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

An average assemblage of titles this time around as a couple of Master System games get released on the VC to tide us over until something better comes along. Anyway enough from me and on with the games!

Available for download this week we have...

• Alex Kidd : The Lost Stars
• Secret Command

Points: 500
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Sega
Released: 1986
System: Master System

When the first Alex Kidd title was released it was deemed as a worthy alternative to Super Mario Bros and cemented the character as a mascot for Sega at the time; so when this sequel of sorts came along there were understandably great expectations. Unfortunately these were not met as the actual end product turned out to be a bastardisation that strayed from what made the original successful in the first place, delivering a derivative and devoid platform title with a lack of difficulty that would end up angering more fans than it pleased.

Gone are the original elements such as the block smashing, bike riding and scrolling levels in favour of a linear and lackluster experience which really does nothing for the series at all; in fact this sequel is pretty much responsible for killing dead and future hope for Alex Kidd as a series which is a shame because it could have been so much more.

The aim of the game is to get from one end of each level to the other collecting a symbol of the Zodiac in the process; there isn't a lot to it other than that, nearly all offensive capabilities are lost in this outing as you cannot punch enemies anymore. Indeed it is possible to pick up a power-up which allows you to fire projectiles but even this novelty soon wears off when you realise that it's much simpler to just jump over enemies to avoid them as that's how the game is structured.

So what you are left with is a bare-bones platform title in which you must run, jump and then run and jump some more while doing battle against an ever-ticking timer in an attempt to make it to the end of the stage; any hit taken will result in a fixed time penalty or a loss in progress but other than that there really isn't much in the way of challenge to it at all.

Perhaps its visual style could be seen as a small redeeming feature due to the bright and bold nature of everything not to mention the weird and wonderful enemies and an upbeat soundtrack to accompany the madness. But alas all of this is merely aesthetic and still can't save the game from being what it is; a simplistic stripped-down sequel with no ambition to be anything more than the disappointment that it is.

Verdict : Painfully poor platform title.

Points: 500
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Sega
Released: 1986
System: Master System

In an era where the run 'n gun titles were the most popular in arcades it comes as no surprise that everyone wanted a slice of the action including Sega, so they created Secret Command which would later be altered and relaunched under the moniker of Rambo: First Blood Part II when released in the US in order to tie-in and capitalise off of the success of the film at the time.

Seemingly lesser known at it's time of release it never reached the level of success that Sega had perhaps hoped for so how does it stack-up by todays standards? Overall the way it plays is fairly basic and sees you taking control of a tooled-up commando as you venture through enemy territories such as facilities, forests and swamps in an attempt to rescue as many POW's as possible.

There are two types of projectile-based weapons at your disposal which includes an unlimited machine gun and a bow that can fire a limited stock of explosive arrows which can be replenished as you will receive one from each prisoner that you rescue. Perhaps this title is best described as a simpler version of other superior titles that came before it as while it's tough enough - especially in the later levels - there isn't a great deal to it.

A competent two player mode is included and I would actually recommend playing it this way if you want to get more out of the overall experience; it's still fun enough in single player mode but it's just more enjoyable to play it cooperatively. Sporting some rather detailed visuals for an 8-bit title it clearly takes advantage of the hardware well even if the same can't be said for the repeated music samples which will grate after a while.

You may be looking for a reasonable run 'n run title to tide you over until something better comes out and if you are then look no further; it might not be on the same level of greatness as games like Commando but it does however do a decent job of replicating a very similar feel to it overall.

Verdict : A commendable Commando clone.

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
[email protected]

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