure/RPG games we've seen so far on the VC. Still, nothing as shocking as the WAR CRIME that was the Toejam & Earl VC-review. |
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retr0gamer
07/10/07 @ 00:23
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I think that is just plain shit at games. The landstalker, Ghouls n' Ghosts and Super Ghouls n' Ghosts scores are nothing short of criminal with the only flaws being that the are too tough for completely cack handed players with no patience.
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Artemis_Matsas
07/10/07 @ 17:48
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Reasons i barely hold on to my Wii:
Mario Galaxy Metroid WiiFit My collection of GC Star Wars games I couldn't care less about retro crap thank you very much. XBLA and PSN have hit the nail on the head with some very good small innovative games. It's not funny anymore. |
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I bought SoR 3 because I am a fan of SoR 2 and only played the first two levels on an emu.
I remember playing and beating Landstalker twice when it was out originally for the MegaDrive, in fact I keep the original game as new, like all my other MegaDrive games. A 5/10 is too rude for a game that I enjoyed a lot back in 1994/5, I think a 8/10 is a fairer score. If I had the time to play it again, I would buy it, but I'm finishing Paper Mario (VC N64) and would begin playing Paper Mario 2 (GC) soon. SoR 3 makes good short times being able to stop and resume at any time ;) |
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Mentalist(air)
08/10/07 @ 08:22
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nothing as shocking as the WAR CRIME that was the Toejam & Earl VC-review
I remember, even back in the day, finding Toe-Jam and Earl to be impenetrable rubbish. I couldn't understand why it got such good reviews. |
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Toejam and Earl is screamingly good, as is its sequel.
I daresay SoR3 would be much better regarded today if it hadn't been butchered in translation (chucking out Max for that ridiculous 'Zan' didn't help either). It actually plays fine -- certainly no worse than SoR2 -- but neither Japanese nor American version had satisfactory difficulty (I forget which was too easy and which was too hard, heh), and the American story changed from a nation-wide fight against a nuke-wielding Mr X to some bollocks about him kidnapping the Chief of Police. What on earth possessed the vandals at SoA, I don't know... Landstalker is a corker (rhymes!), but the isometric 3D is definitely a bitch in the last few dungeons, where you're leaping across platforms over pits with absolutely no idea where the things are in relation to anything else. Very frustrating. Still, one of the greats; it's a terrible shame Climax went on to do 'Dark Saviour' for the Saturn; urgh. |
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Thunder Blade had a sitdown cabinet which was sweet for all of 30 seconds...bleugh.
http://www.klov.com/images/10/1062617429... /wanders back over to Space Harrier. |
Comments: 1-32 of 32 in total
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