Finally, a Virtual Console game specially enhanced for Wii.
Fifteen games are hitting Japan’s Virtual Console in December. The big news for the month is the release of Pokemon Snap for Nintendo 64. What’s notable about the release is that it is the first game to include a significant Wii enhancement. The game’s original focus was the photography of Pokemon. Nothing’s changed about that, but now photos taken in-game can be sent to the Wii message board, where they can be shared with friends. The game releases next Tuesday, December 4th.
First up for the Famicom (NES) is Arc System Works’ Downtown Nekketsu Koushinkyoku: Soreyuke Daiundoukai. The title is an athletic tournament game in the style of River City Ransom and will be released on December 4th. Headlining Famicom releases is Super Mario Bros. 3, which was released in November in the rest of the world. Next is Metal Slader Glory, a first-person adventure by HAL that comes with the usual Japanese Virtual Console RPG surcharge of 100 extra points. The final Famicom game is Lunar Ball from Pony Canyon, which is known as the more descriptive and already-released Lunar Pool in the West.
The Super Famicom (SNES) sees two new games in December. Super Street Fighter II from Capcom is the first for the month and the third Street Fighter II release on Virtual Console. Square-Enix follows up with another of their lesser-known RPGs, Treasure Hunter G.
Sega appears to be allowing more third-party Mega Drive (Genesis) releases on Virtual Console, with two in December. First is Rolling Thunder 2, a run-and-gun shooter from Bandai-Namco, which arrives on December 4th. Appearing later in the month and for an extra 100 points is Langrisser 2, an RPG from Nihon Computer System. Sega is also releasing action puzzler Columns III: Taiketsu! Columns World as well as Party Quiz Mega Q.
By now, it should come as no surprise that the PC Engine (TurboGrafx-16) releases are stuffed with shooters. All four games were originally CD-based. First out from Hudson on December 4th is Gate of Thunder, a game that was packaged with the TurboDuo in the US and saw a Virtual Console release in October in the States. Not all shooters involve starships, as the homoerotic Ai Cho Aniki from Hudson proves. This title is actually the second in the series, which features a pair of bald body builders who shoot white beams from holes in the tops of their heads. Particularly unique to the game is a control scheme more akin to Street Fighter than a shooter. Also coming is Irem’s Image Fight II, which differentiates itself from the two previously named games in that it’s a vertical rather than horizontal shooter. Finally, Dragon Slayer Eiyuu Densetsu represents the only non-shoot-em-up for the month. Like the more recognized Ys, it’s an RPG from Falcom.
There are no Neo-Geo releases scheduled for December, and the two MSX games scheduled for this year still have no firm release date besides "2007," despite the year nearly coming to a close.
