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 Sport-RPG hybrids or monochrome platformers starring a - normally - blue robot then you're obviously in the right place. Anyway enough from me and on with the games!
 
Available for download this week we have...     

Mario Golf: Advance Tour
Mega Man V


 
Price: GB £6.29, EU €6.99
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Camelot
Released: 2004
System: Game Boy Advance
 
It seems that developers Camelot go hand-in-hand with making Mario sports titles as over the years they have become adept at making successful Golf games - plus Tennis - on Nintendo consoles for a long time, while the home console versions seem to follow a more standard pattern but when it comes to the portable variations they always seem to have a unique RPG flavour to them owing to the illustious history of Camelot who have worked on the ever-popular Golden Sun series and the immortal Shining Force series before they even touched Nintendo platforms. This version of Mario Golf which was released soon after the Gamecube game turned out to be quite the hit due to its unique traits, now of course you could just jump straight into a quick game of Golf as Mario or any other character from the classic Mushroom Kingdom roster which is all very nice but for those who want a bit more to their experience you will want to play as one of two new characters - named Ella & Neil - who were pupils of the legendary 'Kid' who's now back in the game to battle on their side at the Marion Clubhouse with the main goal at the end being the beat Mario at his own game; it's a simple story but it works to get things moving.

Working your way through the story mode is not only advised for many reasons including the fact that you can level your characters up - the other one you don't choose joins you in doubles - but also because it's actually a lot of fun exploring the grounds of the clubhouse, there's always plenty to see and do in the way of tournaments to partake in, trickier courses to find which will further boost your skills enabling you go further plus there are plenty of hidden Nintendo references too which I'll leave you to discover for yourself. You can even find other fellow golfers who are all only too willing to share pieces of wisdom with you so the old RPG rule of talking to everyone most definitely applies here; if you're a completionist then you will want to track down everything including those vital training sessions where you can pick up some spectacular skills for your chosen golfer but don't worry about your partner because they will automatically accrue leftover experience as well meaning they will never seem under-levelled which is another helpful addition.

All of the actual golfing mechanics from the Game Boy Color game seem to have been retained here then tweaked so that they work even better than before so the chances are if you got on with the previous game then you'll likely enjoy this as well, the original 'swing-o-meter' is still intact meaning that if you press the 'A' button at the right moment, in the right area then you at least have a good chance of being on course provided you're pointed in the right direction, aside from that it's all about having the right club for each shot, taking into account the direction of the wind and ultimately just hoping for the best. Even if you've never played on of these games before it won't take more than a few shots for you to get a feel for it all, for some of the more trickier shots you will need to start considering such things as finding the perfect angle or even adding some 'topspin' to ensure the ball reaches its intended destination; of course if you end up tiring of the standard rules of play then you can try out a randomised Golf course which will supply you with different objectives each time or even 'Go-Go gates' which is similar to the classic 'Ring Shot' which requires you to get a shot through the denoted target.



Everything has appropriately advanced in the visuals department thanks to the GBA hardware which really manages to put on an impressive representation of Golf even on the big screen for this VC version, nothing short of technical wizardry must have been performed in order to get so much detail into one portable title in the first place, naturally it holds up really well today even though its been bettered fairly recently thanks to Mario Golf World Tour on the 3DS but still, it's very much a viable alternative. In the audio department you can expect the usual cheerful themes accompanying each course with nothing really standing out on the whole but at least the tension increases when you're on the cusp of putting the ball, there are plenty of decent sound effects present too which matter more than the BGM in a Golf game because it's all about those important 'cues' of which there are plenty here in addition to some choice classic sound effects which will make a long-term gamer smile.

For a relatively small price you get a solid game of golf which can be played either semi-portably or on the big screen, either on your own or in multiplayer by passing the controller around, you even get a lite-RPG to enjoy in an experience which can be as deep or accessible as you choose it to be. In many ways this could also be considered the peak for the portable Mario sports titles because this is the last time everything got the RPG treatment and it ended up being one of the most requested things for them to put back into the series since; for me this speaks volumes justifying getting this even over the most recent iteration for that very reason as gamers want more in their titles not less, so this is a perfect example of how to get it right on every level.     

Verdict : One of the greatest games of Golf ever to grace any Game Boy system.  



Price: GB £3.59, EU €3.99
Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Capcom
Released: 1994
System: Game Boy
 
While all of the previous portable Mega Man games on the Game Boy seemed to rely on remixing previous stages, augmenting elements then tacking on an extra boss battle or two it would seem that Mega Man V is the first truly original game in the hand-held series that's been built from the ground-up in order to create an altogether more exciting prospect for the player, expecially if they are a long-term follower of the series as well being that this is a fresh experience which has gone down in history as being one of the blue bombers very best. Right from the beautiful introduction we see Mega Man alongside Roll getting attacked by one of the five Stardroids - Terra - who have attacked Earth so naturally our hero attempts to stop the assault by taking on the rest of them but it seems these alien beings are of far superior construction to any of the Robot Masters he has faced; so it would seem that some upgrading is required which culminates in an upgraded buster which allows Mega Man to launch his fist across the screen in a new charge shot which once upgraded even further - to grab items - proves to be invaluable in the ongoing fight... Oh and you get to use a robotic Cat named Tango just to make things even more memorable.

Quite a few changes from the start makes this an altogether more enticing experience which in fairness is just what the small-screened series needed, you will still be facing off against two sets of four bosses though no more Robot Masters are to be seen or spoken of because the Stardroids make up your new challenge here featuring some really diverse stages which include some vicious traps, precisely placed platforms along with much more besides which I shall not spoil for you. As always though you will still need to find the best order in which to tackle each of the bosses being that they weild wildly different weapons for you to acquire which will be very effective against one of the other droids but no so good against the remaining ones; of course that feeling of elation and achievment that you get from beating each stage is still present though I would have to argue that it's amplified here especialy if this is your first time playing, naturally I still stick by my 'Restore Points' rule as they make the game more playable, slightly less frustrating but no less challenging.

Although overall it could be argued that this entry feels more accessible overall there is still more than enough that keeps this true to the series roots, if you're a hardcore Mega Man fan though it's possible for you to feel slightly hard done by if you're going into this expecting it to be the hardest challenge you've ever faced yet, for me it wasn't a problem because I actually found this title to be the most enjoyable of the lot so I would say that it's a fair trade-off especially being that this is a 'brand new' game off the back of the rehashed prequels; think how Mega Man 9 and 10 came out digitally many years after the original games then you will have some idea of what to expect even though it's a good thing. There are several criticism's that you could throw at Mega Man V but each time they will all get shot down just for the sheer wealth of excellent ideas plus the clear amount of effort that went into designing each piece of the mega-puzzle that has been cleverly constructed in such a way that will maximise your enjoyment of it all, for the last in a series you really can't ask much more than that.



There's a decent amount of detail put into everything including the backdrops, foreground in addition to the sprites which are now expertly animated by this point, with very few glitches plus the game seems to run without too much 'judder' as well which is a blessing as it near enough killed the first two titles before they even got going, clearly we were never going to get NES levels of detail but it's still impressive nonetheless. Now the soundtrack certainly isn't near the very heights of brilliance but it is still very solid with a handful of decent tracks which you'll remember along with a load of other filler pieces which just keep things moving at a nice pace, but all of the classic sound effects are there so it's still decent enough.

If it came down to it and I had to recommend that you buy just one Mega Man title in the portable series then it would have to be this one, because not only is it the most intuitive and enjoyable game of them all but it actually has a bucket load of charm all conjured up without any assistance accrued by playing off past glories. This is a rare example of a portable platforming title which stands up by itself, I'd even go as far to say that you'd be hard pushed to find very many better examples save for the obvious Nintendo developed usual suspects; it would seem that Mega Man V is very much a blue diamond in the rough, shining brightly against even the best-loved Game Boy games from its generation so it's a blessing that it can now be obtained for so little and with such ease that it will hopefully reach a brand new audience some twenty years on.    

Verdict : Such a mega game on a micro scale that's a feat of mastery.

(Image Credit to forum member Dcubed - NNID 'Nuclear_Muffin' - for Mario Golf: Advance Tour)

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!