This Week in Defunct Games - December 13, 2007

What Is It? Just in time for baseball's off season, Nintendo decides to upload Baseball Stars 2 to the Virtual Console. Baseball Star 2 is a cult classic among Neo Geo fans; it's an over-the-top arcade baseball game that featured good graphics and a loose control set-up. This game offers no frills or extras, it's pretty much just an arcade baseball game where you play a game and that's it. While there are a lot of people out there that love this game, I've never been able to look past some of the game's little quirks. I don't feel the camera moves fast enough and the game gets old real quick. I'll give you that the graphics are good (they still look remarkably good), but there isn't much of a game here. The good news is that this is a fantastic two-player game and it's easily the best Neo Geo game currently on the Virtual Console. If you're looking for a fun multiplayer baseball game for cheap then you can't go wrong with this arcade game. This is hardly the most realistic simulator you can buy, but it is the best 15 year old baseball game you can buy for $9.

Does It Still Hold Up? The game has some technical problems that are more noticeable now than ever before. But if you can get past these problems you will find that the game has held up well. There are definitely some problems I would love to see addressed (such as the speed of the camera and the out fielding), but this is still a solid baseball game. Perhaps there's a reason that so many people continue to love this game all these years later.

Is It Worth The Money? I have never been a huge fan of Baseball Stars 2, but even I was getting into it while playing through the game again. There are no frills or extras to speak of, but the game does have a great sense of style and solid controls. If you intend to play this with other people then this is $9 well spent, but everybody else should just use their money on something else. This isn't a good single-player game, so don't go into this looking for a lengthy season mode. Having said that, you can have a lot of fun with this game and it is easily the best baseball game on the Neo Geo (and Virtual Console).

What Is It? Unless you've never actually read this feature before (which is definitely possible), you should already know that I'm a huge fan of Capcom's Ghosts 'n Goblins series. You'll remember that I raved about Ghouls 'n Ghosts on the Genesis and Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts on the Super NES. I've been a huge supporter of the Maximo games and sometimes feel like the only person on the planet that enjoyed Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins. Heck, I even told you to check out Ghosts 'n Goblins for free on GameTap. Given all this information I bet you already know what I'm going to say about this NES port of Capcom's 21 year old game. I hate it. No, just kidding, I don't hate Ghosts 'n Goblins, but I would certainly concede that the original hasn't held up as well as its sequels. There are really two problems that people have with this game, one is generally the game's difficulty (which was frustratingly difficult at a time when all games were at least a little bit frustrating) and the lack of extra powers. The sequels would address the second concern (both Ghouls 'n Ghosts and Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts featured a wide assortment of weapons, armors and magics), but not the difficulty. Ghosts 'n Goblins is just a difficult franchise. My complaints with this version have nothing to do with the difficulty or lack of upgrades/weapons (though, I will admit that the lack of upgrades/armor does make this game feel just that much older), my concern has more to do with the fact that this is not a perfect port of the arcade game. Don't get me wrong, it's a close port, but it's not exact. And with GameTap allowing you to play the arcade game for free there's almost no reason to buy this downgraded NES port. Ghosts 'n Goblins is a fun game, but you're better off playing this one for free and buying the other two.

Does It Still Hold Up? In a lot of ways the platforming is timeless. The concept of running from left to right battling menacing bad guys is something we can all enjoy, even if the concept of a 2D action game is somewhat dated by today's standards. This simple joy is made all the more fun when you see our hero running around in his tidy whities. The game isn't without a few noticeable issues, such as sluggish controls and a serious lack of checkpoints. You're not going to confuse it with Call of Duty 4, but some people may be surprised at how well this game has held up considering its age.

Is It Worth The Money? I would say yes if a better version of this game wasn't already available for free on GameTap. Assuming that GameTap takes it down (it's bound to happen), $5 isn't too much to pay for what is a solid (although not perfect) port of one of the best arcade games of all time. I wouldn't buy this before the Genesis and Super NES games, but you could do a whole lot worse than Ghosts 'n Goblins.

What Is It? Pokemon Snap? Are you kidding me?? Okay, there's one thing you should know about me, I don't do Pokemon games. I can appreciate that Nintendo has a huge hit on their hands and can understand why so many people (mostly kids) are into this money making scheme, but I've never been bitten by the Pokemon bug (is there even a Pokemon bug?). Pokemon Snap is a bizarre game that defies all classification. Is it an action game? No, not really. And it's not really a combat game, either. Heck, I'm not sure what category I would put it in. The best way to describe Pokemon Snap is to say that it's a cross between Panzer Dragoon and one of those African Safari tours. Basically you ride around on rails and look for pokemons (pokemen?) hanging out in their normal habitat. The object of the game is to use your camera to take impressive shots of these wild Pokemon characters and then take them back to Professor Oak who will rate them. This surprisingly simple concept does have its charm and over time it evolves into something a little more entertaining, but it's not exactly the deepest game of the week (which is saying something when it's put up against Ghost 'n Goblins and Baseball Stars 2). Fans of Pokemon will probably find something to like about this game, but I got bored of the concept quickly.

Does It Still Hold Up? The concept is sound and the controls are solid, even if the game itself is a little too wacky for my own tastes. Unfortunately the game is short lived and there's almost no reason to come back to it once you're done. While this isn't the game for me, I don't see why fans of the series would be turned off by this eight year old game. The graphics are good and it's still fun to play, so I would definitely say it holds up well.

Is It Worth The Money? Unless you're a huge Pokemon fan and really must catch them all (on film) I would say skip this one. That's not to say that this is a bad game, but the game's pace and simple objectives will turn a lot of gamers off. This is a solid concept, but I'm not sure how much of a real game there is here. All in all, this is a release for the Pokemon fans, and there are definitely enough of those to make this upload worthwhile. The good news, I suppose, is that this Virtual Console game does something no other Virtual Console game does, it allows you to actually send pictures you've taken in-game to your Wii friends. Let's hope that more (and better) games get cool little additions like this in the future.

Every week I plan on taking a look at the classic games being uploaded on the GameTap service. Regardless of whether it's part of their free or premium service, GameTap offers a wide variety of old school games that is worth checking out. Here are the most recent games uploaded to their server, keep in mind that all of these games are free to play unless otherwise stated:

Motocross (Commodore 64) - On the surface Motorcross looks easy enough, but this deceptively difficult action game isn't as much fun as it could have been. The game is simple, you play a guy on an uncontrollable motocross bike. It's your job to jump over objects in your way and straighten out your bike so that you don't crash. All this would be great if the game was actually fun. The problem is that it's entirely too easy to crash in this game, so easy that you probably won't want to play once you've exhausted your five lives. This game is too much of a chore to be considered fun.

Pro Boxing Simulator (Commodore 64) - There is nothing "pro" about Pro Boxing Simulator. In this ancient sports game you play a boxy little character that must go up against increasingly harder opponents. This is a 2D button masher, the kind of game you will probably forget about only seconds after playing it. With a terrible control scheme and ugly graphics, it's hard to recommend Pro Boxing Simulator ... even as a free download.

Pro Skateboarding Simulator (Commodore 64) - After seeing what a disaster Pro Boxing Simulator was I was worried about this skateboarding game. Is this game any better than its boxing counterpart? Nope. In fact, Pro Skateboarding Simulator is even worse than Pro Boxing Simulator. Imagine a game that combines Marble Madness and 720 Degrees and you would be close to describing the painful experience you're about to have with this skateboarding game. This game's problem has more to do with the crummy controls; this game is just not fun to play. Worst yet, it's way too easy to accidentally run over something you can't skate on. This game is both frustrating and pointless. Don't download this game!