Virtual Player: Pokémon Puzzle League, Renegade, SkyKid, City Connection

5/27/2008 7:29 PM | 0 Comments | Page 1 of 3

Welcome back! As you may have noticed, Virtual Player has now moved to a monthly format. The premiere of WiiWare threw a monkey wrench into the Virtual Console release schedule recently, causing us to have an entire week with no new retro games to enjoy. Will this sudden influx of original games cause Nintendo to slack off (even more) with the VC releases? We certainly hope not; there are still a ton of great classics that deserve to be played again.

Pokémon Puzzle League
Developer: NST/Intelligent Systems
Publisher: Nintendo
Price: 1,000 Wii Points
Originally appeared on: N64

RECOMMENDATION: Buy It

If you're any sort of puzzle game fan, then odds are you've played some version of Puzzle League before. The series began in Japan on the Super Famicom (the Japanese version of the SNES) as Panel de Pon, and it was soon released in the United States as Tetris Attack. Since then, variations of the game have shown up on just about every Nintendo system since, including the fairly recent Planet Puzzle League for DS.

Pokémon Puzzle League is the lone N64 version of the game, and like all the other entries in the series, it's an outstanding puzzler. You must clear the screen of ever-rising blocks by rapidly swapping blocks to form matches of three or more of the same color. This simple premise becomes far deeper when you start mastering the art of forming massive chains and combos. In addition to the standard 2-D gameplay, this version also features a 3-D mode where you must match blocks on a rotating cylinder.

Sure, the Pokémon anime theme may be a bit too cutesy for some players, but the gameplay is as hardcore as it's always been. The game becomes infinitely better when played with a friend, too. Form a large enough chain, and laugh as a screen-sized garbage block crushes your opponent. Of course, if they're playing well, that garbage can quickly be turned into ammunition for them to throw back at you. These constant power struggles make Puzzle League one of (if not the) greatest multiplayer puzzle games ever.

Renegade
Developer: Technos
Publisher: Aksys Games
Price: 500 Wii Points
Originally appeared on: NES

RECOMMENDATION: Fry It

Really, Nintendo? Renegade? You've released another NES beat-'em-up so soon after the release of the outstanding River City Ransom and the also pretty good Double Dragon? Strangely enough, Renegade is the first of the "Kunio-kun" games, the long-running Japanese series that spawned the NES favorites Super Dodge Ball and -- wait for it -- River City Ransom.

Just like River City Ransom, Renegade's graphics have been reworked from the original Japanese release, changing high-school delinquent Kunio into a random vigilante. The graphics also use a more realistic style (well, as realistic as you can get on the NES) as opposed to the super-deformed look of later Kunio games.

Despite the great games that would pop up later in the series, Renegade is a stinker. Your vigilante has a limited amount of dull moves, making the combat feel dull and lifeless. The button layout does allow you to constantly attack enemies both in front and behind you, but the sluggish control makes fighting more frustrating than it should be. Toss in a lack of a two-player mode, and you have a game that you can easily pass up. If you haven't already done so, just invest your 500 Wii Points in River City Ransom instead. It's easily the superior title.