The Belmonts celebrate their 20th anniversary this week. Who else was invited to the party?
It's another winning week for Wii owners. All three games in this update may be worth your time in one way or another. Also, two out of the three are from Konami, who has just about as broad as a classic lineup as Nintendo. Konami also has some all-time greats, and one of them makes an appearance here. You can check out the vital stats and recommendations from our staffers starting right now.
Shockman
| System | Virtual Console - TurboGrafx-16 |  |
| Cost | 600 Points | |
| Players | 2 | |
| Controllers | Wii Remote,Wii Nunchuk,GameCube | |
| ESRB Rating | Everyone | |
| Released | Year 1992 |
This decidedly Treasure-like action game from NCS consists of eight stages in both action and side-scrolling stages. The action stages are similar to Mega Man with his trusty mega buster, while the side-scrolling levels are closer to Gradius or R-Type. Controls for the two nearly-identical characters are slightly sluggish in the action stages but acceptable using any of the three controllers.
While challenging, Shockman is not nearly as cruel as some other shooters, making it more approachable than many other old-school action games available on Virtual Console. Shockman does feature 2-player co-op and an amusingly shoddy localization, but the lack of a difficulty setting may disappoint hardcore fans of this game style. Even so, Shockman is worth the $6 entry fee.
Castlevania
| System | Virtual Console - Nintendo Entertainment System |  |
| Cost | 500 Points | |
| Players | 1 | |
| Controllers | Wii Remote,Wii Nunchuk,GameCube | |
| ESRB Rating | Everyone | |
| Released | May 01, 1987 |
20 years to the day, Konami puts the Castlevania that started it all on Virtual Console. The original has much of the same stuff that you see in modern series, like the whip (which must be upgraded for maximum vampire slaying), hearts, sub-weapons and candlesticks. Of course, the newer "Metroidvania" titles have more of an open and explorable castle, while the original line keeps things strictly linear. It's fairly short, with only six levels within the castle, but...
...it's another one of those NES games that are unbelievably difficult. The first level and a half or so will be a relative breeze, but once you hit the interior of the castle expect your butt to be the thing getting whipped. Since it's not an adventure for the unskilled, I'd only recommend fans of the series get the original right now. Still, $5 for a classic is a good deal for anyone, no matter how you slice it.
The Legend of The Mystical Ninja
| System | Virtual Console - Super Nintendo Entertainment System |  |
| Cost | 800 Points | |
| Players | 2 | |
| Controllers | Wii Nunchuk,GameCube | |
| ESRB Rating | Everyone | |
| Released | Jun 30, 1992 |
This is the game that started it all for our Radio Trivia hero, Goemon (a.k.a. Kid Ying in the English version). Konami's Mystical Ninja series is chock full of bizarre humor and a flood of Japanese cultural references. The graphics are nice by SNES standards, and the music is varied and always interesting. Gameplay is varied too, with isometric town sequences bookending pure 2D sidescrolling action levels. Konami also packed in a ton of mini-games, including a one-life version of Gradius. (Could this be the first Virtual Console game that includes another Virtual Console game?)
Mystical Ninja is a tough game, partially thanks to its awful isometric controls. The sidescrolling areas are more fun, to be sure. Newcomers to the series will have a difficult time at first, as the start of the game drops you right in front of oncoming enemies, and the "Operations Guide" included in your download doesn't explain much about the controls or the flow of the game. If you can get into the crazy Japanese style and get used to the sloppy hit detection, this is a worthwhile adventure. I'm more eager for the two N64 Goemon games to reach VC, though.
