Wii: Virtual Conosle games – Europe – Friday November 23, 2007

Europe got two new VC games to download today.

Bubble Bobble
NES – 1990 by Taito – action – 1-2 players – 500 points – age 3+

Bubble Bobble is a puzzle-action game featuring the two Bubble Dragons, Bub and Bob. When it hit arcades in 1986 it introduced brand-new play mechanics, with players defeating enemies by trapping them in bubbles the blew and then popping them.

Altough it is possible to beat the game just by clearing all 100 rounds, it also contains secret elements such as a “true ending” not obtainable in singel-player mode, hidden commands that lead to secret rounds and a ton of different items. These elements were one of the game’s most important selling point.

Each round even has different air currents that are not visible, making bubbles rise in unpredictable patterns. Aspects like forcing players to understand and make use of these diffenrent pattetern while playing helped make Bubble Bobble a revolutionary action game at the time.

The King of Fighters ’94
NeoGeo – 1994 by D4 Enterprise – fighting – 1-1 players – 900 points – age 12+

This seminal beat ’em up, released in 1994, was the first King of Fighters game and set the template for the whole series. Unlike the usual one-on-one fight system, King of Fighters ’94 lets you choose one of eight teams, each madeup of three fighters from such SNK classics as Fatal Fury, Ikari Warriors, Psycho Soldier and art of Fighting.

The rules are simple – choose a country-based team and set the play order of your characters, then fight until one team has been vanquished! As well as the usual variety of special moves, each fighter has a power gauge that can be charged up to preform a devastating Super Desperation Move. This gauge builds up every time a fighter takes a hit, so even if you’re taking a real beating you might get a chance to turn the tables!

With crisp, detailed graphics, fluid animation nd stirring music and sound effects, this arcade perfect port is a must-have for any fighting game fan.