Bits and Bytes: Making your Wii virtually old school
Over the break you must have spent a lot of time playing those amazing new games with graphics, gameplay and online modes that just make you get down on your knees and thank the stars that you got into this form of entertainment.
Still have more fresh games to play? Well, why don't get up from the couch now. Spend a little bit more of that holiday dough on some excellent Wii Virtual Console games that have come out in the last two months? Let's take a look at some of the killer applications.
Double Dribble
for the NES
Ok, this may not be that much of a killer game, but back in the day, I remember playing this one for hours...and I'm not even a basketball fan. There was something addictive about stealing the ball from your friends with these crappy animated players that have no human emotion. You just wanted to get to the net to be able to pull off the amazing (for the time) close up slam-dunks. These are comprised of four-to-six frames that seemed like something a 16-bit system could pull off (without any smoothness). If you have $5 to see how video game B-ball evolved, try this one.
Super Mario Brothers: The Lost Levels
Do you like Super Mario Brothers? Can you get through the game in less than 10 minutes using the warps? Can you smoke through the game without warping in less than half an hour? If you answered “yes” to any of those questions, but haven't played the true Super Mario Bros. 2, then you should be getting a Wii-Points card or getting online with your credit card immediately.
This game looks basically the same as the original SMB, but it's harder. WAY HARDER! The level layouts and the placement of the enemies make it almost impossible to breeze through the game. Add mushrooms that actually make you shrink and warp pipes that send you back to earlier levels in the game and you get one controller whipping kind of game. I'm a glutton for gaming punishment and you should be, too. If not, pick up the North American SMB2 or SMB3 now that it's finally out.
Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest
By now you all should have picked up the original Castlevania. Its classic side-scrolling gameplay was a blueprint for many games to come. That's why it was really weird when Konami changed the whole successful formula and created the sequel. The game has more of an RPG element to it and it's very, very frustrating. You need to buy items, but the currency is the “hearts” that the enemies drop when you defeat them. If you take one miscalculated jump or are destroyed by a heard of goop (yes, goop), then you die and lose all your hearts. Combine this with text and clues that don't make any sense (because of the translation) and an end boss that doesn't come close to the overall game's difficulty and you have one crazy game.
Why should you pick it up? Because this game is a definite classic and was given mad props when it came out. With www.gamefaqs.com, you shouldn't have any problems if you get stuck (and you will).
Still have more fresh games to play? Well, why don't get up from the couch now. Spend a little bit more of that holiday dough on some excellent Wii Virtual Console games that have come out in the last two months? Let's take a look at some of the killer applications.
Double Dribble
for the NES
Ok, this may not be that much of a killer game, but back in the day, I remember playing this one for hours...and I'm not even a basketball fan. There was something addictive about stealing the ball from your friends with these crappy animated players that have no human emotion. You just wanted to get to the net to be able to pull off the amazing (for the time) close up slam-dunks. These are comprised of four-to-six frames that seemed like something a 16-bit system could pull off (without any smoothness). If you have $5 to see how video game B-ball evolved, try this one.
Super Mario Brothers: The Lost Levels
Do you like Super Mario Brothers? Can you get through the game in less than 10 minutes using the warps? Can you smoke through the game without warping in less than half an hour? If you answered “yes” to any of those questions, but haven't played the true Super Mario Bros. 2, then you should be getting a Wii-Points card or getting online with your credit card immediately.
This game looks basically the same as the original SMB, but it's harder. WAY HARDER! The level layouts and the placement of the enemies make it almost impossible to breeze through the game. Add mushrooms that actually make you shrink and warp pipes that send you back to earlier levels in the game and you get one controller whipping kind of game. I'm a glutton for gaming punishment and you should be, too. If not, pick up the North American SMB2 or SMB3 now that it's finally out.
Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest
By now you all should have picked up the original Castlevania. Its classic side-scrolling gameplay was a blueprint for many games to come. That's why it was really weird when Konami changed the whole successful formula and created the sequel. The game has more of an RPG element to it and it's very, very frustrating. You need to buy items, but the currency is the “hearts” that the enemies drop when you defeat them. If you take one miscalculated jump or are destroyed by a heard of goop (yes, goop), then you die and lose all your hearts. Combine this with text and clues that don't make any sense (because of the translation) and an end boss that doesn't come close to the overall game's difficulty and you have one crazy game.
Why should you pick it up? Because this game is a definite classic and was given mad props when it came out. With www.gamefaqs.com, you shouldn't have any problems if you get stuck (and you will).
