Nintendo Download for September 27, 2012. [news]

on: 09/27/12, 16:45:11

I've heard that with today's Wii VC release, Nintendo has matched the number of VC games released in 2011. Too bad most of them didn't really interest me.

Posted by

VofEscaflowne

on: 09/27/12, 16:47:32

@GameDadGrant

I see. Still, do we need a Nikoli game every month? I'd rather get the Picross games (two different companies, I know) than these offerings.

Posted by

ludist210

on: 09/27/12, 16:50:40

@ludist210

Agreed. I feel your pain. I never buy those Nikoli games. I'd insta-download e-Picross though.

Posted by

on: 09/27/12, 17:05:56

@TriforceBun

Steph actually owns this game on cartridge and she likes it quite a lot. I find it a bit repetitive, but diverting enough. You could do worse with an impulse purchase, but I wouldn't get the hopes up too high.

Posted by

kriswright

on: 09/27/12, 17:09:11

I am PSYCHED to download Quarth. Yeah, it's a bit simple, and yeah, I'll probably get bored of it in under an hour. But I have fond memories of that game.

Posted by

on: 09/27/12, 17:12:27

I do love the fact that all these Neo Geo fighting games keep coming out on Virtual Console.

I'm disappointed that no one seems to care.

Posted by

on: 09/27/12, 17:13:27

@GameDadGrant

Is there a reason to buy this one over the other recent releases?

How would you rank the games that have come out so far?

edit - I think that if I were to buy a Neo Geo fighting game, it would probably be one of the Samurai Showdowns. SS 2 was so cool.

Posted by

on: 09/27/12, 17:31:22

- Edited by

on: 09/27/12, 17:35:54

@GameDadGrant

I've made fun of the never ending supply of Neo Geo fighting games, but it actually is kind of interesting. I can't imagine many people are buying these games, yet they keep pumping them out. This leads me to believe it can't be very expensive to release them or they wouldn't bother, so it makes it even more puzzling that there are still games from popular franchises like Mega Man and Castlevania that still haven't been released.

Posted by

Jargon

on: 09/27/12, 17:35:37

- Edited by

Jargon

on: 09/27/12, 17:35:54

TriforceBun said:

Quarth has a pretty neat premise. I wonder if it plays well.

It looks like a spiritual predecessor to Art Style: PictoBiTs.

Posted by

on: 09/27/12, 17:36:33

- Edited by

on: 09/27/12, 17:37:02

@anon_mastermind

*predecessor

Posted by

Jargon

on: 09/27/12, 17:37:21

@Jargon
Too slow on the edit

BTW, just to sprinkle some more salt on the wounds, Japan gets Mario Golf (GBC) this week.

Posted by

on: 09/27/12, 17:39:21

- Edited by

on: 09/27/12, 17:40:15

I think one of the major hurdles for putting games up on the VC is paying to get the games rated by the ESRB. But the fees went down for small downloadable games a year or two into the VC's life, I believe. That, SNK probably only has to have the game rated once to put their games up on the VC and the PSP and the PS3 (and the Vita via PSP).

So that's probably how they justify it.

edit - @anon_mastermind

Oh boo hoo. "Perfect example of why nobody is apparently EVER satisfied with the VC"

Posted by

on: 09/27/12, 17:42:45

- Edited by

on: 09/27/12, 17:47:32

@Guillaume

Well, with each new release there are tweaks to the fighting system, a new character or two or a different ability added. The latest one, Real Bout: Fatal Fury 2: The Newcomers, introduces three new characters and even allows Geese Howard to be selectable as a playable character right from the get-go. There's also a secret boss that can be accessed through special means.

I actually prefer this game to earlier iterations, because it does away with the "second line" of fighting - characters remain on the same line and fight each other without hopping back and forth between the two. There is a dodge move that can be used though, and I prefer that over past games. Though honestly, the earlier games have a good fighting system as well, and some fans prefer having that second line. I'm just not as big of a fan of it because it takes away from the one-on-one fighting. Sometimes matches can just go on for much longer than necessary because the two players are just hopping back and forth between the lines (in a "can't catch me" scenario) that's just ridiculous. Either that, or one player will jump to the other line, but the other character won't follow, and just wait for them to return. Which is boring, IMO. 2D fighters should remain on the same line. Being able to move into the background is for 3D fighters, and I think several of those games do well to avoid the characters getting too far away from each other to stall a fight.

But that's not the case for this VC release, which keeps the fights tight and more or less streamlined. IIRC, a couple of the alternate versions of the characters were cut from this version - Andy and Billy in particular. So we're "stuck" with the normal versions of these characters. Again, something I prefer because it keeps the fights from getting too out-of-hand. I also seem to recall that in this game the moves were a little easier to pull off than in previous versions. Though that could have just been my experience in the arcades back in the day.

I'd also point out that the graphics in this game were pretty awesome back then, too. The animations and colors really popped - though they are not really as impressive today. Still, nostalgia keeps this game in high regard for me.

Anyway, this is one of the better games to come out lately. I'm not as big of a fan of SNK's World Heroes games (though I did really dig the first one - the "danger zones" were something unique to 2D fighters when that game debuted). The Samurai Shodown games are always excellent though. The best is of course, Samurai Shodown II. The fighting system in that game is just so smooth, and the range of characters and their attacks are very well balanced. I may be mistaken, but I'm pretty sure that within the fighting game crowd, this is seen as one of SNK's finest works. It was a huge improvement over the original, lots of new characters, super flashy (at the time) graphics, and a balance that never had a character too over powered and was seen as "cheating" when another player selected him. (a lesson Capcom still needs to properly learn)

I'd probably say that out of all the SNK fighters available on Virtual Console, you'd be best off with Samurai Shodown II. I'd also say that for pure fisticuffs (no weapons) and to see a true rival to Capcom's Street Fighter series, check out The King of Fighters '97. It's not the best KoF game, (my personal favorite is '98) however it's certainly no slouch. But make no mistake, Real Bout: Fatal Fury 2: The Newcomers is another excellent addition to the service and well worth looking into for both fighting game fans and SNK/Neo Geo fans. Such good stuff!

@Jargon

Yeah, they keep crankin' em out. Must be cheap to do so. I'd be (pleasantly) surprised if Nintendo and/or SNK were making any money off of these re-releases.

Posted by