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

If you like your platform games then surely this fine selection will be nothing short of delectable to your tastes. Anyway enough from me and on with the games!
 
Available for download this week we have...     

Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels
Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom

Price: GB £3.49, EU €4.99
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo EAD
Released: 1986
System: NES

When this game was released in European and western territories it turned out to be something rather different from what was known as the true sequel to Super Mario Bros in Japan. Indeed the version of the game that we have come to know is none other than an alternative version of a game known as Doki Doki Panic which was remastered with Nintendo branding.

Indeed years later we did get a version of the original Super Mario Bros 2 included as “The Lost Levels” on the ever popular SNES compilation cartridge Super Mario All-Stars not to mention the edited and enhanced version in Super Mario Bros DX. This release however is the full and unedited version of the original Japanese release.

It's just like the original game except for a few new elements including poison mushrooms which can kill either Mario or Luigi if consumed and blowing wind which can either help of hinder your movement. The main change comes in the way of every single level from the original being taken back to the drawing board and completely redesigned in order to make for a more altogether challenging experience.

One other main inclusion of note is that after beating the entire final world without using a single warp zone which is a challenge in itself, you get to play a secret world nine which comprises of a few excessively easy stages. However if you then manage to beat the game a further seven times (with or without stage 9) you will get the chance to play on worlds A – D which comprise some of the most challenging levels in the history of Mario games, the difficulty of which can only be expressed in the frustration of failure rather than in mere words.

Worth buying then? Almost certainly if you are a fan of the series or maybe even if you aren't but just want to play it for the sake of doing so much like a climbing a mountain just because it's there all for the sake of the challenge. You will certainly get your points worth if it's intense difficulty you are after but thankfully you can make use of the fantastic 'save state' feature which should see you through the more 'frustrating' parts of the adventure, just make sure you save in a sensible place as there are many pitfalls in this perilous platform title that has earnt its place in videogame history.  

Verdict : An even more super version of an undisputed classic.

 
Price: GB £3.59, EU €3.99
Publisher: Koei-Tecmo
Developer: Tecmo
Released: 1993
System: NES

Following the success of the previous two entries in this fantastic series the pressure seemed to be on, very much so in fact as quite bewilderingly this was the one Ninja Gaiden title that would seemingly not be destined for Europe in it's original NES format being that it was only released in Japan plus America only finally 'making it' to European shores on a technically inferior non-Nintendo handheld; perhaps even more bizarrely Ninja Gaiden III never even saw a release on anything but the American Virtual Console on the Wii a few years back. So this is actually the first time that the game has actually made it to Europe on a Nintendo console let alone one which is portable, quite a landmark moment for the series but is this entry any good? Most certainly is the resounding answer and not just because it's set between the events of the previous two titles; the plot begins as ninja Ryu Hayabusa is framed for the apparent murder of former CIA agent Irene Lew, vowing to track down the real 'killer' Ryu sets off on a mission which will take him to Castle Rock fortress in addition to places far beyond as he even encounters another Ninja designed to look very much like him... all of this eventually leads to the titular 'Ancient Ship of Doom' though I don't wish to give away the whole story but suffice to say it's certainly at least semi-original for its time.

But of course the plot only really serves as an excuse for the player to become a Ninja once more which there is nothing wrong with because when the gameplay is of such a high standard then this certainly isn't a bad thing, taking the standard mechanics from the previous two titles you can still jump using the 'A' button while 'B' handles the attacks along with your sub-weapon which is activated by pressing 'Up' on the d-pad while attacking normally; that's essentially it although there are a few techniques which you'll want to perfect along the way. There is a decent amount of challenge to the stages themselves which has long been a trademark of the series, you will have absolutely everything thrown at you - quite literally in the case of projectile weapons - as there is an amazing variety of difficult locations to work your way through which contain enemies which will certainly test your mettle as a Ninja, you will need to be even more precise with your slices too when using your sword as the hit mechanics have been tightened up but they that age-old problem of instantly respawning enemies is no no more so it's a fair trade at least.

If you're fortunate enough to pick up the upgrade for the sword which improves its reach however, I would be very careful not to lose it by getting your character killed as it's unlikely that you will come across another one for several stages; but because this is on the 3DS of course I'm sure that you could hold on to it for quite a while if you remember to use frequent restore points which for this title I would not only recommend but actively encourage as this will make your play-sessions that much more managable. Now that you can actually predict which sub-weapons will drop from capsules you can even hang on to your favourite item for longer or find it again more easily which is a godsend. Other notable changes include how you can move because now you can also hang on to the bottom of specific platforms in addition to the excellent wall-climbing ability which carries over from Ninja Gaiden II which was famous for improving this aspect of the series, other than that though things are just a lot more challenging as enemies deal a significant amount of damage plus you only have a limited amount of continues so if you're playing this the old-fashioned - proper? - way then I can see how this might annoy some but my answer to that is simply to use the aforementioned restore points, especially if you just want to see all that the game has to offer.

Visually things seem to have taken a decent step-up from the previous two entries but it's really more of the same which is certainly not a bad thing when talking about the many stunningly detailed locations this time ranging from deep jungle environments to lava-filled caverns in addition to much more besides, all rendered in that iconic 8-bit palette while the accompanying high standard of animation on all of the sprites plus the stunning mid-game cut-scenes all build upon the solid foundations. While the audio melds the whole experience together by keeping up the momentum with a soundtrack that heigtens the tension while maintaining that frenetic yet fragile pace that the series is famed for, naturally the sound effects always add that extra layer of substantialness which promises to keep the player adequately engrossed in their role.

Remaining true to the roots of its predecessors Ninja Gaiden III is without a doubt a significant milestone representing the almost perfect culmination of every successful element which has been distilled to a very pure form indeed, the only few impurities in the formula stem from how unrelenting the game can be at times; with the ability to bypass these moments of frustrating however by using the restore points it's questionable as to just how many people this will ultimately bother though. If you only play one game from the original Ninja Gaiden trilogy them by all means make it this one but just be aware that if you haven't played any of the titles before that you might be in for a shock, if you don't mind a challenge though or even if you're a long-term fan of the games then this is still of course very much an essential download.         

Verdict : Ninja Gaiden III has a razor-sharp edge over its predecessors.  

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!