Don't call it a comeback, I've been here for years.

After much delay, our weekly Virtual Console Recommendations return. This week features a lot of famous characters ranging from Dracula's fortunate son, Alucard, to everyone's favorite punching bag, Sonic.

Here are a few fun facts about this week's games: Two-thirds of them are from the Sega Master System. This is Wonder Boy's seventh appearance on Virtual Console, Sonic's eighth, and Castlevania's fourth.

Virtual Console Recommendations are here to stay. If this fails again, I'll eat my hat.

Since Dracula’s causing trouble again, Trevor Belmont and his three allies, Grant DeNasty, Sypha Belnades, and Alucard, set out to destroy his castle again. In many ways, Dracula’s Curse forms the foundation for the modern "Symphony" Castlevania games, as its events are referenced specifically in Symphony of the Night and Portrait of Ruin and, by association, Rondo of Blood. Dracula’s Curse is unique among the pre-Symphony games for several reasons. You’ll recall that while the original Castlevania had a level-by-level design, Castlevania II had an open-world design similar to Metroid or Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. Dracula’s Curse attempts to bridge the styles, giving players choices as to which stage to traverse to next, and a few stages where the player must backtrack to the beginning after beating the boss.

Most significantly, players can switch between Trevor Belmont and his three companions, though the available companion changes from stage to stage. All of them have different abilities—Grant can climb walls, Sypha gets magic spells as sub-weapons, and Alucard turns into a bat. Overall, Trevor is the most reliable character for zombie-fightin’. The game is still tough as nails, but it’s very fun and feels like a departure from the other games. If you like Castlevania, this should definitely be on your to-do list.

Wonder Boy in Monster Land is a strange combination of RPG and platformer. It's the sequel to Wonder Boy for the Master System, which was also released on the NES as Adventure Island (both games are available on Virtual Console). Strangely, there are very few similarities between the games. Wonder Boy in Monster Land pares down the jumping and attacking and mixes in some RPG elements. It feels a lot like a mash-up of the original Zelda and Super Mario Bros. You have hearts, get a sword and armor, and receive cryptic quest tips from random people. It's also a sidescrolling platform game where you work from point A to point B. When you die, you start the game all over again.

Wonder Boy in Monster Land is a very intriguing game. The strange genre combination is interesting and fun. However, sloppy controls make platforming a frustrating endeavor. Although it's really no different from many other retro games, so fans will be able to see past them. Restarting after every death was strange at first, but having what is essentially a single-session RPG is a great thing for quick pick-up-and-play sessions. Overall, anyone looking for a retro game pick-me-up can't really go wrong with Wonder Boy in Monster Land but I wouldn't call it a must-play title.

Aside from the mainline Sonic series on Genesis, Sega created a sideline series that appeared on both the Game Gear and Master System thanks to their identical hardware specifications. Surprisingly enough, this 8-bit side series held very true to its 16-bit big brother. Though many of the games were titled identically, each was completely unique with its own distinct story and areas.

Sonic Chaos carries its own unique title and gameplay. Unlike its two previous Master System predecessors, this Sonic title plays most closely to Sonic 2 for Genesis. The game introduced the Spin Dash, as well as the Strike Dash (which appeared later in Sonic CD as the Super Peel-Out). Players are also able to play as either Sonic or Tails and have full control over Tails' flying ability. Aside from only being able to reclaim a few token rings if injured, the similarities to mainline Sonic are striking.

As I played through the game, I found the visuals and audio to be the game's largest drawback. Both are a significant downgrade from Genesis quality, and the audio in particular lacks the typical personality of the Genesis Sonic titles. Major fans of Sonic games will definitely want to check this out, but casual fans of the series are better suited sticking to the Genesis classics already available on the service.

Special thanks to VG Museum for the screenshots