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

Sin and Punishment! Those who know those words already know what a monumental title this is for Nintendo's Virtual Console and those who didn't shall now know of it's existence; so enough from me and on with the games!

Available for download this week we have...

• Gradius III
• Legend of Hero Tonma
• Sin and Punishment

Points: 900
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Konami
Released: 1991
System: SNES

Third in the series of the popular Gradius (a successful series of schmups) this particular iteration is essentially more of the same. As always you take control of advance spaceship the Vic Viper and blast your way through an army of alien assailants; thats basically it as far as required narrative is concerned, this is a shooter after all and in that department it shines.

Selecting your weapons from either a predetermined pattern or a custom culmination, start the mission and your away! Eradicate your enemies, obtain their orbs, and power up; this is essentially the established pattern that the series has adopted and this is no exception, sticking firmly to it's roots.

Pickups themselves range from various laser beam augmentations which are imperative to impairing your enemies to lesser power ups such as standalone spheres which will surround your ship offering either shielding or supplementary secondary fire. A nice selection overall but it's nothing groundbreaking by todays high standard in scrolling shooters.

Some slightly off-putting elements are apparent from the start though including some blatantly bland visuals and average audio; it still plays well but not looking and sounding the part certainly hasn't helped matters as it could have potentially aged a lot better. Level design is perfectly respectable however offering a decent amount of variation throughout and some well paced boss battles which help to offer you a bit more for your points.

It's another "fan favourite" scenario as if you love the series then the chances are you will really like Gradius III as it sticks firmly to it's roots and should be a rewarding play for veterans. For everyone else though it's basically likely to be "another shooter" and while you could do a lot worse than this you could also do a lot better

Verdict: Another great galactic Gradius game.

Points: 600
Publisher: Hudson
Developer: Irem
Released: 1993
System: Turbografx

Remember a game called Ninja Spirit? Well this is a game made by the same developers and unsurprisingly it plays just like the aforementioned title except if it were crossed with a shoot-em-up. Confused? Me too but the game goes a little something like this, you play as Tonma a prince who has to rescue a princess from an evil demon! Hurray for plot originality...

Action takes place over seven sod ridden levels full of lots of irritating enemies who will attempt to thwart your epic rescue mission in various ways; firstly by simply running into you as this is their default offensive attack leading up to more bothersome attempts on your existence using all manner of things including various projectiles as the levels progress.

But you are not defenseless! Oh no far from it, you have a veritable selection of weapons at your disposal ranging from fireballs, bombs and other projectiles with the additional ability of bouncing on the head of your enemy. Your arsenal can be upgraded as you progress adding augmentation to your fire patterns which allow your projectiles to home in on adversaries and even pick up power ups for you, how handy.

Mechanically this game offers both elation and frustration, completing a level gives you a reasonable sense of achievement but getting their can be annoyance due to your character being able to die in one hit. You have infinite continues but because dying strips you of your accumulated power ups it can make progressing unnecessarily annoying, couple this with mostly forgettable audio that grates after a few plays and this game can become a chore to play if you let it.

This is basically like an easier version of Ninja Spirit but in the guise of a platform shooter and as it's origins suggest it really is a mixed bag, it's nice enough to look at and it has some challenging stages and bosses. It's a reasonable enough title that has enough to offer in terms of playability but due to it's tendency to be repeatedly annoying in places it's only really worth playing if you have the time for it.

Verdict: Tries on your patience as you patiently try to complete it.

Points: 1200
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Treasure
Released: 2000
System: Nintendo 64

What does the word "Treasure" mean to you? For some it may conjure up images of gold and jewel encrusted goblets, for others it may simply stand for that which they hold dear to them but the chances are that reading this article the word Treasure first and foremost reminds you of quite probably the finest developer of all forms of games in the shoot-em-up (or schmup) genre.

Among it's list of high profile titles is this, the quite simply sublime Sin and Punishment should easily rank in the all time zenith of the companies illustrious history. Originally only ever seeing the light of day in the land of the rising sun; this on-rails three dimensional shooting experience set in the near future on a vastly overpopulated planet Earth sees you take on the role of two teenagers named Saki and Airan in their ever ongoing battle against the might of the ruffians.

It's a standout example of it's genre for many reasons, yes it's beautifully rendered and the compositions are an aural delight but it is the painstakingly perfect presentation which truly sets it apart from anything else. Stunning set pieces are laid out throughout this on rails adventure from each epic encounter with the many well constructed bosses to supremely satisfying sections where you erase entire enemy fleets with both skill and style.

Originally designed around the three pronged N64 pad, a trio of control variants ensures it's playability on a Wavebird or Classic Controller though regardless of which scheme you choose I would recommend the former controller as it is just simply more comfortable and better suited to Nintendo 64 games. Moves are easy enough to execute but the key to success in S&P comes from knowing exactly when to use what maneuver; essentially it plays like a Starfox game except on-foot, like Gunstar Heroes but 3D except it has an original quality of it's own that you really just have to play to appreciate.

Make no mistake, Treasure are the masters of the domain of shooters for a reason; Sin and Punishment is yet another stunning example of how games should be made, with patience, pride, passion and painstaking attention to detail. All of this is evident here as everything is brought together in an awe inspiring amalgamation of imagination, style and most importantly soul; an exceptional game in both the standalone sense as well as a fitting tribute to the console that made this and many other undisputed classics possible.

Verdict: A jewel in Treasures crown, finally upon this world it shines down.

Another edition of VC Weekly comes to it's inevitable end, but it will return again soon so until then, enjoy the rest of the week and Game On!

Sam Gittins
[email protected]