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

Adventuring, fighting and pinball... ing, quite the selectiong this time. Anyway enough from me and on with the games!
 
Available for download this week we have...     

Breath of Fire II
Pinball: Revenge of the Gator
Sengoku 3


 
Price: GB £5.49, EU €7.99
Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Capcom
Released: 1996
System: SNES

When it was first released Capcom's original Breath of Fire title was a resounding success as it was the companies first proper RPG and instantly found a large fan base; when the time came for the sequel to be released expectations were understandably high. Fortunately any fears were instantly belayed as Breath of Fire II was immensely improved upon in almost every way and made it another instant hit back in the day, does it still compare to the competition over a decade on though?

Admittedly gamers have become accustomed to much deeper role-playing experiences in recent years and as a result of this many more mature examples of the genre released around the early to mid nineties have started to show their age. Thankfully though this fine example has its share of decent elements that effortlessly endears itself to the player even today, such as a storyline which is genuinely ingenious for its time and is spoiled only slightly by lazy localisation.

It follows the hero Ryu (the original games protagonist) a dragon morphing warrior who unwittingly embarks on an epic adventure to search for his father and younger sister. Along the way an ensemble of eight assignable characters will join you in your quest and will assist you in locating and unlocking the secreted secrets that are shrouded in the vast lands you will get to explore; your fate will be decided entirely upon how you use various combinations of strength, spells and sageness as you journey across a mystical world inhabited by demons, dungeons and dragons.

Essentially this is still an old school experience at heart with everything from the seemingly standard tactical, turn-based combat system, slightly sub standard visuals and adversely average audio. Don't let these slight criticisms put you off though as it's still a solid and engaging affair adding in a few elements of its own such as a fusion ability which allows you to imbue your character with a range of magic types which gives you some extra powers to play with in battle which helps to keep things interesting.

While it may not be in the same league as some of the greatest RPG experiences of all time, Breath of Fire II still remains a fantastic follow up which eclipses the original and holds its own as a decent and entertaining example of the genre in its own right. A solid game with a considerable amount to offer providing you can look past its few niggling elements, there is still life in it yet and thanks to the VC there most likely still will be in years to come.     

Verdict : Another admirable and above average adventure title.

Price: GB £2.69, EU €2.99
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: HAL Laboratory  
Released: 1990
System: GameBoy

If you're a portable pinball 'wizard' then you will have been very much spoiled for choice in recent years as there are plenty available even when only taking Zen Pinball into account, a couple of decades ago though pickings were perhaps a bit slim as only a couple of titles spring to mind with one of them being a Kirby spin-off which while enjoyable isn't quite the pinball game that everyone wanted, more the one that they didn't know they needed. Indeed HAL Laboratory actually made another 'proper' but lesser known pinball title which became known by its catchy sub-title 'Revenge of the Gator'and it offers a lot more than you'd expect from a pinball game of its era.

The main table is made up of four scrolling screens featuring plenty of flippers, alligators plus plenty of chances to score points by triggering such things as multiballs, multipliers etc... all the usual things you'd expect from a pinball title basically. With plenty of things to ricochet the ball off there has clearly been a decent amount of thought put into the table layout as it always feels fun to play, probably the best part of it is the spinner at the very top screen as when you get the ball through it lets you play on a fruit machine of sorts where you can match up three of the same slot for a big point bonus.

Perhaps the most impressive part is the attention to detail that has been put into the ball physics, because as many purists will know this is where these games can either be made or broken but in this case everything is thankfully spot-on which only further adds to the overall enjoyment. Of course it's still not the best pinball game you'll ever play but for a portable title of its age there really isn't much else that even compares to it and although it may go against the nature of pinball you can of course use save states which can be useful if you want a 'safety net' for when you've got that really high-score that you just don't want to lose.

Visually there is quite a lot going on considering it's all in monochrome, this doesn't detract at all though only really adding to the unique feel that the game already has, the Alligator element is really nicely incorporated too as they feature across the table including one right underneath the main set of flippers; make sure you don't lose the ball though because if you do then you'll see it get crunched up by the creature in quite a comical animation. Music is nice enough for what it's worth, but it's the sound effects which really make it worthwhile as they feel substantial enough that you get that important feeling of 'weight' behind the ball which only adds to making you feel like you're playing a 'real' pinball game.

For anyone who is just looking for a Pinball game that's rather basic but is enjoyable to play with that all important factor of portability then I can't recommend this enough as this price is right making for a rather enticing prospect, there isn't that much more to say other than it's money well spent. Anyone who is more of a purist when it come to this genre though will still likely find something to love about this game so it's worth adding to your collection purely because it is an odd game, but it's also rather good at what it does; so i'd definitely advise snapping this up.

Verdict : A perfectly playable, portable pinball title with some bite to it.

Points: 900
Publisher: SNK
Developer: SNK
Released: 1995
System: Neo Geo

Legendary company SNK may be particularly famed for its traditional fighting games but they have also been known for trying their hand at the side-scrolling beat 'em up genre a few times, while this yielded some rather variable results there were certain titles that did rather well indeed including Sengoku 3 which is easily comsidered to be one of the best for various reasons. You get everything that was good about the previous two titles along with some important refinements which culminate in this being the definitive entry that you'll likely want to play; it follows the well-trodden path of the genre which involves beating up everything in sight before you then progress to the next screen and the next until you get to the boss at the end which you need to beat to move on to the next stage... rinse & repeat to the very end, it's a tried/tested/proven structure which works well.

Your attacks include standard punches plus kicks as you'd expect plus weapon-based moves in addition to combos, so there's plenty to get to grips with especially when you take into consideration other manouveres such as jumping out of harms way in order to place yourself more effectively. Some special moves are available too including some simple ones that will be used a lot plus something called a 'Total Attack' which allows you to unleash hell on your enemies providing you get the timing right; projectiles are also obtainable including bombs, throwing stars etc all of which can be rather useful to have when in the presence of certain persistent enemies.

There's quite a lot to do when you take it all in, this all results in a decent beat 'em up which continually keeps you on your guard as you'll always be doing 'something' rather than there being lots of plain sections which certain other examples of the genre suffer with; you always feel engaged by the on-screen action rather than only partially focusing your attention on it. Controls are certainly well-rounded featuring the kind of responsiveness you will have come to expect from SNK's traditional fighting games expect in a slightly different setting, the dificulty level is rather respectable too giving you a good run for your points.

Featuring some very attractive graphics for its time that have aged very well indeed, you can't help but admire the diversity of the environments beautifully portrayed within the game world; it still might not have been the best looking of SNK's titles but overall it certainly had a decent amount of work put into it including some rather stunning character animations. Of course the soundtrack is also spectacular as you might expect, this is another area where these games tend to excel as the music is always well-suited to the on-screen action in each area, keeping you quite happily slicing, dicing, punching, kicking a maiming until the very end.

Sengoku 3 is a prime example of a beat 'em up that is very much fun to play in every way, be it single player or cooperatively you should be assured that this is an enjoyable game which deserves your attention if you are in any way a fan of the genre, even if you're just casually interested then I feel that this is still worth picking up as it doesn't take much initial investment though of course you will get more out of it if you decide to stick with this title for a while. It still doesn't quite beat Streets of Rage for me personally but it's still very good for what it is, I only wish that as with a lot of SNK titles that they were all available on the Wii U as well but for what may well be one of the last titles ever released for the Wii VC it surely counts as a fine send off.

Verdict : A brutally brilliant beat 'em up.

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!