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

Do you like high-octane, anti-gravity racing? If the answer is "Yes" then you've come to the right place, if not then... "Falcon Pawwwwnch!" erm I mean... Picross? Anyone? Anyway enough from me and on with the games! 
  
Available for download this week we have...   

When the original F-Zero was released on the SNES it was a true revelation in gaming; it was the first of its kind and undeniably defined the genre that it created with its scrolling 3D rendered glory and masterful audio thanks to Mode 7 technology. After the titles success many tried to imitate it, most notably Wipeout which was mostly style over substance, which comparatively was no match for the fine tuned controls and tight course design of the original F-Zero; personally I feel that these other anti-gravity racers took many incarnations to even come close to being as good with the notable exception of the FAST Racing series which came very close for comfort even with the first entry.

So when the time came along for Nintendo to make a sequel to the original game, expectations were understandably high with the high standard that had initially been set. Thankfully though no compromises were made in creating this superior, streamlined, superlative sequel; featuring everything that made the original so great, giving it an admirable amount of aesthetic and audible augmentation. 

Improvements have been made just in the sheer wealth of variables alone that are made available to you, the original offered four different selectable ships; this time around there are in total thirty customisable craft to choose from. In addition, three classes of races are available with each featuring six tracks taking three laps each to complete. There are multiple levels of difficulty which upon completion offer yet more traversable tracks and versatile vehicles.

Forgone are the flat facets of the former F-Zero in favour of a fresh, fun flavour of tracks fully formed in the third dimension; curvaceous courses created for your craft to cruise along count towards the dramatic differences that define this incarnation. Low gravity loops, turbulent tubes, contorted curves and many more misshapen, makeshift motorways add both depth and challenge to the races and keeps the experience varied.

Getting into the action is both simple and straightforward as you simply choose your craft, alter the acceleration – speed slider and colour if you so desire and your away! An average race tends only to last around three minutes due to the high octane nature of the game but those few minutes are likely to be the most intense, heated and totally absorbing moments of your game playing existence and it's only until those three minutes - or less - are up, you realise that you haven't blinked once.

Well it's slightly sharper than a Miiverse capture at least, check out that purple sky.

Aesthetically & audibly just like its brethren the game set new standards for its time of release and although in comparison to its spiritual successor F-Zero GX, it's somewhat lacking in the texture department on both track and ship detail it's still a true accomplishment for its time. The audio serves to amplify the experience with tracks from Mute City and the Big Blue standing out as the very zenith of the soundtrack.

It can be forgiven its slight graphical shortcomings though as given the speeds your craft reaches, track side detail will be the last thing on your mind as your manically maneuvering around each corner with pinpoint precision due to the spot on controls which really complement the rest of the game, taking the experience that little bit further.

As with previous N64 titles on the Wii VC the obvious omission of the originally obligatory Rumble Pak is a blow but nevertheless a small one; though it would be nice to have the option made available at some point, a classic controller redesign perhaps? Who knows, but for now the Wavebird is the obvious choice for these rumble redundant renditions of N64 titles. Fast-forward a few years and little did I know that it wouldn't be until now that I'd be playing this title with rumble again thanks to the added support in this Wii U version, though it should also be noted that at launch there were some control stick dead-zone issues which thankfully seem to have been fixed, though the darkened filter on the N64 VC releases still prevails I noticed, hence I've started capturing images directly seeing as Nintendo are abandoning Miiverse for the Switch in favour of more direct captures, which isn't necessarilly a bad thing but it will be interesting to see if we actually get more options by the time the Virtual Console launches on the Switch; an option to not artificially darken the screen would be appreciated.  

Extra controllers are recommended for this games multiplayer mode which is well worth playing as its quick accessible and frequently fun, just as it always has been. With a wealth of modes from time attack to death race and even a random track generator to boot; there are plenty of reasons to come back to F-Zero X even if and when you completely obliterate the single player mode which is as challenging as it is absorbing, a true classic and remains quite probably one of the definitive games in the arguably finite series.

Sequel to the classic puzzle game Mario's Picross which debuted on the GameBoy Classic, Mario's Super Picross follows exactly the same pattern as its precursor. You start off with a large stone slab which is divided into many squares via a grid; along both the vertical and horizontal axis are a series of numbers which as a reference point for where to an occupied square is, the aim of the game is to chisel away the filled squares and mark the ones that are vacant with a cross all within a set time limit.

Purposefully pummeling away will reveal a picture puzzle at the end if you are successful and while it might sound simple in theory, things generally tend to be more challenging in practice. Sure enough the first challenge is easy enough but things get more complicated literally from that point in as upon completing your first foray into the world of Picross you are offered a new set of puzzles by none other than Wario.

Mario and Wario's puzzles differ somewhat as Mario's have to be completed within a descending time limit with deductions for each incorrectly chiseled square and the game ending once the timer reaches zero. Wario's puzzles however you have an ascending counter which logs how long you take to complete the puzzle but absolutely no indication of whether you have gone wrong or not; basically one puzzle game with two varied ways to play.

That familiar Picross action the series is famed for.

A decent learning curve is employed with puzzles starting off on grids as small and straightforward as five by five grids which eventually escalate to slabs that tout a testing twenty five by twenty tiles. You get a somewhat staggering two hundred and eighty puzzles to play with in total which are divided equally between Mario and Wario giving the player a satisfying selection.

It may not contain the most vivid of visuals but they are clear and the audio serves mostly to move things along though some of them are catchy being that this is a loosely Mario themed title. What you pay for with Picross is the sheer wealth of engaging puzzles which are fun to play whenever; it's easily one of the best in the series and it's well worth a download, especially if you're curious about the subsequent incarnations released on the DS/3DS. Being able to post images to Miiverse this time around is also an added plus if you happen to get stuck on a particular puzzle, just don't forget to hit that 'spoiler' tag and good luck in your quest for full puzzle completion!

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!