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

Not a bad week if you like gambling sims or average RPG's, otherwise the only thing of interest will be the lesser version of a Sega classic. Anyway enough from me and on with the games!
 
Available for download this week we have...     

Crystal Warriors
Sonic 2
Vegas Stakes


 
Price: GB £3.59, EU €3.99
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Sega
Released: 1992
System: Game Gear

Around the same time of this games release strategy RPG's such as Fire Emblem plus Shining Force were gaining in popularity, so what better way to make your own original RPG than to nick the best bits from other great titles in an attempt to replicate the success... it's a flawless plan surely? Not exactly but more on that later, the plot involves Princess Iris who is on an epic quest to obtain three elemental crystals which have been wrongfully taken by the evil Emperor Grynn along with his army of misfits; enjoy this little bit of story because it compeltely takes a back-seat after setting the scene, almost making it rather pointless.

There are other characters but once a game gives up on the story you have to question, what exactly is the point to them? Your characters will die in battle permenantly too - not that you'll care - which is something to keep in mind, you'll get to recruit more during battles although you can only have up to nine at a time because of various memory limitations presumably. Combat in the game is actually reasonably good for what it is, you get two attacks per unit which means that there's a great risk/reward factor here; when you're receiving damage there is always the risk that your unit could be wiped out but when it's your turn, you are much more likely to land the killing blow which is always good.

Each unit will have an attribute which can be either Earth, Fire, Water or Wind so there is an order to things as certain elements are strong against one but weak against the other, good luck finding out the element of your enemy though as you'll need to 'scan' to discover it which slows things down considerably. In addition to fighting against soldiers you'll also be fending off monsters, this makes things interesting as you can also opt to tame the creatures for use  in future battles which can prove useful; one the downside the game isn't very flexible as other examples within the genre as once you move your character that's basically it, as there is no way to cancel which is a little annoying to say the least if you decide to change strategy but then can't because of a silly limitation.

Don't expect anything from the visuals because this RPG is really bare bones, you can make out what the sprites are supposed to be along with the general battleground but everything is purely functional, the hardware may have been limited but when you consider that the portable Shining Force games look so much better than this, it really puts things into perspective. Audibly this title is just full of repetitive noise... it's a bit of a shame as so much more could have been done here; instead you get something which is just about playable but it's certainly not really what I would call enjoyable.

Not even really that good for it's time, Crystal Warriors at least has a bit of ambition to be bigger than the adventuring boots that it's in, sadly though it was never good enough to fill the huge foot-prints made in the genre by far finer examples. I honestly can't recommend this title to anyone, not even fans of the genre, so unless you really must play this average adventure then I suggest you steer clear and spend your money elsewhere, because here it would just be a waste.   

Verdict : It's crystal clear that no warriors can save this title from being woefully inadequate.

 
 
Price: GB £4.49, EU €4.99
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Aspect
Released: 1992
System: Game Gear

When the Megadrive version of this game was released it very quickly became a stunningly successful sequel for Sonic and would forever be regarded as one of his best ever outings but if you didn't the console at the time, what then? Well if you owned a Master System or a Game Gear then you may be more familiar with this, the completely different version of what is labeled as being the same game.

For those unaware this version was actually released slightly before the superior MD version but was quickly overshadowed in many cases when both versions were on the market, that's not to say it's terrible, far from it but it is drastically different in many ways.

To begin with, Miles 'Tails' Prower who became a new playable character in the 16-bit version is actually 'fox-napped' in this version by none other than Dr Robotnik who has also once again enslaved all of Sonics other animal friends and won't release them until he gets hold of the Chaos Emeralds. Of course the blue blur won't have any of this and so he speeds off across the lands to acquire the emeralds and put a stop to Robotniks evil plans.

You will get to journey through many different zones which range from mine shafts, underwater passages and even a hang-gliding level where you soar through the skies, emeralds are as with the previous title hidden in the level and not in special stages plus you don't have the 'turbo-dash' ability that Sonic famously acquired in the MD version; despite this everything about the levels, boss battles and sense of speed are still decent and original.

When the two versions are compared then you know that this will lose out every time but as a Sonic game in its own right it is very accomplished for the hardware that it was released on. It has some rewarding elements as well such as only getting the true final zone if you collect all emeralds which is a challenge in it's own right, if you have already played the MD version to death but missed out in this back in the day then give this a try if you're curious as it's well worth the money.   

Verdict : A splendid Sonic sequel.

 
 
Price: GB £5.49, EU €7.99
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Hal Laboratory
Released: 1993
System: SNES

Better known for developing a good deal of the adventures of a certain pink blob, HAL also tried their hand at Blackjack, Slots, Roulette, Craps and Poker in this surprisingly successful gambling simulation for Nintendo's super console. Its premise is simple, you play a generic person who goes to Las Vegas to win some cash; and with that out of the way and the ball set well and truly in motion, spinning around the roulette wheel there is the big question; Is this game worth betting on?

In a word, Yes it is decent and if you are a gambling fan then you might well enjoy this as it's probably the most accomplished example of it's genre and with little to nothing else out there on the VC already to compare it to you probably know whether or not this is going to appeal to you or not.

For the benefit of those who would like a bit more insight into the game however I will continue; as you begin the game you start with a seemingly small amount of cash which comes to the sum of one thousand dollars with the main aim of the game being to accumulate the total of *puts left pinky to lip in true Dr Evil fashion* ten million dollars! Ok so a relatively bad impression and a tenth of the amount but you get the picture by now.

You start off on the small tables in the starter casino of which there are four in total which you get to access depending entirely on your virtual bank balance; it all seems relatively slow to start but eventually you will begin to make a good deal of progress in no time at all. Five games are available as aforementioned in the intro and all are relatively faithful and well represented digital examples of the real thing so you just pick what you like and play; there are some gimmicks too in the way of people who will ask for financial aid in the game and it's up to you to judge whether to donate or not, it's an interesting element and a welcome distraction from the err welcome distraction that is the gambling.

Visually everything looks nice, well rendered static backdrops and music which is well suited to the situation but does tends to grate on the senses after a while but it serves it's purpose. There really isn't much more to say on this really, it achieves what it sets out to do and the the end product is something which mostly comes down to the “marmite” effect; you'll either love it or hate it, or possibly just not be bothered about it.   

Verdict : Will you like it or loathe it? *Take a gamble! (if you want)

That's it for another installment of VC Weekly which will return again soon. So until then, enjoy the rest of the week and Game On!

*N-europe does NOT endorse gambling, or do we? No that was a lie we don't... so there! :P