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

It's finally here! The Wii's game of the year! It's making all rivals quake with fear! Okay well not quite but this is a monumental moment for Nintendo fans as the long awaited Super Mario RPG has finally been released in Europe after twelve long years, and it's all thanks to the Virtual Console; also not content with giving us just one dose of Mario, the Japanese version of SMB2 has been restored to the VC this week after a limited edition run last September - this time both titles are here to stay. Anyway, enough from me and on with the games!

Available for download this week we have...

• Super Mario RPG : Legend of the Seven Stars
• Super Mario Brothers 2 (JP)

Points: 900
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Square
Released: 1996
System: SNES

Twas a mere twelve years ago when legendary RPG developer Square teamed up with Nintendo to create a role playing game starring none other than the portly plumber himself, Mario; as skeptical as some fans were at the time, their fears where swiftly swept aside when the game was released to much critical acclaim. It's somewhat baffling then as to why when the game was so successful in both its Eastern and Western territories that it was denied a release in Europe... whatever the reason though, it's better late than never and now "you" can see for yourself why this title is held in such high regard.

Starting near the serene and peaceful Mushroom Kingdom, Princess Toadstool is peacefully picking flowers in Mario's garden when all of a sudden the blue skies fade to black, Bowser is back, as he swoops in and snatches the Princess, taking her back to his "humble home". Hearing the commotion outside, Mario naturally races to be at Toadstool's side, running all the way to Bowser's castle and atop the chandeliers for an epic battle.

Mario of course emerges victorious but just as he is about to untie the princess a huge explosion shakes the very foundations of the castle, flinging all three main characters in opposite directions across the surrounding lands; returning to the scene Mario soon discovers that the cause is a giant sword which has plunged straight into Bowser's Castle and destroyed the Star Road en-route. And so it falls upon the legendary hero Mario to recover the seven shattered star pieces, repair the Star Road, save the princess and restore peace to the Mushroom Kingdom. All in a day's work, eh?

Mario dukes it out with Bowser in an epic chandelier battle.

What ensues is an epic adventure which will take you from the green lands of the Mushroom Kingdom, through Forest, River, Sea, Valley and even Volcano locations before you can come full circle to Bowser's Castle to save the day from the evil Smithy. Yes that's right, Bowser's not the bad guy this time around (or at least not the baddest), in fact you even get to team up with him along with other characters including Mallow (the frog who is anything but), the mysterious Geno and a host of other surprise characters each with their own unique abilities to use in battle.

In fact the battle system itself is pretty damned excellent, differing slightly from most but taking a leaf out of Chrono Trigger's book in the sense that you may only have a three character team at any one team; yes it is turn based but with a twist, if you press the action button at specific times you will deal more damage and turn the battle in your favour. There is a great range of varied and entertaining attacks ranging from Mario's Fireball ability to Bowser wielding a live Chain Chomp as a weapon!

Enemies can attack you with some frankly bizarre abilities including being able to transform you into scarecrows and mushrooms; outside of battle it's part platforming and puzzle pondering with a wide variety of enemies to avoid or jump upon (triggering a battle), or if you find a Starman power up you can just run around steamrolling them as you jump around the colourful backdrops that are plastered throughout the game.

The graphics look great, even by today's 2D standards.

Indeed the game's visual style is what you are most likely to notice straight off, it's predominantly presented in a well-realised pseudo three-dimensional isometric view and while this type of style hasn't aged well in a lot of cases here it's the exception to the rule as it works in the games favour, not just because it pushed the SNES hardware to it's limits but mainly because there is so much detail that has been poured into the characters and the surrounding environment with some excellent animation which when coupled with the superbly scripted dialogue makes it easy to see that this game was very much a labour of love for all concerned in its conception and creation.

Audio used here is also top-tier stuff, with several remixes of familiar favourites as well as some of the original music used from previous Mario games which are all excellently executed and further enhance the experience providing something both old and new which will appeal to the ears of hardcore fans or newcomers alike; it's just seemingly impossible not to hum along to what is considered one of the strongest soundtracks ever compiled in a Nintendo game, Mario or otherwise.

If it's appeal that you're after then this game has it in spades, it's a game for fans of old, comers of new, a game that's been enjoyed by myself but above all this game is for you; seriously, if you have not yet played this then you really owe it to yourself to do so. There is much more to this superb title that I purposely haven't touched upon in this review and that is for the sole reason that there is so much brilliance in it that I personally feel should be experienced first-hand; it's very rare that a game of this calibre should come along, and even rarer that it gets released in a territory over a decade after its original release but rest assured it's been well worth the wait, so please do not delay purchase or deny yourself this any longer. Play and enjoy this masterpiece just as it was originally intended.

Verdict : A simply stunning example of it's genre and a timeless classic.

Points: 600
Publisher: Nintendo EAD
Developer: Nintendo
Released: 1986
System: NES

When this game was released in European and western territories it turned out to be something rather different from what was known as the true sequel to Super Mario Bros in Japan. Indeed the version of the game that we have come to know is none other than an alternative version of a game known as Doki Doki Panic which was remastered with Nintendo branding.

Indeed, years later we did get a version of the original Super Mario Bros 2 included as "The Lost Levels" on the ever popular SNES compilation cartridge Super Mario All-Stars, not to mention the edited and enhanced version in Super Mario Bros DX. The VC release however is the full and unedited version of the original Japanese release.

It's just like the original game except for a few new elements including poison mushrooms which can kill either Mario or Luigi if consumed and blowing wind which can either help of hinder your movement. The main change comes in the way of every single level from the original being taken back to the drawing board and completely redesigned in order to make for a more altogether challenging experience.

Mario's about to kick ass, take names and condemn Bowser to the fiery depths of Hades.

One other main inclusion of note is that after beating the entire final world without using a single warp zone, which is a challenge in itself, you get to play a secret world nine which comprises of a few excessively easy stages. However if you then manage to beat the game a further seven times (with or without stage 9) you will get the chance to play on worlds A � D which comprise some of the most challenging levels in the history of Mario games, the difficulty of which can only be expressed in the frustration of failure rather than in mere words.

Worth buying then? Almost certainly if you are a fan of the series or maybe even if you aren't but just want to play it for the sake of doing so, much like a climbing a mountain just because it's there all for the sake of the challenge. You will certainly get your points' worth if it's intense difficulty you are after and thankfully this classic can now be enjoyed indefinitely thanks to its now permanent addition to the ever expanding VC library.

Verdict : An even more super version of an undisputed classic.

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!

Sam Gittins
[email protected]

Looking for reviews on other Virtual Console games? Or a full list of games available on the system? Then Check out our Virtual Console Index Page.