A Commodore 64 title and Game Boy classic both shine through this week's virtual console recommendations.
Whether you're looking for a Virtual Console classic on your Wii or your 3DS, this week's recommendations from Nintendo World Report have you covered... as long as you want to play a platformer.
Up first is Carmine Red's take on Tower Toppler, part of the Commodore 64 selection on Nintendo's Wii Virtual Console. Staffers didn't take to some other Commodore 64 games on the download service, will this one be any different?
Then Andrew Brown suffers through Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins to give you his recommendation on the Game Boy classic now available on the Nintendo 3DS eShop. Well, okay, maybe "suffer" isn't the right word for it.
Tower Toppler
System | Virtual Console - Commodore 64 | |
Cost | 500 Points | |
Players | 1 | |
Controllers | Wii Remote,Wii Classic,GameCube | |
ESRB Rating | Everyone | |
Released | Year 1987 |
Tower Toppler (also known as Nebulus) last appeared on a Nintendo console way back in 1991, when it was ported under the title Castelian to the Game Boy and NES. Now Wii owners have a second chance to get to know the Commodore 64 classic and its unique combination of the platforming and side-scrolling shooter genres.
Tower Toppler originally came out in 1987, but it has more than just retro charm going for it. As players navigate platforms and enemies to scale the game's titular towers, the background rotates to create the simple illusion of a three-dimensional gamespace. Actually reaching the top of the level happens to be very challenging in an old-school way, one cannot expect to simply barge their way through. However, since enemies only bump you down to a lower level of the tower (or, heaven forbid, the sea) players can get a second, third, or even fourth chance without having died once. The real limit is not so much lives as it is the danger of exhausting the time limit while you try and try again. And upon reaching the top, the game has another surprise in store: a bonus stage where it becomes a side-scrolling shooter!
Tower Toppler is a bit of a chimera: retro but accessible, difficult but fair, both a platformer and a side-scrolling shooter. In the end, this makes the game a worthwhile, and unique, example of a classic that's been given a second chance at our attentions.

Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins
System | Virtual Console - Game Boy | |
Cost | $3.99 | |
Players | 1 | |
Controllers | NULL | |
ESRB Rating | Everyone | |
Released | Nov 02, 1992 |
Super Mario Land 2 is a very different game to its predecessor, likely taking some cues from the 1990 Super NES title Super Mario World. Mario is represented with a much larger sprite, allowing a closer look at the action taking place. The game is broken into 6 zones situated around a top-down map, which can be completed in any order to unlock the final level of the game. Spin jumps make a return, allowing Mario to break blocks from above as well as below.
Classic power-ups such as Super Mushrooms, Fire Flowers and Starmen return, but the new carrot power-up transforms Mario into Bunny Mario, who can jump higher, flap his ears to float, and bounce endlessly by holding down the jump button. This game also marks the first time Mario travels into space, predating Super Mario Galaxy by a good 15 years. Watch for a cameo of Tatanga from Mario Land 1!
If there was one complaint, it's that the game is very short and very easy, even including an Easy Mode to make things even more of a breeze. However, even though the whole game can be finished in under an hour, it never stops being fun no matter how many times you complete it. Adorable artwork, catchy music, and unforgettable Mario goodness make this game worth every cent.
