Virtual Console Roundup Review

Ys Book I and II

• Platform: TurboGrafx 16
• Wii Points: 800
• In Real Money: GBP 6 / EUR 8 (approx)

Sorry to disappoint everyone excitedly thinking that they somehow produced a Your Sinclair role-playing game, because this is actually a compilation of the first two entries in another long-running Japanese RPG series that never really found its feet in the west. It's pronounced "Eez", by the way.

The version on offer here come courtesy of the US TurboDuo, the CD-based TurboGrafx spin-off. This means we get crystal clear audio narration, a noodling rock soundtrack and a poopload of content. Two games, in fact, with completion of Ys Book I leading you fairly seamlessly into its sequel.

Comparisons with Zelda are inevitable, given the top-down viewpoint and glaring gameplay similarities, and it's no surprise that Ys doesn't quite match up to its inspiration. It is, however, a compelling RPG in its own right with a few smart ideas to call its own. Combat, for instance, is simply a question of bumping into enemies. Whoever is strongest deals the most damage, and you can improve your chances by attacking from the side or behind. It's about as basic as RPG battles get, in other words, but there's a sweet simplicity about it that will certainly entice those who are put off by dense combat options.

Exploration is similarly accessible. Unlike so many of its peers, Ys doesn't force you to sit through a long-winded intro in which your hero must make his way to the castle to be told by the king to go to the nearby cave and start the adventure. You're free to roam from the start, and even just wandering around the first small village uncovers plenty of side-quests.

For anyone who likes the scope of early JRPGs but can't be arsed with all the peripheral clutter, Ys is the ideal download. It's fast-paced, cleverly structured and it lets you get on with actually playing the thing. And let's not forget, you get two games for the price of one.

8/10

DoReMi Fantasy: Milon's DokiDoki Adventure

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

Eurogamer reviewers are trained by Shaolin monks to give us the mental stamina required to avoid cynicism. This is true, and I've got Five Fingers of Death for anyone who doesn't believe me. Even so, after over a year of covering the new Virtual Console releases, I'd be lying if I pretended that I don't stifle a bit of a kneejerk reaction whenever another cute platform game skips merrily my way on a Friday morning.

So it was with the mouthful that is DoReMi Fantasy: Milon's DokiDoki Adventure, a Japan-only platformer that actually won me over with its sumptuous production values and honed gameplay. There's nothing original here, but it takes the best bits from other games and turns them into something that's impossible to dislike.

Milon is a perky little chap, resplendent in his Noddy hat, who travels the world blowing bubbles. These bubbles trap monsters, and can then be safely shunted off-screen or into other monsters, and they can also open up the many secret areas and alternate routes hidden throughout the game.

As well as bubbles, Milon benefits from a pleasing variety of power-ups, and in the first few levels alone he even gets to ride a log flume and a cable car. There's always something new around the corner and everything is presented in a nice chunky solid cartoon style which calls to mind Kirby rather than the usual Mario knock-offs.

If DoReMi has one unavoidable flaw it's that it has no ideas of its own, and its entertainment value is based on how well it provides more of the same rather than anything unique to this adventure. Still, it's a joy to play and definitely worth your time.

8/10

Spelunker

• Platform: NES
• Wii Points: 600
• In Real Money: GBP 4.20 / EUR 6 (approx)

Spelunking is one of those words that always sounds like it should be rude. But then the alternative - potholing - also sounds a bit pervy. Maybe there's just something about cramming yourself into hard, wet places that lends it to double entendres. Hmm.

Regardless, you'll be using far ruder words than "spelunker" should you download this ferociously unforgiving NES platformer from 1985. It's a remake of an old Atari 400 game, and it wears its elderly design on its sleeve. This is a game where everything kills you. Our hero, a little Mario-esque cave explorer, is perhaps the most vulnerable and feeble character in gaming history. He's like Samuel L. Jackson in Unbreakable. The slightest drop, the slightest impact, kills him stone dead. With only three lives to navigate the vast maze-like caverns, this is something of a hindrance. Even the demo mode can't do it. That's how tough it is.

As if that wasn't cruel enough, you've got a limited air supply which drops at an alarming rate and must be refilled by grabbing pickups located in perilous places. You have bombs that can destroy some obstacles, but if you're even on the same screen when they go off, guess what happens? That's right. You die. And there's a ghost who stalks you relentlessly, just in case you fancied taking your time over that next jump. Also, bats poo on you.

The sad thing is, the caves actually seem like a lot of fun to explore - or at least they would be if the game didn't bump you off every time a gentle breeze blew a speck of dust into your shoe. The collision detection is sometimes wonky, and the stiff controls take some getting used to, but it's an otherwise-interesting platformer, let down by needlessly harsh gameplay.

5/10

Chase HQ

• Platform: TurboGrafx 16
• Wii Points: 600
• In Real Money: GBP 4.20 / EUR 6 (approx)

Chase HQ is awesome, but I had to dust off my old copy of MAME to reconfirm this fact after having my faith severely rocked by playing this creaky port. It's not often you can say that the ZX Spectrum had the better arcade conversion than the TurboGrafx 16, but here's the proof.

The pitch, as always, is achingly '80s. It's OutRun crossed with Miami Vice, and if that doesn't make you want to wear a suit jacket over a pastel t-shirt, roll up the sleeves and stick a poster of a cock-red Ferrari on your bedroom wall, then you're clearly far too young to be reading about retro re-releases.

Trouble is, this version is horrible. Horrible graphics, horrible sound, horrible gameplay. You still chase down escaping bad guys, and then ram their car into submission before time runs out but the addition of an awkward and pointless high/low gear system makes progress a sluggish trawl, and with your limited turbo boosts unhelpfully mapped to the minus button on the remote, it's a struggle to even catch up with your target, let alone keep them in view. In a comparative spin on the arcade version I was able to catch the first two villains before failure slapped me in the face. So it's not just me being all rubbish and that.

The problems are compounded by sluggish controls and wretched scrolling combined with incredibly fast speed. The speed isn't really something to shout about, since the game only uses about four frames to show cars getting closer, while the jittery scrolling makes corners a real chore and the moments when the road forks are reduced to ugly glitchy flickers. When Pitstop II, a C64 racing game from 1984, is both smoother and more playable than a 1992 arcade conversion, you know something went terribly wrong.

2/10