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Retro: VC Weekly #16
Welcome to VC Weekly, N-Europe’s guide to the wonderful world of Nintendo’s download service. Written by Sam C Gittins. This week we have a trio of titles which are of varying quality; if you like puzzle games then you're in for a treat this week and if you enjoy scrolling shooters then it's probably not the best of weeks. Available for download this week we have...
Points: 500
Before there was Kirby this is one of the early games that helped to put the now infamous HAL Laboratories on the map; in the years since it's release it's a title thats remained relatively obscure due to it not reaching the same heights of success as games of the same era and genre. However it's clear that this title is the sum of a solid effort of development for it's time and in this VC re-release it has the potential to reach a much larger audience. Aside from the cliché' story revolving around a princess named Lala, some evil demons of an empire, a kidnapping and you taking on the role of Lolo (a round spherical creature) the hero who will save her, the rest of the game oozes originality. Each level is based on a room inside a castle, you must collect hearts while avoiding enemies; upon collection of all hearts a treasure chest opens and activates all creatures in the room and provides an exit to the end of the level.
In addition to the ever-present evil enemies you will encounter other obstacles including boulders and single direction tiles which will mean you will constantly planning your escape route. Only really comparable to Solomon's Key (another decent puzzler of the same format and era) in terms of graphics and audio it's understandably underwhelming due to it's age but the gameplay truly shines through and still feels fresh, frantic and fun. Conceptually simple and yet deviously designed; Adventures of Lolo offers so much in terms of the simple satisfaction of success as completing each level offers a great sense of achievement. For those who want a decent puzzle game that offers a little bit more and that won't leave you feeling short-changed, this comes highly recommended. Verdict: A particularly well polished puzzler.
Points: 500
Another 8-bit title from the Nintendo back catalogue; Balloon Fight is one of those quirky original titles that remains entertaining for a while but falls short of being a true classic. Your character hangs from a pair of balloons as you attempt to defeat chickens hanging from a single balloon; to do this you simply touch the inflatable objects to pop them, causing the plummeting poultry to hit either land or sea. If you enemies hit land they are able to inflate another balloon meaning you'll have to defeat them once more so the ideal outcome is either immersion in water or even better, demise by digestion as often a fish will emerge from the sea if anything gets close. And that anything includes you so you have to be cautious when flying not to far above sea level but this also helps to add an interesting element of luring your enemy to a watery grave.
Essentially that's it for single player, bar the extra “Balloon trip” mode which involves travelling as far as you can in one direction while avoiding obstacles and is of limited enjoyment. While it's true that the levels in the main mode do increase in difficulty there just isn't enough variation which causes the game to become a repetitive ritual; however add a second player and it becomes a lot more fun and will last you a while longer than if you were to pursue only the single player mode. Despite the extra durability due to the two player mode; Balloon Fight is still a title which is lacking in long-term appeal though it is still fun while it lasts. While it may only be a relatively small amount of Wii points to purchase it's only worth it if you don't have access to the GC version of Animal Crossing in which this game can be found; otherwise if you haven't played this yet then it may well be worth the download. Verdict: Bursting with balloon busting brilliance- while it lasts.
Points: 600
Decent shooters are a frequent feature of the Turbografx; though admittedly most of the superior shooters are of the vertical variety. Dead Moon is neither, instead it falls into the category of being uninspiring and quite bland in comparison to other offerings and it isn't much better even when viewed on it's own merits. Visually it holds no real impact and audibly it's relatively weak; there is just nothing about this title that stands out apart from it's flaws. Lacking in both difficulty and length there really isn't much at all to sell this title, first time completion is near guaranteed when a certain combination of power-ups are used and unlimited continues make it hard to fail.
Ultimately I can't recommend Dead Moon at all, for it is so below par that it's not worth bothering with especially when you consider that there are far more successful shooters currently available. If you wish to play a scrolling shooter I would strongly suggest downloading either R-Type or Blazing Lazers over this any day. Verdict: An average airborne affair thats best avoided.
Another week, another end to VC Weekly. Here's hoping that next week will have some better offerings. Just two more days to go before Nintendo add some more titles to the Virtual Console. Rest assured, we'll let you know if any of them are worth shelling out Wii Points for. Until then, Game On!
Sam Gittins
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