Super Mario World among today's Virtual Console releases

11:33 AM on 02.05.2007   |   Nick Chester

31 comments

The week officially begins when Nintendo drops some Virtual Console love, no?

Today, three games will be appearing on the Wii shop channel -- Super Mario World (Super NES, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points), Vigilante (TurboGrafx-16, 1 player, 600 Wii Points), and Gain Ground (Sega Genesis, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points).

Excited? I am. Super Mario World is easily my favorite installment in the series and I've purchased it three or four times, so one more time isn't going to hurt me.

I'm not sold on Vigilante or Gain Ground, two games I haven't played in years. The  description of Vigilante in the press release isn't doing much to sell me on the game, either. It essentially says, "Beat up enemies, defeat a boss to clear a stage. Super fun happy party time"!

See for yourself after the jump.

WII-KLY UPDATE: THREE NEW CLASSIC GAMES ANNOUNCED FOR WII SHOP CHANNEL

Feb. 5, 2007

Today Nintendo adds three new classic games to the popular Wii™ video game system's Wii Shop Channel. The games go live at 9 a.m. Pacific time. Nintendo adds new games to the channel every Monday. Wii owners with a high-speed Internet connection can redeem Wii Points to download the games. Wii Points can be purchased in the Wii Shop Channel or at retail outlets. This week's new games are:

Super Mario World™ (Super NES®, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points): During a vacation in Dinosaur Land, Princess Toadstool gets kidnapped and a spell is cast on the inhabitants of the island. When they stumble upon Yoshi™, a young dinosaur, Mario™ and Luigi learn that Bowser is responsible for the terrible misdeeds. Now, all Yoshis are trapped in magical eggs that Bowser has hidden throughout seven castles. Many hidden paths aid Mario in making his way to Bowser's castle, completing 74 areas and finding all 96 exits. Discover items, including a feather that gives Mario a cape that allows him to fly, or a flower that shoots fireballs in layers upon layers of 2-D scrolling landscapes. Players can even ride Yoshi and swallow their enemies.

VIGILANTE™ (TurboGrafx-16, 1 player, 600 Wii Points): Brave the streets of New York City in this side-scrolling beat-'em-up game. Thugs kidnap the beloved Madonna, and it's up to players to become vigilantes. Players fight their way into enemy territory to get her back. Enemies attack with weapons like iron pipes, chains, guns and motorcycles. To fight back, players can punch, kick or use the "nunchaku" item that appears in the stage. Players must use each of the attacks effectively to defeat their enemies. To clear a stage, defeat the boss that waits at the end. Players fight their way through exciting stages that include the City Streets, Junkyard, Brooklyn Bridge and the Backstreets.

Gain Ground™ (Sega Genesis, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points): It's the 31st century, and science and technology have progressed to the point that the human race is approaching perfection: no war, no poverty and no conflict. With nothing to worry about, the human race seems destined to live forever in harmony. But what if Earth came under attack? By this point in time, people did not know how to cope with problems or conflicts, and had completely lost their survival instincts. In response to this, the United Earth Government created the Gain Ground system, a war simulator that would help humans rediscover their lost instincts. After several terrible malfunctions, the creators became prisoners in their own creation. Now it's up to players and two courageous comrades to go into the Gain Ground system, rescue their fellow humans and destroy the system. Players battle through different periods in history as they revive their survival instincts, while trying to live.