Wii: Virtual Console – Europe – Friday May 2nd, 2008

This week the Hanabi Festival are back, and with that three new Virtual Console games in Europe on Friday May 2nd. You can read more on the Hanabi Festival at the bottom of this post.

Columns III: Revenge of Columns
Mega Drive – 1994 – Sega – puzzle – 1-5 players – 900 points – age 3+

This single-player or multiplayer experience expands upon the gameplay of the first two Columns titles by giving players extra attacks to spring on their opponents during gameplay. As in the original Columns, jewels fall into a bin and you have totwist and manipulate them to match three or more jewels in a vertical, horizontal or diagonal line to keep them from stacking up and reaching the top.

In Columns III, you can get special magical jewels that can do things like raising your opponent’s crush bar or lowering yours, adding extra element of strategy to the game. This is a great game to play with friends, so download today and jump into the action!

Final Soldier
Turbografx – 1991 – Hudson Soft Co. LTD. – shooter – 1 player – 700 points – age 7+

A vertically scrolling shooter from the well-know “Star Soldier” Series. In the 32rd century, invaders from the future suddenly attack Earth.

Controlling a fighter created by the world’s best scientists, you rise to meet the enemy. Collect and equip power-up units to launch a varity of attacks, such as lasers, flamethrowers and missiles. Each weapon has three different attack types. Anticipate enemies’ strike and deftly switch bewteen weapons to defeat the invaders! In addition to “Normal Game”, there are also “2 Minute Game” and “5 Minute Game” score attack modes.

The most perfectly balanced game in the series, Final Soldier is a title you don’t want to miss.

In-game text will include some Japanese.

Gradius II Gofer No Yabou
Turbografx – 1992 – Konami – shooter – 1 player – 900 points – age 7+

This shooter is the sequal to the masterpiece, “Gradius”. Two years after its last epic battle, the Gradiud army recommissions the “Vic Viper” super-dimensional warplane to combat the invasion of a new nemesis known as “Gofer”.

Piloting the latest model Vic Viper, player can select between multiple weapons and shields to tackle the varying stages and enemy attack patterns they come up against.

With a total of 8 stages, this perfect port of the original boast one of the longest adventures in the series and also features more trademark fast-paced music to accompany the intense action!

In-game text will include some Japanese.

Hanabi Festival returns!

In September 2007 we introduced the Virtual Console ‘Hanabi Festival’, a season classic games that had never been released in Europe before.

Named after the Japanese holiday season famous for its fireworks display, the Hanabi Festival now returns with a bang!

Hanabi festival 2 brings more Japanese and American exclusives to the Wii Shop Channel, this time courtesy of our friends at Sega and Hudson Soft.

We begin with puzzler Columns III: Revenge of Columns for Sega Mega Drive, and shoot ’em ups Gradius II Gofer No Yabou and Final Soldier for Turbografx (PC Engine).

And there are more special releases to look forward to in the weeks ahead:
Star Parodier (Turbografx)
Puyo Puyo 2 (Sega Mega Drive)
Gley Lancer (Sega Mega Drive)
Digital Champ: Battle Boxing (Turbografx)
Cho Aniki (Turbografx)
Break In (Turbografx)

If you missed the first Hanabi festival, all games are still available except for the limited edition Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels. Simply use ‘Search by Game Title’ in the Wii Shop Channel to find the one you like.

Hanabi festival games currently available:
Columns III: Revenge of Columns (Sega Mega Drive)
Gradius II Gofer No Yabou (Turbografx/PC Engine)
Final Soldier (Turbografx(PC Engine)
Sin And Punishment (Nintendo 64)
Gradius III (Super Nintendo)
Ninja gaiden (NES)
Ninja JaJaMaru-kun (NES)
Mario’s Super Picross (Super Nintendo)