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

A terrific trio of titles... well actually only one of the three is of amazing quality; that quite obviously being the immortal Super Mario Bros 3! Just before the imminent release of Super Mario Galaxy too, the other two games need not have been added to the VC but they are all reviewed here regardless. Anyway enough from me and on with the games!

Available for download this week we have...

• Super Mario Bros 3
• Power Golf
• Blue's Journey

Points: 500
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo
Released: 1991
System: NES

Widely considered to be quite simply one of the finest entires in the series to date Super Mario Bros 3 which was released after the somewhat disappointing first sequel is responsible for incorporating many new elements into super Mario's world. Not only that though but the gameplay is so much like the terrific template of the original which set the standard except it improves upon it tenfold in it's exemplary design.

Bowser along with his Koopalings are causing chaos yet again, but this time they're going beyond the Mushroom Kingdom and into the seven surrounding worlds. Mario and Luigi must battle new enemies, returning favorites and a new Koopaling in each unique and distinctive world on their way to the final fight with the ever evil King Bowser.

This time around as well as the already established mushroom, fireflower and starman items you also have access to a plethora of power-ups which make their dynamic debut. Everything from the terrific Tanooki ability acquired by the touch of a leaf to the Frog and Hammer Bros suits are here which enable Mario to Fly, Swim and throw projectiles respectively; these abilities are amazing additions which add so much to the game as well as being something previously unseen that really wowed people upon it's original release.

Power ups are a particularly prominent element within the game as you obtain them frequently within the levels as well as from Toad houses through a variety of simplistic but fun mini-games. The same can be said for lives which you will obtain thick and fast but this does not cheapen the game one bit as the level design is both extremely well thought out and challenging as you run and jump through an astonishing amount of levels which scroll both vertically and horizontally in both directions rather than being a simple "left to right" affair from start to finish.

Newly introduced is the map screen which acts as a hub of sorts as you travel through the seven splendid set-pieces which are the games worlds. Ranging from deserts, dungeons, fire, ice and water based locations each featuring a lengthy set of levels even including a sub and main castle as well the the usual areas and minigames inbetween; oh and did I mention that you can now save your progress as well as power ups on the map screen? Yet another newly introduced innovation for this already impressive title which features some impressive visuals and audio considering the hardware, really it's a wonder how at the they managed to fit all this brilliance onto a single cartridge.

There is so much more to this title that simply needs to be played to be believed, extra explorable areas, exploits, shortcuts and much more is there for you the player to discover not to mention the solid two player battle mode. If you have yet to play this true Nintendo masterpiece then do yourself a favor and download what is quite possibly one of the finest platform games ever, for only a mere 500 points it is worth it now and would even be worth getting if it were more, a true classic.

Verdict: Two dimensional platforming at it's very finest.

Points: 600
Publisher: Hudson
Developer: Hudson
Released: 1989
System: Turbografx

There is certainly no shortage in Golf games on the Wii, regardless of whether obtained via the VC or retail there is already a nice selection of reasonably decent offerings that have taken a swing at the genre. So why do we need the ashamedly average examples? Basically we don't but it seems that this is what we have been given in the form of Hudson's Power Golf.

So whats on offer? You get to choose from one of three different characters which correspond with three different difficulty levels ranging from the obligatory beginner, intermediate and advanced settings. And following the everything is best in threes trend thats how many modes you get in the form of Normal Match where you compete against other golfers, Club Match which is essentially a variant on normal mode and Competition Mode in which up to three players can play.

You get various things which affect the course such as wind speed / direction and sloping within the course, on screen guides that track the movement of the ball are present as is the familiar lining up the cross-hairs in order to make a shot. It's basically like Mario Golf except not even as good, that was decently programmed at least but here it's down to more luck than judgment in your timing as you can miss it by only a fraction of second which results in the ball going off course repeatedly.

With such a flaw which renders the game virtually unplayable it's really hard to recommend this Golf game when there are so many more examples that are just better. Theres noting to shout about in the audio or visual department either and even if your really into this type of game I still wouldn't advise download of it, stick with Wii Golf, it's better and free.

Verdict: A genuinely generic game of Golf.

Points: 900
Publisher: SNK
Developer: ADK
Released: 1994
System: NeoGeo

Assuming that you have played Super Mario Bros 2 before this is just like it, except with all the good bits taken out, vivid visuals plastered everywhere to overcompensate for it's repetitive nature and generally cute nature of the really bad vomit inducing variety.

The planet of Raguy has been invaded by the Daruma tribe, changing it from a beautiful and peaceful place into one filled with pollution. You play as Blue on a quest to save the planet and keep its inhabitants from being turned into slaves.

Generic storyline "check" as for the actual gameplay well it is actually fun... for the first five minutes that is, after that point once you've flipped a few enemies on their heads, thrown them and generally jumped around thats basically all the fun you will get out of this game, so you can essentially stop playing right there as there really isn't any more enjoyment to be derived from the experience.

Still interested? Ok lets look at some suitable selling points, erm well you can purchase items from shops but you could do the equivalent in SMB3 which doesn't charge you either. The only other feature of vague interest is the ability to shrink your character to allow him to enter small cracks which basically amounts to taking a shortcut, which does mean that you'll finish the game quicker if you decide to pursue it this far which can easily be considered an inadvertent positive point.

Overall though it's just so generic and feels like it's done before countless times, because it has, really if your particular about platform games the I would avoid this unless you want to feel shortchanged by a short lived experience. There are plenty of decent games of this genre about so do yourself a favor and download one of those if you simply want a good platformer, this weeks released SMB3 is one of the finest available so why not get that instead or any other platform game apart from this one.

Verdict: Painfully poor platform game.

Thats 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
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