Virtual Console Roundup Review

Fatal Fury 2

• Platform: NeoGeo
• Wii Points: 900
• In Real Money: GBP 6.30 / EUR 9 (approx)

The original Fatal Fury was the first NeoGeo game to land on the VC, back in October 2007, and at the time I uttered these prophetic words: "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."

If you followed that sage advice, and have been hanging on for eight months, then now is the time to relax. Fatal Fury 2 is finally here, and offers much more value for money than its ancestor. The paltry three playable characters from the first game get five new playmates, while there are now four boss characters (not playable, sadly) rather than the solitary and stupidly named Geese Howard. He's dead now, anyway.

Other than this general beefing up, things are much the same. The two-lane arena is still a fixture, and you can now clobber opponents from one plane of action to another, while it's still a pretty tough game, even on the easiest setting. It's an enjoyable toughness, though, the sort that relies on skilled AI opponents to ratchet the challenge rather than demanding expertise in complex special moves.

The only caveat I'd offer is that the new four-button set-up proves something of a fudge when played on the remote. The game is technically playable this way but, with attacks mapped to the A button and B trigger, you'll tie your fingers in knots trying to combine them with the d-pad. Those with a classic controller, or - even better - an old GameCube pad, will have no such worries.

A big, bright, colourful and accessible fighting game then, and one that tips the crap/quality ratio of the VC a little in the right direction.

8/10

Ninja Combat

• Platform: NeoGeo
• Wii Points: 900
• In Real Money: GBP 6.30 / EUR 9 (approx)

Here's the flipside to Fatal Fury 2. From its half-arsed, generic title to the sight of identical blond twins in matching red and blue ninja costumes guffing on about a mysterious tower, this scrolling beat-'em-up does nothing to distinguish itself from countless other cynical button-mashers of the same vintage.

It's a bare-faced rip-off of Streets of Rage, Ninja Gaiden, Shinobi and pretty much any other game in the genre, with a lot less polish and balance. What it gains in sprite size and colour thanks to the NeoGeo's arcade heart, it loses in dismal collision detection, stiff animations, poor controls and a desperate lack of ideas. There are some features that flirt with innovation, such as the varied playable characters you collect along the way, but for the most part you're clobbering one button to defeat waves of identical dim-witted enemies.

Each character has a projectile attack that kills pretty much everything before they can reach you, and you get infinite continues, so the whole thing can be ploughed through in less than half an hour with little reason to repeat the experience. And all for 900 Points. Consider what else you can get on the VC, and on WiiWare, for about the same amount. Yep. Let this one rot.

3/10

Last Ninja 2

• Platform: C64
• Wii Points: 500
• In Real Money: GBP 3.50 / EUR 5 (approx)

So, it seems I incensed many C64 fans with my savage dismissal of The Last Ninja when it popped up on the VC recently. Here's the sequel, and with it a chance to clarify my divisive stance. Or at least annoy everyone all over again. As a craven attention whore, I'll obviously take either.

You see, I come not to mock The Last Ninja or the fond place it holds in many people's hearts. It is, however, an old game designed for a very specific hardware, now revived under different circumstances where that design is now a hindrance. I'm mostly talking about the control scheme, curious even in the 1980s, which opts for rotational directional movement while mapping vital functions to counter-intuitive tugs on the stick, all of which vary depending on the way you're facing. Throw in an isometric viewpoint and simply gauging distance, and position, results in frustrating trial and error.

This was just about workable on a big chunky eight-way joystick of the Kempston variety, but on the Wii remote's tiny d-pad it's an absolute horror. Even when played with a joypad, the small and sensitive analogue sticks are an awkward fit with this unique method of control, especially when trying to activate items with a diagonal movement or line yourself up with an enemy. The game's infamously fussy precision jumps have been compounded over the years by this fundamental hardware change.

While Last Ninja 2 was a welcome sequel in 1988, it's still blighted by these same problems when played on the Wii twenty years on. Remember then, that this score is not just for The Last Ninja 2 in general, but for The Last Ninja 2 as a digital download on the Wii. Dig out your old fudgebox and load the tape and I bet it's still a blast. Playing it through the prism of this technology? Not so much.

3/10

Nebulus

• Platform: C64
• Wii Points: 500
• In Real Money: GBP 3.50 / EUR 5 (approx)

Now here's a C64 game that's better suited to the Wii. In fact, Nebulus fits in so well with the modern casual gaming mindset that I'd be amazed if some enterprising developer wasn't beavering away on a remake right now.

You are Pogo, a wide-eyed green froggy thing and for reasons that are never fully explained you must ascend a series of towers, which then makes them fall down. Unlike most platform games, you can actually scroll all the way around their cylindrical shapes, using doors and lifts to move you up and down, dodging the various geometric shapes that float menacingly about the place.

Like all the best games, it's a simple concept that steadily introduces more wrinkles to keep you on your toes. What really makes Nebulus shine is some memorable level design, which places the game somewhere between the platform and puzzle genres. The time limits are pretty tight - you've basically got enough time to get to the top with minimal mistakes - and the game is sometimes a little unfair in the way you can emerge from a door right into the path of an enemy, but otherwise this is yet another solid example of why the C64 deserves its place on the Virtual Console.

7/10

Alex Kidd in Miracle World

• Platform: Master System
• Wii Points: 500
• In Real Money: GBP 3.50 / EUR 5 (approx)

Roughly this time last year, the VC played host to Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle, the penultimate entry for SEGA's first corporate mascot, a young chap swiftly abandoned once that speedy blue hedgehog turned up. Now we're rewinding all the way back to the beginning, and 1986, for the jug-eared whelp's first ever outing.

Enchanted Castle was outdated mush, but Miracle World - for all its rudimentary appearance - still retains a lot of charm. It's a platform game, for the most part, but it manages to spice up the basic run, jump and collect gameplay with a bunch of features that suggest the creators had been paying attention to Nintendo's nascent Zelda franchise during production.

Alex collects money wherever he goes, and also finds all sorts of magical items to help him defeat or avoid the numerous and instantly deadly enemies blocking his path. He jumps, he swims, he rides in a speedboat, he's a versatile little fellow and the game mixes things up frequently, which helps prevent the basic gameplay from becoming tiresome.

It's ideal for younger gamers, then, or at least it would be if it weren't for the floaty collision detection, ruthless restarts and rock-paper-scissors boss fights. Aging SEGA fans will tell you that there is a system to beat these fights every time, but that doesn't make them any less clunky.

Miracle World is one of those retro games that requires a certain amount of forgiveness for its rough edges, and being able to put it in the context of its original release is helpful, but there's more than enough amusement here to make it something of a bargain at the lowest tier of the VC price structure.

7/10