Jun 26 2007
Virtual Console Releases for 6/25/07- Yay or Nay?
It looks like this week is shaping up to be surprisingly good in the world of game releases. Not only do we get some stellar Wii releases with Pokemon Battle Revolution and The Bigs, but the Virtual Console games don’t seem to suck either. Well, the ones that actually matter…
This week’s contenders: F-Zero X, Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting, and China Warrior.
F-Zero X
Ah, my favorite F-Zero game. Kudos to Nintendo this week as they try to make up for last week’s NES Open Tournament Golf. Released in 1998, F-Zero X took the excellent formula of the original game and gave it a huge turbo boost to take advantage of the amazing capabilities of the Nintendo 64. Racers were finally able to experience the F-Zero madness in full 3D, as opposed to the faux 3D of the original, and the results were absolutely delicious.
The graphics are rather bland, but with the game running at 60 frames per second (fast!) with 30 racers on screen, something was bound to take the hit. 
Trust me, this is one of those cases where graphics aren’t necessary for that amazing gameplay experience. Besides, you won’t have time to complain about the graphics once you jump into some Grand Prix races on Master, but you can complain about the lack of rumble support.
The gameplay modes are your standard fare with Grand Prix, VS Battle, Time Attack, and Practice. Thankfully, F-Zero X switches things up with the Death Race, which has the player attempting to annihilate the other 29 racers in a swift and efficient manner on an endless straightaway. It might sound a tad gimmicky, but it is rather addicting after a few tries. If you don’t believe me, ask myself from nine years ago. You couldn’t pry the controller away from my Tony Little style death grip.
Final Opinion: Yay Yay!
Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting
If you refused to take Capcom’s crap when they released the extremely basic Street Fighter II: The World Warrior by opting to wait patiently for the inevitable sequels to come, you may now pat yourself on the back, but the war is not over. In fact, it is very far from over. Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting is the second part of the trilogy of Street Fighter releases on the SNES. 
In true Capcom fashion Hyper Fighting only features a few additional upgrades from The World Warrior, even with the inclusion of the Champion Edition upgrades from the arcade.
So what sort of upgrades can you expect from Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting? You guessed it! Hyper Fighting features new color palettes, same-character bouts in VS mode, new moves, and the ability to finally play as the four boss characters: Vega, Balrog, Sagat and M. Bison. Oh, and Capcom also made the game a bit faster with several speed options.
Those in need of their Street Fighter II fix should reward themselves for not wasting their money on The World Warrior by picking up this game. You really can’t go wrong with Hyper Fighting, especially with the faster speeds and the ability to play as my beloved Vega. As for me, I’m content with waiting a few more weeks/months/years for the final chapter of Street Fighter II on the SNES: Super Street Fighter II - The New Challengers.
Final Opinion: Yay
China Warrior
You know, there is no shame in just releasing two games a week, especially when the third game always sucks. This week’s “avoid at all costs” award goes to China Warrior. Let’s start with some positive vibes: the graphics and animations are impressive for a nineteen-year-old game. After all, China Warrior was created to show off the amazing power of the brand new TurboGrafx-16!
Other than the graphics, the rest of the game falls flat on its Bruce Lee wannabe tush. To fully demonstrate the level of suck found in this game, just observe this China Warrior “highlight” video:
Between the sperm-like flames, the countless amount of druids who do nothing but wait to be kicked, and the random brown crap bouncing across the screen, the choice of enemies is clearly a fine display of craftsmanship on the part of the game’s designers. I was a bit distracted by more mysterious objects bouncing acorss the screen, but I believe I counted 2 possible moves for our character. No, wait, make that 5: punch, kick, jump, forward, and backward. Success!
Final Opinion: Very Extreme Nay
Well that’s it for this week! As I said before, it’s a pretty damn good week for games. I especially encourage you to head on over to Toys ‘R’ Us for their buy 2 get 1 free on all DS games special. Christian and myself went there today and were quite surprised at the selection of great games that are still available. I picked up Sim City DS, Mega Man ZX, and a surprise game for Becky as her “welcome to Chicago” present. Enjoy the week everybody and hopefully we will see Zelda II Mega Man next week!
2 Responses to “Virtual Console Releases for 6/25/07- Yay or Nay?”
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oh man, my favourite fighter just took a beating.. lol, i haven’t played ant of the newer ones except once. the newest one i assume, because i played with some british girl at an arcade in Yogi Bear park in Kennybunk, Maine. it was worth the 25 cents just to be able to play it so far away from home.
i agree though, i’ll wait until the final one comes out. unless theres any point in getting this one as well as the latest one?
When do we get to play afterburner again??