Continuing their unwanted, but accepted 2 games a week policy, Nintendo actually gives Wii owners two games worth buying this week. The first is the last in a trilogy of the best Ninja games ever that don't feature turtles, and the second because

JOHNNY TURBO SEZ SO.




While I played through Ninja Gaiden 2 many times, and played the first Ninja Gaiden up to the last stage many times, I never had even touched NG3 as a young lad with an NES. Maybe it came along too late and I was off playing my Super Mario Worlds and Final Fantasy 2s? Whatever it was, I don't think I was the only one to have overlooked this game. Fortunately, the virtual console delivers- Ninja Gaiden 3 is a top notch NES platformer.

The game manages to add a lot with lots of new abilities, enemies, and locations. My favorite is the ability to extend his sword's slashing range. What remains unchanged is the smooth and responsive controls the series has always had. Ryu can climb walls, jump off walls, hang from pipes, and just generally is fun to play as. Compare to many side scrolling action protagonists (looking at YOU, shatterhand) of his day, and you'll see why the NG games were so fun.

While I can find little to complain about NG3, I would highly recommend you pick up Ninja Gaiden 2 before this one. NG3 just barely misses classic status-blame NG2 for that, not NG3.



The second, but by no means lesser title is Lords of Thunder. Lords of Thunder is a side scrolling shooter with upgradeable abilities, appealing graphics, and fast paced, challenging action.

But forget about that for a second- The game's soundtrack, if you've watched the above video, is absolutely stunning. Well, if you don't hate things that rock, that is. Some games in the early 90s decided to use CD storage to put shameful videos of people "acting" to complement their 16 bit gameplay. Lords of Thunder instead stuck the most metal game soundtrack ever on their disc. The $8 admission fee is worth it for this soundtrack. The fact that the underlying game is actually good should be considered a bonus. Go buy it.

Your only excuse? The 200 blocks the game requires might be too much for those of us who've been buying VC games for some time now. I know I'm struggling with what to delete this week to make room. Don't tell Nintendo, though. They all know 512MB is good enough...