If you like your games hard, Magician Lord is for you!
Two sequels and a standalone game today, the highlight of the bunch being the standalone one - Magician Lord. This is a great arcade-style platformer (And thus also the first non-fighter Neo Geo game) which features some pretty tough challenges. It's certainly not for the less skilled players! One could argue that it is currently the most arcady game on VC, so if you want that quarter-munching feeling of the good old days, this is for you.
To tie in with Halloween this week, the US gets the appropriately themed Castlevania II. While not completely the same as the first Castlevania, it features many similar stuff, and was the first to introduce some elements which would be reused in the more recent Metroid-esque Castlevanias.
Finally today, you can get Samurai Ghost, which is a sequel to the Japan-only Genpei Toma Den, in which you play as the resurrected ghost of a samurai seeking revenge. It's pretty generic as far as platformers go, and doesn't really stand out among other platformers currently on VC, so download at your own risk!
The top pick this week is 4 stars, and unfortunately, it's only downhill from there.
User Comments
1. Mr Mat
29 Oct 2007, 12:32 GMT
What I expected... Good monday compared to last week!
2. jg233
29 Oct 2007, 12:37 GMT
Terrible week....
They all kind of go with a halloween theme tho 
3. Bass X0
29 Oct 2007, 12:43 GMT
Magicians and Vampires and Ghosts, oh my!
If only Zombies could have been added too...
4. Kevin
29 Oct 2007, 12:50 GMT
Better than last week, that's for sure. I'll be downloading Castlevania II ASAP, I love that game!
5. StarSoldier1
29 Oct 2007, 15:06 GMT
I loved Magician Lord in the arcades. I'm definitely getting that one.
6. Lazergun
29 Oct 2007, 15:18 GMT
so, when can we download these...i just checked and they are not shown on the shop channel...
7. Drake
29 Oct 2007, 15:28 GMT
US games don't go live until 5 PM GMT (I have no idea what time that is in the US, check the Nintendo of America press site). We always just put up the news right after the games are announced to avoid hassle later.
8. Jack
29 Oct 2007, 16:05 GMT
In America, they go live:
9am Pacific
10am Mountain
11am Central
12noon Eastern
9. xdemon25
29 Oct 2007, 18:06 GMT
Horray!!! Castlevania ll came out. My frustration is over. I'm going to download it right away and enjoy my first ever game in my childhood. Thanks Nintendo and vc-reviews for telling me.
10. -K-
29 Oct 2007, 19:15 GMT
Could have been better if they added Zombies ate My Neighbours and Ghosts n Goblins.
11. alvieao
29 Oct 2007, 21:19 GMT
Magician Lord is one of the first NeoGeo games from Alpha Denshi and a tough challenge to boot. I must download Magician Lord anytime soon...
12. Megaman256
29 Oct 2007, 21:29 GMT
That's good news that Castlevania ll came out which means we are closer to getting Castlevania lll Dracula's Curse and maybe Sega's Castlevania Bloodlines. It would be nice to finally get Dracula's Rondo of Blood. If they converted it over to the psp why wouldn't they do the same for Wii's virtual console.
13. Bass X0
29 Oct 2007, 22:17 GMT
doesn't anybody want Castlevania: Vampire's Kiss, the second SNES game?
14. Drake
29 Oct 2007, 22:24 GMT
Vampire's Kiss (Dracula X outside EU) is basically just a heavily watered down version of Rondo of Blood on the TurboGrafx-CD. So no, I don't think too much people want that!
15. Hilanderous
30 Oct 2007, 06:20 GMT
I feel like Nintendo is always picking on Sega. Why is Genesis left out so much? Except for the first Neo Geo drop date a few weeks back, every week there is always a game on a Nintendo system and always a TurboGrafx game (Nintendo owns a lot of Hudson stock). While Genesis games are infrequently put on the VC. Nintendo needs to get over the rivalry of the past and cut Sega a break.
16. Dazza
30 Oct 2007, 07:29 GMT
Hilanderous - Give me a break. The USA has 37 Genesis games, not far behind TG16 at 42 and NES at 49. If Nintendo had any rivalry with Sega they simply wouldn't support their games on the VC at all. No one is forcing them to!
17. Hilanderous
30 Oct 2007, 08:11 GMT
Yeah, you're right. Genesis isn't lacking that far behind, I guess I just always notice when a Genesis game is absent more than the other consoles. I'm just a Sega fan boy from back in the day is all!
18. Dazza
30 Oct 2007, 09:18 GMT
Sega isn't doing too bad really. In Europe's schedule there is a "Sega Week" so 3 games come out on the same day. Generally the USA gets about 3 games a month too. I guess with the addition of Neo Geo that has slowed down a bit now. Don't worry the old rivalry of Nintendo and Sega is dead and buried now! Well except for this game! lol
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_&_Sonic_at_the_Olympic_Games
19. Dumad
31 Oct 2007, 20:00 GMT
Zombies ate my Neighbours, Demon Crest and Super Ghost 'n Ghouls would be the perfect Halloween week.
Still I want more Square games, Secret of Mana, Secret of Evermore and Bahamut Lagoon.
20. Bass X0
01 Nov 2007, 09:20 GMT
I did want Art of Fighting to be released in the U.K. this week but no doubt it will be three or four Sega games.
And Square-Enix annoy me - they refuse to put games on V.C. because they know they can sell the games for full price but they don't even release the games I want at full price like Secret of Mana. Agh. Port it to DS, PSP or just put it on V.C.! Just do something with it.