This week's VC releases: Bub, Bob, David, Cathy, and Roddy say 'Happy New Year!'

8:14 AM on 12.31.2007   |   Nick Chester

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According to Nintendo's official press release, "you've got some outrageous new options" for New Year's Eve. For your sake, I certainly hope that none of your options are playing Virtual Console games by yourself this evening. At least two of today's Virtual Console options support two player cooperative, and along with a bottle of sparkling cider and some party horns, might make for a decent New Year's Eve.

Taito's Bubble Bobble (NES, 1-2 players, 500 Wii Points) is the first, putting you in control of Bub and Bob in 100 stages of bubble-trapping and bubble-popping action. A fight might break out over the SNK side-scroller, Top Hunter (Neo-Geo, 1-2 players, 900 Wii Points) -- who are you going to control: Roddy or Cathy? Do you really want to deal with this kind of stress on New Year's Eve? No friends? No problem -- Treasure's only role-playing game, Light Crusader (Genesis, 1 player, 800 Wii Points) will be available today as well, for those who prefer to pop open the bubbly alone on New Year's Eve.

All games should be live at 9 a.m. Pacific time, so set your clocks accordingly. I done copy and pasted that there press release after the jump, in case your into that kind of thing.

WII-KLY UPDATE: THREE NEW CLASSIC GAMES ADDED TO WII SHOP CHANNEL

December 31, 2007 - What are you doing New Year's Eve? Thanks to the Wii™ Shop Channel, you've got some outrageous new options. This week's classic game additions offer brilliant fantasy and crackling action to help you ring in '08. So if you haven't made any New Year's resolutions yet, allow us to suggest a few: pop more bubbles, battle more medieval beasts and try to save the universe a little more often.

Three new classic games go live at 9 a.m. Pacific time. Nintendo adds new games to the Wii Shop 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:

BUBBLE BOBBLE® (NES®, 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone, 500 Wii Points): BUBBLE BOBBLE's release in 1986 introduced the two bubble dragons, Bub and Bob, and brand new play mechanics, with players defeating enemies by trapping them in bubbles and then popping them. Although the puzzle-action game can be beaten by clearing all 100 rounds, it also contains secret elements such as not being able to get the "true ending" in single-player mode; hidden commands that lead to secret rounds; and a ton of different items. These elements are some of the game's most memorable and important features. Each round even has different air currents that are not visible, so bubbles rise in unpredictable patterns. Aspects like forcing players to understand and utilize these different patterns while playing help make this a revolutionary game that is fun to play anytime.

Light Crusader™ (Genesis, 1 player, Rated E for Everyone-Animated Violence, 800 Wii Points): Each day, more good townspeople of Green Row have been mysteriously disappearing, and beleaguered King Weeden summons the knight Sir David to investigate. Armed with his wits and his sword, Sir David must find the cause of this strange evil and save the citizens of Green Row before things get any worse. Take the role of the brave knight in this action RPG and get to the bottom of the mysteries of Green Row as you fight enemies, solve puzzles and use your best combination of brains and brawn to save the kingdom.

TOP HUNTER (NEOGEO, 1-2 players, Rated E10+ for Everyone 10 and older-Cartoon Violence, 900 Wii Points): Take on the role of either Roddy or Cathy, bounty hunters in this side-scrolling action game set far in the future when humans have colonized space. But all is not well: Space pirates called the Klaptons are making their way through the galaxies, wiping out peaceful settlements along their path. This disgraceful behavior leads to them having a price on their heads, so now Roddy and Cathy must travel through four distinct worlds on a mission to defeat their leader, Captain Klapton. Both characters have retractable arms-used to grab enemies or other objects in the scenery-that can then be thrown at others to destroy them. Also, be on the lookout for rings or levers to pull, as this might reveal special bonuses. Further adding to the mix, the game uses a unique system where the action happens on two planes, with the player switching between them at will. Can you prove yourself worthy of the Top Hunter name and help save the universe?