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

Two titles... well it's better than last weeks one! Much better in fact as we are graced with excellent examples in both the platform and fighting genre which are surely welcome additions to the VC. Anyway enough from me and on with the games!

Available for download this week we have...

• Bubble Bobble
• King of Fighters '94

Points: 500
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Taito
Released: 1990
System: NES

A classic of it's time, the original Bubble Bobble was greatly received upon it's original release; starring two chibi dinosaur characters named Bub and Bob who must spit and pop bubbles through numerous levels on a quest to save their kidnapped girlfriends from some evil type character, you know the score by now, the general "heroes plot" but thats of little importance.

It's the way the game plays which helps to set it apart from every other available platform game released at the time. In essence it's gameplay is simple and revolves around the aforementioned bubble blasting; moving around with the D-pad and using the two action buttons to jump, trap enemies in bubbles and then pop them which will result in their demise.

As soon as all enemies are eradicated the level ends and moves to the next; if you take too long on any level the evil Baron Von Blubba will pursue and proceed to "pwn" you, he is invincible so you need to avoid him and finish the level in order to escape. There are one hundred levels all of which increase steadily with a satisfying amount of difficulty ranging from doable to downright devious designs which are both fun and rewarding.

Visually this NES port of the arcade original is nice if only slightly lacking in comparison, it's still nice enough though considering the hardware; the looped themes are nice and catchy but will most likely stick in your head for a while after playing which is ether a good or a bad thing if you like the audio or not, either way it suits the game and thats all that matters.

Coming into it's own in it's Co-op mode this is definitely a game best played with two players, one player controls Bub and the other Bob and it really is an unforgettable if whimsical but fun experience which I would recommend. A truly great arcade game with it's own unique charm that assures that it will remain the classic that it has always been for many years to come.

Verdict : A perfect pick-up n play game.

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

A company now famed for it's various variants of beat-em-up's, the mighty SNK has many strings to it's bow where the fighting genre is concerned. Famous they may be for creating such games such as Fatal Fury and Samurai Showdown but they were not the examples that put them firmly on the map, oh no, indeed that title belongs to the King of Fighters.

This is the first in the series and what an entry, taking characters from familiar fighting franchises from the company's back-catalogue ranging from the aforementioned two examples along with Art of Fighting & Ikari warriors and then putting them into one game for one massive mash-up.

Envision it as SNK's version of Smash Brothers but made before and just characters from fighting games well... fighting and nothing else; while I don't mean to compare the two very different games in terms of quality it's merely to give you a rough idea of the concept. So yes, it's a fighting game featuring the best of the best from fighters past featuring a roster ranging from Ryo Sakazaki, Terry & Andy Bogard and Kyo Kusanagi.

Mainly being notable for being compared to be equal with or even better than Capcoms legendary Street Fighter series; KOF revolves around picking a trio of fighters, you battle your way through as many enemies as you can but when all your team is beaten it's game over. Your energy bar for each character is carried over from the previous punch-up so it's a satisfying challenge to try and complete the main story with your chosen three.

It's diverse range of characters really helps to set it above and apart from most fighters released at the time, their individual move sets make for an entertaining experience for the player as you attempt to master the moves in order for your team to triumph. It's quite the visual and audible set piece too with a level of artistic detail and strong background music which easily places it as one of the prettiest two-dimensional games currently available on the VC.

Only really falling short in a few areas where it shows it's age in comparison to more modern fighters such as the lack of counters, aerial blocking and rather sedate special moves. Those slight inadequacies aside, this is a fine example of a truly great fighting game which easily ranks right up there as one of the best and is a suitably sufficient start to a fantastic franchise.

Verdict : A carefully crafted culmination of characters and combat.

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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