Since shortly after Nintendo launched the Wii, every Monday’s been a mini-holiday for gamers, when the big N reveals that week’s new additions to the Virtual Console. Last week, they satisfied curiosities and made dreams come true with the first all-import batch of VC titles, Sin & Punishment and Super Mario Brothers: the Lost Levels (Japan’s SMB2).
Sin & Punishment is a well done shoot-em-up. Granted, the VC’s not exactly hurting for these (they’ve got Xevious on there, for god’s sake), but Treasure made this one, so it’s worth a download. By the way, if you have a Wii and didn’t download Treasure’s other fantastic offering, Gunstar Heroes, you’re not allowed to continue reading this.
Of course, I couldn’t resist jumping right into the import SMB2. If you’re even a little bit of a nerd (and you’re reading this, so…) you know the whole story about this game. It never came out in the States, we got a version of Doki Doki Panic with the Mario characters shoehorned in instead, our princess was in another castle, etc. I played through it when Nintendo prettied up the graphics and released it in the Super Mario All-Stars collection for SNES here in ‘93.
The beauty of having the emulated VC games on the Wii is you’re playing them in their “natural habitat,” as they appeared on their native console. In the case of The Lost Levels, it’s pretty easy to tell, in the first few minutes, why it didn’t see the light of day on the NES over here. Changes in gameplay are minimal at best – Luigi jumps higher than Mario. Graphically, they’re identical. I honestly wonder how this would’ve been accepted among US gamers that had just recently re-opened their hearts to video games after the
madness that Atari (and Drew Barrymore!) wrought.
Honestly, The Lost Levels looks like someone went nuts with a level editor and the original SMB, and not much else. Maybe the 20 years since it’s release are clouding my vision. It’s entirely possible that I’d have lost my mind over this game if it came out in the US when I was 8 years old and starved for more Mario. But, I think it’s safe to say we expect more from our sequels.
Sports franchises aside, we’ve come to expect big improvements out of sequels. Worlds get bigger, characters get more interesting, maybe we even get online multiplayer in the next go-round. If you’ve spent your marketing dollars properly, a solid sequel can break sales records and move hardware. With that said, one killer franchise could go on seemingly forever, with minimal updates to graphics and gameplay, and hardly anyone could complain. Guitar Hero is an absolute blast to play, three installments later. It’s entirely possible that Guitar Hero is the most sustainable franchise ever.
We’re only weeks away from Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock. After a flurry of acquisitions in the offseason since GH2, this installation will be the product of a different developer (Neversoft) than the first two — but nobody seems concerned. In contrast, I can’t even imagine what will happen when the inevitable non-Bungie developed Halo game comes out.
The fact is, Harmonix & Red Octane already did the heavy lifting in this series. Because the levels in Guitar Hero are SONGS (that have already been written, recorded, and certified hits), level design is almost a paint-by-numbers affair. Even with the modest starting point of the Beatles’ first appearance on the Ed Sullivan show, there are more than 40 years of rock songs available. Thus, fresh Guitar Hero levels have been waiting on the shelf for 40+ years, designed by everyone from Elvis Presley to Marilyn Manson.
Beyond the stock of readily available levels, Guitar Hero’s appeal is a textbook case in snowballing appeal to casual gamers. As each edition sells more, and garners new fans, more and more bands will allow, and even push for, their music to be licensed for the game. In fact, the Sex Pistols recorded a master track for GH3, and they couldn’t even be bothered to show up for their own Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction. Need more proof? Check out this year’s awesome, something-for-everyone track list:
· Same Old Song and Dance (by Aerosmith)
· Helicopter (by Bloc Party)
· Stricken (by Disturbed)
· Monsters (by Matchbook Romance)
· Before I Forget (by Slipknot)
· Kool Thing (by Sonic Youth)
· When You Were Young (by The Killers)
· Devil Went Down to Georgia (as made famous by Charlie Daniels Band)
· Sunshine of Your Love (as made famous by Cream)
· Holiday in Cambodia (as made famous by Dead Kennedys)
· Cliffs of Dover (as made famous by Eric Johnson)
· Hit Me with Your Best Shot (as made famous by Pat Benetar)
· Black Magic Woman (as made famous by Santana)
· Story of My Life (as made famous by Social Distortion)
· Pride and Joy (as made famous by Stevie Ray Vaughn)
· The Seeker (as made famous by The Who)
· Black Sunshine (as made famous by White Zombie)
· Miss Murder (by AFI)
· Minus Celsius (by Backyard Babies)
· Sabotage (by Beastie Boys)
· Hier Kommt Alex (by Die Toten Hosen)
· Through Fire and Flames (by Dragonforce)
· In the Belly of a Shark (by Gallows)
· Welcome to The Jungle (by Guns N’ Roses)
· Avalancha (by Heroes Del Silencio)
· Take This Life (by In Flames)
· Number of the Beast (by Iron Maiden)
· Ruby (by Kaiser Chiefs)
· Closer (by Lacuna Coil)
· Cult of Personality (by Living Colour)
· One (by Metallica)
· Knights of Cydonia (by Muse)
· Mauvais Garcon (by NAAST)
· Even Flow (by Pearl Jam)
· Lay Down (by Priestess)
· Bulls on Parade (by Rage Against The Machine)
· 3’s and 7’s (by Queens of the Stone Age)
· Suck My Kiss (by Red Hot Chili Peppers)
· Generation Rock (by Revolverheld)
· Raining Blood (by Slayer)
· Cherub Rock (by Smashing Pumpkins)
· Radio Song (by Superbus)
· The Metal (by Tenacious D)
· I’m in the Band (by The Hellacopters)
· Anarchy in the U.K. (by The Sex Pistols)
· Reptillia (by The Strokes)
· Paint It Black (by The Rolling Stones)
· My Name is Jonas (by Weezer)
· Slash’s Original Boss Battle Recording
· Tom Morello’s Original Boss Battle Recording
· School’s Out (as made famous by Alice Cooper)
· Paranoid (as made famous by Black Sabbath)
· Cities on Flame (as made famous by Blue Oyster Cult)
· Slow Ride (as made famous by Foghat)
· Barracuda (as made famous by Heart)
· Rock and Roll All Nite (as made famous by Kiss)
· Mississippi Queen (as made famous by Mountain)
· Rock You Like a Hurricane (as made famous by Scorpions)
· La Grange (as made famous by ZZ Top)
While I haven’t had the pleasure of playing GH3 yet, be sure to check back for impressions later this month.
