Worldwide Virtual Console Center

[InfinityDragon]

UPDATE: Two games to be released today in the US:

• King's Knight (NES)
• Powerball (Sega Genesis)

Source: Nintendo of America Media Site
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Today we're getting Square's first American VC game ever, which also happens to be their first release ever in the Americas. Unfortunately, the game is not in the genre that Square is popular for; instead, it's a shooter, ... yes, another shooter. This one, in particular, is an on-foot vertical shooter. People may not be excited about Square's first game on the VC, but at least it's a start; hopefully, we'll get to see some RPG goodness later this year.

The second game for today is Powerball. Like I mentioned last month when it was released in Japan, the game is a mixture of football and soccer in a futuristic setting. There's really nothing else that's remarkable about the game.

 

[Snoopdogga]

UPDATE: Two games to be released today in the US:

• King's Knight (NES)
• Powerball (Sega Genesis)

Source: Nintendo of America Media Site
_________________________________________________
Today we're getting Square's first American VC game ever, which also happens to be their first release ever in the Americas. Unfortunately, the game is not in the genre that Square is popular for; instead, it's a shooter, ... yes, another shooter. This one, in particular, is an on-foot vertical shooter. People may not be excited about Square's first game on the VC, but at least it's a start; hopefully, we'll get to see some RPG goodness later this year.

The second game for today is Powerball. Like I mentioned last month when it was released in Japan, the game is a mixture of football and soccer in a futuristic setting. There's really nothing else that's remarkable about the game.

What an excellent week. <_<

 

[InfinityDragon]

UPDATE: Three games released in Europe and Australia, including two for a new system:

• Cruis'n USA (Nintendo 64)
• International Karate (Commodore 64)
• Uridium (Commodore 64)

Source: The Virtual Console Archive: EU VC Releases
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It's "64 week", and not entirely for the reasons that you think. Europe and Australia have gotten a "new console" to play with on the VC: the Commodore 64. I say "new console" because it was actually a home computer, which was released before I was even born (well, actually just a few months before, but still), making it the oldest system on the service.

The introduction of the C64 comes with two games: International Karate and Uridium. The first one is a basic fighter, which I've heard is possibly the most popular game in the system. The second one is a space shooter with no auto-scrolling; just like Fantasy Zone, the screen moves where you move. I haven't played any C64 games (unless some of them were released on PC), so I don't know about their quality, but from what I've read online, these two games were good picks for the introduction of the system on the VC.

The last game Europe and Australia got was Cruis'n USA for the Nintendo 64. It was the first game in the series, with the last one being the horrible Cruis'n for the Wii (which arguably looks worse than the original N64 game, which wasn't pretty in the first place). I played it quite a bit back in the day and it was fun for a while, but that was it. It was developed by Midway, making it the first western third-party N64 game available on the VC.

 

[InfinityDragon]

UPDATE: Two games released today in the Americas:

• Cruis'n USA (Nintendo 64)
• Wonder Boy (Sega Master System)

Source: Nintendo of America Media Site
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Although Japan got Wiiware and Europe and Australia got the Commodore 64 last week, I was expecting nothing from NOA, but fortunately, they have surprised me with the introduction of the Sega Master System, the direct competitor to the NES. All I have to say is, it's about time. Now, we'll be able to enjoy the beginnings of many popular Sega series like Phantasy Star, Shinobi, Alex Kidd, among others.

As a matter of fact, today we'll be enjoying the beginning of a series that is well known to VC gamers: Wonder Boy. The first game in the series (and fifth Wonder Boy game to appear on the VC), is very similar to Adventure Island. As a matter of fact, the game is pretty much the same, but with different presentation. But don't go calling Wonder Boy a clone of Adventure Island because it turns out that it is the other way around: Adventure Island is the clone. So if you already have Adventure Island, you'll probably want to skip Wonder Boy.

The second game for today is Cruis'n USA, which Europe and Australia got just last Friday. This racing game developed by Midway, marks the first western third-party N64 game released on the VC. The game is nothing great really, but at least we know that some western developers are on board for the VC.

 

[InfinityDragon]

UPDATE: 17 VC games announced for next month in Japan:

• Gekikame Ninja Den [Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles] (Famicom)
• Sky Kid (Famicom)
• Volguard II (Famicom)
• Bokosuka Wars (Famicom)
• Famicom Tantei Club: Ushiro ni Tatsu Shoujo (Super Famicom)
• Heracles no Eikou IV (Super Famicom)
• Hoshi no Kirby 64 [Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards] (Nintendo 64)
• Super Wonder Boy [Wonder Boy] (Sega Master System)
• Musha Aleste [M.U.S.H.A.] (Sega Mega Drive)
• Toki no Keishousha: Phantasy Star III [Phantasy Star III: Generations of Doom] (Sega Mega Drive)
• Phelios (Sega Mega Drive)
• Valkyrie no Densetsu (PC Engine)
• Digital Champ Battle Boxing (PC Engine)
• Crest of Wolf [Riot Zone] (PC Engine CD)
• Akumajou Dracula X: Chi no Rondo [Castlevania: Rondo of Blood] (PC Engine CD)
• Monster Lair (PC Engine CD)
• Metal Slug (Neo Geo)

Source: Nintendo of Japan VC website
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You thought you had a theory about the VC releases? Sorry, but Nintendo (at least NOJ) is here to make you look like a fool. When everybody was thinking that the VC would hit its lowest number this month, thanks to the introduction of Wiiware in Japan, NOJ comes over the top and announces 17 VC games: yes, SEVENTEEN, DIECISIETE, SHI QI, JUU NANA!!! Not only that, there's one game for each console avaiable in Japan, including the come back of the Neo Geo with the release of Metal Slug, and probably the most anticipated Japan-only PC Engine CD game ever (drumroll please): Akumajou Dracula X: Chi no Rondo, known here as Castlevania: Rondo of Blood.

So, what are the bad news? Well, if you're the pessimistic/realistic type, you're definitely mad that Japan is getting such a high number of games when we're doing so bad (even if it is a five-week month for them). If you are the optimistic kind, you're probably hoping that some of the goodness that Japan is getting this month is spilling to this side of the world, and hopefully it will. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like we had a good start. Why? Well, if you remember, today is usually the time when Hudson announces its games for next month, and there was nothing, again. So, when Japan is enjoying games like Ys, and the anticipated release of Rondo of Blood, we are here left with nothing, at least nothing announced.

Please NOA, don't screw this up for us. Japan is getting a great month with games like Kirby 64, Phantasy Star III, Heracles no Eikou, Metal Slug, and Rondo of Blood, don't disappoint us.

 

[InfinityDragon]

UPDATE: Five games released in Japan:

• Gekikame Ninja Den [Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles] (Famicom)
• Sky Kid (Famicom)
• Musha Aleste [M.U.S.H.A.] (Sega Mega Drive)
• Valkyrie no Densetsu (PC Engine)
• Crest of Wolf [Riot Zone] (PC Engine CD)

Source: Nintendo of Japan VC website
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Japan got a little bit of everything today. The first game is TMNT for the Famicom, a game we got almost a year ago. The release of this game definitely gives hope to the people waiting for the much better TMNT sequels. The second game is Sky Kid, a horizontal shooter developed by Namco. I know, Namco, you are one of the few companies continuously supporting the VC, but I think you should release a few more non-shooter games.

The third game is Musha Aleste, which is part of the Aleste series developed by Compile. I know this is going to sound contradictory, but I'm actually interested on this shooter. The Aleste series is a fairly popular one, and I've always wanted to play it. By the way, the first game in the series, aptly named Aleste, was announced as one of the first releases for the MSX, so it should be appearing on Japan's VC next month.

The fourth game is Valkyrie no Densetsu for the PC Engine, sequel to Valkyrie no Bouken, a Famicom game released about a year ago on Japan's VC. These Japan-only games are action games in the same style as Zelda. Unlike the first game, Valkyrie no Densetsu was first released in the arcades and later ported to the PC Engine (with many omissions given the hardware limitations). The last, and certainly least, game for next week is Crest of Wolf, a mediocre beat'em up that we got a couple of months ago as Riot Zone.

 

[sonic&amp;tails1]

well i really want Valkyrie no Densetsu but
i assume that it isn't translated so we may never see it
since they aren't translating the game's.

it wasn't a big problem for DoReMi because it wasn't text heavy but
hopefully if they give us games with heavy text they will translate them.

 

[TwilightKing]

InfinityDragon, I haven't ever posted here, but I'd just like to thank you for continuing to post these, I read every update, it's just I usually don't post after, so I thought I'd let you know that it's appreciated.

 

[InfinityDragon]

well i really want Valkyrie no Densetsu but
i assume that it isn't translated so we may never see it
since they aren't translating the game's.

it wasn't a big problem for DoReMi because it wasn't text heavy but
hopefully if they give us games with heavy text they will translate them.

Hey, SaT, good to see you here. Well, Valkyrie no Densetsu seems to have a bit of text, but since it was an arcade game, I think it didn't have that much. By the way, the original, Valkyrie no Bouken, has basically no in-game text (and the ending is in English), so they can bring it here without any problems.

 

[InfinityDragon]

InfinityDragon, I haven't ever posted here, but I'd just like to thank you for continuing to post these, I read every update, it's just I usually don't post after, so I thought I'd let you know that it's appreciated.

Thanks for the kind words, Twilight. It seems like the number of views has decreased a bit every month, so its good to hear from people from time to time.

 

[InfinityDragon]

UPDATE: One game released in Europe and Australia:

• Yoshi's Cookie (NES)

Source: The Virtual Console Archive: EU VC Releases
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Another one game week for Europe and Australia, and it is the lesser version of Yoshi's Cookie (the game was released on both the NES and SNES). The gap between US releases and EU/AUS keeps widening, and for no apparent reason.

 

[InfinityDragon]

UPDATE: Three games announced for next week in Japan:

• Volguard II (Famicom)
• Bokosuka Wars (Famicom)
• Super Wonder Boy [Wonder Boy] (Sega Master System))

Source: Nintendo of Japan VC website
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8-bit week for Japan. For some reason, Nintendo decided to release all Famicom games in just two weeks (there were four of them), and well, the only Master System game for the month. The first game for next week is Volguard II, sequel to Volguard for the MSX (and other systems). The game is a shooter, true, but it has the nice feature that you can get multiple ships and combine them (a la Getter Robo). From what I've read, the sequel is not as good as the original.

The second game is Bokosuka Wars. I watched a couple of videos and it looks bad, really bad. The characters animation is basically made of two frames, and there are no in-between animations when moving from space to space (you just jump from one to another). It's supposed to be an SRPG, but I didn't see it. You don't have any saying on the battles, they are automatically determined by your stats, which can be increased by rescuing your allies, who have been captured or transformed into trees and rocks. I hope this game never makes the jump to this side of the pacific.

The last game is Super Wonder Boy, for the Master System. So is this an enhanced version or sequel to Wonder Boy, which we got last week? Well, not really, it is just the name given to the first Wonder Boy in Japan. On a side note, just to comment on the naming of this series, there is a Game Gear version, but it's not called either of these names, it's called Revenge of Drancon *sigh*. It seems like they keep coming up with names for every single release of the same game.

 

[InfinityDragon]

UPDATE: Two games to be released today in the US:

• Bases Loaded (NES)
• Yoshi's Cookie (NES)

Source: Nintendo of America Media Site
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A little bit late, but NOA remembered that they own a baseball team and decided to give us Bases Loaded, possibly one of the best baseball games released on the NES. The second game for today is just Yoshi's Cookie, which was released in Europe and Australia last week.

 

[InfinityDragon]

UPDATE: Three games released in Japan:

• Volguard II (Famicom)
• Bokosuka Wars (Famicom)
• Super Wonder Boy [Wonder Boy] (Sega Master System)

Source: Nintendo of Japan VC website
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No surprises this week in the land of the rising sun. They got that horrible thing called Bokosuka Wars, plus another shooter, Volguard II, and the platformer Super Wonder Boy.

 

[InfinityDragon]

UPDATE: Four games released in Europe and Australia:

• Fantasy Zone (Sega Master System)
• Wonder Boy (Sega Master System)
• California Games (Commodore 64)
• Impossible Mission (Commodore 64)

Source: The Virtual Console Archive: EU VC Releases
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Another 2+ game week for Europe and Australia? Will they always get more games than usual when C64 games are released? I wish something like that would happen over here, since it's been like eight months since the last time we got four games. Anyway, Europe and Australia get a new system, the Sega Master System, which we got last week, with two games: Fantasy Zone, and Wonder Boy. I've mentioned a bit of both games when they were released in Japan and here, so I won't bother you with the same stuff.

The other two games are Commodore 64 games: the first one is California Games. I've never played the C64 version, but from what I've seen, it's pretty much the same as the PC version. I had a lot of fun playing that game back in the 80's, on my 286 PC and my monochrome monitor (yeah, I didn't have one of those fancy VGA monitors, not even CGA). I'm pretty sure the game doesn't hold up though. The second game is Impossible Mission, which was the first game we heard about when the Commodore 64 was announced for the VC. I've never played it but I've heard that it's one of the best games on the C64.

 

[InfinityDragon]

UPDATE: Three games announced for next week in Japan:

• Hoshi no Kirby 64 [Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards] (Nintendo 64)
• Digital Champ Battle Boxing (PC Engine)
• Monster Lair (PC Engine CD)

Source: Nintendo of Japan VC website
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Well, look at this, Japan is getting two games we got a while ago: Kirby 64 and Monster Lair. I think this is the first time it has happened (aside from launch day). The third game is Digital Champ Battle Boxing, developed by naxat soft (hey, they actually made a game that didn't have the word "psycho" somewhere in the title). The game looks like a simple boxing game played from a first person perspective. From the videos I saw, it doesn't seem to be that interesting.

 

[InfinityDragon]

UPDATE: Well, I made a big mistake in the Australian updates for two of the last three weeks. It turns out that the Commodore 64 came out only in Europe, not in both Europe and Australia like I had mentioned. That explains why the number of games released had increased, since releasing just two C64 games in a week would have implied no games for Australia (of course, they could have released only one C64 game a week). This means that Australia had one of the worst VC releases, quantity-wise, last month, getting only five games (Europe got seven).

Once again, I apologize for the mistake.

 

[Bulerias]

UPDATE: Well, I made a big mistake in the Australian updates for two of the last three weeks. It turns out that the Commodore 64 came out only in Europe, not in both Europe and Australia like I had mentioned. That explains why the number of games released had increased, since releasing just two C64 games in a week would have implied no games for Australia (of course, they could have released only one C64 game a week). This means that Australia had one of the worst VC releases, quantity-wise, last month, getting only five games (Europe got seven).

Once again, I apologize for the mistake.

Holy crap, 5 games in a month? That's... horrible. 0_0

 

[InfinityDragon]

UPDATE: Well, I made a big mistake in the Australian updates for two of the last three weeks. It turns out that the Commodore 64 came out only in Europe, not in both Europe and Australia like I had mentioned. That explains why the number of games released had increased, since releasing just two C64 games in a week would have implied no games for Australia (of course, they could have released only one C64 game a week). This means that Australia had one of the worst VC releases, quantity-wise, last month, getting only five games (Europe got seven).

Once again, I apologize for the mistake.

Holy crap, 5 games in a month? That's... horrible. 0_0

To make it worse, it has happened at least twice for them (the other time being January 2007). I'm pretty sure people here would riot if that happened.

 

[InfinityDragon]

UPDATE: Two games to be released today in the Americas:

• Fantasy Zone (Sega Master System)
• Mega Turrican (Sega Genesis)

Source: Nintendo of America Media Site
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It's Sega week! Nintendo decided to take a rest this week and allow Sega to provide both games for today: Fantasy Zone and Mega Turrican. Both games were released in Europe and Australia within the last month. Now there's only one SMS game released in Japan that hasn't made it here, Hokuto no Ken, or it's western counterpart, Black Belt. Could that be the next SMS game for the VC? Personally, I hope we get some Shinobi or Alex Kidd first.