Nintendo decides to kick it old school for this week’s Virtual Console releases.

Kirby’s Adventure

18.

That’s the number of Kirby games that have been made. Oh, and we have one more in the works for the Wii. Kirby’s Adventure is only the second game in the franchise, with Kirby’s Dreamland being the first (Game Boy). With that said, this is probably the greatest and purest form of Kirby action in the entire series.

Kirby is quite the versatile character in Adventure. He can walk, run, crouch, jump, climb, fly, swim, kick, and suck. You’ll definitely be doing a good amount of sucking in Kirby’s Adventure, since this is the first game that allows you to inhale certain enemies to steal their powers for all sorts of crazy power-ups.

With 7 different worlds to play and each containing around 6 levels, there is a lot to love about our puffy-pink-sucking-thing in his first console game. As for future Kirby games….

Final Opinion: Yay

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Ice Climber

Nintendo loves their Ice Climber. In the past few years, we have seen Popo and Nana appear in Super Smash Bros. Melee, WarioWare (3 different games!), and complete ports were released in Animal Crossing, the Game Boy Advance Classic NES series, the e-Reader, and now the Virtual Console!

That’s a whole lot of love for a random single game from 1985. Chances are you have played this game. If not, then this game has you jumping around, breaking blocks, and dodging weird enemies as you try to reach the top of a mountain. It’s simple fun that might be worth the $5 if you haven’t played it yet. Just be thankful Nintendo isn’t asking $20 for it like they did for the Classic NES series on GBA. Either way, this is definitely the weakest of the Virtual Console releases this week.

Final Opinion: Nay

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Kid Icarus

Unlike Ice Climber, Nintendo has done nothing with Kid Icarus (aside from the Classic NES release for the GBA in Japan). There is no reason why Kid Icarus has faded into NES obscurity, but I am delighted to see this little gem resurrected on the Virtual Console.

Kid Icarus is eerily reminiscent of the original Metroid at times. After all, Kid Icarus uses the same game engine as Metroid, but there are several aspects that make Kid Icarus stand out (Three cheers for Greek Mythology!). The jumping controls take some getting used to and are essential to master if you want to stand a chance at making it through the game’s very precise jumping sections.

Speaking of which, Kid Icarus seems to suffer from an identity crisis through the first half of the game. At first the game seems to be another vertical platform jumper like Ice Climber, then the game throws in some dungeon exploration, and before you know it, Kid Icarus turns into a side-scroller. No complaints here though, since it’s hard to find such variety in a NES game.

At first, Kid Icarus will be very hard for most people, since the game starts you off with very little life and a short-range bow and arrow. You will earn more items and increase your life as the game goes on (duh!), so by the time you approach the final levels, the game will be a breeze. If you only spend your Wii Points on one game this week, try to find a good home for Kid Icarus, you won’t regret it.

One important note: Nintendo has taken away the password system for the game. I personally am not too affected by this, other than being confused as to why they did it.

Final Opinion: Yay

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Well Nintendo has given us another week of some pretty solid releases. Thanks Nintendo! Now let’s hope for some Zelda II next week (please?).

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