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

Adventuring, shooting and platforming, it's all here for you in this reasonable selection of titles making their second - even third for some - appearances on the VC for you to download once more. Anyway enough from me and on with the games!
 
Available for download this week we have...     

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
Gradius
Milon's Secret Castle


 
Price: GB £3.49, EU €4.99
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo R&D4
Released: 1988
System: NES

Considered by many to be the 'black sheep' of the series Zelda II : The Adventure of Link sidelines the popular top-down perspective of the first in favour of presenting all main areas in two-dimensional side-scrolling fashion. Originally released at a time where the more traditional RPG had gained a huge surge in popularity, Nintendo saw fit to capitalise on this as they went about creating their unconventional sequel to The Legend of Zelda and to their credit it actually turned out pretty well despite being the one title in the series that would later divide the opinions of its fans.

As our hero Link you are tasked with obtaining the Triforce of Courage in order to awaken Princess Zelda from a sleeping spell... sounds easy? Well you're in for surprise as this is regarded as one of the most challenging Zelda games ever made partly due to its many devious dungeons (now known as Palaces) and seemingly obscure design choices. You'll always find yourself starting at the same place, this is always the case regardless of what point you are at which can seem off-putting as it can become tiresome trudging across the   rather barren over-world just to get back to that one difficult part for yet another go; there are many towns too curiously many of which are named after the Sages from Ocarina of Time, this is where you can get yourself healed plus obtain spells from Elders not to mention engage in some rather laughable dialogue with some locals including the infamous 'I am error' which has subsequently gone down in internet folklore.

Random battles are a regular occurrence as you end up fending off Moblins, Octoroks, Tektites from the original game plus more original enemies besides, experience can be acquired by defeating them though it can also be lost when you take a hit which you won't want to do very often as you can only take a few hits before dying and if this happens three times then it's 'Game Over, Return of Ganon' a screen which you'll likely see often unless you're a prudent player. Saving often is key to progressing in this title because there is a lot of levelling up to do so it's advisable to save after you level up either Attack, Magic or Life because any time you reload the game the exp counter resets... thankfully save states can be useful here; aside from that the game is rather enjoyable once you get into it and actually manage to keep venturing further than you possibly imagined, it really is quite a joy to play if you can get past the rather steep learning curve.

From a visual standpoint there are many parts that seem more detailed than the first NES title as some of the palaces and towns are rather nice whereas the over-world feels rather basic, being devoid of anything really interesting which is odd considering the main worlds of most other Zelda titles have always felt bursting with life. Aurally however the game is genuinely brilliant throughout from the excellent reworking of the original theme to the uplifting Town music right through to the hauntingly beautiful Dungeon theme which ranks right up there with some of the best pieces ever created within the series for me personally.

To recommend this title to any would be newcomers to the Zelda series is difficult as it's hardly an ideal starting point being that it's not entirely representative as a whole, so for that reason I'd have to advise new players to start with either the first game or the fantastic A Link to the Past on the SNES. In part though it's hard to deny that The Adventure of Link is at least partly responsible for bringing about many elements that have since become staples of the series and while it's by no means perfect - perhaps even having aged the worst out of all Zelda titles - it still shines through as one of the better examples within the more traditional RPG genre and is a classic Nintendo game at heart.

Verdict : The missing Link that the Zelda series owes much to.

Price: GB £3.49, EU €4.99
Publisher: Konami
Developer: Konami
Released: 1985
System: NES

In the arcades Gradius was hailed as something of a revolution for the side-scrolling shoot 'em up genre thanks largely to its stunningly simple yet spectacularly good level design coupled with a particularly poignant power-up system which was really unlike anything that had come before it so naturally when it was ported to the NES there was much rejoicing from gamers at the time as since then it has become a very significant series over the last two and a half decades spreading its influence far and wide.

By today's standards the original is considered fairly 'bare bones' which actually works to its credit still as what you get is a delightfully simple yet enjoyable experience which is of a decent length featuring some rather large levels that are sure to be a test even the most seasoned of schmup players. While you only start out with a basic laser cannon as you start blasting apart enemies you'll be able to pick up many power capsules which are used to up the level of your power meter which in turn will bestow various augmentations upon your ship starting off with a wider laser and faster ship movement eventually culminating in some seriously destructive fire-power; naturally is it possible to beat some of the earlier levels with minimum power-ups but you'll want to pick more up towards the end of the game as the later levels are particularly testing.

The controls are simple yet concise which is perfect for such a game as you'll soon discover that your ship moves rather slowly at first but this only further reinforces the improtance of the power-up system that is constantly in play; there's not a huge amount to it as you'll have your finger on the trigger most of the time but sometimes you'll be using the other action button in order to unleash any of the more powerful additions to your arsenal which you may have acquired, these additional weapons are particularly useful for getting out of difficult situations or avoiding those crucial near-death moments.

While there might not be much to look at here in comparison to today's visually polished, HD enhanced shooters but you can't help but appreciate the simple beauty of the pixels that make up all of the weird yet wonderful enemy ships including some rather spectacular bosses along with simple backgrounds that set the scene nicely. Naturally the audio features some very nice chiptunes which suit the game well and are in many ways classics as they are very catchy indeed plus there are some rather decent sound samples in there as well keeping you further immersed in the moment.

It's very hard for me not to recommend Gradius for it is such a classic game which yes is showing its age by today's standards yet it still remains very playable so really the only reason you'd not have for wanting to play it is if you've owned the game many times before. For anyone who has yet to play this gem though I would suggest that you pick this up as it's a great version and of course has the advantage of being portable so you can blast alien scum to your hearts content, perhaps making use of the save states when times get tough... it's well worth owning no matter which way you look at it.
         
Verdict : Gradius is still a great example of its genre that's worth playing at least once.

Price: GB £3.59, EU €3.99
Publisher: Hudson Soft
Developer: Hudson Soft
Released: 1986
System: NES

For some reason this game garnered a cult following since its release despite in retrospect not actually being that good at all for its time of release. The game was seemingly average back then and by todays standard has not aged well at all for a game that's supposedly so popular.

You play the role of Milon who is on a quest to clear a castle full of enemies in order to save a princess - score one point for originality - you have the ability to blow bubbles but even though this may sound fantastical, it really isn't due to the frustrating nature of how they control.

Bubbles shoot slightly upward by default making aiming at enemies rather frustrating, so much so that the only real reason this game should be remembered is because of its criminal difficulty.

It hurts to even write about this game because it really is that unbalanced that it often feels unplayable and when there are plenty of better games out there then why would you bother with something so mundane? Surprisingly in contrast the sequel to this game DoReMi Fantasy : Milon's DokiDoki Adventure is an exceptional title so I would really recommend getting that instead.

Verdict : Pathetically poor platform title.

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!