[Shmup On] Virtual Console - now with more barrel rolls

Zek

Virtual Shmup Console Thread

This here is the thread for the Virtual Console, Nintendo's online Shmup-downloading service. Take your pick from many classic shmups such as:

Gradius


Xevious


R-Type III


R-Type


Soldier Blade


Super Star Soldier



Pricing: ($1 = 100 Wii Points)
NES: 500+ points
SNES: 800 points
N64: 1000 points
Genesis: 800 points
TG-16: 600+ points

Currently Available Shmups: (North America)

NES
Baseball
Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong Jr.
Elevator Action
Excitebike
Gradius
Ice Climber
Ice Hockey
Kid Icarus
Kirby's Adventure
Mario Bros
Pinball
Soccer
Solomon's Key
Super Mario Bros
Tecmo Bowl
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (600 pts)
Tennis
The Legend of Kage
The Legend of Zelda
Urban Champion
Wario's Woods
Xevious

SNES
Contra III: The Alien Wars
Donkey Kong Country
F-Zero
R-Type III
Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV: Wall of Fire
SimCity
Sonic Spinball
Street Fighter II: The World Warrior
Super Castlevania IV
Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts
Super Mario World
Zelda: A Link to the Past

N64
Mario Kart 64
Star Fox 64
Super Mario 64
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Genesis
Altered Beast
Beyond Oasis
Bio-Hazard Battle
Bonanza Bros.
Columns
Comix Zone
Double Dungeons
Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine
Gain Ground
Golden Axe
Gunstar Heroes
Ecco the Dolphin
Ristar
Sonic the Hedgehog
Space Harrier II
Streets of Rage
Sword of Vermilion
Toejam & Earl

Turbografx 16
Alien Crush
Bomberman '93
Bonk's Adventure
Chew Man Fu
Dragon's Curse
Dungeon Explorer
Military Madness
Moto Roader
New Adventure Island
R-Type (800 pts)
Soldier Blade
Splatterhouse
Super Star Soldier
Victory Run
VIGILANTE


Be sure to stay tuned every Monday morning to see which new shmups Nintendo has added to the service!

Neo Rasa

So far I've got:

Alien Crush
Bomberman '93
Bonk's Adventure
Dungeon Explorer
Gradius
Gunstar Heroes
Legend of Zelda
Military Madness (despite it's poor scrolling emulation)
R-Type
R-Type III: Third Lightening
Sim City
Solder Blade
Solomon's Key
Space Harrier II
Street Fighter II: The World Warrior
Super Castlevania IV
Super Star Soldier
Toejam and Earl
Victory Run
Wario's Woods



All of these are absolute must downloads I can recommend without hesitation except possibly Victory Run.

Kaputa

Ugh, Xevious. I still don't get why I can do fairly well at most bullet hell shmups, but can't play for shit when it comes to that game. I have it for my GBA, and it's been kicking my ass on and off for like two years.

Neo Rasa

Kaputa wrote:

Ugh, Xevious. I still don't get why I can do fairly well at most bullet hell shmups, but can't play for shit when it comes to that game. I have it for my GBA, and it's been kicking my ass on and off for like two years.

The hit box isn't made for buzzing. A lot of bullet hell shmups (especially today) are based on big flowery patterns. Old style shmups are based on a smaller number of bullets, but they're aimed at you and also leading you in later levels at the same time. You have to think in terms of constantly moving to where there's less bullet/enemy appearance instead of waiting for an attack or pattern to react to.

Kaputa

Neo Rasa wrote:

Kaputa wrote:

Ugh, Xevious. I still don't get why I can do fairly well at most bullet hell shmups, but can't play for shit when it comes to that game. I have it for my GBA, and it's been kicking my ass on and off for like two years.

The hit box isn't made for buzzing. A lot of bullet hell shmups (especially today) are based on big flowery patterns. Old style shmups are based on a smaller number of bullets, but they're aimed at you and also leading you in later levels at the same time. You have to think in terms of constantly moving to where there's less bullet/enemy appearance instead of waiting for an attack or pattern to react to.

Yeah, that's a pretty accurate assessment. I'll beat the damn game someday.

The only other games I've played out of those listed in the OP are Gradius and Super Star Soldier, and the latter only briefly.

I do remember SSS having a pretty awesome soundtrack, though.

TheySlashThem

Streets of Rage, guys.

Streets of Rage.

earthwormadam

I am still loving the hell out of my ToeJam and Earl.

ArcticXC

I am sad that this isn't a hi score VC shmup thread.

MinionOfCthulhu

I approve of the thread title.
Even if I don't approve why the thread is titled the way it is.

BTP

Super Mario Bros. is a shump? o_O And SimCity?!........AND ICE HOCKEY?!

Captain K

BTP wrote:

Super Mario Bros. is a shump? o_O And SimCity?!........AND ICE HOCKEY?!

Clearly, the OP needs refinement. Let's give Zek a chance.

Nswyers

BTP wrote:

Super Mario Bros. is a shump? o_O And SimCity?!........AND ICE HOCKEY?!

The OP lists every VC game available, I'm pretty sure. Maybe the Shmups should be bolded in that list?

Kaputa

BTP wrote:

Super Mario Bros. is a shump? o_O And SimCity?!........AND ICE HOCKEY?!

I still haven't 1CCed SimCity. The patterns on those later stages are just ridiculous.

quovadis13

I approve of OP satire :^::^::^::^::^::^::^:

deadonthestreet

They really do need to diversify a bit.

PikaPuff

Does anyone have a list of what games were release for what week? I'd rather have a list sorted that way.

VoodooV

or at the very least..can we boldify the new releases?

Mace1370

quovadis13 wrote:

I approve of OP satire :^::^::^::^::^::^::^:

Ravenlock

I think it's quite full of hilarity as well, though it might confuse a newcomer. Nintendo has, after all, accidentally released some VC games that are not shmups. They sneak through on occasion, despite N's fervent efforts to keep them down.

Still, well played, sir. Well played.

Legacy

PikaPuff wrote:

Does anyone have a list of what games were release for what week? I'd rather have a list sorted that way.

Comix Zone.
Gain Ground.
Bonanza Bros.

http://www.sega.com/games/game_temp.php?game=vconsole&lid=gp_vconsole&lpos=nav_pldwnlst

Those three so far. That's probably all, though.

TheySlashThem

Wait, Streets of Rage isn't this week?

I have been misled.

Hey, can a mod lock the old thread?

It's reaching critical mass.

Also Shmups.

jackal

Did the Super Castlevania stage 3 boss cause slowdown on the original version? It seems strange that they would have a boss that the system couldn't handle.

Pooch

jackal wrote:

Did the Super Castlevania stage 3 boss cause slowdown on the original version? It seems strange that they would have a boss that the system couldn't handle.

The clocktower level has a few parts that cause slow down, just from all the moving platforms and stuff on screen.

Squashua

Wii need SOLAR JETMAN and RIVER CITY RANSOM and SUPER DODGEBALL for NES

Toejam & Earl is the only "MUST BUY" of the current list.

Dodge Aspen

In Super Star Soldier, you press select and the little triangles on the upper left of the screen change. The manual says it's your speed, but nothing seems to move faster or slower. Anyone know?

Kaputa

So now that I finally have a Wii, I have an important question: Super Star Soldier or Soldier Blade?

Anime Owns

Gotta go with Soldier Blade. Isn't it the sequel to Super Star Soldier? I haven't played SSS, but I'd imagine the two games are pretty similar. And from what I can tell, SB has better visuals, so if they're pretty similar game play wise, might as well go with the better looking game.

On another note, Gunstar Heroes is so damn awesome. It took a little bit to get used to the controls, but now it's straight up amazing. Everyone should own this game.

mattclem

So it's a bit early to say, but it looks like I might be about to test out transference of VC games, if there *is* some workaround by which you can replace them on a different Wii.

Just went downstairs after a long BC session - with my headphones on - and went downstairs to find the house very cold, the back door wide open, and a trail of DVD cases leading outwards.

To their credit, they were impressively selective; of all the computing hardware in that room, the Wii alone was singled out. On the other hand, though, they appear to not be aware that the sensor bar is quite important, so I've still got that, rendering their Wii mostly useless.

I'm also most offended that they didn't take my I Love Lucy DVD collections, or my copy of Sniper Elite (I worked on it! It's worth stealing! How dare you!). They've clearly got no taste.

I'm posting while I wait for the police to turn up.

Zek

mattclem wrote:

So it's a bit early to say, but it looks like I might be about to test out transference of VC games, if there *is* some workaround by which you can replace them on a different Wii.

Just went downstairs after a long BC session - with my headphones on - and went downstairs to find the house very cold, the back door wide open, and a trail of DVD cases leading outwards.

To their credit, they were impressively selective; of all the computing hardware in that room, the Wii alone was singled out. On the other hand, though, they appear to not be aware that the sensor bar is quite important, so I've still got that, rendering their Wii mostly useless.

I'm also most offended that they didn't take my I Love Lucy DVD collections, or my copy of Sniper Elite (I worked on it! It's worth stealing! How dare you!). They've clearly got no taste.

I'm posting while I wait for the police to turn up.

Does the trail of DVDs lead back to their hideout?

Arcibi

mattclem wrote:

So it's a bit early to say, but it looks like I might be about to test out transference of VC games, if there *is* some workaround by which you can replace them on a different Wii.

Just went downstairs after a long BC session - with my headphones on - and went downstairs to find the house very cold, the back door wide open, and a trail of DVD cases leading outwards.

To their credit, they were impressively selective; of all the computing hardware in that room, the Wii alone was singled out. On the other hand, though, they appear to not be aware that the sensor bar is quite important, so I've still got that, rendering their Wii mostly useless.

I'm also most offended that they didn't take my I Love Lucy DVD collections, or my copy of Sniper Elite (I worked on it! It's worth stealing! How dare you!). They've clearly got no taste.

I'm posting while I wait for the police to turn up.

Wow

That really sucks

Neo Rasa

mattclem wrote:

or my copy of Sniper Elite (I worked on it! It's worth stealing! How dare you!).

You did a great job, I love that game. Many a night did I stay up til 4AM playing coop with a friend.

Xieflow

so is this the virtual console thread, or the shmup thread for the Wii? I thought the other thread was VC, and this was shooters, but someone linked to this from there.

Elendil

Xieflow wrote:

so is this the virtual console thread, or the shmup thread

Is there a difference? :P

Xieflow

Elendil wrote:

Xieflow wrote:

so is this the virtual console thread, or the shmup thread

Is there a difference? :P

the shmups on the VC are pretty boring so far. Nothing cool like one of the Twinbee games (Detana! Twinbee would be awesome)

The good stuff is Mario 64, Zelda 1, that dungeon crawler game for the TG16, and a few others. Super Star Soldier is OK, but not as good as I remembered.

Neo Rasa

Those shmups are great too, but they'd need to get the involved parties to be willing to do the work on emulating their arcade boards if you wanted the really good stuff shmup-wise.


That would be very damaging though, I mean if you have the choice of playing Xexex you would NEVER download an NES shmup, etc.

Xieflow

I'm never going to download an NES shmup, anyways. Except for some of the better TG-16 games (where's Air Zonk?), I don't really want any more shmups (R-Type Final and Gradius 5 for the PS2 are more than enough for me, for the most part).

There's a very good chance I'll get a japanese Wii by the end of the year for the awesome japanese VC games (seriously. Mario Kart 64 by the end of the month. And all the games that never had a US release to begin with)

edit: Also, I have to say, I love the contrast of the VC against Live Arcade. Nintendo dumps a lot of stuff straight emulated, so you get a larger pool to choose from, and for the most part it's all "classics", wheras on Live Arcade the games are often slightly meatier, and have added functionality like online play and achievements. Either alone feels pretty broken (live arcade is too slow in adding games, and the VC is too barren in the lack of extras), but together it's pretty sweet.

Neo Rasa

I've seriously considered this as well. I keep holding out for some smart fellow to devise a way to get Japanese VC games onto a US console via an SD Card.

Importing is a pretty tough road for me, as most of the budget I save up for it goes towards the Turbo CD/Super Famicom stuff that will never get ported/released anywhere else (Shapeshifter, Majin Tensei, stuff like that). Looking at my collection as it stands I might be able to get the original cartridges of what I want for less than what it would cost to get a Japanese Wii.

Xieflow

There's a good chance I'm going to the Tokyo Game Show this year (with no more E3, I gotta go somewhere else), so I'll probably load up on crazy ass imports over there, if I don't get a Japanese Wii. However... the convenience of the virtual console + Wii (not having to get up to turn the system on, not having to get up to change games, everything uses save states) really pushes towards the second Wii. I don't play games near as often as I used to, especially older systems (for example, my TG16 has been booted up like once in the past year, and my PCEngine has been on 3, maybe 4 times).

AlphaTwo

So, what SHMUPs are left for Nintendo to release? :P

As a total random guess-aside: GAF is rumourring that ALTTP is this week's release.

Original Rufus

AlphaTwo wrote:

So, what SHMUPs are left for Nintendo to release? :P

As a total random guess-aside: GAF is rumourring that ALTTP is this week's release.

Once again, I'm praying instead for a great game I don't own.

AlphaTwo

Original Rufus wrote:

AlphaTwo wrote:

So, what SHMUPs are left for Nintendo to release? :P

As a total random guess-aside: GAF is rumourring that ALTTP is this week's release.

Once again, I'm praying instead for a great game I don't own.

Well, I don't have it. So I win?

What don't you have that has been rated by the ESRB for the VC?