Welcome to N-Europe's guide to the top five games from the wonderful world of Nintendo's download service. Written by Sam C Gittins.

With that festive period and celebration of all things joyous and all that almost upon us it's that time of year when you may wish to sit down with a good game to enjoy over Christmas. Or indeed you may be considering getting a game as a gift for someone using Nintendo's Virtual Console gift service and to that end we at N-Europe are here to help with a suggestable selection of five fantastic games that the VC currently has to offer. Anyway enough from me and on with the games!

Our top five festive favorites are...

• Sin and Punishment
• Streets of Rage III
• Super Metroid
• Zelda : A Link to the Past
• Super Mario Bros 3

Points: 1200
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Treasure
Released: 2000
System: N64

Why : A superb shooting experience of the highest caliber from a developer who have been breaking boundaries in the genre for years and this is no exception. Sin and Punishment is a unique and engaging experience featuring an original storyline, intense boss battles and frequent fire fights all brought together brilliantly in a brilliant on-rails fashion thats as meticulously designed as it is fun to play.

Points: 800
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Sega
Released: 1994
System: Megadrive

Why : Most gamers will have already played the superb second iteration and with good reason as it's the entry which put the series firmly on the map by improving upon the original in every possible way. This third variation on the theme is equally as good in many ways and carries over some of the best ideas, enemies and controllable characters while managing to add in a lot of commendable extras; plus two player cooperative carnage which is still as fantastic as ever.

Points: 800
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo
Released: 1994
System: SNES

Why : It's the defining two dimensional entry for the ever popular fan favorite franchise which stars intergalactic bounty hunter Samus Aran on a mission to retrieve the last remaining Metroid from the clutches of the Space Pirates and obliterate Mother Brain once more. Its unique brand of gameplay which revolves primarily around exploration mixed in with combative elements which evolves with each obtainable upgrade is a uniquely rewarding experience that has many standout moments in videogaming and is a brilliant game which if you haven't played already now is as good as time as any to experience one of the finest moments in gaming history.

Points: 800
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo
Released: 1992
System: SNES

Why : The Zelda game that created the template for almost every single subsequent sequel or spin-off since as well as being a true standout title in it's own right. Many games may have aged over the years but just like the aforementioned Super Metroid, this is a Nintendo classic which still feels as fresh as the day it was first released and with plenty to do in the main quest alone let alone the side missions this may well see you nicely into the new year.

Points: 500
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo
Released: 1991
System: NES

Why : In amongst the endless sea of platform games available on the Virtual Console featuring most wave upon wave of average to half decent efforts Super Mario Bros 3 crushes them all like a tsunami and stands high above everything else as one of if not the best two dimensional platform game ever made. An astounding amount of eye-popping, verticaly and horizontaly scrolling and brilliantly evolving levels as well as featuring an awesome array of transformations for Mario being the first game to properly implement interchangable suits as well as many other innovations; this proudly sits alongside Super Mario World, Super Mario 64 and even Super Mario Galaxy as one of the portly plumbers true finest hours and is a must play for anyone yet to be aquainted with it's brilliance.

And that concludes our Virtual Console buyers guide, which we hope has made the possible "burden" of choosing which game to buy a little lesser. As for the latest Virtual Console games be sure to check out the latest edition of VC Weekly and whatever game you decide to play, have fun and Game On!

Sam Gittins
[email protected]