Nintendo Wii Fanboy

VISUALSHOCK! SPEEDSHOCK! SOUNDSHOCK! NOW IS TIME TO THE 68000 HEART ON FIRE! So says the title screen in Treasure's Alien Soldier, and they're right-- given the intensity of Alien Soldier, the Mega Drive's 68000 heart seems likely to overheat. But Japanese gamers will be playing the game on Wiis this week, which, we hear, are considerably more powerful than the Sega Mega Drive.

Alien Soldier is a sort of evolution of the gameplay found in Gunstar Heroes-- more weapons and customization, more moves, more bosses (the bosses are, in fact, the focus of the game, with simple, short levels between them), and more brutal difficulty. We're really hoping that this Japanese release leads to an eventual American release, because we're Treasure fanatics and the game never came out over here (except on the Sega Channel).

NOW IS TIME TO THE LIST OF JAPAN VIRTUAL CONSOLE RELEASES!

• ZANAC (Famicom, 1 player, 500 Wii Points)
  
• Alien Soldier (Mega Drive, 1 player, 600 Wii Points)
  
• Power Golf (PC Engine, 1-3 players, 600 Wii Points)
• Art of Fighting (Neo Geo, 1-2 players, 900 Wii Points)

Finally, the NEOGEO makes a huge splash on the Virtual Console, offering up three different top notch titles to download. Wallets will be beaten to a pulp, their contents spilled all over the ground and quickly sucked up by Nintendo as each of these NEOGEO games will require a $9 entrance fee. And, with three different games available, that's a lot of scratch for some retro gaming goodness.

This week's games are:

• Fatal Fury (NEOGEO, 1-2 players, 900 Wii Points)
• World Heroes (NEOGEO, 1-2 players, 900 Wii Points)
• Art of Fighting (NEOGEO, 1-2 players, 900 Wii Points)

As always, be sure to check back later for our video wrap-up of this week's offerings.

Australia has more than the Hanabi Festival to cheer about, when it comes to the Virtual Console. Like Japan and, reportedly, the U.S., Australia's download service will be home to Neo Geo games. The likely first candidate, as revealed by the OFLC ratings board, is Art of Fighting.

We best know Art of Fighting from its weird zooming camera that makes the sprites look absolutely massive, and from being the origin game for many future King of Fighters characters including Robert Garcia, Ryo Sakazaki, King, and others.

Even if Art of Fighting isn't your favorite Neo Geo game, it is a Neo Geo game, and is therefore great news for Australian fighting fans.

[Via GoNintendo]

Our network of crow spies have reported to us that the mountain pass is blocked, enemy troops are amassing at our eastern border, and Art of Fighting Anthology for the Wii has been spotted on the ESRB's list of future releases. Eager to learn more about any possible wartime advantages, we've consigned a scout to gather more information on SNK's 2D fighter.

The Art of Fighting Anthology collects the entire Neo Geo trilogy of releases (Art of Fighting, Art of Fighting 2, and The Path of the Warrior: Art of Fighting 3). 33-characters strong, the anthology will feature series hallmarks like spirit gauges, desperation attacks, and a graphical-scaling camera system. It hasn't been revealed yet how the Wii's unique controls will be used, but we hope it won't turn out to be a debacle like Metal Slug Anthology's implementation.

With hints of a Wii port accompanying Art of Fighting Anthology's PS2 and PSP releases, could this also mean that SNK's Fatal Fury: Battle Archives Volume 1 might have a version for our fair console too? And how long will it be until we see some Neo Geo games like Garou: Mark of the Wolves and Neo Turf Masters on Nintendo's Shopping Channel? Jump past the post break for a showcase of super moves from Art of Fighting 2.

[Via Siliconera]