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

Seasons Greetings to you all at this time of year, I hope that you all have had an excellent Christmas - I certainly have - but it's back to it now as the catch-up begins again! Dcubed and I have teamed up once again to provide you with a host of hopefully entertaining reviews; in this edition it's all about games which appeared on the NES... that humble grey, white and red box which changed the face of gaming forever. Anyway enough from us and on with the games!
 
Available for download this week we have...   

Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stones
Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos
Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom
The Adventures of Bayou Billy

My first encounter with Double Dragon III actually began on the NES as I was fortunate enough to pick up a cartridge only copy of the game when one fateful afternoon many moons ago I acquired a boxed NES console complete with multiple cartridge only games for a very reasonable sum indeed; I thought to myself "I recognise that art work!" sure enough that very same game from my childhood has now become available to play on the Wii U Virtual Console by way of reuniting me with it as years have passed since I last played this title so this can only be a good thing. Indeed aside from memories of the early stages I seem to recall the experience being rather steep on the difficulty curve so having restore points available is a very welcome addition, I would advise anyone using them to be careful though as you don't want to save in the wrong point so in some cases despite all modern trimmings it can be best to play side-scrolling scrappers the original way as the masochistic developer originally intended.

In the timeline we pick up a year on following the events of Double Dragon II: The Revenge which saw the defeat of the Shadow Warriors at the hands of our heroes Billy and Jimmy Lee but oh no, there is now a new threat of an unknown origin who has kidnapped Marion - a woman of in-game interest who has had previous experience of being kidnapped - then another woman comes onto the scene saying that she knows who Marion's captors are, also that they will release her only if our heroes deliver the three sacred stones of power to them; no big deal then! You won't be alone for long though as in this adventure you will be joined by not one but two former boss characters - think about how in Streets of Rage 3 you could acquire Roo and Shiva for the closest near comparison I can think of - the first of which is a Kung-Fu Master named Chin, originally seeking revenge for the death of his brother - see previous title - upon beating him in battle he will give you one of the sacred stones and join you - presumably putting his original quest to rest? - then there is the Ninja named Ranzou who is the third stages boss who also decides to join you following his defeat.

Ah Ranzou, you're such a warrior of principle.

Rest assured though the rest of the bosses are - probably - pretty evil, so you'll still be killing the majority of them so it's just as well you have the extra help, plus to get to them in addition to those essential sacred stones you'll be travelling through five distinctly different countries. Each stage contains some really challenging opponents as well because the A.I doesn't just stand still like it seems to in similar titles within the same genre, indeed they jump around a lot in addition to throwing more projectiles at you or even landing wall-jump kicks on you; add to this the fact that there are no health items available for pick-up at all meaning you are stuck with just the one health bar per character with the Game Over screen arriving if you lose all of them and you have a pretty challenging experience on your hands, the favoured tactic seems to be switching out to a different character when the one you're controlling is running particularly low on health as otherwise you surely won't last long at all unless you're really skilled or very prudent with those save states.

At its core the controls are fairly simplistic as you have an action button for punching while the other does the kicking, if you wish to jump however then you will need to press both buttons together which is something you will need to master if you intend to advance very far, obviously this is not that ideal when trying to cross gaps but at least you can choose which two buttons you'll be wrestling with by remapping the controls to your preference if necessary. Fortunately there aren't too many instances of having to clear gaps but you'll still be jumping in order to use special moves because pressing buttons while airborne will result in either the Mid-Air Somer-Assault - which grabs an enemy mid-air before throwing them - or the Cyclone Spin Kick - this knocks enemies flying a significant distance - both of which carry more weight than a standard jumping kick; also worth mentioning is the springboard kick which you can perform in two-player mode which as it happens is well worth playing just so long as you can find someone you trust enough to play it properly with you of course.

That's right BILLY, kill them all with your BARE HANDS!

This is a fairly reasonable looking NES title overall featuring detailed environments which are easily distinguishable as you travel across the lands even if some smaller elements are a let-down due to them not looking quite good enough but these slightly jarring moments don't happen too often just like the odd bit of flicker which is hardly game ruining; the colour palette is pleasing as well featuring a solid selection of earthy tones mixed with some nice highlighting accompanied by a decent level of contrast. Of course the audio chugs along nicely with the on-screen action but it's far from being an unforgettable soundtrack, instead it's more the kind of experience where you will want to advanace to the next stage reasonably quickly just to hear a chance in the music, the sound effects are solid enough but not as satisfying as they perhaps could have been.        

Personally I feel that Double Dragon 3: The Sacred Stones is a reasonably impressive effort purely for the simple fact that it was developed in parallel with the Arcade release rather than being a mere port, the plot is the only part which is the same as the characters, visuals and the actual combat system itself is entirely different while bearing similarities in places. If you have already played the previous titles in the Double Dragon series then you really do owe it to yourself to pick this up as this Wii U release is a great way to experience an enjoyable but tough NES game which will challenge you greatly the further you advance, it's also a snip at the price as these days the cartridge alone would still cost around five times the amount it is here and if you can convince a friend to play along then you're sure to get more than your money's worth here plus I believe this is the first VC outing for this entry as well.  

Verdict : Double Dragon III is a decent entry for devout fans of its genre and series.

Following the trails of a Ninja is no easy feat, with a light foot, a sound of silence and a swift, stealthy slice of steel upon flesh, the path of a Ninja is shrouded in shadow and secrecy. In that case, it’s a good thing that Ryu Hayabusa is an absolutely terrible Ninja; because he’s loud, attacks in plain sight and is about as stealthy as a speeding lorry hurtling across the M25.

That’s not to say that his first NES outing isn’t a tough act to follow; it is after all, one of THE perennial action games of its era.  With tight controls, (mostly) fine tuned difficulty, carefully planned out level design and enemy placement and those notoriously well directed cinematic cut-scenes, it is often held up as the gold standard for side-scrolling action games of its day.  So when it came to designing the inevitable sequel to the original smash hit, how did Tecmo choose to go about walking the path of the Ninja this time around?

I wouldn't think there's anything you could do if a katana-wielding dragon came after you...

The first thing you’ll notice is that the story is a bit more fantastical this time around.  Though it follows a rather typical plot involving a dark, mysterious figure who comes after Ryu for defeating the main antagonist of the previous game, this time there’s an element of magic involved, revolving around the rather spiffy Dark Sword of Chaos.  It’s a bit less grounded and a bit dafter and that also extends to the environments that you traverse as well.  You start off in a moonlight shrouded city traversing rooftops, then find yourself fighting on moving trains, snowy Antarctica and even what seems to be hell itself; rather hilariously you end up transitioning completely inexplicably.  One moment you’re on a train, the next you’re in a rainforest!

But the barmy environments are not there just for show, oh no… Indeed, one of the big new features of this sequel is the introduction of environmental hazards.  Whether it be changing wind directions that affect your jumping, slippery ice that leads you perilously close to falling to your doom or dark environments that are lit by lightning strikes, the environments are much more varied in gameplay features than the first game and are a welcome addition to the action packed Ninja gameplay.  Ryu also comes with a few new tricks up his sleeve, including a new set of power ups, such as an after-shadow that copies your movements and is useful in taking out foes who try to sneak up behind you and a new set of ninpo powers that allow for new multi-directional attacks; though sadly the ever so reliable whirlwind jump ninpo from the original is sadly absent here.  Also new is Ryu’s ability to climb up walls, a very useful addition that makes for much easier lateral movement; rather bafflingly though, despite being able to defy physics by wall climbing, Ryu hasn’t quite managed to master the ability to climb up ledges, meaning that while you can climb up walls, actually scaling them to their summit is a rather awkward affair that has you wiggling that d-pad back and forth while jumping.

Entering the bowels of Hell? Just another day in the life of a Ninja...

Otherwise, little has changed with the core gameplay, both the good and the bad.  While that does mean that you can enjoy the tight controls of the first NES game, it still suffers from the same issues that the original had.  That means that enemies still endlessly respawn after going off screen, you still have a fair amount of distracting sprite flickering (in fact, it’s probably a bit worse in this one...), that NES era knock-back you get from enemies is still as annoying as before and you still inexplicably die if you jump down ladders instead of climbing down them.

Overall, I do have to say that this sequel doesn’t feel quite as polished as the first game though.  While the original had some issues here and there, the level layouts and enemy placement was designed around these quirks and made for challenging, yet fair gameplay.  I can’t really say the same about this game however, as enemies are quick to surround you and attacks are often virtually impossible to dodge; the game also has an annoying habit of placing lots of enemies in tight spaces and there are generally more of them to deal with as well, which also has the added side effect of bringing about more distracting sprite flickering.  One boss in particular also has an annoying habit of teleporting right on top of you with no warning whatsoever and there are plenty of jumps where it seems that the enemies are placed just to knock you back into a hole behind you.  I even had one moment where the screen scrolling stopped working entirely and I had to kill myself in order to fix it and proceed.

No prizes for guessing how this is going to turn out for Ryu here...

One part that has definitely improved other the original however is the visuals.  The first game was already one of the best looking titles on the system and this ups the ante even further, with bright and colourful graphics that wouldn’t look out of place on the SNES and plenty of special effects that you wouldn’t have thought possible on the NES (the parallax scrolling on the train level and in the bowels of Hell are a particular highlight); this is certainly a looker for its day and the music is every bit as good as the original.

While I don’t think that it quite matches up to the original, Ninja Gaiden 2 is certainly a worthy follow up, even if it takes a few missteps along the Ninja’s road.  Fans of old school action side-scrollers would be foolish to pass this one up.

Verdict: Swift and stirring action, with a few frustrations on the way to becoming a Master Ninja.

With a title that wouldn’t be out of place in an Indiana Jones flick, Ryu’s third NES outing has a lot to live up to, not least of all the legacy of its predecessors.  On top of that, this was a 1991 release; the SNES had already released in both the US and Japan and 8-bit was old hat at this point.  For however impressive their efforts on the NES were, they had placed themselves at a disadvantage with this third outing, now having to compete with games running on much more powerful hardware; so how could they manage to impress onlookers who were fast becoming used to 16-bit games on the Mega Drive and the SNES? The answer of course would be to up the ante once again and push Nintendo’s ageing hardware to its limit.

Undeniably, this is the best looking game of the original Ninja Gaiden trilogy and one of the very best looking NES games ever made.  With crazy parallax scrolling effects that would make the 16-bit consoles blush (in fact, many would argue that the version included in Ninja Gaiden Trilogy on SNES actually looks inferior) and a colour palete that seems all but impossible on a humble NES, it is an 8-bit tour de force.  The audio also follows suit, with brilliantly energised tunes and a new voice sample for when Ryu slashes his Dragon Sword (though some will likely find his enthusiastic “HAH!” to grate after a while).

The animated water isn't portrayed well here, neither are my cries of frustration from iminent death.

The changes are far from just cosmetic however, as the developers have actually changed Ryu’s jumping physics this time around.  He now sports a floatier jump that allows for more airborne freedom of movement; this is a welcome change that better allows for precision platforming and aerial evasion.  On top of that, the hit detection has also been noticeably improved, meaning that you are far less likely to be hit by nothing as enemies pass by you and best of all, the knock-back that you would normally receive when an enemy hits you has been massively reduced! Huzzah!

But that’s not all, because Ryu also spouts another assortment of new tricks such as the ability to hand off of railings & pipes and shimmy across them (an ability that actually hails from the original arcade game, but is new to his NES outings) along with a new ninpo powers and a particularly useful pick-up item that roughly doubles the length of his Dragon Sword; now that’s one that you’re definitely going to want to go out of your way to collect!

In addition to those changes to Ryu’s moveset and manoeuvrability, Tecmo have also made some sweeping changes to the game engine.  At last! Gone are the endlessly respawning enemies and now heralds the arrival of vertically scrolling levels!

You can now jump down holes like this, without fearing death for not using the ladder! Woohoo!

This addition adds some nice variety to the level design, with some sections requiring you to climb up and down, along with new auto-scrolling sections that have you escaping from deadly forces, such as rising lava.  Exciting!

Like with everything else, they’ve also upped the barmy factor with the story as well.  Now Ryu, framed for murder, finds himself fighting an army of robots and crazy aliens for nobody-cares-what reason and it’s a great excuse to have you traverse even more varied and interesting environments than its predecessors.  Like in Ninja Gaiden 2, they come with their own gameplay altering gimmicks, such as rushing waterfalls that impede your movement and moving spikes, the bane of every 8-bit hero…

This screen will become familiar to you, as will having to start all over again once the counter expires...

However, the changes are not all rainbows and sunshine… for one particular change will likely be unwelcome to all but the most masochistic of action game fans… Limited continues.  That’s right! No longer are you able to power your way to the end after taking a licking over and over again, for you are given a scant 5 continues and that’s all.   And while the designers have gone to great lengths to reduce the cheap deaths that frequently came your way in Ninja Gaiden 2, this game is still no walk in the park as the English version was made considerably harder than its original Japanese counterpart; with enemies now doing double damage across the board, the more useful ninpo (such as the ever so desirable Flaming Wheel)  being made significantly rarer and the password system being removed and replaced with the aforementioned limited continues.  On top of that, continuing doesn’t set you back to the last checkpoint like in previous games, but rather to the beginning of the stage you’re on; a very nasty trick, considering that the stages are pretty lengthy this time around.  I don’t blame you one bit if you choose to cheat and use the Wii U’s Restore Point feature in this one as few will ever reach the end without them!

Despite these unfortunate tweaks to the western version that stack the odds heavily against you, this is still a must play for any fan of 2D action games.  Be prepared to face a bitter trial and a lot of defeat on the route to becoming a Master Ninja and you’ll be sure to have a thumping good time.

Verdict: Despairingly difficult but fabulously fun, a game for anyone who can handle Nintendo Hard Ninja Action.

Yet another new entry for the Virtual Console, Konami might be rapidly tossing beloved franchises aside like there's no tomorrow these days but at least for their previously released games on Nintendo formats seem to be getting something of a renaissance for better or worse because there is no other way that a game like The Adventures of Bayou Billy would get released today, thought I'm glad for its VC release as it gives many the chance to play what is undeniably an ambitious albeit essentially experimental title which takes full advantage of the original NES hardware.

The story goes that a man named Billy West - otherwise known as Bayou Billy - is a Crocodile Dundee-like survivalist, vigilante, and former U.S. soldier from New Orleans who has fought against a local crime boss known as Godfather Gordon. In retaliation for interfering with his smuggling operations, Gordon kidnaps Billy's girlfriend Annabelle Lane in order to lure Billy into one final battle. Billy's quest to save Annabelle consists of nine stages that takes him from the swamplands to Bourbon Street as he battles Gordon's henchmen and eventually arrives at Gordon's estate to come face-to-face with the big boss himself.

Attack him Billy! Wait you are? Dodgy collision detection says otherwise!

It at least serves as an interesting excuse for a rather mad adventure which mostly takes places in the form of a side-scrolling beat-em-up where you control our rather odd hero with the d-pad then one action button for punch while the other one kicks, while pressing them both together makes you jump; so very much like Double Dragon III in fact except on a far more basic level, actually attacking enemies isn't nearly as responsive either as you need to be right in front of them otherwise it doesn't count which can be annoying... just remember that these stages make up around at least sixty-four percent of the game. You can make things more interesting by picking up weapons sometimes, this still doesn't mean that you'll always be landing body blows though as it's all seems very luck-based so watch out for those roast chicken health pick-ups as you will likely be needing them; oh and in addition to the human enemies, watch out for Alligators, Chickens and even Dogs as well, all of which are out to get you for some strange reason... it would seem old Bayou Billy isn't exactly an animal lover.

What about the other thirty-six percent though? Well interestingly there are two stages which utilise the NES Zapper which means that you can just turn your Wii remote around or pick it up if you are using a classic controller or pro controller, it's here that you'll be gunning down targets in a mainly auto-scrolling stage or in the other stage you'll need to guess where enemies are going to pop out a bit like in Hogan's Alley except with enemies popping out from manhole covers or from their bikes; if you really don't want to use the Zapper replacement though you can choose to move a reticule with the dpad but you will need to select Game B at the start instead. That just leaves two more stages which are both of the driving variety, they actually remind me vaguely of the old Amstrad racing game called Burnin' Rubber except with Planes, Helicopters plus other Cars attacking you in addition to firing off weapons of your own while driving, all the while you're trying  not to get hit once because you lose a life if you do, it can be frustrating so either get good at playing these stages or just become very proficient at using save states to your advantage if you even make it this far due to the frustrating nature of the whole experience.

It's like playing Burnin' Rubber again! Except... not!

Though it may well have an overly simplistic look to it at first glance, there are a fair few nice little graphical touches spread across the adventure which you're sure to enjoy if you look close enough, the side-scrolling stages have the most subtle details while the shooting stages are more zoomed-in and the driving stages uses the classic scrolling across alternating coloured land to add emphasis to the overall sense of speed, all old tricks yet they work reasonably well. All of the audio is simply superb though, it manages to keep up the reasonably brisk pace of the adventure while simultaneously filling the player with a sense of wonder, you even get a good set of sound effects which are suitably solid, more than doing the job.

Overall this isn't a title which is too difficult to play, aside from the driving sections it's fairly easy to pick up but it's just the fact that the side-scrolling combat which still makes up the majority of the game is so sorely lacking in variety which may harm your enjoyment of it a bit. Though I would still advise picking this up if only to experience one of the most intriguingly different NES titles that you're ever likely to encounter, especially as it's another Virtual Console first time entry which hasn't been possible until now.   

Verdict : Bayou Billy gets the benefit of the doubt for its range of stages but not an entirely free pass.

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!