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

Another few weeks, another solitary release cast in our general direction, thankfully it's a decent title this week. Anyway enough from me and on with the, erm... game!

Available for download this week we have...

• Street Fighter Alpha 2

Points: 800
Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Capcom
Released: 1996
System: SNES

Near enough every gamer is familiar with the second installment in the Street Fighter series but one entry that you may not be as familiar with is the spin-off 'Alpha' series of which the second is now available on the VC for all to play. Read on to find out how it compares and fares alongside its more infamous brethren.

Essentially the game takes its roster of characters from the first two Street Fighter games plus Final Fight and pits them against each other in a fighting game that features an engine which has some rather unique and enjoyable aspects. For each character you have a bespoke set of punches and kicks separated into weak, medium and strong categories; special attacks can also be triggered via specific stabs and swipes across the D-pad in conjunction with the action buttons.

On top of this you have the Super Combo system which works by way of a meter located at the bottom that increases upon each successfully landed attack on your opponent; upon reaching a certain capacity you can then unleash a Super Combo attack for massive damage. You can also perform your own Custom Combo's if you so desire by stringing together your own attack routine within the time limit and it's the very use of these combos which sets the game apart from other such available offerings.

Though a few minor cuts were made in translating this from arcade board to cartridge, the actual amount that remains intact is nothing short of astounding in terms of both quantity and quality. Controls are spot-on, backgrounds are still lavishly detailed, animation is accurate, sounds are stunning and what you're left with is one truly satisfying fighting game.

If you love fighting games then you really can't go far wrong with this, SF2 purists may shun it in favor of the almighty classic but if you can appreciate the finer points of the fighting system and have someone else who's willing to play it with you then this title really comes into its own for being the superb fighting game that it is.

Verdict: A spectacular Street Fighter 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.