Wii: Virtual Console – Europe – Friday March 28, 2008

This Friday, March 28, Europe got three new games on Virtual Console. And two of those are Commodore 64 games, the first to hit VC.

Cruis’n USA
Nintendo 64 – 1998 by Nintendo – racing – 1-2 players – 1000 points – age 3+

Put pedal to metal and hang on for a wild ride across the highways of America! Race along LA freeways, across the desert of Arizona and to the nation’s capital Washington DC, experienceing the thrills of street racing while taking in famoussights like the Golden Gate Brigde, the grand Canyon and the White House.

Based on the hit arcade game, Cruis’n USA features a wide selection of cars, from ’60s muscle motors to Italian-styles sports models. Complete solo in a 14 stage cross country marathon, or go head-to-head with a friend in split-screen two player mode.

International Karate
Commodore 64 – 1986 by Commodore gaming – fighting – 1-2 players – 500 points – age 12+

International Karate is a simulation of a Karate Tournament where two people can play against each other or one can complete against the computer.

During the game, you will fly around the world to various locations.

At all stages of the game you will be watched over by the wise old judge who will award you, depending on how successful a hit has been, either a half point or a full point.

Uridium
Commodore 64 – 1986 by Commodore Gaming – shooter – 1-2 players – 500 points – age 3+

The solar system has been invaded!

Fifteen Super-Dreadnoughts are draining the mineral resources from the planetary cores, each seeking a different metal for use in their interstellar power unnits.

Destroy the enemy fighter patrols, neutralise the Enemy Dreadnought’s surface defences, then land and destroy each ship!

This Commodore 64 classic, developed by 8-bit shoot’em up pioneer Andrew Braybrook, is pure high-speed galactic nostalgia.

On the frontpage of the Wii Shop Channel two small news article about Commodore 64 where posted on Friday.

Commodore 64 comes to Virtual Console!

To mark the 200th Virtual Console release, we welcome a new classic gaming system to our growing library: Commodre 64!

The Commodore 64 (or C64) was one of the best-loved and most popular home computers of the 1980s, and boasted a rich range of titles that numbered in the thousands.

The Virtual Console C64 line-up begins with space shoot ’em up Uridium and martial arts fighter International Karate, and will continue with more fondly-remembered favourites in the coming weeks.

WARP ZONE: Commodore 64 returns!

Welcome to the Warp Zone, the Virtual Console’s treasure trove of retro gaming trivia! In this edition, we look at the newset member of the Virtual Console family: Commodore 64.

It was in production fro more than a decadem it shaped the computer games industry to come, and it even gained a place in the Guinness Book of Record. The Commodore 64 was truly a groundbreaking home computer.

From its launch in 1982, the Commodore 64’s powerful graphics and impressice sound made it a natural choice for games. By the end of its long life in 1994, more than 4000 titles had been released.

Now, thanks to Virtual Console, you can enjoy some of the best C64 games in their original format – but with a few improvements too.

Games now launch instantly, instead of taking several minutes to load from cassette. An, like many other Virtual Console titles, you can suspend your game at any time and continue later (press the HOME Button and selecr ‘Wii Menu’).

Controls-wise, the C64’s joystick input has been replicated for the Wii Remote, Classic controller or Nintendo GameCube controller; and you can even call up an onscreen keyboard at any time, standing in for the original computer’s built-in keyboard.

The Commodore 64 Virtual Console line-up begins with Uridium and International Karate – two very different but popular titles from the vast C64 library – and will continue with more classics to come.

Whether you’re a long-time Commodore 64 fan or are new to the system’s unique range of games – we hpoe you enjoy this part of gaming history, thanks to Virtual Console!