What a great week for Nintendo downloadable releases!Not only do we get to finally get our hands on PressPlay’s Max & the Magic Marker, a game I’ve been following for some time & just can’t wait to get some more playtime with it (I should have a review for you guys soonish), but we also get Final Fantasy II for the Virtual Console! Seriously, this is one of those releases that make me giddy like a school boy as the combination of Final Fantasy I & II plus the first three Dragon Warrior games (i.e. Dragon Quest) were the catalyst that caused me to move beyond simple...

Let the old school gaming begin! Leading the pack of downloadable titles from Nintendo is Mega Man 10, a game that takes the long-popular mechanical hero back to his 8-bit roots. Including the classic 2D  NES gameplay & brutal difficulty, the developers have worked hard to create a new experience built around the old school play mechanics. Does the difficulty turn you off? New in this chapter is an Easy Mode, so everyone can enjoy the story without the classic frustration. Speaking of classics, the early 1990’s NEO GEO fighter Fatal Fury Special arrives on the Virtual Console. This was...

So there it is. Phoenix Wright is finally taking WiiWare to trial. Believe it or not, I’ve never played a single Phoenix Wright game. Stop. Don’t say it. I’ve already been told I’m missing out. I just have a tough time investing in handheld titles since I honestly don’t have enough time to play them. Maybe the WiiWare version will change that. Also debuting this week is Sonic & Knuckles on the Virtual Console. While it wasn’t a bad game, by the time it came out back in 1994, my love of platformers was fading as it was & Sonic & Knuckles didn’t...

Hmmmm….I don’t know about this. Although I certainly loved the first game on the NES, I can’t say I have a ton of faith that Blaster Master can make a come back, especially following the abysmal PSOne version. That’s not to say I won’t give this WiiWare release a shot. I’m just not convinced that it can recapture the fun of the first one. Also on tep this week is the tower defense title Fieldrunners for the DSi. I love tower defense games so I’ll try any of them. Some even manage to surprise me (like the South Park one on XBLA). As you all know, I’m...

This week, it’s all about the WiiWare! While Alex Kidd was alright at the time it came out, for me, it didn’t age well. So I’m not terribly interested in that sole Virtual Console release. But, WiiWare on the other hand, not only has the final chapter in the Tales of Monkey Island series (Chapter 5 wraps up the latest adventure of Guybrush Threepwood), but it also has the sequel to my favorite Zuma clone of all time. I spent a ton of hours playing Tumblebugs on both MAC & PC (my ex-wife actually turned me on to it through her MAC laptop). Although it’s certainly a lot...

Isn’t there already an Uno game on the Wii? I mean, Uno is pretty much everywhere these days. I wouldn’t be surprised to see an Uno gameshow on Fox or NBC next fall. For the three of you who are upset that you don’t have Uno on your Wii, today is your lucky day as the seminal card game is making it’s way onto WiiWare. In addition to that, bittos+ is launching today. It’s a puzzle game that I’ve been watching for a few months now & so far, I just can’t get my head into it. Maybe I’ll feel a bit different once I actually play it. Rounding out the...

Now, I was one of the few folks I knew back then that never got into the whole Pilotwings phenomenon. Even though it impressed with displaying the technical abilities of the N64, that was pretty much where it stopped for me. With that said, I may go back & give it a shot now that it’s been re-released on the Virtual Console. That will be after I grab what really has my eye: Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth. This remake of the GameBoy original has classic Dracula hunting love written all over it; perfect considering the dredge of titles the franchise has cranked out recently (I’m...

Nintendo has given us the gift that will keep on giving this week, albeit a gift we have to buy for ourselves. Yep, we can now relive our neighborhood brawls just like they were as children. No, I don’t mean go grab your old baseball bat. These are gamers, remember? The N64 fan favorite Super Smash Bros has now become available again by way of the Virtual Console. They didn’t forget about us older gamers who were adults by the time the N64 went retail, as the arcade original Ninja Gaiden is also available (yes, I played the original in the arcades). The DSi has a couple that caught...

An exciting week for classics on the Virtual Console! First, a game I have many, many fond memories of: Blaster Master. Although they tried the resurrect the franchise on the first Playstation, nothing has been able to bring back the joy I had sitting there on a Saturday afternoon, munching on Cheez-its & trying to live long enough to finish it. Second, the annelid icon, Earthworm Jim 2 is now available. The Earthworm franchise was some of the funniest games on the Sega’s Genesis console & in fact the first title is currently getting a modern day refresh (hopefully it’ll launch...

Wow, this last week flew by! Seems like I just did last week’s update yesterday. Anyway, this week brings the original Rayman to DSiWare. Great series of games the eventually spun off into the Rabbids franchise. Speaking of originals, the Virtual Console is now playing host to Street Fighter 2 Alpha & Shinobi, one of my favorite arcade games as a kid. Not much more to speak of this week, even though I would love to check out Army Defender & MAGNETIS one of these days… Bookmark It Hide Sites

Since I don’t have a DSi & subsequently can’t play the DSiWare games, I tend to reserve my opinions on them. But, this week brings a game that I’ve played on other platforms so for the first time, I’m excited for a DSiWare title. Bookworm is just plain fun & as a by-product, I actually end up learning stuff too. It’s a great game for all ages, so at only $5, I highly recommend grabbing it for all the DSi players in your home. Also, WiiWare brings in Chapter 4 of the fantastic Tales of Monkey Island series. Now would be a good time to get caught up as the final...

This week is another solid one from the Mario house.Not only do we get the first Harvest Moon title on WiiWare, but we get 2 fantastic Virtual Console games! Super Mario Kart will probably always be my favorite version of the franchise. I bet my buddies & I put more hours into it than any other SNES game. Coming right up behind it is A Boy & His Blob. An NES title that was a ton of platforming fun where you control the shape of your blob by feeding him jelly beans. Looks like I need to track down some more WiiPoints real quick!! Bookmark It Hide...

A very interesting week for Nintendo as not only did they launch New Super Mario Bros Wii yesterday, but they began dropping some demos of popular WiiWare titles as well as a new Pokemon title. Pokemon Rumble looks (I say looks because all I have is the description to go off of) like Pokemon meets Gears of War 2’s Hoard mode. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to grab the demo sometime today & check it out. Speaking of demos, the big ‘N’ is delivering a 4 pack to the service including World of Goo. If you don’t have this game yet, grab the demo. Now. Seriously, go on,...

Color me surprised! For the first time in quite awhile the WiiWare offerings have impressed me more than the Virtual Console offerings this week. WiiWare is bringing Excitebike & Frogger to us while the Virtual Console has Wonder Boy III & Cybernoid. There’s no comparison! Anyway, here is the official release list. Note the deluge of Electroplankton for DSiWare… Bookmark It Hide Sites

Not a lot really catches my eye this week. I wouldn’t mind giving Viking Invasion a spin (DSiWare). You can’t go wrong with the original R-Type & Fighting Street will give you a glance at the Street Fighter franchise before is found it’s place in gaming history (both of which are hitting the Virtual Console). But beyond that, there really isn’t anything else here that jumps out at me. If anyone gives any of the WiiWare games a go, let me know how they are. They all look like a bunch of fluff to me… Bookmark It Hide...