Virtual Player: Sonic the Hedgehog, Star Parodier, Mega Man and more

8/25/2008 7:50 PM | 1 Comments | Page 1 of 3

Art of Fighting 2
Developer: SNK
Publisher: D4 Enterprise
Price: 900 Wii Points
Originally Appeared on: Neo Geo

RECOMMENDATION:
Fry It

In a continuing bid to get every SNK fighting game on the Virtual Console service, we now see the release of Art of Fighting 2. This sequel is a definite improvement over its predecessor, with more playable characters and improved graphics. There are some mildly interesting play mechanics thanks to the mental-energy gauge that dictates your usage of special moves.

If you're going to play the game in single-player mode, prepare for a thrashing as the computer artificial intelligence is exceptionally difficult. There's a fine line between challenging and cheap, and AoF2 steps back and forth between the two. The main problem here is that even with the difficulty, the gameplay is simply too slow to remain interesting for long. There are more worthy fighting games on the VC to spend your Wii Points on.

Chase H.Q.
Developer: Taito
Publisher: Taito
Price: 600 Wii Points
Originally Appeared on: TurboGrafx-16

RECOMMENDATION:
Fry It

Chase H.Q. is a realistic portrayal of police pursuit in that your play an officer who must apprehend criminals by speeding along highways after them in a sports car. Once you catch up to the miscreants, it's time to turn on your sirens and repeatedly ram the bad guy's car until they're forced off the road -- just like what actual police have to go through every day.

OK, so maybe it's not completely accurate. Real police don't always have a sports car at their disposal. That's pretty much all there is to Chase H.Q., and although it was a decent enough arcade game back in the day, it's not nearly as much fun now (this is the case with a lot of old racing games). It looks quite nice, and the strict time limit gives the game a healthy challenge, but the chase becomes tiresome after a round or two.

Sonic the Hedgehog
Developer: Sega
Publisher: Sega
Price: 500 Wii Points
Originally Appeared on: Sega Master System

RECOMMENDATION:
Buy It

"Hasn't Sonic the Hedgehog been available on the Virtual Console for ages now?!" we hear you cry. It's true -- the Genesis version of Sonic was released on the VC way back at the end of 2006. This, however, is the Master System version of the blue dude's first adventure. And before you ask why you should bother with this "inferior" 8-bit version when you've already bought the 16-bit one, you should know that this is a completely different game.

Yep, all-new stages, different bosses, and even a few different gameplay twists (the Chaos Emeralds are now stashed within levels instead of in bonus stages). Sure, it's not nearly as pretty as the Genesis game, but for an 8-bit title, it looks and sounds great. Check it out and enjoy a chapter in the Sonic saga that you've probably missed.