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.