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This week's VC releases: Mach Rider, Yoshi, and Air Zonk photo

Nintendo brings fans another rousing round of classics with this week's Virtual Console releases. Mach Rider (NES, 1 player, 500 Wii Points), Yoshi (NES, 1-2 players, 500 Wii Points), and Air "Zonk" (TurboGrafx-16, 1 Player, 600 Wii Points) should on the Wii Shop Channel by the time you're reading this. 

While there's nothing particularly wrong with these titles, this really could have been the week that Nintendo busted out all of the classics gamers have been itching for. What better time to do it than the week of E3? We already know Nintendo is itching to pat themselves on the back at this week's E3 press conference, and they've earned it. But in discussing the success of their online services, what are they going to say?

"And we've been delivering the classics that gamers young and old have been hungry for. From the core gamer to the more casual player that we've brought back into the living room, the response to the Wii Shop Channel has been tremendous. Just this week, for example, we released the classic NES title, Mach Rider."

Yeah -- that doesn't quite have the same ring as say, "We just owned your a**es this week with Paper Mario, Super Metroid, and Super Mario Bros. 3!"  Maybe next year.

Think you've got what it takes to be a hero? Prove it with these three heroic games, available this week on the Wii Shop Channel. Whether you're rescuing Mario's dinosaur pal from an eggshell or battling to protect the planet from evil invaders, the future is in your hands.

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

Mach Rider(R) (NES(R), 1 player, Rated E for Everyone, 500 Wii Points): It's the year 2112. Earth has been invaded by the forces of evil. Battle the invaders as you race from sector to sector on your motorcycle, searching for survivors. Feel the incredible sense of speed as you zip past evil Quadrunners and zigzag between treacherous rocks, oil spills and other obstacles on the course. For a different challenge, create your own course in Design Mode, using the various twists, turns and straightaways the game has to offer. Remember, you are Earth's only hope-you are Mach Rider.

Yoshi(R) (NES, 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone, 500 Wii Points): Yoshi is an action/puzzle game starring Mario's dinosaur buddy, Yoshi(TM), who has been imprisoned in an egg. Now it's raining Goombas, Bloopers and Boo Buddies, and you have to help Mario(TM) stop the airborne invasion. As the critters fall, catch them on trays. Stack two of a kind and they both disappear, or capture the whole bunch in between eggshells. When the eggshells match, out hatches Yoshi and up goes your score. The action heats up as the characters fall faster and faster. To save the day, switch and shuffle, and don't let your piles get too high.

Air "Zonk"  (TurboGrafx16, 1 player, Rated E for Everyone - Mild Cartoon Violence, 600 Wii Points): Air "Zonk" is a spin-off of the popular Bonk's Adventure series. This side-scrolling shooter retains the same cartoonish style of Bonk but is set in a cyberpunk future. The powered-up "Zonk" gathers his friends to form Team Cool, and they set out to stop King Drool's plan to conquer the world. Choose from three levels of difficulty and three Friend Modes. Shoot King Drool's cyber-robots and avoid their attacks while collecting the Air Bones to unleash a variety of unique attacks. Combine with a friend to create an invincible hybrid form or blast enemies with a charged attack. Air "Zonk" is filled with humor, made evident by the wacky theme song that plays when you post a huge score or when your game is over.

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18 comments | showing # 1 to 18

BahamutZero's Avatar
BahamutZero at 07/09/2007 09:22
cmon nick they already released urban champion. what more do you want
Joseph Leray's Avatar
Joseph Leray at 07/09/2007 09:24
Not to mention Bloody Wolf.
Nick Chester's Avatar
Nick Chester at 07/09/2007 09:25
I already beat Urban Champion on Legendary -- I NEED MORE!
Snaileb 's Avatar
Snaileb at 07/09/2007 09:30
Mach Rider or Rad Racer?
Rockvillian's Avatar
Rockvillian at 07/09/2007 09:38
Rad Racer has more radical music
Mxyzptlk's Avatar
Mxyzptlk at 07/09/2007 09:49
Mach Rider had more Mach Riding though.
Rockvillian's Avatar
Rockvillian at 07/09/2007 10:04
yeah well..

okay, Mach Rider
Nick Chester's Avatar
Nick Chester at 07/09/2007 10:11
Machssault
NCAA Mach Madness 2008
Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mach of the Minis
Machximo (a BBL favorite)
Holyetheline's Avatar
Holyetheline at 07/09/2007 11:00
Where are all the good games?
nosinging's Avatar
nosinging at 07/09/2007 11:00
the thing that bothers me is not simply how unappealing these games are, but how long it'll take to actually get all the games I want. at 3 a week from a variety of consoles, it'll take roughly 10 years to get most of the games that exist for the systems, and it seems like they're just randomly dropping selecting crap. Anyone know how the decision process goes?
BluDesign's Avatar
BluDesign at 07/09/2007 11:29
@nosinging

From looking at the process it goes something like this.

NES: Cocktease at launch, then bore, bore, bore, Urban Champion and Tennis, bore, bore, bore, cocktease with 3rd party, then bore with 3rd party, and then this week, tepid release.

TG-16: After plucking all the gems out by Feb, they're scraping the underside of the trashcan to find shit like JJ and Jeff and "Shit you've never heard of" 20X-ty X!

N64: First Party magical games only. Act like 3rd party bailed on you since Rare won't come to the table

Genesis: Release 1 really good game a month, and then dredge up bad TG-16 knockoffs the rest of the time.

SNES: All awesome games, but if we have to choose a really successful new IP over a sequel, go with the sequel. Also, once a quarter, release/rehash a title that's already available on the VC in some fashion.

And I snuck a peek at their plans for NeoGeo, too.

NeoGeo: Release Samurai Showdown # once a month, Release Final Fight/Guilty Gear # once a month, but never both. Puzzle Bobble gets released once a month, repackaged as the same game with no changes.

Seriously, I hope Nintendo has some plans about 3rd party action on the VC, because for all the hoo-hah about having 3rd parties line up to dish out content on this thing, so far it's been mostly Tecmo and a small, SMALL amount from Konami, Namco, and Capcom. Where's freakin' Metal Gear? Or MegaMan in the US? Strider? Bionic Commando?

I hope people at Nintendo are going to start taking the VC a bit more seriously and get some higher quality stuff out, or at least establish a bit more rudimentary schedule of what to expect and when to expect it.

I'd love to even have announced batch days. Like Sega Monday or NES Day, or hell, N64 Month! That'd be nice, at least that way we could anticipate that the whole of that day would be specific to a platform. Or even sneak us and tell us that there's going to be X amount of NES games coming this month so I try to avoid getting psyched over TG-16 junk releases.
BluDesign's Avatar
BluDesign at 07/09/2007 11:32
And you know what, all Nintendo has to do for me on the N64 support is just get Turok 1&2 and Shadows of the Empire up on the VC and I'll shut up about N64 entirely.

I know their hands are tied on Rare software. If it wasn't so, they could add Banjo Kazooie and Goldeneye to that list.
LostCrichton's Avatar
LostCrichton at 07/09/2007 11:38
Isn't Japan getting Paper Mario this week? where the hell is our copy???
BluDesign's Avatar
BluDesign at 07/09/2007 11:42
Dammit. Okay, Nintendo released Super Mario Brothers 2 in May on the VC. The original SMB2, not the one we got here in the US. This one needs to come out over here. I want to play this.
Coonskin05's Avatar
Coonskin05 at 07/09/2007 11:56
If they released Earthbound on the VC, I would come.
Mxyzptlk's Avatar
Mxyzptlk at 07/09/2007 14:00
I want Wave Race 64.
Cocca's Avatar
Cocca at 07/09/2007 14:34
Where my NBA JAM!!
umrain's Avatar
umrain at 07/09/2007 23:11
I will probably be waiting forever for Startropics and Pocky & Rocky.
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