The street-beat sequel joins the VC. It, more Toejam And Earl, and others, make up this week's VC releases.

Those hoping for a Nintendo 64 game this week will be sorely disappointed, but hopefully pleasantly surprised at the same time, because the Virtual Console has received four bundles of third-party goodness this week from Sega and Hudson. Read on to find out what you could be downloading right now.

Streets of Rage II, first released in 1993 on the Sega Mega Drive, is a scrolling beat 'em up which is four times the size of the original game. The highly detailed backgrounds and sprites along with the utterly superb score have earned the game a well earned place in the hearts of fans of the Streets of Rage series. Streets of Rage II is available now for 800 Wii Points.

Toe Jam and Earl in Panic on Funkotron was first released in 1993 on the Sega Mega Drive as a sequel to the well received Toe Jam and Earl (which is already available on the Virtual Console). Hipper than a hippo (I promise you, that simile will never be used again), Panic on Funkotron is a platformer which sees you capturing earthlings in jars which are to be sent back to their own planet. Toe Jam and Earl in Panic on Funkotron is available now for 800 Wii Points.

Kid Chameleon, first released in 1992 on the Sega Mega Drive, is a platformer which sees you utilizing the powers of different masks in order to progress, in the vein of Majora's Mask or the more recent Wario: Master of Disguise on the DS (see Conor's Out This Week feature for more). The storyline is a stroke of genius on the writer's part, as you play a videogame within a videogame in order to save the many children who have been imprisoned in the game by the supremely evil end of level boss, Heady Metal. Kid Chameleon is available now for 800 Wii Points.

Rounding up this week's releases is World Sports Competition, an Olympic Games inspired collection of sports themed mini-games. Think International Track and Field, but more obscure. Released on the Turbografx in 1992, from Hudson Soft, the game is unlikely to entice many Virtual Console browsers, but reportedly does offer some light multiplayer enjoyment with its primitive versions of archery, shooting, swimming and other events. Potential Olympic piracy is a mere 600 points away.

As ever, Sam will be following this up with reviews after the weekend. Happy downloading!

Written by Nathan