This week PAL gamers are in for a treat as the
Hanabi Festival returns with three more imports for us to feast upon! I, like many, was expecting the hit beat 'em up Renegade but I doubt they'll be many complaints about the releases! All the games will be priced higher than the average game for its system due to it being an import.
Gradius II: Gofer no Yabou (TurboGrafX-16 - 900 Wii Points)
Leading the trio this week is the Japan only sequel of the popular NES shooter
Gradius,
Gradius II: Gofer no Yabou (Ambition of Gofer). The game was released on the NES and the TurboGrafx-16 in Japan but we're receiving the superior TurboGrafX-16 version. Gradius comes across as your standard horizontal shooter set it space however play it and you'll realize some of the depth that this game holds. There are seven levels for you to shoot your way through as enemies will drop power ups and you can choose which you wish to use. The updated system allows for four different power up sequences which give you the ability to use several different weapons to kill your enemies.
Final Soldier (TurboGrafX-16 - 700 Wii Points)
Final Solider is a top down vertical shooter from the famous Star Soldier franchise and it was the only game in the series to not be released outside of Japan. You defend the galactic empire in your star fighter which can use several power ups in which you can switch mid-game through the 'gun pod' system which maps each pod/power up to a button on the remote.
Columns III: Revenge of Columns (Sega Mega Drive - 900 Wii Points)
Columns III is the third title in the Columns franchise, it is a puzzle game very similar to Tetris and was in fact created as Sega's answer to the immensely popular puzzle game on Nintendo's systems. Jewels fall from the top of the screen and you have to line up 3 or more in a row to make them pop and increase your score, never allowing the big pile of jewels to hit the top. The game has a few features added in such as attacks and the crush metre but all in all it isn't really the best puzzle game on the VC right now.
If you like these...
Gradius (NES - 500 Wii Points)
Blazing Lazers A.K.A GunHed (TurboGrafX-16 - 600 Wii Points)
Columns (SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis - 800 Wii Points)
Coming Soon
Nintendo has always been incredibly reluctant in releasing anything Mother related outside of Japan with the most recent example being the removal of the Mother demo from Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Well Mother fans can celebrate as Earthbound aka Mother 2 and the only game in the series to be released outside of Japan has been rated by the PEGI for Wii meaning its impending release on the Virtual Console. Keep your eyes peeled because the game could hit any week now.
