Nintendo Wii Fanboy

Of all the gamers and non-gamers that the Wii is designed for, we think we've identified the audience that would be happiest with the system: people who love Wonder Boy. Specifically, people who love Wonder Boy and don't already have the games, either in their original form or the Monster World Complete Collection. If you're over-the-top crazy over Wonder Boy, the Wii is easily the best system that has ever existed. Monster Lair is just the latest Wonder Boy game to arrive in Japan.

Also up for download: Kirby 64, which everyone decided they didn't like anymore when it came out in the U.S., and Digital Champ Battle Boxing, the game about a brave pair of free-floating boxing gloves facing off against familiar-looking boxers.

• Kirby 64 (N64, 1 player, 1000 Wii Points)
• Digital Champ: Battle Boxing (PC Engine, 1 player, 600 Wii Points)
• Monster Lair (PC Engine, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points)

It's finally happening. When Hudson announced Turbografx-16 support on the Virtual Console, we thought "Oh, great, maybe we'll be able to get Dracula X!" Then when they revealed that CD-ROM titles would start coming out, we got really excited about being one step closer to Dracula X. Next month in Japan, Akumajou Dracula X: Chi no Rondo will be released on the Virtual Console for 800 points. As if Hudson hadn't already won at being awesome today.

Other than the amazing Dracula X, there's actually a lot of really great stuff coming out in April. It has actually renewed our faith in the Virtual Console, which is why we're starting to think we're being fooled by a tragic April Fool's Day joke on Nintendo's part. Metal Slug and The Legend of Valkyrie are standouts, as is the incredibly vintage RPG Bokosuka Wars, if only because it reminds us of this shirt.

Famicom:

• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
• Sky Kid
• Volguard II
• Bokosuka Wars

Super Famicom:

• Famicom Detective Club Part II
• Heracles no Eikou IV

Master System:

• Wonder Boy

Mega Drive:

• Musha Aleste
• Phantasy Star III
• Phelios

N64:

• Kirby 64

PC Engine:

• Riot Zone
• Legend of Valkyrie
• Dracula X: Rondo of Blood
• Digital Champion: Battle Boxer
• Monster Lair

Neo Geo:

• Metal Slug

The Internet has made it easy to find cheats for games, but we miss the tips pages from game magazines, when the discovery of a new code could inspire you to go back to an old game. These codes aren't exactly new, but oldness is the essence of the Virtual Console! We're bringing back the classic codes every week on The VC Advantage.

It can be hard work figuring out how to totally ruin surprises in games, as we like to do in the VC Advantage. Case in point: this week's highest-profile release, Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, which is notable for being a good game on the Nintendo 64. Kirby games don't really have stories anyone cares about, and there aren't really any huge secrets to reveal. But there is one aspect of the game that invites experimentation and discovery and, thus, revealing Internet posts: the ability system.

What makes Kirby 64 great is that Kirby can inhale two abilities: if he inhales two of the same power, it's amplified, and two different powers creates a new power. It's really fun to go through the game mixing powers to see what kind of crazy stuff Kirby can do -- or you can just watch this video from YouTube user Cloud8745, which reveals every ability in sequence. Also it has some very excited narration.

In case you're wondering (and you aren't!) our favorite ability in terms of utility is Bomb + Cutter, and our favorite in terms of hilarity is Fire + Electricity.