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

This ninetieth edition of VC Weekly marks the arrival of arcade games on the Virtual Console and to start off with there are four titles up for download, while they might not be the best examples it is at least a start to a category that can hopefully only improve with age. Anyway enough from me and on with the games!

Available for download this week we have...

• Gaplus
• Mappy
• Star Force
• The Tower of Druaga

Points: 500
Publisher: Bally Midway
Developer: Namco
Released: 1984
System: Arcade

When the original Galaga was released it became an instant classic due to its unique selling point of having enemies that moved in varying attack patterns towards your ship, no longer were you facing off against slowly scrolling sprites which were pretty easy to pick off. This was a true simple evolution in the way that games of this genre were played and while it may seem pretty basic now it was the stuff of genius back in the day.

This sequel however never garnered the same amount of popularity that its predecessor did due to a few changes to the formula that hindered matters instead of helping them. Most notably you can now no longer gain a powerful ship by getting captured by an enemy tractor beam, instead you must shoot the alien queen to gain a power up; one of which happens to be a tractor beam which you can use to capture enemies and use them for extra firepower which can prove useful on the more difficult levels.

You can now move not just from left to right but also up and down up to the halfway point on the screen, this doesn't suit the game very well though because of the random attack patterns that make it all to easy to lose a ship if you are too close to the swarm of enemies.

Sprites for the aliens actually look like they were mostly ripped straight from Galaga along with everything else for that matter so don't expect any kind of updates to the aesthetics here as the whole game just seems like a recycled and altered concept with not a great deal of effort put into it at all.

Add to all of this a very steep learning curve that really makes this frustrating to play at times and you have a sequel which tries some things that are new but ultimately falls flat on its face as it's these additions which do next to nothing for the formula except mess it up. Stick with the original as it's simply superior and a lot more fun to play.

Verdict : Substandard sequel.

Points: 500
Publisher: Bally Midway
Developer: Namco
Released: 1983
System: Arcade

Easily the best title in this initial batch of arcade releases, here we have a classic arcade game with an original plot, amusing characters and a good standard of gameplay. The premise revolves around a bunch of criminal cats called the Mewkies who have stolen a load of warez and it's your job as Mappy the mouse cop to recover all the ill-gotten goods.

The action is divided into fifteen rounds - four of which are bonus variants - upon clearing all of these the game will then revert back to the first level but with an increase in difficulty. Strangely the Mewkies Mansion (where the game takes place) was built with no stairs but instead many floors with only trampolines in-between; both you and your enemies can use these, when you are both on the trampolines you can't be harmed but dwindling too long on one will cause it to collapse, sending you to your end along with it.

Within the stages are several doors, standard ones will stun the Mewkies whereas the other ones will emit a wave through the area which temporarily rids the screen of all enemies. Primarily the focus of the game is to collect as much stuff as possible while taking stock of all the hazards that are around you; bonus points are available for the more items that you manage to collect without dying, this is a good way to encourage you to keep improving your play style so that you can boost your score.

Beware when nabbing items though because sometimes Nyamco - the leader of the Mewkies - will jump out from the item he was hiding from as you pick it up and if this happens then it's Game Over. Graphically the game is reasonable as is the catchy tunes but as always with popular arcade games it's in the gameplay department where it delivers.

For a mere five hundred points you truly can't go far wrong with this as your first VC Arcade purchase; you get the original arcade version which is the best Namco have released. There will undoubtedly be better Arcade games on the horizon bu for now this is the best of the bunch and will keep you entertained for a good while.

Verdict : A classic coin-up conversion.

Points: 500
Publisher: Tehkan
Developer: Tehkan
Released: 1984
System: Arcade

In an era where the vertical scrolling shooter was gaining popularity this title did reasonably well upon its original release and although it may seem a little basic by todays standards it's responsible for laying down some of the foundations for the superior scrolling shooters that we know today.

You fly through levels which are based on letters of the Greek alphabet, taking out enemies of both the airborne and ground based varieties with a basic blaster; there is also one single upgrade but that's it as the game is pretty basic overall. Once you reach a certain part of the stage you will face off against a boss in the form of the Greek letter of that level for which you only get one shot and if you miss then you will have to play an extra bit of the level until you succeed, the encounters themselves are pretty uninspiring.

Controls seem a little on the clunky side by todays standards but they still do the job even if there is a distinct lack of speed here which certainly doesn't help matters much at all; it's not easy either but thankfully you can change the settings merely by pressing the minus button on the Wii remote which can be useful at times.

Of course visually there isn't a great deal to shout about here but what is in the game is satisfactory and even has a few moments with some nice detail just don't expect a great deal from it. Music tracks used here are fun for a few plays but after that they tend to grate somewhat.

There is a semi-decent shooter in here which will please fans of the genre for a few moments but it really won't last; there are a few nice touches to the game here and there but it has since been bettered many times by todays standards. Simply put this doesn't stand the test of time but it may entertain you briefly if you need a scrolling shooter 'fix' but if you can wait then I'd advise you to do so as there will surely be better titles yet to come.

Verdict : Simplistic and sedate shooter.

Points: 500
Publisher: Namco
Developer: Namco
Released: 1984
System: Arcade

An apparently well known arcade game - though I admit not hearing much about it prior to its VC re-release - this title is basically a dungeon crawler in which you take on the role of the young knight named Gil as you work your way through the sixty floor maze-like dungeon in order to rescue princess Ki from the evil Druaga... yep, the age-old good, bad and the princess plot triangle prevails.

Your objective on each floor is simply get the key, get it to the door, lather, rinse and repeat for each and every subsequent floor; but of course it's never quite 'that' simple oh no... for there are enemies! Oh yes there are... and get in your way they will so avoid them you must hmm?

Well you can opt to attack them as well if you must, in fact you will pretty much need to so with a press of the action button you can switch between using your sword or just holding your shield up. You will need to change tact for each enemy because some will fire projectiles which you can bounce back at them with your shield while others will need to be nicely sliced and diced with your trusty sword.

There are treasure chests that appear on each floor when you complete a certain task such as defeating three enemies of a particular type; items such as the pick-axe that allows you to destroy one wall per stage can prove very useful to have. Many of these items can be found throughout the game and some are even essential which is all well and good but can lead to frustration if you miss one and can't properly progress because of it.

Personally I found the title not very fun to play due to the flawed mechanics based around the item system mentioned above; it is playable, looks and sounds fine for what it is but beyond that there isn't a great deal going for it. Certain masochistic gamers may very well enjoy it though as it's one of those games that you will either attempt to look past its flaws and better yourself or accept that it's just not that fun and move on.

Verdict : Maze-based madness for masochists.

Thats it for another installment of VC Weekly which will return again soon with a review of Majora's Mask! 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.