If you are a fan of shoot 'em ups, this is your week on the Wii Shop Channel. Not one, but two shmups find a home on the Wii's download service this week. Strangely, though, nothing presidential related, even though it's President's Day here in the U.S. Not even Liberty or Death for the Super NES, guys?
So let's check out what's new this week:
On the Virtual Console, we have but one title, Life Force for the NES. Some of you may also know this game by its Japanese name, Salamander, or as a spin-off of Konami's popular Gradius series. In fact, this game plays a lot like Gradius, but has two player co-op. It's a pretty solid title, though it feels a bit dated. However, at only 500 Wii Points, it's a relatively good buy.
Over on the WiiWare side of things, we have Evasive Space, a game developed by High Voltage Software of The Conduit fame. The title doesn't lie: you pilot a ship in space, and it's your job to evade just about everything as you try and collect the Constellation Stones and restore light to the galaxy. The game play seems to be at least a bit inspired by the likes of Geometry Wars, but this is definitely not a clone: you'll be focusing more on dodging, collecting, and navigating narrow spaces with your Wii remote than shooting in this game. It's 1,000 Wii Points, which might seem like a bit much, but for a game that's apparently got quite a bit of depth and has a multiplayer mode, I'd give it a thumbs up.
Life Force debuted in December 2008 on the Japanese Virtual Console. Along with Evasive Space, it is currently available for download on the Wii Shop Channel.
There is also one tiny little addition that makes this WiiWare update a bit different, a note in the press release from Nintendo itself:
In other news, the Wii-kly Update has a fun surprise coming soon for all our fans. We can't tell you the secret just yet but maybe we’ll offer you some hidden clues. From AZ to NC, if you’re a fan, your applause could rattle your walls, windows, door. You might enjoy this news whether you live in a brick house or Vanderbilt dorm. Even people living along Route 286 in rural Pennsylvania ought to be excited. It’ll feel like a bunch of birthday greetings and, really, who could ask for more? But that's about all we can say for now, so be sure to check future Wii-kly Updates.
After some Googling, the answer is that North America will finally be getting Commodore 64 games; Vanderbilt University's team name is the Commodores, and the tiny town of Commodore, PA. is on Route 286. So there you go. Impossible Mission and California Games for everyone!
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