SPOILER: Early Internet reports indicate that next week will bring the NES version of Double Dragon to the Virtual Console...and nothing else. Please enjoy this week's lineup for what it is, and don't for a second take it as indication that Nintendo gives any sort of damn about the Virtual Console service.
Reviews are past the jump. Read them!
River City Ransom
River City Ransom's release this week is appropriately timed. Its free-roaming, subtly complex gameplay laid the groundwork for Grand Theft Auto and its sequels, and I'll bet you anything that it turns out to be more fun than Grand Theft Auto IV.
If you've never played the thing, picture Double Dragon with stat-building and a large interconnected world full of people to beat up. Killing dudes gives you money, which you can then use to purchase power-ups and new skills. It's got a cooperative two-player mode, an impressively deep and difficult-to-master combat system, and an inexplicable, half-competent sense of humor that the Internet has somehow managed not to ruin despite its great efforts.
I guess where River City Ransom most resembles Grand Theft Auto is in the "Holy crap, you can do that? Awesome!" factor. Experimentation brings out all kinds of wonderful things in both games. GTA: San Andreas birthed "Grandma Hunt," which consists of one player in a pickup truck, another player in back with a shotgun, and hours of violence against the elderly. Years earlier, kids took a break from River City Ransom's brawling to invent a primitive two-player game of baseball using a chain and a pair of brass knuckles. Or picked up the second player and used him or her as an impromptu javelin. Or rode on the top of a box as it went sailing through a crowd of enemies with a well-timed kick from Player Two.
As you kill hookers and watch realistic, graphic sexual intercourse with full-frontal nudity in Grand Theft Auto IV this week, think about how much more fun you could be having if you were playing River City Ransom with a buddy instead. Then realize that nobody you know wants to play old 8-bit games with you anymore because they'd rather call you names over Xbox Live.
Then get sad. Get really, really sad.
Try these too: Final Fight (Arcade), Top Hunter (Neo Geo)
Don't bother with: Riot Zone (TurboDuo), Final Fight (SNES)
Phantasy Star III
By all accounts, Phantasy Star III is a functional, slightly above-average RPG. It just had the misfortune of being released in between the memorable and narrative-rich Phantasy Star II and Phantasy Star IV, which many regard as one of the best RPGs of all time. Having played through PS4 for the first time just a few months ago, I agree. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that it's not just one of the best RPGs of its era; in comparison to the childish stumbling of the Final Fantasy series in its PS1 sequels, Phantasy Star IV was the best game the genre saw for years.
Phantasy Star III, though...well, it's a game. Back in the day, I'd have probably been just as happy with Phantasy Star III as I was with Sword of Vermilion. Which is to say that I would've spent weeks with it in a dull summer vacation glaze, and have few specific memories to show for it. Like Sword of Vermilion, I'm guessing that Phantasy Star III has aged somewhat poorly, and may be too slow to stomach for those who enjoy silly things like pacing and fair difficulty progression in their games.
Of course, I've never played past the beginning part, so I'm just assuming. Let me know if you figure out what to do after you use the telepipe to escape the first dungeon. I never did.
Try these instead: Phantasy Star II (Genesis), Landstalker (Genesis)
Don't bother with: Sword of Vermilion (Genesis), Light Crusader (Genesis)
