Wonder Boy marks the first game available for the Sega Master System in the region. It’s an ok platformer that emphasizes racing through levels more than most other titles in the genre. The gameplay is pretty basic, though, with little variety. If you’re a fan of the series, you’re better off spending an extra $2 and downloading New Adventure Island (don’t even get me started about the odd naming differences) for the Turbo Grafx-16. While the gameplay has similar shortcomings, at least the graphics and sound are better.

North Americans also score a new Nintendo 64 game. Unfortunately, the quality control for this classic console takes a hit this time. Cruis’n USA was originally released when the N64 first came out, and it shows. The graphics manage to get the job done, the sound is just slightly above average, and racing is pretty boring overall. This arcade port looked bland and dated back in 1996. Twelve years later, it’s only worse.

It’s another historic landmark for the Virtual Console. VC fans from Europe to Australia and New Zealand are treated to games that represent the first computer system to be emulated on the Wii. The Commodore 64 was the best selling personal computer model of all-time, selling an impressive 30 million units between 1982 and 1994. Those sales are even more impressive when you consider that the World Wide Web project was not published until 1991—the C64 barely even witnessed the birth of the Internet.

The two launch titles for the C64 are Uridium, a unique shoot ‘em up where you can pilot your ship in three dimensions. International Karate is an early entry into the fighting genre. As big a retro gamer as I am, these two games simply have not aged well. The graphics and sound are quite primitive for Uridium, even by C64 standards. International Karate does better in those respects, but gameplay is determined by single hits on your opponent, which give you a number of points. After each hit, the competitors go back to their standard starting position. This leads to very halting gameplay.

Last up is Cruis’n USA for the Nintendo 64. So it’s a 64 update all around. While Cruis’n is a decent racing game, it pales in comparison to Mario Kart 64. Midway’s racer also features a pretty lousy soundtrack. Despite all the 64 titles released and the excitement of having a new format in the VC, I can’t really recommend any of these three new updates.

It’s a little known fact that Square, the developer king of RPGs, actually created one of the finest shoot ‘em ups ever: Einhander for the Playstation 2, released in 1998. An even littler known fact is that Square’s first foray into that genre was King’s Knight for the NES. Nine years (considering U.S. release dates) separated the two titles, and it’s not hard to see why Square specialized in RPGs. King’s Knight left a foul taste in the mouths of players while Final Fantasy pleasantly surprised everyone—even Square! After all, Square called it “Final” because they believed that it was their swan song as a developer. In short: avoid King’s Knight, but know that Square has proven its ability to create an awesome shoot ‘em up.

Powerball for the Genesis is one of the precious few sports titles available on the VC; it’s best described as Rugby/American football meets soccer. The execution of this concept, however, fails to excel in any particular category. The overhead view doesn’t make the action particularly exciting, and the sound in the game is average at best. Looking at the graphics, the sprites and animation get the job done but are far from remarkable. On the plus side, there is a two-player mode. Nevertheless, this title doesn’t save this update from being totally doomed to walking the plank.

Yet another solo update, but I’m okay since high quality balances out the lack of quantity. Mega Turrican is an excellent run 'n gun game for the Genesis. It's not quite up to Gunstar Heroes quality, but what is? Unlike the SNES's Super Turrican, Mega Turrican more closely resembles the original Turrican, emphasizing exploration over linear platforming. Like the SNES version, Mega Turrican includes the Metroidesque roll ball and Bionic Commando-inspired grappling hook. Graphically, the game looks pretty fantastic with detailed pixels and vibrant colors. Factor 5 doesn't reach the same standard with music and sound, though. The game's score is simple and repetitive, and the sound effects don't have much oomph. Whether you go with this version or the SNES one is a tough call, but I think that the latter has the edge, so I'm giving this one a big smiley face rather than the full two thumbs up.

Normally, there isn’t an exciting story to tell about console sales data, but I’m going to try anyway.  News reports on February’s U.S. console sales surprised me, because the Playstation 2 actually ended up in second place, beating out both its successor and the Xbox 360.  Seeing the PS2 continue to sell so amazingly well even 15+ months after the next gen console war began in earnest made me wonder: Just how well has the PS2 fared overall since all three next gen consoles hit the market in late 2006?  Some compulsive cutting and pasting from VGChartz helped me produce this:

February was not a fluke.  Since all three next gen systems hit the market, Playstation 2 has maintained a lead in overall sales over the 360 and PS3.  Here are the exact numbers for total sales over the above time period:

Wii      –      22,081,953
PS2     –      14,035,430
360      –      11,791,312
PS3     –      10,324,582

Not only did PS2 secure the number two slot, but it did so definitively, beating out the next closest competitor by over two million units.  There was even a short time span in late 2006 to early 2007 when the PS2 enjoyed a slim lead over the nigh-unstoppable Wii.  That a supposedly obsolete eight-year old system and an underpowered console many have referred to as “two Gamecubes duck-taped together” maintain substantial leads over their more powerful rivals suggests that consumers are approaching the market with a less-is-more attitude, and that Microsoft and Sony’s emphasis on raw power may be seriously misplaced.  Should this trend continue, it will be a major upset over all previous console wars, where more powerful or at least comparably powerful machines won out.

The Japanese get spoiled in quantity for the bazillionth time, but there isn’t really a standout, awesome game in the bunch. Let’s start with the two puzzle games. Bomberman: Panic Bomber for the Turbo Grafx-16 CD is a Puyo Puyo clone that doesn’t significantly improve on the original recipe. One cool feature is 5-player simultaneous battles, but without a have gigantic TV, you have to really squint. Clearly, Super Gussun Oyoyo for the Super Nintendo is the superior choice. It’s a cute, well-done mishmash of Lemmings and Tetris, where pieces fall from the top of the screen and you need to maneuver them into place to safely get Oyoyo—is that his name?—to the exit.

In addition, there’s the obligatory shoot ‘em up (Mr. Heli no Daibouken for the TG-16) and a beat ‘em up (Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-kun for the NES). Mr. Heli is a clever and unusual take on a genre that often gets pigeonholed. You pilot a goofy little copter, scrolling horizontally and vertically through levels, blasting rocks to reveal crystals that you can use at shops to buy power-ups. Finally, there’s Technos’ Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-kun (a.k.a. Renegade). It’s a decent brawler by NES standards, but the controls are pretty loose and it’s merely a warm-up to River City Ransom, or if you prefer, Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari.

How do you follow up the awesome import-packed update from last week? Nintendo’s answer, apparently, is to not even try. In fact, you should probably just save your Wii points and stop reading now. What we have here is a crusty old NES game called Spelunker and Super R-Type for the—surprise, surprise—Super Nintendo. Spelunker is an old school cavern crawling platformer that shares many similarities with Pitfall. It has the look and sounds of a 1st generation NES game, and The game wasn’t very well received or remarkable even by 1987 video game standards.

Super R-Type is an amalgamation of R-Type and R-Type II, favoring the latter. Surprisingly, the level design isn’t as compelling as the original R-Type. Plus, you can already download R-Type III, which is superior in every respect. On top of the extreme difficulty—something that doesn’t usually bother me in shoot ‘em ups—the jarring jolts in gameplay from hardware-induced slowdown to normal speed add a very unwelcome extra layer of challenge. Stick with the other two Virtual Console R-Type titles.

After watching North American gamers get hooked up with a sweet duo of Japanese import games, European VC fans are faced with this shattering disappointment. Though Operation Wolf was great in the arcade, the NES port was terrible. But get this, the Wii version manages to be even worse, because you’re stuck using the joypad to move your gun cursor, while the NES version supported the zapper. Operation Wolf is definitely one of the worst titles in the entire VC library.

You’d think that Super R-Type for the Super Nintendo could save the day, or at least mollify the wretchedness emanating for that bastardized light gun game. After all, R-Type is one of the greatest and most iconic shoot ‘em up franchises. Despite “super” being in the name, this R-Type is known primarily for three things: poor performance (slowdown and flicker), and insane difficulty (no checkpoints during levels, not even after you get to the boss). With the superior original R-Type and R-Type III already available, you’d have to be a rabid fanboy of the series or a sadomasochist to download this not-so-super title.