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

Just as the fourth Hanabi festival comes to an end with two titles of reasonable quality, VC Weekly reaches its one hundredth installment! Originally started by Jordan Khoviteri-Zadeh who I am thankful to for laying down the solid foundations and allowing me the opportunity to succeed him when he decided it was time to step down.

Now with Ninety-Three instalments to my name it would appear that I am here to stay and I only hope that I'm continuing to give each VC title the fair review that it deserves; you may have noticed our graphical makeover and though many � including myself � were fond of the old design, I hope the regular readers will learn to embrace the excellent new design courtesy of our resident Head of Media - Justin Marimon.

All that's left for me to say is that I've enjoyed writing for N-Europe since I joined almost four years ago and I've enjoyed writing VC Weekly a lot through both the good times and the bad where releases are concerned - but regrettably all things must come to an end...

Thankfully that end is nowhere in sight as I plan to continue writing for a good while yet, so here's to the future and hopefully another hundred instalments; rest assured though I will pass the baton when the time comes. Anyway enough from me and on with the games!

Available for download this week we have...

• Kirby's Dream Land 3
• Detana!! Twinbee

Points: 900
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Hal
Released: 1997
System: SNES

Kirby has starred in many a title over the years ranging from the respectable first to the worst which is unfortunately this title; starting out by naming this as the least successful game in the series from the start might seem like damnation but it's actually not that bad, it's more that both the original Kirby's Adventure and Kirby's Fun Pak are superior.

It retains the main traits of its prequel which exists on the Game Boy featuring a lot of acceptable but basic platforming across various worlds of which there are five containing six sub levels and boss battle for each. They aren't all that challenging though really perhaps due to the generous life-bar you are given which allows you to take eight hits from the start and can even be extended further just in case you were having trouble with the already pedestrian pace of the game.

You of course have the unique talent of being able to absorb the powers of enemies by swallowing them and this time around the ability is enhanced thanks to the sidekicks you are able to call upon. When accompanied by these allies they will take on a variant of the ability that you've previously absorbed from an enemy, so for instance a forward facing projectile attack can be fired diagonally with a certain companion whereas there are more complex combinations that can be discovered so experimentation is always good.

Should you choose to persevere with this title then you will find a certain amount of satisfaction in earning the 'hearts' as there is one for each level and they are obtained by completing a level in a certain way. Such set goals include not touching flowers through a whole level and completing a level using only a specific sidekick; it certainly adds a bit of a challenge but it won't tax you too much either physically or mentally, neither will the final boss level it unlocks for that matter.

As a platform title it's not that bad but as a game in the Kirby series it falls flat in comparison to the rest, unsurprisingly the creator of the little pink blob - Masahiro Sakurai - did not work on either this or Kirby 64 so it just goes to show how far a game in a long-running series can fall when it's neglected by its original creator. Die-hard fans of the series will no doubt still enjoy this but otherwise if you only download one Kirby game off the VC then make it the original as it's still one of the best but this one is sadly sub-standard.

Verdict : One Kirby game that sucks as much the character does in-game.

Points: 700
Publisher: Hudson
Developer: Konami
Released: 1991
System: Turbografx

While there are plenty of shoot-em-up's on the VC there is also a smaller group of them that fall into the category of 'cute-em up' and this is one such game that is one of the best in its sub-genre. In the game you take control of the ship called Twinbee as you zip around the levels blasting as many enemies as you can while avoiding infrequent enemy fire and picking up fruit.

You are equipped with a basic cannon that you control by tapping the fire button resulting in standard bullets or a more powerful and wider fire attack by charging a shot, which can be more useful for boss battles in particular which are excellent set-pieces in themselves ranging from a good-old Giant Enemy Crab which dies quite easily to a Flying Robot Windmill that requires you to hit the blades to reveal its weak-point.

Also at your disposal is a bomb that's used to annihilate the otherwise invincible enemies on the ground, you have to be close to use it but the best part is that these bombs are unlimited and auto hit your target which is particularly useful later on when things get more hectic. Throughout the game you will find yourself shooting smiling clouds because they dispense bells which if you can continually shoot them upward eventually change colour, collecting these multi-coloured bells bestows a random power up upon you ranging from altered fire to a shield; the other main power-up allows the Winbee ship to join up with yours which alters your firepower for the better.

It's best played in two-player co-op mode though as this is where it can become a lot of fun especially if you get another experienced player along for an epic shooting session. Single player is still very decent though and you're sure to have a blast either way; the game features some rather vibrant visuals and an excellent upbeat soundtrack to boot not to mention a structure that flows well by popping up random Japanese anime style scenes between the various locales instead of announcing each level which is rather refreshing

Truly if you are looking for a more upbeat and fun shooting experience then you need not search any further as this pretty much has all you could want; slick visuals, responsive controls, catchy music, two player co-op... it ticks all the boxes and is a very enjoyable experience to boot proving enough of a challenge to keep you coming back for more. Definitely worth its import inflated price-tag, representing an excellent finish to the fourth Hanabi festival.

Verdict : A terrific Twinbee title.

That's it for another installment of VC Weekly which will return again soon. So until then, enjoy the rest of the week and Game On!

Sam Gittins
[email protected]

Looking for reviews on other Virtual Console games? Or a full list of games available on the system? Then Check out our Virtual Console Index Page.