Altered Beast,  Saturday, 21 April 2007 Originally released as a pack-in game during the Sega Genesis' 1989 launch, Altered Beast is a flawed port of a great, classic arcade game. You play the role of a centurion who has been resurrected by the Greek god, Zeus. Your objective is to fight off demons and other creatures in order to save Zeus' daughter Athena from the clutches of an evil god named Neff.

The graphics in Altered Beast were considered extremely good for an arcade port in 1989, however when compared to it's arcade counterpart, the Genesis port has many glaring differences. The color and detail in the backgrounds is dull due to the Genesis' low color palette, and the sprites are much smaller then the arcade version due to processor constraints, and slow-down is often seen throughout the game. The sound is also lacking. The music and sound effects lack the full impact of the arcade version, the game's few voice clips are extremely low quality.

The gameplay in Altered Beast was unique for a side-scrolling beat'em up. As you progress through the game, dead enemies often release flying orbs. These orbs are power ups that your character can collect. As you gain strength, your abilities increase until you reach the point where your character will transform into a beast – a werewolf, dragon, bear, or tiger. The game's five levels are not very long, and most players will finish the game in no time at all.

Overall, the Genesis port of Altered Beast was great for it's time, however by today's standards this game just doesn't hold up in comparison to the arcade original. That said, many of us have fond memories of this game, regardless of it's quality. I can only hope that one day the Virtual Console will expand to include arcade games, so that we can enjoy Altered Beast in it's original form.

 Baseball,  Monday, 19 March 2007 When Baseball was released as a launch title for the Nintendo Entertainment System in the fall 1985, no decent baseball simulation existed. Baseball was Nintendo's attempt to attract non-gaming baseball fans to it's new game system, and it became one of the more popular games for the NES in the early days of it's life. Ironically, Baseball is also one of the weakest games to grace the NES.

The gameplay is shallow. Only batting and pitching is completely controlled by the player, and most of the fielding is done by the game's A.I. The player has the ability to bunt while batting, and can throw curveballs, fastballs, and change-ups with the d-pad.

The overall presentation in Baseball is basic. The graphics are reminiscent of older Atari games, and the sound is minimal: mostly beeps, boops, and other noises. Nintendo didn't have the MLB license for this game, thus the six teams available in this game are only generic recreations of popular teams.

If you are thinking of purchasing this game on the Virtual Console, please reconsider. Although this game is a classic, it's faults are reason enough to wait for a better NES game such as Bases Loaded...

 Bravoman,  Saturday, 21 April 2007 Originally released in Japanese arcades as “Beraboh Man” in 1988, Bravoman is a Turbografx-16 port of this unique plat-former. Bravoman is a bionic superhero who must defeat the evil Dr. Bomb before he destroys the world. Bravoman in many ways seems like a sub-par plat-former, however it's unusual comedic overtones make up for it's other shortcomings.

The graphics in Bravoman are not breathtaking, but the game includes detailed backgrounds with a lot of parallax scrolling, unique character designs, and a vibrant color palette. The major issue with the visuals is that the backgrounds are often repeated throughout the game's 22 stages, and become repetitive very quickly. The sound is okay, and fits in with the game, however the music is forgettable.

Bravoman has telescopic limbs which allows him to stretch out his arms and legs to great distances to attack enemies. Bravoman also has the ability to make high jumps, and can perform a special “Bravo Jump” which allows him to make a smaller secondary jump after doing a mid-air attack. There are a number of underwater stages included in the game. These stages take on the characteristics of a side-scrolling shooter, with Bravoman transforming into a submarine, and using projectiles to destroy enemies.

There are a lot of comedy throughout this game. Most notably are the interactions you can have with your friendly sidekick, Lottery Man. He comes to Bravoman's aid with power ups, health, and other items. Lottery Man also provides lottery tickets throughout the game which are redeemable for health power ups at the end of each level. If you attack him, he becomes increasingly irate, giving annoyed comments. If you hit him too much he will stop helping you. Bravoman also has interactions with various objects throughout the game, such as a telephone booth.

Bravoman is a unique, yet obscure game that many of you have most likely never experienced. It's appeal is short lived and probably not worth your Wii points, unless you're bored and you have points to burn.

 Donkey Kong,  Monday, 19 March 2007 Donkey Kong was one of the real gems of the arcade scene back in the early 80's. It offered an experience that arcade gamers had never scene before. It was the birth of the “platformer” genre of video games. The story was simple. A big dumb ape named Donkey Kong abducted a woman named Pauline, and it's up to a little Italian plumber named Mario to rescue her.

So, how does this NES port of the arcade hit fair? Not great. Circa 1986, this was probably considered a good arcade port. However, anyone who has experience with the arcade original can see glaring inaccuracies with the NES version.

The biggest problem with the NES port is that it doesn't feature all of the levels from the arcade version. The arcade game had four levels, the NES port only has three. The cut-scenes that were featured in between levels in the arcade is now gone in the NES port, and animation is much choppier in comparison to the arcade.

So what's good about the game? Luckily, the basic game-play that made Donkey Kong a hit in the arcade is still present. The music and sound effects were decently ported to the NES, albeit they sound different due to the NES's sound hardware.

Is this game a buy? No. My feeling is that Nintendo released these NES arcade ports like Donkey Kong to try to milk as much money out of these games before they make the real arcade games available for purchase on the Shop Channel. My advice would be to wait.

 Donkey Kong Jr.,  Monday, 19 March 2007 After the success of Donkey Kong in the arcades, Nintendo re-visted the “platformer” concept with the release of Donkey Kong Jr. in 1982. This time however, the tables were turned. Seeking revenge, Mario abducts Donkey Kong and places him in a makeshift prison. It is up to Donkey Kong's son, Junior, to save him from the “evil” Mario.

The big game-play element introduced in Donkey Kong Jr. are vines. Junior must climb and jump from vine to vine to complete each level, while avoiding enemies like crocs, birds, fire, and electricity. Of course, the standard variety of elements like moving platforms, springs, and big chasms are present to give Junior a challenge.

The graphics in Donkey Kong Jr. were ported over from the arcade quite well. More frames of animation were used this time, when compared to the NES port of the first Donkey Kong. The sound has also been ported to the NES quite well, however Donkey Kong Jr.'s soundtrack is not as memorable as Donkey Kong.

One of the biggest issues with the NES port of Donkey Kong was that the developers only completed three out of the four levels from the arcade. This isn't an issue in this sequel, as every arcade level has been ported over to the NES successfully.

Overall, Donkey Kong Jr. is a faithful NES port of the arcade sequel. To be honest, I'm a much bigger fan of the original Donkey Kong in the arcades. My advice would be to hold off on buying this. I'm almost positive that Nintendo will release the original arcade versions of these games on the Shop Channel at some point in the future.