We're counting down to the Wii's launch with a daily look at what retro games we'd like to see on the Virtual Console. Each also features a Virtual Console Likelihood rating. A rating of 5 means the game has officially been announced for the service. Click here for an archive of previous days, or keep on reading below!
Released: 1990
Developer: Jaleco/Atari Games
Console: Arcade/Multiple Consoles
Players: 1-2 (3 can play with the arcade version)
Save: none
Virtual Console Likelihood: 2 / 5
In a time when most companies were trying to cash in on the latest generation of consoles, Atari was holding on to the past. Unlike the fighters and platformers that were so common in the early nineties, Rampart was a strategy/puzzle game which would feel more at home on a PC than a console. But PCs weren't mainstream yet, and the NES still had a huge install base. Arcades hadn't died yet either, and so Rampart over the next couple of years was ported to almost every console around.
The object of Rampart is to defend your castle or castles against attacking ships on the sea, or other castles on land. There are three phases in each round. One phase involves using your castle's cannons to shoot at enemies before they shoot your walls down. The next phase is building your castle by placing Tetris-like blocks over the land, and repairing damaged walls. If you make a surrounded enclosure on land, the inside will become your territory. The third phase involves placing cannons inside your territory. Enough territory allows you to build more cannons to destroy the enemy and eventually beat the stage.
The single player game is extremely difficult, but with enough practice, you should be able to complete the game in a few hours. The lack of a save feature actually helps in this case because you get better at the earlier levels, allowing you to feel a real sense of accomplishment when you finally complete the later levels. It's a lot like Super Mario Bros., where it seems like it's a better game without a save feature acting like a set of training wheels.
Released: 1993
Developer: Nintendo
Console: SNES
Players: 1
Save: Battery Save
VCL: 4 / 5
Star Fox is one of the most exciting games to play on the SNES. It's fast, it's hard, and it was something unique at the time. It's an on-rails shooter, where the object of the game is to steer your Arwing around obstacles and destroy enemies along the way. Each area is ended by a boss, and you must look for each one's weak point. There are three paths to choose from, sorted by difficulty, but even after completing each way, it's one of those games where even if you beat it, it's fun to play over and over.
Star Fox was one of the first console games to use polygons to build a world, and it impressed everyone with the power of Nintendo's special Super FX chip. This chip was later refined to give us gems like Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. While the SNES had the capability to produce polygons numbering in the hundreds, as opposed to the millions of today's games, each one was put to good use. Enemies are all easily distinguishable, and the Arwing design is now a classic.
It's easy to see how this series got so popular. It had everything - an interesting cast of characters, great gameplay, and state of the art graphics technology. There was supposed to be a sequel for the SNES, and one was basically completed before it was cancelled. Many of the gameplay ideas from Star Fox 2 ended up being included in Star Fox 64, which is another all-time classic game. With any luck, both these games will be on Virtual Console, because I'm sure many gamers miss them.
#25 (Third Party) - Rampart
Released: 1990
Developer: Jaleco/Atari Games
Console: Arcade/Multiple Consoles
Players: 1-2 (3 can play with the arcade version)
Save: none
Virtual Console Likelihood: 2 / 5
In a time when most companies were trying to cash in on the latest generation of consoles, Atari was holding on to the past. Unlike the fighters and platformers that were so common in the early nineties, Rampart was a strategy/puzzle game which would feel more at home on a PC than a console. But PCs weren't mainstream yet, and the NES still had a huge install base. Arcades hadn't died yet either, and so Rampart over the next couple of years was ported to almost every console around.
The object of Rampart is to defend your castle or castles against attacking ships on the sea, or other castles on land. There are three phases in each round. One phase involves using your castle's cannons to shoot at enemies before they shoot your walls down. The next phase is building your castle by placing Tetris-like blocks over the land, and repairing damaged walls. If you make a surrounded enclosure on land, the inside will become your territory. The third phase involves placing cannons inside your territory. Enough territory allows you to build more cannons to destroy the enemy and eventually beat the stage.
The single player game is extremely difficult, but with enough practice, you should be able to complete the game in a few hours. The lack of a save feature actually helps in this case because you get better at the earlier levels, allowing you to feel a real sense of accomplishment when you finally complete the later levels. It's a lot like Super Mario Bros., where it seems like it's a better game without a save feature acting like a set of training wheels.
#25 (Nintendo) - Star Fox
Released: 1993
Developer: Nintendo
Console: SNES
Players: 1
Save: Battery Save
VCL: 4 / 5
Star Fox is one of the most exciting games to play on the SNES. It's fast, it's hard, and it was something unique at the time. It's an on-rails shooter, where the object of the game is to steer your Arwing around obstacles and destroy enemies along the way. Each area is ended by a boss, and you must look for each one's weak point. There are three paths to choose from, sorted by difficulty, but even after completing each way, it's one of those games where even if you beat it, it's fun to play over and over.
Star Fox was one of the first console games to use polygons to build a world, and it impressed everyone with the power of Nintendo's special Super FX chip. This chip was later refined to give us gems like Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. While the SNES had the capability to produce polygons numbering in the hundreds, as opposed to the millions of today's games, each one was put to good use. Enemies are all easily distinguishable, and the Arwing design is now a classic.
It's easy to see how this series got so popular. It had everything - an interesting cast of characters, great gameplay, and state of the art graphics technology. There was supposed to be a sequel for the SNES, and one was basically completed before it was cancelled. Many of the gameplay ideas from Star Fox 2 ended up being included in Star Fox 64, which is another all-time classic game. With any luck, both these games will be on Virtual Console, because I'm sure many gamers miss them.