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

A trio of titles this week, two decidedly decent and one a downright disaster; anyway enough from me and on with the games!

Available for download this week we have...

• Breath of Fire II
• Galaga 90
• Volleyball

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

When it was first released Capcom's original Breath of Fire title was a resounding success as it was the companies first proper RPG and instantly found a large fan base; when the time came for the sequel to be released expectations were understandably high. Fortunately any fears were instantly belayed as Breath of Fire II was immensely improved upon in almost every way and made it another instant hit back in the day; does it still compare to the competition over a decade on though?

Admittedly gamers have become accustomed to much deeper role-playing experiences in recent years and as a result of this many more mature examples of the genre released around the early to mid nineties have started to show their age. Thankfully though this fine example has its share of decent elements that effortlessly endears itself to the player even today; such as a storyline which is genuinely ingenious for its time and is spoiled only slightly by lazy localisation.

It follows the hero Ryu (the original games protagonist) a dragon morphing warrior who unwittingly embarks on an epic adventure to search for his father and younger sister. Along the way an ensemble of eight assignable characters will join you your quest and will assist you in locating and unlocking the secreted secrets that are shrouded in the vast lands you will get to explore; your fate will be decided entirely upon how you use various combinations of strength, spells and sageness as you journey across a mystical world inhabited by demons, dungeons and dragons.

Essentially this is still an old school experience at heart with everything from the seemingly standard tactical, turn-based combat system, slightly sub standard visuals and adversely average audio. Don't let these slight criticisms put you off though as it's still a solid and engaging affair with its a few elements of its own such as a fusion ability which allows you to imbue your character with a range of magic types which gives you some extra powers to play with in battle and helps to keep things interesting.

While it may not be in the same league as some of the greatest RPG experiences of all time, Breath of Fire II still remains a fantastic follow up which eclipses the original and holds its own as a decent and entertaining example of the genre in its own right. A solid game with a considerable amount to offer providing you can look past its few niggling elements, there is still life in it yet and thanks to the VC there most likely still will be in years to come.

Verdict : Another admirable and above average adventure title.

Points: 600
Publisher: Hudsonsoft
Developer: NBGI
Released: 1989
System: Turbgrafx

And so another arcade classic comes to the VC this time in the form of a reworking of the original Namco coin-up Galaga; although unlike the company's countless unintelligible updates of Pac-man this version stays true to its roots and offers that little bit more. This is a prime example of how a classic should be reworked for the better and not just for the simple reason of "just because we can".

Identical to the original in its core gameplay; levels are made up of screens with a space themed backdrop and insect like creatures which fill the top half of the screen, gliding around on predetermined pathways before falling back in line with the battalion of bugs. Sat firmly in the seat of your space ship and with your finger on the trigger, it's your mission to eradicate your erratically moving enemies as quickly as possible.

On the whole all of the elements from the original have been retained including the ability to acquire a superior ship which deals out double damage by sacrificing a solitary shuttle and repossessing it from the enemy. New additions aside from the obligatory aural and visual overhaul which looks sharp and sounds upbeat (especially in the challenging stages) include vertically scrolling sections between the main stages; which adds some nice and welcome variation to the formula.

The structure still remains familiar however with the game consisting of a plethora of planets each with three stages; your ship warps between worlds and also has the ability to alternate between dimensions. You get to play through six of the famed "challenging stages" (bonus rounds) each of which displays the on-screen message "That's galactic dancin" followed by that particular stages unique remixed music to which the enemies dance to affecting their pattern; the objective is still the same though, blast all forty of the cretinous creatures before they fly off.

Galaga 90 is basically the perfect update to the original smash-hit arcade incarnation which complements it well and improves on the template which made it such a success in the first place. If you live for classic coin ups or even if you just want something of balanced difficulty with plenty of scope for replay value then this unapologetically uber update is well worth considering adding to your collection.

Verdict: A fresh, fun and yet familiar favorite.

Points: 500
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo
Released: 1987
System: NES

Another substandard sports title gets re-released on the Virtual Console, this time in the form of Volleyball; admittedly Nintendo did have some success with Ice Hockey but this example falls short by a long way and joins Soccer and Baseball in competition for the worst example of a first party released sports title. It doesn't need to try that hard however because it quite simply is atrocious from the outset and easily takes the crown from the aforementioned two and indeed the proverbial biscuit.

Visually it's void, audibly it's an abomination but this is half expected from something that was released a double decade ago; whats not expected though is for the player to have almost complete lack of control over whats happening on-screen. Everything moves erratically and it never seems possible to make the ball or the players go where you want and this begs the question; What exactly is the point in a game if you don't interact with it?

The answer is that there is none and so there is no point in downloading the re-release of this game which remains as pointless today as it was twenty years ago. I truly cannot recommend this in any way, shape or form as it would be a blatant lie; the simple truth? In my opinion It's a really bad game that has no value and if something has no value then logic denotes that you shouldn't pay for it, save yourself the points and the hassle it takes to download as there are surely much better VC titles just around the corner.

Verdict: Virtual volleyball that is viciously vomit inducing.

And so another edition of VC Weekly comes to an end, but rest assured it will return again soon so until then, enjoy the rest of the week and Game On!

Sam Gittins