Topic: Virtual Console Mondays: June 25, 2007

[WindyMan]

If you get all three games this week, you'll unlock a secret, hidden game: Street Fighter F-Zero X-II: Hyper Fighting China Warrior!
 http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/vcArt.cfm?artid=13707

 This week is a nice turnaround from last week's boring sportsfest.  The big news today is that Nintendo realized that people want more Nintendo 64 games on Virtual Console, so it came out with a classic racing game from the system's library.  Capcom is back with an update to an existing SNES VC game, and the TurboGrafx-16 adds another good title to the catalog.    

Here's what we have to say about this week's releases.  Please remember that our views are simply recommendations; the decision to buy is yours, and yours alone.    

   

F-Zero X - Nintendo 64

   

 Released 9/30/1998
  1-4 Players
  Cost: 1000 Wii Points ($10)
  Controllers: Wii Classic, GameCube
  Click here for a video preview  

   

 So far, the Virtual Console has been curiously thin on racing games, but F-Zero X is here to save the day.  This futuristic racer packs an incredible sense of speed, very smooth graphics at 60 frames per second, and up to thirty cars on the track at any given time.  X is a huge improvement over the original F-Zero (also available on VC) thanks to the three-dimensional graphics and gameplay, huge selection of vehicles, and a larger set of tracks.  This game also introduced the boost vs. shield mechanic, in which you increase the risk of exploding every time you use a turbo.  

   

 F-Zero X has a lot to offer for just ten bucks.  There are four GP cups of six races each, all of them very challenging (even on the "Novice" level!).  Beat all of those on Expert, and you can unlock the extremely cool X Cup, which features randomly generated tracks.  The legendary Death Race tests how long it takes you to knock all of your opponents off the track.  Of course, there's also an equally smooth 4-player mode.  F-Zero X is a tough game, but the process of learning to play better is highly rewarding.  Fans of the GameCube sequel should definitely check this one out, too! - Jonathan Metts  

   

   

China Warrior - TurboGrafx-16

   

 Released 10/1989
  1 Player
  Cost: 600 Wii Points ($6)
  Controllers: Wii Remote, Wii Classic, GameCube
  Click here for a video preview  

   

 Playing as a Bruce Lee look-alike named Wang, China Warrior takes you through stages where you need to punch and kick your way through various types of enemies and hazards.  Wang moves through the stages automatically, but you still have full control over basic movement.  When encountering a boss, the punch-and-kick gameplay used during the stage translates well into what is essentially a light version of a fighting game.  The nice thing about China Warrior is the enormous character sprites, which really make things stand out.  

   

 This game is rather impressive for a launch-era TG16 game, and years later, it's still not too bad of a game to play through.  The first few levels will be a cakewalk, but pretty soon you'll be dodging knives, leaping over snakes and really working to find an opening on the boss characters.  It's quite challenging.  China Warrior is an old-school side-scrolling action game that may surprise fans of the genre, and isn't a bad deal for the price. - Steven Rodriguez  

   

   

Street Fighter II' Turbo: Hyper Fighting - SNES

   

 Released 1993
  1-2 Players
  Cost: 800 Wii Points ($8)
  Controllers: Wii Classic, GameCube
  Click here for a video preview  

   

 Street Fighter II' Turbo: Hyper Fighting, or SFII'HF for short, is one of many updates to the Street Fighter II line of games, and the second SNES version.  The improvements over the first game include the four bosses as selectable characters, better graphics, better sound, improved character balance and the turbo speed settings.  You can play the game at the standard Street Fighter II speed, but being able to crank up the turbo is what makes this the preferred classic fighter.  For best results, play with the Wii classic controller, since its traditional layout will make it easier to summon your kicks and punches.  

   

 If you downloaded Street Fighter II: The World Warrior, you're probably feeling screwed right now.  After all, SFII'HF is the exact same game, except better in every way.  Although both games are classics in their own rights, the original is depreciated because of Turbo.  Just remember that Capcom's got another SFII SNES game that's likely coming after this one, so although we're recommending SFII Turbo for everyone, buy it at your own discretion. - Steven Rodriguez  

[Kairon]

WHAT??? No games recommended for me? Not even CHINA WARRIOR? Le sigh.

[UncleBob]

Where's Super Mario Bros 2 and Super Mario Bros 2 J?

[Karl Castaneda #2]

Don't worry, Kairon. I give a shout-out to your love for bad games in the latest RFN.

[NeoThunder]

HEY WAIT!!!!!!!!

didn't "Bloody Wolf" come out this week, how come nobody has mentioned that

[vudu]

Bloody Wolf came out last week.

[ShyGuy]

The videos for China warrior look terrible.

[Entroper]

Drat, 1800 more Wii Points to spend!

Seriously, F-Zero X and SF2Turbo are the best in their respective series.

[Smash_Brother]

The Capcom milkfest begins...

[NWR_pap64]

As much as I enjoy 2D fighters and Street Fighter I agree with the sentiment.

There's also Super Street Fighter 2 waiting to be released, so you will be double screwed if you buy Turbo Fighting edition.

Ideally, Turbo fighting should've been an update for the original game, not a separate game. Yeah I know that they released the game separately, but these are ROMs we are talking about, not actual physical copies.

But yeah, they are more than likely to milk the games for all its worth rather than being fair to their players and release all games at once.

[TJ Spyke]

Capcom has several more Street Fighters left to add: Street Fighter II Champion Edition, Super Street Fighter II, Street Fighter Alpha, Street Fighter Alpha 2.

Pretty good week overall.

[Galford]

Capcom has two more SNES SF games it can whore out here.

Super SF2 and SFA2.
I guess you can feel screwed over with the different versions coming out, but each version does have it's own "feel" to it.
Still if you haven't bothered with SF2 it's not worth getting now.

[that Baby guy]

Alright, so I must ask.  I only plan on buying one SNES Street Fighter II game, aside from alpha, which will be a separate decision.

Which is better:  Turbo speeds or the extra characters in SSF2?

That almost seems like a mailbag question.  I might have to send that one in...

[Entroper]

I don't think the extra characters in SSF2 added much to the game, honestly.  Turbo was the best version overall.  Super made some subtle changes to the original 12 characters, too, which, in addition to the new characters, I found unnecessarily complicated the pure, simple formula of Turbo.

[Ian Sane]

"Which is better: Turbo speeds or the extra characters in SSF2?"

Depends what you want.  Purists tend to prefer Turbo but if you don't care about all the little tweaking and balance issues in fighting games then having more characters is probably what you want.

Turbo also comes with Championship Edition which is pretty much the original SFII with the bosses selectable and the ability for both players to play as the same character.  So in a way to really get the most "ideal" version of SFII of the SNES you need both Turbo and Super since combined they cover all the different options.  But again unless you're a hardcore fan (and if you are odds are you have the PS2 version with everything included anyway) you won't care.  Go with Super.

[ShyGuy]

Turbo has Vega as a playable character, right?

[TJ Spyke]

Both Turbo and Super do. But yes, Turbo lets you play as Vega (and the other 3 boss characters).

[S-U-P-E-R]

Quote
Originally posted by: thatguy
Alright, so I must ask.  I only plan on buying one SNES Street Fighter II game, aside from alpha, which will be a separate decision.

Which is better:  Turbo speeds or the extra characters in SSF2?

That almost seems like a mailbag question.  I might have to send that one in...

I'm pretty sure you can have turbo speeds in SSF2 too.

But seriously, if you have a PS2 or XBox, you should look into getting Street Fighter Anniversary Collection. It's 20 bucks or less, has SSF2X (and you can select the old versions of characters, too) and hell, it also has 3rd Strike.

[that Baby guy]

I've got a PS2, but it's laser is on the fritz.  I can revive it for a few hours, but every time I want to play, I have to take it apart first.

I might wait until I get a new roommate in January, since he has a working PS2.  At that point, I'll probably get a 360, too, since there will be two actual gamers around for the first time ever for me.  It should be interesting.