Digital Distribution Thread (Collection, Updates, and Sales!)

[Gaia]

I already know about that part (and beat it via Gens), I was referring to any other JP once-was exclusives I'd like to know more info about them, not Pulseman.

[Jericho]

Pulseman? O.O

DO [tornado fang]ing WANT. Also, this gives me hope for a VC release of Mystery at Murasame Castle for some reason.

[HyperSonicEXE]

I've finally gotten a chance to sit down and beat Pulseman, and I can tell that proper design was floating around in the back of someone's head when this was being planned and programmed (but with only a few heads working on it, not all of that essential knowledge came in to play). Imagine, if you will, a Mega Man X game wherein you have access to a powerful buster shot and an out-of-control Falcon Armor hover, but only after running for a while or dashing by forward tap twice.

That is the essence of this game. When you build speed, you will build up an electric charge and have access to more than just a forward slash, a crouchkick, and an upward acrobatic-kick (which has a great number of invincibility frames, making the final boss a snap). If you attack, you get a distance-shot. If you press A, you get the all-powerful Volteccer, making you pinball around the level (but if you go too far without hitting a wall or obstacle, you'll lose steam and fall vulnerably).

Which is good, because you don't have a downward midair attack, an attack you'll wish you had the most. However, if it turns out there was no ground below you anyway, then your bacon is saved, because Volteccer automatically goes upward, and if you grab a Volt Power-Up, you have an unlimited charge until you exit that screen, so you can just keep using Volteccer and power up and out of everything. You have 2 real hits you can take, as indicated by your communicator in the top-left corner of the screen: Blue->HIT->Yellow->HIT->Red->LAST HIT->Lose a Life. You can recover energy by either collecting a Life Power-Up (recovers 1 hit) or 10 Sludge Balls (full health and a 1-Up). You get 5 Credits/continues.

Once you get the mechanics down, this game is quite fun. But there are 3 annoyances to the game:
1. Discerning. Early boss hitboxes are nigh indeterminable and there is no lifebar; it's trial-and-error until you can figure out how to hit them, and where you can hit them, and then vice versa (how and where they'll hit you or if you'll take collision damage). Thankfully the bosses are straight-forward, no specific weakpoints that you have to hit at a certain time or else they use a devastating counter-attack. Determining what is a platform and what is not can also be a bit tricky given the way-out colors and shapes.
2. Pacing. There are only 7 stages, so they are a bit long since the developers wanted to make sure the customer got their money's worth; it actually decreased the playability of the game. On top of that, there are instances in each level where zipping through is simply not possible, and you must crawl at a snail's pace to avoid open-bottom doom. And there are points-focused Bonus Stages at the end of each level to make your wait drag on even further.
3. Proportions. The best platformers have small(er) characters with a wider amount of stage space than what Pulseman offers. SMB, Gunstar Heroes, Mega Man: all of these have characters that measure up to maybe 1/6 or 1/8 of the screen's height. Pulseman takes up anywhere from 1/5 to 1/4 of an already-limited viewing range (typical Genesis platformer). For example, Stage 6 has a Mega Man-fan nightmare section where you must fall down through water (Pulseman can't do his special moves in the water, nor can he fall straight down from a jump) that is littered with spike balls and enemies below you that you cannot see in time to avoid; you must use a general sense of predicting stage design or memorize in order to survive.

There is no save feature; fortunately, the Wii creates save states when you quit the game through the Wii Menu rigmarole. Although the voices are in English, sadly, the game's text is not translated, but I hear there is an English patch for, eh, backup copies, so someone must have a script. Which leads me to a rave; the game doesn't even need instruction. It's so intuitive, I've picked up on a number of maneuvers already. And the difficulty? So far, it hasn't been too lenient or too demanding. In fact, if you land on spikes after exiting the Volteccer attack, you still have a second or so before getting hit. Pat that programmer on the back. Being a Sega Genesis game, though, it ramps up later. The first half of Stage 7 is a retro-arcade side-scroller, but once again, you're not given much time to react considering that you must have a slight running start to get a decent jump (by the way, the jump mechanics are very wonky).

Story, music, graphics: all above par compared to other Sega Genesis games. The story's shallow, but the irony keeps it intriguing. The music, as you might expect, has a techno feel to it, with a touch of ambiance. Actually, the graphics were extremely well-done; it's that sort of "Square(soft)[-Enix] pushing the hardware to its limits" quality. There is some slowdown, but only on the rare occasion that you break a lot of boxes. And as far as replay value, there might be some. The first few levels are down-and-dirty enough that you might get hooked back into the game.

For all that the game does wrong, it can be worked around with some patience, and it's nothing to platforming veterans. I attribute that to the number of people who made this game; you actually could count the different names, heck, the Special Thanks had about as many names as the rest of the development team. The Pulseman world is so specific and cheesy that it isn't that marketable as-is. But if they updated the concept and added 2P play, it could very well be the TMNT of the Anime world; the game has the same penchant for city backgrounds and "other worlds", not to mention the villains seem like they could crossover a bit. With so much room for improvement, a well-made sequel with at the very least some 2P co-op with the Bethany character would make this series a viable and fresh IP. So, to the game that made Game Freak recognizable long before Pokemon stormed the world:

Pulseman Final Review Score:
8.5/10

[VixyNyan]

I got 3 new games. Two for PC Engine and one for Wii Ware. ^^

If you're a fan of Ys, you will like the two games that Nihon Falcom made.

Kaze no Densetsu Xanadu / Legend of the Wind: Xanadu

Kaze no Densetsu Xanadu II / Legend of the Wind: Xanadu II

And the Wii Ware game. It's a cute strategy card battle. x3

Hirameki Card Battle: Mekuruka

[HyperSonicEXE]

http://protodudesrockmancorner.blogspot.com/2009/07/virtual-console-on-way-out.html

This is an outrage.

Everyone, e-mail these SOB's, and get them off of their duffs.

That, or it'll be HOMEBREW CENTRAL.

[Irgendein]

http://protodudesrockmancorner.blogspot.com/2009/07/virtual-console-on-way-out.html

The very little respect I had left for Nintendo has now turned into hatred (moreso Nintendo of America)

[HyperSonicEXE]

I'm keeping my eye on the Homebrew scene, now. I'm tired of having 4:3 only, no online play, no lightgun games, this is just ridiculous.

And they're wondering WHY the VC doesn't do as well? WELL GEEEEEEE, let's think about it for a sec!

[The Drunken Dishwasher]

VC

NES
-Super Mario Bros.3
-Kid Icarus
-Castlevania
-Ninja Gaiden

SNES
-Donkey Kong Country
-Donkey Kong Country 2
-Super Metroid

N64
-Sin and Punishment
-Super Mario 64

Wiiware
-Megaman 9 w/ current DLC~
Added: NyxQuest

[Hypershell]

I'm keeping my eye on the Homebrew scene, now. I'm tired of having 4:3 only, no online play, no lightgun games, this is just ridiculous.

And they're wondering WHY the VC doesn't do as well? WELL GEEEEEEE, let's think about it for a sec!

And despite Nintendo's complete disregard for the emulation of peripherals (to say nothing of handheld games), they probably blame it all on HBC's emulators.  Hey, when a bunch of guys working for free out of their basement offer more accurate emulation than Nintendo themselves, what do they expect?

But poor performance is poor performance, whether there's a substitute available or not.  That's the main reason I never downloaded OoT on VC, the Stone of Agony is rendered useless (and what the hell is with the Mirror Shield and political correctness?).  And there isn't even a really playable HBC alternative, either (Wii64 is still young, we're hopeful), so yeah, it's not because someone else is doing it better/cheaper.  It's because they're just half-assed.

[Police Girl]

Small new update recently. The Internet Channel got an update and has now become available for 0 Wii points. However, Nintendo is generous to us who bought it with $5, as we get a free NES game at the end of October. Doesn't sound like a bad deal to me.

[VixyNyan]

In Japan, the same refund offer applies, and Nintendo is providing more opportunities for free Virtual Console games. Since early this year, Nintendo of Japan has offered 500-point bonuses to Wii owners for helping others get online. Starting October 21, Nintendo will expand this program with new rewards: those who achieve "Helper Meister 10" status (by helping 10 others connect) will gain access to every Nintendo-published Famicom game. "Helper Meister 20" will unlock all Virtual Console games on every platform! That should get people going door to door.

I really wish I could help 20 people go online.

[Police Girl]

Gah, that would be a lovely thing for the US to do. but most of us don't have Wii's.

[VixyNyan]

Kirby Super Star/Deluxe is coming to Japan VC in October~ </Wii>

[Jericho]

JP VC > US VC and that's just sad at this point.

[VixyNyan]

Wait, I forgot to show proof. ^^;
http://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/vc/lineup.html

星のカービィスーパーデラックス 2009年10月
Hoshi no Kaabii: Suupaa Derakkusu

[Police Girl]

Whats the point of that if its out on the DS? It would be like Nintendo putting Chrono Trigger on the VC.

Though I guess for a cheaper price point... 

[HyperSonicEXE]

And on the Wii for those that don't have DS'.

[VixyNyan]

Nicalis and Deceased Crab talking about Cave Story Wii, because it hasn't been released yet.

Posted on: October 12, 2009, 15:34:44Look what I got along with Kirby Super Star~

[CephiYumi]

red slipper ryu! 

[VixyNyan]

"Funny thing...you're the fourth person to ask this question in the span of a week. We recently had a meeting with Nintendo and one of the things we discussed was getting some more of our classic NES and SNES games out on Virtual Console"

Shadow of the Ninja, Shatterhand, Pocky & Rocky, Wild Guns, The Ninja Warriors, Power Rangers, Lufia II!

YES!! Someone please hold me~!

Siliconera
GoNintendo

[Acid]

VERY Good news!

[Irgendein]

NES:
Donkey Kong
Kirby's Adventure
Lode Runner
Mega Man
Mega Man 2
Mega Man 3
Metroid
Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario Bros. 2/USA
Super Mario Bros. 3
The Legend of Zelda

SNES:
Donkey Kong Country
Donkey Kong Country 2
Donkey Kong Country 3
Super Mario World
Super Metroid
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

Nintendo 64:
Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
Super Smash Bros.

WiiWare:
Mega Man 9
Mega Man 10

Extra Channels:
Internet Channel

Homebrew:
Bash the Castle
CosmoRaketti
SD The Great Battle: Arutanaru Chousen (SFC)
The Great Battle II: Last Fighter Twin (SFC)
The Great Battle III (SFC)
The Great Battle IV (SFC)
The Great Battle V (SFC)
Mega Man and Bass (SFC w/ English Patch)
Mega Man 4 (NES)
Mega Man 5 (NES)
Mega Man 6 (NES)
Mega Man 7 (SNES)
Mega Man X3 (SNES)
Mega Man: The Wily Wars (MD)
Metroid Fusoin (GBA)
Metroid: Zero Mission (GBA)
StillAliveWii
Super Casltevania IV (SNES)
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (SNES)
Super Mario War
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (SNES)
The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (GBA)
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (NES)

GameCube Backups (DVD-R)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban*
Mega Man X Collection
The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Master Quest
The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker

*Burnt by me, but meant for someone else

[Police Girl]

What should I get for free game day? I'm having issues thinking of a game to get...

[VixyNyan]

Sonic & Knuckles is coming on Tuesday in Japan, and TBA worldwide.
Hm, now I wonder how the Sonic 1-3 lock-on will work. A menu maybe? ^^ </wii>

Posted on: October 24, 2009, 14:03:57Lock-On Menu get~

[Hypershell]

Nice to see that for once somebody didn't half-ass their way through VC features.  I'm honestly surprised Nintendo allowed anything that in-depth considering their laziness with peripherals.

Of course, I lack Shop Channel access for fear of the 4.2 update [tornado fang]ing with my Boot2.  >.>  WAY TO BOOST YOUR BUSINESS, NINTENDO.

Whats the point of that if its out on the DS?

They already did that for Super Mario 64 (not to mention every other Mario game sans RPG is on GBA).  And even though SM64DS is infinitely superior (you get through the worst of D-Pad conversion after World 2), the original on VC still holds its spot in the Most Popular list.

Power Rangers

Ah, memories...  That boss theme kicked so much ass.