This week’s virtual console offerings in the US and Japan differ as usual, but there are some highlights on both lists. Splatterhouse is out in North America and it’s one of the precursors to the survival/horror genre that’s blossomed since the Playstation years. You play as Rick a college student studying parapsychology who enters a haunted mansion with his girlfriend during a rainstorm. Guess what? His girlfriend is kidnapped and he has to save her by relying on the power of some Friday the 13th like Aztec mask. It’s a beat ‘em up that fun for a quick play through for 600 points. The other two titles are Beyond Oasis (Story of Thor), which is an overlooked action RPG from the Genesis’ catalog and Excitebike.
The Japanese release schedule has more of a diverse catalog. We’ve got the Adventures of Valkyrie: Legend of the Key of Time a Zelda-like action RPG for the Famicom based on Namco Bandai’s arcade series. Valkyrie never appeared in North America except for Cassandra’s third costume in Soul Calibur II, which is the exact outfit that Valkyrie wore. Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle from Sega is out and if you remember Sega pre-Sonic, Alex Kidd was Sega’s mascot. Galaga ’88 is out for shmup fans and it has new attack patterns not found in the original arcade game. Actraiser makes an appearance and it’s probably worth the 800 points. Actraiser was released by Enix and its one part action game, one part god sim. Actraiser hasn’t been confirmed for a US release, but here’s hoping it gets one. Finally the pseudo-Saturn release is Virtua Fighter 2, but it’s the awful Sega Genesis version.
To summarize here is what virtual console games are out this week:
North America:
Beyond Oasis – 800
Excitebike – 500
Splatterhouse – 600
Japan:
Actraiser – 800
Adventures of Valkyrie: Legend of the Key of Time – 500
Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle – 600
Galaga ’88 – 600
Virtua Fighter 2 – 600
