This current Hanabi Festival is proving a treat for shmup fans. Of the ten games released so far under the Hanabi banner, half have been shooters, including the two released today, Japan-only pair Star Parodier (in which you can use Bomberman or a giant PC Engine as a ship!) and Gley Lancer. They're joined this VC Friday by Digital Champ Battle Boxing.
Oh, and fun fact: the name Gley Lancer was (allegedly) supposed to be "Grey Lancer," but ended up as Gley Lancer due to a pronunciation error (the Japanese language can't tell the difference between the English "r" and "l" sounds). Either that, or we've just been duped into believing a rather racist joke.
Gley Lancer -- Mega Drive -- 900 Wii Points
Star Parodier -- TurboGrafx-16 -- 900 Wii Points
Digital Champ Battle Boxing -- TurboGrafx-16 -- 700 Wii Points
The appeal of the Virtual Console is obvious: nostalgia. The VC is jam-packed with memories from yesteryear, spilling over with wonderful software that defined our childhoods. But it isn't all lollipops and puppy dogs. Nostalgia can also be very misleading, and some of those packets of data you download from Nintendo's service can end up souring childhood memories.
Personally speaking -- and this will probably sound like heresy in some quarters, so brace yourselves -- I was left disappointed by Mega Man 2, a game I adored as an eleven-year-old, but one that now seems slightly dated, with its repeated leaps of faith and enemies that like to spawn directly beneath you. On the other hand, a game such as Super Mario Bros. 3still feels like a breath of fresh air, almost two decades after it was released.
Thinking about this some more, we have three questions for you. One: which Virtual Console games don't hold the same magic for you as they once did? Two: have any titles aged better than you suspected they would? And three: have you ever held off from downloading a certain game, concerned that it may ruin one of those precious childhood memories?
We were already totally pumped about getting Cho Aniki on the European and Aussie Virtual Consoles, but our faces lit up when we saw what else was lying in store for us this morning. Metal Slug is the first Neo Geo game to appear on the download service since December 14th, but what a comeback!
From a value-for-money perspective, we'd still recommend picking up Metal Slug Anthology (especially now that it's so cheap), but it's great to see SNK's classic series represented on the VC (and this version even has Classic Controller support). Puyo Puyo 2 and TurboGrafx billiards title Break In complete this week's line-up.
Cho Aniki -- TurboGrafx-16 -- 900 Wii Points
Metal Slug -- Neo Geo -- 900 Wii Points
Break In -- TurboGrafx-16 -- 700 Wii Points
Puyo Puyo 2 -- Mega Drive -- 900 Wii Points
Hop in your Slug and blast your way past the break to see all four in action!
An immensely pleasing sight greeted our bleary eyes when we inspected the PAL Virtual Console this morning -- the revival of last September's Hanabi Festival! What does that mean? Simple: for the next few weeks, the VC will feature games that were previously unreleased in Europe or Australia, which we suppose justifies the slightly higher price tags.
Best of all, we're promised that this will continue for the next few weeks. Wonder what else we'll get? Here are this week's trio:
Columns III: Revenge of Columns -- Mega Drive -- 900 Wii Points
Final Soldier -- TurboGrafx-16 -- 700 Wii Points
Gradius II Gofer no Yabou -- TurboGrafx-16 -- 900 Wii Points
As usual, make the jump for footage of all three.
[Update: There's much excitement here, as further inspection of Nintendo's press release reveals that Speedos-clad TurboGrafx-16 shooter Cho Aniki will be one of the future Hanabi Festival releases!]
Up on the chopping block this Friday is the red-headed step-child of early Phantasy Star games, Phantasy Star III: Generations of Doom. Considered the weak link by fans, we suppose that directly following Phantasy Star II didn't help its case.
Phantasy Star III: Generations of Doom -- Mega Drive -- 800 Wii Points
Don't forget to hop in the patented Wii Fanboy time machine and hurtle past the break for footage from the game.
You might have noticed a bit of a change to our video coverage of this week's Virtual Console games. You see, no more are we confined to off-screen recording of the Virtual Console releases. That's right, we've upgraded to technology widely available since 2004. We're so modern!
Hit up the new video format above and then head past the break for the rest of our usual goodness.
After a run ofthreeweeks with only one title, this Friday sees two Sega properties up for the taking on the PAL Virtual Console. The first, 2D fighter Eternal Champions, should only concern the most ardent supporters of the company.
Indeed, if our bastardization of "VC Friday" tells you anything, it's that this is the week of Phantasy Star II. Sega's RPG is rightfully a huge favorite amongst the Fanboy staff, and it should be high on your list as well. For 800 Wii points, on a machine with no notable RPGs to call its own, it's a pretty damn essential addition to your Virtual Console library.
The three games out this week on the Virtual Console for PAL regions all have one thing in common: they're gonna set you back 800 points. It's up to you to decide whether or not that's a good deal. We'll say one thing -- this week's offerings are not lacking in the action department.
It's another Friday, and lately, that means Neo Geo games! Plus, y'know, some other stuff, which is usually pretty pricey, as VC titles goes. But this week, European gamers get a little break with a release out there for only 600 points. On top of that, there's four games from which Wii owners may choose. Sometimes, it's good to be a Nintendo fan.
Nintendo of Europe isn't wasting any time -- when they tell you the Neo Geo is coming, they mean it. The first Neo Geo title, Fatal Fury, debuted today on the VC, along with four other games. That's quite a haul! We expect there are some wallets that are hurting today after the bevy of releases.
Fatal Fury -- Neo Geo -- 900 Wii points
Golden Axe 3 -- Sega Mega Drive -- 800 Wii points
Landstalker -- Sega Mega Drive -- 800 Wii points
Streets of Rage 3 -- Sega Mega Drive -- 800 Wii points
Super Thunder Blade -- Sega Mega Drive -- 800 Wii points
This current Hanabi Festival is proving a treat for shmup fans. Of the ten games released so far under the Hanabi banner, half have been shooters, including the two released today, Japan-only pair Star Parodier (in which you can use Bomberman or a giant PC Engine as a ship!) and Gley Lancer. They're joined this VC Friday by Digital Champ Battle Boxing. 
The appeal of the 
An immensely pleasing sight greeted our bleary eyes when we inspected the PAL Virtual Console this morning -- the revival of last September's 
