This week's a little bit golf, a little bit Olympics and a little bit Rambo. http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/vcArt.cfm?artid=13656 Nintendo, in its infinite wisdom, decided to ride the wave of the U.S. Open golf tournament and release its NES Open golf game. Meanwhile, two TG-16 games take on international sports and the stereotypical commando shooter. Only one of the three games released on Virtual Console this time will be worth playing; the other two will be worth ignoring. Read on to see which games we think should take a two-shot penalty.
NES Open Tournament Golf - NES
Released 9/1/1991
1-2 Players
Cost: 500 Wii Points ($5)
Controllers: Wii Remote, Wii Classic, GameCube
Click here for a video preview
NES Open golf has got one nice thing going for it: There are 54 different holes set over three different courses. Aside from that nice feature, the game is just plain boring. Though you can do things like put spin on a ball, the timing to hit a good shot is very strict, especially if you really want to hammer the thing down the fairway. The different modes, including Stroke Play and Match Play, all feel very similar because you need to go through the same clumsy interface just to play the ball. After a few dozen shots you'll want to play something else.
This NES sports game is another case of redundancy. You've already got a superior golf game in Wii Sports, and that was free. The inclusion of Mario and friends doesn't add anything of value to the $5 package. Actually, it'll make you long for one of the far better Mario Golf titles available on various Nintendo console and handheld platforms. Seek one of those instead of dropping the points on this NES game. - Steven Rodriguez
Bloody Wolf - TurboGrafx-16
Released 7/1990
1 Player
Cost: 600 Wii Points ($6)
Controllers: Wii Remote, Wii Classic, GameCube
Click here for a video preview
It's yet another VC shooter, though not in quite the same form as we're used to seeing. Bloody Wolf is your standard Rambo-inspired action game, complete with a predictable story (rescue the kidnapped president!), top-notch dialog ("I've arrived at the enemy camp. It's full of enemies!") and important items (like "muscle emphasis tablets"). As for the actual gameplay, think of it as a cross between Contra and Double Dragon, but not as hard. You also get a lot of grenades to throw, although the mode of doing it (the Plus Button) is strange.
The combination isn't actually all that bad, except for the fact that it's only a single-player game. If it were two-player, it might have been enough to recommend to everyone. However, it's still something fans of the genre will get a kick out of. As you chuckle along with the corny script, be prepared to take on some challenging bosses and wave after wave of enemies. You will die a lot, but the good news there's unlimited continues. Use 'em well. - Steven Rodriguez
World Sports Competition - TurboGrafx-16
Released 1993
1-5 Players
Cost: 600 Wii Points ($6)
Controllers: Wii Remote, Wii Classic, GameCube
Click here for a video preview
When you look behind the game's title you'll find a bunch of events themed after the Olympic Games. It's got the stuff you'd expect such a game to have, like the 100m dash and other sprinting events, the long jump and other field events, swimming competitions, rowing, target shooting and more. You can engage in a decathlon of sorts, running through all the events in an attempt to qualify for what one would presume are the real Olympics. If you fail to meet a target time or score, however, you get disqualified.
You'll hear the game say "DISQUALIFIED!" a lot during this game. Probably too much. Most events require you to mash the two main buttons (1 and 2 or A and B, depending on your controller) back and forth to build up a meter. You can qualify for those if you use two hands to do the work. However, some also require you to handle the control pad to set a launch or jump angle, and in those events you need to be near-perfect just to hit the qualification threshold, let alone set a new world record. Overcoming the difficulty and tired forearms won't get you much of anything, which is why World Sports Competition isn't something worth training for. - Steven Rodriguez
Topic: Virtual Console Mondays: June 18, 2007 (Read 4944 times)
