Catching Up with Some of the Best Virtual Console Releases
29 July 2008 9:12 pm |
| The Title pretty much says it all. I just wanted to highlight some of the awesome new additions to the VC. Warning: You will find yourself wishing yet again that you lived in Japan, since they always get the best selection of VC games. |
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I grew up with Sreet Fighter II, and it was simply amazing. Forget adolescence. Forget puberty. As long as threre is SFII, and few other people know about it, or can play Dhalsim worth a damn—you are the man/woman.
None of that really matters, though, because in your effort to rediscover the brillance of 2D fighters or discover them for the first time, there is now a title on the VC that's even better than SFII.
Think blood. Think timing emphasized over special moves. Think brilliant artwork and creativity. It's a tight race with SFII, but I believe that this is the best fighter to grace the VC yet. |
Tactical RPG? Maybe you haven't heard of it. Well, think of an RPG with turn-based battles and characters that grow based statistics, and—oh yeah—huge battles where units and their health and the terrain are paramount to victory.
It all started with the first Fire Emblem for the NES back in, what was it? 1991?
However it began, this is a fantastic genre and VC owners are treated to one of the very best here. While Shining Force CD comes close to abandoning the RPG genre entirely, this game allows you to both explore towns, interact with villagers, and fight epic battles. Consequently, it remains one of the finest example of the genre. |
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Shoot 'em up fans, you need to pay attention now! No matter how spoiled and broke you may be. The retardedly named Gley Lancer is one of the best shoot 'em ups for this venerable 16-bit console.
Unlike many contestants in the genre, you get to choose the shooting configuration of your ship before the game even begins. I prefer the "homing" configuration, but then again, I am rather lazy.
The first level, with it's astteroids threatening you and the Jupiter-style planet in the background tells you that this is something special. Download! And Shoot! |
Alright, it's true. I love shoot 'em ups and I love the TurboGrafx-16 and it's pioneering CD-ROM system. I'm biased and you should simply stop reading right now.
That said...This shooter is created by legendary developer Compile. Need I say more? Hello, do you know anything about the genre?
Despite Spriggan being an extremely early (1991) and regionally limited (Japan-only) foray into the format, it an incredibly excellent shooter. This is all the more impressive when you consider that, at the time, the speed of CD-ROM drives was one of the greatest limitations of games in this format.
Whatever. Stop reading and start playing. This game totally rocks and Compile is king of shoot 'em ups! |
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Yeah, the gist of this update is the same as always: Japan scores some sick games, America does OK too, and Europe gets screwed. But not really! Europe, Australia, and New Zealand already had Gley Lancer—BEFORE America! And that's not to say that Europeans and the Islanders didn't receive some very good exclusives of their own:
Cybernoid: The Fighting Machines
Summer Games II
Pretty solid, right? Well, given this background I'd say that American gamers are the ones who should be worried about being screwed. But there is a silver lining for Americans, Euros, and Isle-folks alike. Shining Force II and Samurai Shodown II both saw wide distribution, so it's likely that both of these steller games will be coming to your VC soon. We can only hope. |
New and Improved SNES Top Games List
7 July 2008 8:46 pm |
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Sorry for the long pause without updates. I took a much-needed vacation over the Independence Day weekend, and I decided to change the update schedule for the site. Basically, I'm going to scale back the VC updates, and concentrate on building out the Top Game lists.
Despite being on vacation, I spent a ton of time uploading SNES graphics and putting together pages with basic information for the games. Check out the new page, complete with links for every game, here.
Take it easy and thanks for bearing with me during this site renovation process.
--Vinny |
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