Welcome to VC Weekly, N-Europe’s guide to the wonderful world of Nintendo’s download service. Written by Sam C Gittins

Here we have a shining example from a spin-off to a popular fighting game series plus a spin-off which is related in name only and is sadly nowhere near as good. Anyway enough from me and on with the games!
 
Available for download this week we have...     

Street Fighter Alpha 2
Street Fighter 2010: The Final Fight


 
Price: GB £5.49, EU €7.99
Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Capcom
Released: 1996
System: SNES

Near enough every gamer is familiar with the second installment in the Street Fighter series but one entry that you may not be as familiar with is the spin-off 'Alpha' series of which the second is now available on the VC for all to play. Read on to find out how it compares and fares alongside its more infamous brethren.

Essentially the game takes its roster of characters from the first two Street Fighter games plus Final Fight and pits them against each other in a fighting game that features an engine which has some rather unique and enjoyable aspects. For each character you have a bespoke set of punches and kicks separated into weak, medium and strong categories; special attacks can also be triggered via specific stabs and swipes across the D-pad in conjunction with the action buttons.

On top of this you have the Super Combo system which works by way of a meter located at the bottom that increases upon each successfully landed attack on your opponent; upon reaching a certain capacity you can then unleash a Super Combo attack for massive damage. You can also perform your own Custom Combo's if you so desire by stringing together your own attack routine within the time limit and it's the very use of these combos which sets the game apart from other such available offerings.



Though a few minor cuts were made in translating this from arcade board to cartridge, the actual amount that remains intact is nothing short of astounding in terms of both quantity and quality. Controls are spot-on, backgrounds are still lavishly detailed, animation is accurate, sounds are stunning and what you're left with is one truly satisfying fighting game.

If you love fighting games then you really can't go far wrong with this, SF2 purists may shun it in favor of the almighty classic but if you can appreciate the finer points of the fighting system and have someone else who's willing to play it with you then this title really comes into its own for being the superb fighting game that it is.

Verdict :  A spectacular Street Fighter title.



Price: GB £4.49, EU €4.99
Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Capcom
Released: 1990
System: NES
 
At the start of the Nineties the year 2010 felt sufficiently far away to be deemed futuristic, now nearly five years on it's easy to look back and laugh at Street Fighter 2010: The Final Fight being that it now seems painfully dated, indeed the very link to Street Fighter is tenuous at best being that the main character and story were just changed to make it more appealing to the Western market; in any case you play as Ken who is now a bionically enhanced space adventurer of sorts who is on a mission to save his friend Troy... try not to dwell on it too much. Naturally the thin plot just serves as an excuse for some 'run 'n gun' style platforming action so don't be fooled into thinking that this will be anything like either the Street Fighter or Final Fight games despite the more than a little bit misleading title.

Do however expect this to be a rather challenging experience as this is quite a hardcore game despite its limited appeal outside of anyone whos likes this particular genre, you really do need to have played everything else that's available which bears a similarity too before you'd actually want to play this as it's definitely not a top-tier example but it certainly is very intruiging indeed. Once you get past all that you can immerse yourself in the delightfully different experience that this offers as you will control Ken who basically travels between planets taking out any alien life-form in an 'if it moves, kill it!' action adventure; while you won't be throwing any fireballs from your fists here you do have the ability to shoot in multiple directions in addition to climbing walls plus a very useful back-flip which will get you out of a few sticky situations as you attempt to hunt down a specific set of enemies within each area.

Upon dealing with the last enemy you then get a set amount of time to get to the portal which will allow you to escape so you can progress to the next stage, it can be rather tough at times too with even the very first part being a trying experience so if you're not looking for a - rather unfair - challenge then I would advise looking elsewhere as this is certain to only annoy rather than bring joy. But for those of you with a bit more perseverance plus a bit of skill in the tactical deployment of restore points then I would still recommend buying this if you know it's your kind of game but really don't expect much more from it above a rather standard title involving platforming with shooting and not a lot else.



With a colour palette mostly made up of Blue, Cyan, Purple and Dusky Pink really makes for a fantastic futuristic aesthetic which permeates through the title in a positive way creating exactly the kind of feel that you'd expect from such a game, unfortunately the main character sprite is very uninspired so you might as well forget that it's Ken altogether as you are essentially a space marine before they became overly popular. The musical score is pretty decent being that this is a Capcom title, indeed if you closed your eyes then you could just pretend that you're playing a second-rate Mega Man game - like the first GameBoy offering - as it definitely has that overall feel if not much of the same appeal plus there's no awesome buster sound effect.

If you like challenging NES platform, action-orientated shooting titles with the emphasis on being unfair then this is certainly for you, for everything else who might have been expecting something that's either in the vein of Street Fighter or Final Fight - perhaps both mixed together - then steer clear here. As an experiment it certainly serves its purpose as it provides something that it interesting for a short while but that should remain nothing more than a morbid curiosity, it's certainly not a top-tier titles but you may get a few cheap laughs from it.

Verdict : A not-so spectacular non Street Fighter title.

That's it for another installment of VC Weekly which will return again soon. So until then, enjoy the rest of the week and Game On!