Mega-tastic!

It's that special time of the week again! Thanks to Nintendo's consistent WiiWare Weekly service updates, it's Christmas (or respective holiday sensation) every Monday! New titles are available every week for Nintendo's Virtual Console and WiiWare downloadable services, and we'll guide you through what's hot and what's better left on the floor. But quality is key, and you can bet we love the good stuff!

With the lucrative holiday season just around the corner, it doesn't seem like Nintendo (and their host of download supporters) are looking to let any of those lovely digital dollars just up and drift away.  A whopping four pieces of power hit this week's update, with both the WiiWare and Virtual Console getting equal love and in some cases historic representation.  The long-awaited return of a pixilated Blue Bomber hits the Nintendo console first, with future appearance on the PSN and Xbox Live planned soon, making this the first cross-platform digital release in console history.  Like I said, historic!

But its not all about Megas and Men, as a few bona fide gems are also available for your Wii Point-sucking consumption.  So with any necessary time-wasting blurbs out of the way, let's take a closer look at this week's choices.  Zesty!

Vectorman (Sega Genesis) 800 Wii Points

As the Sega Genesis began its inevitable slide into latter-day significance among the trendy gaming set, it was hit with an increasingly irrelevant number of me-too and forgettable releases.  Discarding its triumphant surge against rival SNES for a spell, many developers had forgotten just how good this console could give when in the right hands.  My friends, Vectorman is among the very best of the 16-bit revolution, unfortunately its release came soon after a 32-bit migration.  Better late than never, here's your chance to finally correct the mistakes of faulty release schedules and the tides of history.  Press blurb below:

In the year 2049, mankind is forced to abandon an over polluted Earth and seek out other planets for colonization while the mechanized Orbots stay behind to clean up the mess. When the Orbot leader, WarHead, starts blowing a few circuits and causes a war among the mechanical brethren, a sludge pilot named Vectorman is the only one willing to step up and fight him. You'll morph into a speeding train, a power drill, a mechanical fish and a mighty dune buggy in this action-packed adventure. Equip yourself with weapons, pick up morphs and power-ups to defeat WarHead, and restore peace on Earth.

With multiple "Best Of" releases in the years following its initial release, the chances that you've at least heard of Vectorman are better than any chance you've played it.  Squeezing every single drop of power and Blast Processing its developers could from the platform, its startling how good and playable the original (and its equally forgotten sequel) still are.  Modern 2D platformers have never topped their 16-bit masters, and this is certainly one of the best.

Super Dodge Ball (NES) 500 Wii Points

Fans of River City Ransom know where it's at:  and Super Dodge Ball is definitely where's it at.  How and why this genre was never bigger and more popular after the original release of this game way back when is a mystery to me, as Technos classic NES version of the best-ever game of digital dodgeball clearly showed the awesome potential of the sport.  No longer sitting the wings, the original NES game returns in all its glory for the VC, and you can bet we've got a press blurb to back that action up:

In Super Dodge Ball, you take control of the USA Dodge Ball team and travel the world in an effort to become the best dodge ballers around. Step onto playing fields in countries all over the globe and use a combination of normal and super shots to help take down your opponents. But be careful, as some destinations have surfaces that can affect your footing. Manage the team as you think best, and swap out characters with other players that better fit your playing style. Two players can enjoy a head-to-head game or play a spirited round of Bean Ball, a six-character free-for-all. Three difficulty levels are available (Easy, Medium, and Hard); which one you choose will depend on your skill and courage. Do you have what it takes to lead Team USA to the ultimate prize and win the world championship of dodge ball?

The Nintendo DS was home to a recent conversion of this classic (albeit with cleaned up everything), but if you missed the original release for any reason, here's your chance to pick up a true gem in the alternative-sporting genre, from a time when realism meant you could recognize human shapes.  While others may disagree with me, I'll take a fun playing, non-realistic sport game over full-tilt, agonizingly fluid technological powerhouse any day of the week.  Super Dodge Ball fans, your time has come!

PLÄTTCHEN twist 'n' paint (WiiWare) 1,000 Wii Points

Puzzlers seem right at home with Nintendo's WiiWare service, although why and how we love these things remains as personal as our favorite ice cream flavors.  In development for over a year, Austrian-developed PLÄTTCHEN twist 'n' paint may be just as difficult to describe as it is to pronounce.  As such, I'll let the press blurb take over and hopefully explain better than I ever could:

PLÄTTCHEN twist 'n' paint is a crazy, challenging puzzle shooter that delivers more than 100 hours of fun, supporting up to eight players simultaneously. Guard the birth of ZeLeLi and free them from the menace of the evil black Shadow Plättchen. Play as one of the countless FantasyMEs and fight as an astronaut, butterfly, car or football against sharks, cowboys, asteroids and skulls in numerous, fabulous fantasy Worlds. Use items and multipliers in combos to fight yourself to the top of the high scores and find the perfect way to solve a level. Go wild in three completely different game modes of PLÄTTCHEN twist 'n' paint with more than 300 levels. Twist cooperatively with your friends or compete through many multiplayer modes.

Watching trailers for PLÄTTCHEN twist 'n' paint doesn't exactly give me a better idea how it plays than I had before, and to be honest that's setting of a few red flags.  Ambitious as it may be, a good puzzler lives and dies by its core gameplay, and here's hoping this one can deliver.  You're on your own with this one folks, and here's hoping that it turns out to be more enjoyable than its troublesome name is.

MegaMan 9 (WiiWare) 1,000 Wii Points

Some have called it genius; others a lazy effort.  However your feelings about Capcom's most decidedly non-HD update/downgrade to one of their most famous franchises, one thing is perfectly clear - its still MegaMan.  Having lived long enough to remember tiring of this franchise for growing stale in the first place, its a wonder that so many (myself included) have so whole-heartedly welcomed the return of NES-style sights and sounds, complete with flicker and slowdown as well.  Now throw in some modern touches like Achievements and DLC and you've got all the makings of a true cultural hybrid the likes we've seen before...yet haven't.  Middling press blurb support below:

Mega Man fans, the wait is over! The classic Blue Bomber that debuted in 1987 is back with the ninth installment in the classic series. It's a new adventure for Mega Man done in an 8-bit style-graphics, music and gameplay are all like you remember them.

MegaMan 9 may return the franchise (however briefly) to its pixel roots, but let's not forget to acknowledge the ability that such a dramatic aesthetic brings to the table.  The first digital download to hit every next-generation console is also first on Nintendo's Wii - totally appropriate if you consider the vintage, although even the most devout fanboys will have to let exclusivity go and realize everyone deserves a chance to fling their controllers out of frustration and the hair-pulling difficulty that part 9 no doubt employs.  Personally, I can't wait!