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

RPG fans can relax once more as two staple titles get added to the New 3DS SNES VC library which is now growing at a steady pace, to what end though remains to be seen. Anyway enough from me and on with the games! 
  
Available for download this week we have...  

Price: GB £7.19, EU €7.99
Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Capcom
Released: 1993
System: SNES

Released at a time when we were spoilt for choice as gamers when it came to RPG's of Japanse origin, Capcom decided to add to the deluge as it bestowed Breath of Fire to the world giving us a turn-based experience which might not be at the height of originality from the outset but it does bring some new things of its own to the table at least. You start out in control of a youth named Ryu whose hair has a blue hue, as he belongs to the Blue Dragon clan who are at war with the Black Dragon clan, so when Ryu's village is attacked by them his quest of vengeance and world redemption is naturally set in motion.

During the course of your adventure you'll get other characters who will join your paty including a Hunter called Bo who is always useful, Carn the Thief who is adept at disposing of traps and of course Nina who is a Princess blessed with the power of flight; there are many other possible party members too but these are the ones who seem to stick out. Ryu still remains the star though, especially when he's able to transform into a dragon, unleashing a fiery hell upon all on-screen enemies which is quite a sight indeed.

Battles are relatively simple as the game employs a rather standard turn-based battle system with literally no frills at all, it's fairly basic but still done to a decent standard, anyone who is at home with kind of approach in RPG's will surely still enjoy it so long as they don't expect too much bar the odd surprising attack as aforementioned. Interestingly your control scheme has to be 'set' upon starting a new game which I find to be most odd even though it's quite refreshing to be permitted to choose from within the game, fortunately for this Virtual Console release though you can change the controls further if needed from the standardised menu which is quite useful at times.

Adventure across vast, detailed lands of blue, green, brown and charcoal!

All of the visuals are nicely detailed for the games time of release, the environments have plenty of depth to them with enough contrast between where you can walk plus whatever is merely scenery while the characters themselves are suffiently brighter so they always stand out; the level of animation isn't too bad either. Even the soundtrack holds up very well by today's standards as the overworld theme is suitably jovial, plus the in-battle music strikes that crucial balance between being tolerable and even enjoyable at times due to it being heard usually in short busts along with the solid sound effects.

For those of you looking for an enjoyable 16-bit RPG to play, which has a decent amount of level-grinding, interesting characters and a simple battle system then look no further as Breath of Fire might just be exactly what you're looking for. This title comes recommended to RPG enthusiasts or even newcomers as it might not be the most difficult of games to master but it is at least memorable for providing an entertaining experience within a lovingly crafted game world.

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.

Behold! Dragons... and translation errors!

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.    

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!