This Week in Defunct Games - October 2, 2008

What Is It? Remember earlier this year when it seemed like every week there was a new Turrican game being uploaded to the Virtual Console? First it was Super Turrican for the Super NES and then it was Mega Turrican for the Sega Genesis. Well, apparently now it's time for Super Turrican 2 for the Super NES. Despite the title, Super Turrican 2 is actually the fifth Turrican game ... don't ask. This is still a 2D side-scrolling shooter along the lines of Contra and Gunstar Heroes. Turrican's gimmick is that it has always featured enormous levels that required you to explore. Unfortunately this second Super NES game limits the levels, offering considerably smaller areas with less extras to discover. As a trade we are given strange Mode 7 effects, which may have looked cool 13 years ago, but ultimately add nothing to the gameplay. Super Turrican 2 does offer some cool bosses and a lot of action, but it's not different enough from the other shooters to warrant much excitement.

Does It Still Hold Up? The gameplay is smooth and there's always action, so I would say that this game holds up rather nicely. Then again, by 1995 everybody knew exactly how to make a rock solid shoot-em-up, it's the one thing every developer had done a thousand times before. Super Turrican 2 doesn't break much new ground, but at least the controls are good.

Is It Worth The Money? Does this mean that we're going to be seeing the release of Mega Turrican 2 next week? Now this is the kind of game I want to be able to recommend, but I have always been perplexed as to why Factor 5 made the changed they did. The smaller levels aren't nearly as interesting and the power-ups are kind of bland. Aren't most sequels supposed to be better than the first game? Sadly this is just a retread where Factor 5 took out everything that was good about the first game. This isn't a terrible shoot-em-up, but it also isn't as good as the two other Turrican games already on the Virtual Console.

What Is It? I'm going to confess something that will probably annoy and frustrate all of my PC-loving friends: I never got the appeal of the Duke Nukem character. Oh sure, I can appreciate the ridiculousness of the stories and how over-the-top everything was, it was a breath of fresh air in a world of dark hell-based first-person shooters. But at the same time I always found the humor juvenile at best and the character rather unappealing. To this day I don't understand why anybody would get worked up over Duke Nukem Forever, so maybe I'm not the right guy to talk about this recent Xbox Live Arcade release. However, while going through it again I realized that there is a good game hiding behind all of that moronic humor. There are certainly elements that haven't held up well, but it's nice to see that what made the original game so memorable is still largely intact. On top of a solid port, this Duke Nukem also features online co-op play and a replay editor. If you can get over some strange level designs and some hit and miss humor, Duke Nukem 3D will be well worth the $10 asking price.

Does It Still Hold Up? Duke Nukem 3D surprised me in a lot of ways, especially when it came to how well it held up over time. This game pioneered a number of first-person shooter cliches that we are still using to this day, and yet somehow these devices don't feel overplayed when you're playing this dated action game. The graphics could use some work, but Duke Nukem 3D manages to hold up rather nicely.

Is It Worth The Money? If you're one of those people who has fond memories of Duke Nukem 3D, then this is a must-own for you. The online support and cool Xbox Live features really add a lot to this action game. Those of us who don't have nostalgia for this character may also way to check it out, if only because you may find that you have a new appreciation for this character and the adventure he goes on. Even if you hate it you're only out ten bucks. This is yet another solid release for the Xbox Live Arcade, proving yet again that Microsoft's download service is outpacing their standard disc-based market this year. Now where is that Duke Nukem Forever game I keep hearing about?

What Is It? It's funny, there used to be a time when people cringed at the very thought of another Mega Man game. It was an on-running joke; everybody knew that Capcom's wellbeing relied heavily on the sales of Mega Man. Yet here we are just a few years later and everybody is suddenly excited about this brand new Mega Man game. Talk about a strange world. Of course, there's a reason for these people to be excited. This isn't just another Mega Man game; it's the first "8-bit" Mega Man game in almost 15 years. Mega Man 9 does exactly what it sets out to accomplish, it provides you with the same kind of experience you would have had on the Nintendo Entertainment System twenty years ago. There are no fancy graphics here; there is just carefully crafted levels, fun bosses and 8-bit imperfects (sprite flicker, etc.). Of course, this kind of game isn't for everybody. If you weren't a fan of the original Mega Man games then this isn't going to change your mind, this was made specifically for those people that grew up loving Capcom's adorable blue robot. This is yet another fantastic downloadable game coming from Capcom this year.

Does It Still Hold Up? This is without a doubt the best playing Mega Man game, though that may depend on which format you decide to buy it for. Instead of taking everything that was introduced in the first eight games, Mega Man 9 takes the series back to the basics. By doing this the game feels a lot simpler, almost clean. Some may complain that there isn't enough in this game, but it's hard to deny its appeal.

Is It Worth The Money? While it's not the second coming of The Summer of Arcade, the last two weeks have been especially strong. No matter which version you buy, Mega Man 9 is good old-fashioned fun. Just be warned, the game is incredibly difficult. We're talking about control through the TV hard. With plenty of cool levels and some nice replay value, Mega Man 9 is definitely worth your $10. I can only hope that this is just the beginning of 8-bit sequels, I wouldn't mind seeing the next Contra or Castlevania done in this style.

Still not satisfied with what you're getting on the Virtual Console and Xbox Live Arcade? Then maybe you should head on over to GameTap! With more than 100 free games currently available, GameTap is one of the best places to play classic games! And every week they are adding brand new titles to the service, including old school games for the Genesis, Neo Geo, Commodore 64 and much, much more. Won't you join us as we take a look at what's going on this week over at GameTap!

Okay, so I missed last week's big news because I was in San Francisco playing Saints Row 2. Apparently GameTap was bought by another company, which means that I'll continue to cover this unique download service. Oh, and they also uploaded a couple of games that I didn't get a chance to play. Last week GameTap offered paying subscribers Fallout 2 ... which I could have sworn was already on the GameTap service. But don't worry Fallout fans, even if you aren't a GameTap subscriber you can still go back through the original Fallout for free. These are both top notch games, so make sure and bone up on your Fallout history before Fallout 3 blows your mind.

Unfortunately this week's line-up isn't nearly as exciting what I missed last week. This week we go from Fallout to ... Dancing with the Stars? Oh you have to be kidding me. I am not going to use this retro article to talk about Dancing with the Stars. What's next, a Joe Millionaire game? Moving on we have the dramatically named: RIDE! Carnival Tycoon. As a fan of these sim games I'm excited about this one, even if I fear that it's going to be nothing more than a Theme Park rip-off. Oh, and did I mention that paying subscribers also get Secrets of Great Art? It's not exactly Halo 3, if you know what I mean.

On the free side we get Sacred Gold, which at least sounds more exciting than Secrets of Great Art and Dancing with the Stars. Seriously, Dancing With the Stars? I can't wait to see what lame reality show gets uploaded to GameTap next week (I have my fingers crossed for Glam Gods with Vivica A. Fox).