As we continue to delve into the nostalgic Virtual Console offerings the eShop doles out, we strive to bring you the lowdown on the best and worst of them.

This week Andrew takes a look at a Game Boy platformer infamous for being nail-bitingly hard and a Mario sports classic from the Game Boy Color, while Guillaume checks out an obscure puzzle shooting game on the Game Boy that doesn't really fit into standard genres.

Are they any good? Venture forth, dear readers, and find out!

This game essentially boils down to a slightly shorter, portable version of the original Castlevania for the NES. And if you've played that, you know what to expect. This game is tough as nails.


You play the part of Christopher Belmont, Simon's ancestor from long ago. Chris slowly and confidently struts his way through the four levels of the castle as he's attacked from all sides by vicious monsters and deadly traps. There are no stairs from the NES counterparts and no sub-weapons to collect, but your whip can still be powered up via orbs found in the ever-present candlesticks. 

The slow movement, singular attack speed and barely-adequate jumping height coupled with the long and brutally unforgiving stages of Dracula's castle would normally make this game an instant write-off in this day and age, but the Virtual Console version's inclusion of Restoration Points slightly takes the edge off for those determined enough to get through.


Much like with the original NES trilogy of games, you will cry, you will scream and swear, and you will be tempted to hurl your 3DS into the wall. Still, there's some great music and some truly creative level designs to be witnessed if you have the patience. Only for the masochistic.

This game followed in the footsteps of the Nintendo 64 classic of the same name, but added an RPG twist. You play as one of four rookies who are starting out their sporting career at the Mario Golf Club. Winning tournaments and matches gains you experience, and leveling up lets you improve your golfer's drive distnce and swing style. Strangely, Mario himself is somewhat of a legendary figure in this world, whom you hope to one day get the privilege to meet. Mario and Luigi can be selected as a practice character for training modes, but that's about all and you play as non-Nintendo characters. 



The controls and swing meter are nearly identical to other games in the Mario Golf series, and that's a very good thing. Playing golf couldn't be simpler, and the on-screen display makes it very easy to see wind direction and strength, distance to the hole and all other important information. The graphics are as can be expected for a Game Boy Color game. The overhead course maps are bright and clearly show hazards and terrain level, the character sprites are clean and have some cute animations. The game features four 18-hole courses, additional unlockable content, mini games, and extra modes to discover.



Originally, this game was intended to connect to the N64 game with the controller Transfer Pak but sadly this feature is absent. Even if you don't like golf, this game is fun and addictive. An entirely worthwhile outing.

A cross between Tetris and a vertical shmup, Konami's Quarth falls squarely under the category of puzzle games that are more about reflexes than reflexion: your ship is heading towards floating blocks that will destroy you if you can't blast them out of your path in time. How do you destroy them? By actually making them bigger, or rather, completing a rectangle shape with the blocks your ship shoots at them. Do so, and the rectangles disappear, clearing the way.

There is some strategy in dispatching certain blocks first in order to create one single rectangle out of several of them, but the game being very fast-paced, most of the time you will be in survival mode, clearing blocks at they come, using power-ups to catch your breath.

Quarth is not a meaty game but it certainly is an interesting one. You still have to have a love either for action-puzzle games, shooters, or both, to really appreciate it and come back to it after the initial discovery. The more I play it, the more I like it, but I fall under both of the categories above. As such, I can only recommend the game to like-minded folks.