Welcome to VC Weekly, N-Europe's guide to the wonderful world of Nintendo's download service. Written by Sam C Gittins.

Editor's Note: We're a couple of weeks behind on the old VC releases due to a backlog of work piling up. We apologise for the delay - expect two more VC weeklys over the weekend to get us back up to schedule!

Another week and another selection of titles available for your downloading pleasure or pain; although thankfully this week the former outnumbers the latter.

So without further stalling here are the games! And this weeks new residents are...

• Battle Lode Runner
• Final Fight
• Mighty Bomb Jack

Points: 600
Publisher: Hudsonsoft
Developer: Hudsonsoft
Released: 1993
System: Turbografx

Ahm the infamous Lode Runner series... it has been around seemingly since the dawn of gaming and as a result it's a firm favorite with many despite nearly every entry in the series being either a hit or a miss, which raises the question; Which category does Battle Lode Runner fall into?

This "battle" version of the title was created by Hudsonsoft and quite frankly this is indeed a plus point given that arguably the developers most successful franchise is Bomberman and Battle Lode Runner isn't to dissimilar from a visual standpoint. For this version an effort was made visually which is a noticeable improvement on the original which looks drastically drab in comparison.

Your main objective is to gather gold coins in one stage to proceed to the next all the while evading evil enemies and digging ditches for them to fall into. Essentially it plays very much like the classic Chuckie Egg of which the original was from the same era; in fact the only main differences here are in the character you control; which in this instance is a stick man and the aforementioned items that you collect.

Level design is surprisingly solid and causes the player to carefully plan their route a few moves in advance in order to avoid getting trapped in a corner; the stages become trying towards the end and often require quick reactions in order to survive but the feeling of completing each one is rewarding enough to make it worth your while.

If you eventually get bored of what levels the game has to offer you can create your own using the games built-in level editor which helps to add a small amount of longevity to proceedings as does the five-player multiplayer mode which although isn't as complementary to the main game as it is in previous VC Turbografx releases such as Bomberman and Dungeon Explorer it's still entertaining in short bursts.

Verdict: Lock, Lode, battle mode; an enjoyable piece of Code.

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

Mention the genre of 2-D beat-em-up and immediately titles such as the Streets of Rage or Double Dragon series probably spring to mind for many; however the genre isn't just limited to the most infamous series as there are other examples that while they may not have broken as much ground as others but still have their place.

Final Fight is one such title that while it certainly wasn't original in concept still offered an entertaining experience in it's own right. The story is pretty basic and unimportant; you take on the role of either Cody or Haggar who must rescue Jessica who is the daughter of Haggar (ex-wrestler and Mayor of Metro City) and girlfriend to Cody (Martial arts expert) from the evil clutches of the infamous Mad Gear corporation.

After pressing the start button you are greeted with a well presented menu which plays host to various modes and adjustable variables. If this is your first foray into the game then you may want to check out the "Training" option first. Personally I would advise starting here before venturing into the main experience if only because it sets a fine example of how an introductory mode should be; in short, it teaches you all you need to know in a short time frame, manages to hold your attention throughout and thanks to the looped action sequence at the "end" it lets you decide when to move onto the main event.

So with a predictable goal in mind you set off through the streets of Metro City beating seven shades of burgundy out of your numerous opponents using basic punch, kick and jump kick actions as well as learning how to perform a few decent combos. In addition to hand to hand combat you can wield various weapons from lead pipes to knives and you consume perishable products to regain health.

There are destructible objects and varied enemies aplenty as well as boss encounters and levels that will take you on a journey through the city including a notable subway / train based level where you make your way from one end of the claustrophobic carriages to the other as you journey onward to your eventual destination. Also worth noting is the inclusion of bonus stages which are in similar vein to those featured in Street Fighter 2, one of which has you destroying a car in the quickest time possible; completely mindless and pointless but the stages are a nice momentary diversion.

It's a well put together fighting game with a decent amount of polish to the near arcade perfect converted graphics and sound that made it such a hit for it's time and even with the omissions that the VC version still has (just as with the original SNES conversion) such as the lack of a third playable character (guy), no 2 player mode and a missing level; It's still hard to fault Final Fight as it's as fun as it always has been and is a solid side-scrolling scrapper with plenty to offer.

Verdict: Finally! A near faultless, fun, fisticuff based fighter on the VC.

Points: 500
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Tecmo
Released: 1992
System: NES

The original Bomb Jack was a classic arcade game of it's time; it's trademark game concept in which you controlled Jack on a screen where you were tasked with collecting no less than twenty bombs in a specific order, earned it a cult following. So why take a winning concept and then attempt to "improve" upon it by adapting it from arcade game to platform game for it's console release?

It seems completely nonsensical to me but nonetheless that is what has been done in the case of Mighty Bomb Jack. We are left with a side-scrolling platform game which has a main character that doesn't act like you might have come to expect from other far superior examples of the platform genre; this leaves the experience feeling quite broken and personally I found it a difficult game to get into or enjoy.

Not to say it's a complete failure though; it's enjoyable and yet frustrating almost seemingly simultaneously. It's main shortcomings are a lack of proper control over the main character and annoyingly sporadic enemy movement. Some may feel that these points are integral to the way the game plays but it's clear to any gamer who has enjoyed the platform genre regularly thats there are far better tried and tested concepts that work; Mighty Bomb Jack isn't one such example.

Verdict: A sequel that bombs; hit the road Jack.

Another end to another edition of VC Weekly; which will be back again very soon! Expect another catch-up issue very soon to get back on track!