Secret of Mana, more Street Fighter II, World of Goo, Art Style: CUBELLO

By Stephen Munn | October 13, 2008

The big news of this list of releases is probably Secret of Mana, a charming three-player action-RPG from Square. Secret of Mana is the second game in the Legend of Mana franchise, the first of which appeared on the Game Boy in the US as Final Fantasy Adventure, and was later remade as Sword of Mana on Game Boy Advance. Secret of Mana, which is widely considered the jewel in the series, has never seen a remake or re-release since its original apperance on the Super NES. I played through Secret of Mana when it was current-gen, and found it an impressive game. I’ve tried playing it since and have found that the game does not stand the test of time.

Also appearing is yet another edition of Street Fighter II. This time it’s Street Fighter II’: Special Championship Edition from the Sega Genesis/Megadrive. Not your exact flavor? No matter. You now have your choice of the following, listed in order of their appearance on Virtual Console, at 800 points each.

• • Street Fighter II: The World Warrior (SNES, December 2006)
• • Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting (GEN, June 2007)
• • Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers (SNES, January 2008)
• • Street Fighter II’: Special Championship Edition (GEN, October 2008)

I’ve railed against this sort of thing in the past, so I’ll try not to get too far into it right now, but up yours, Nintendo. I’m not buying any of them.

VC Release dates: Wikipedia

WII-KLY UPDATE: TWO WIIWARE GAMES AND TWO VIRTUAL CONSOLE GAMES ADDED TO WII SHOP CHANNEL
Oct. 13, 2008

Armchair physicists rejoice! The hotly anticipated award-winning World of Goo™ makes its WiiWare™ debut this week, inviting players to build infinitely fascinating structures out of Goo and uncover the mystery behind the World of Goo Corporation. Other cool additions to the Wii Shop Channel™ this week include Art Style™: CUBELLO™, the second installment in Nintendo’s Art Style series, and a pair of classics for the Virtual Console™: SECRET OF MANA™ and STREET FIGHTER™ II’: SPECIAL CHAMPION EDITION. Fun offerings like these are sure to heat up your October, no matter how low the autumn temperatures may go.

Nintendo adds new and classic games to the Wii Shop Channel at 9 a.m. Pacific time every Monday. Wii™ owners with a high-speed Internet connection can redeem Wii Points™ to download the games. Wii Points can be purchased in the Wii Shop Channel or at retail outlets. This week’s new games are:

WiiWare

World of Goo (2D Boy, 1-4 players, Rated E for Everyone—Comic Mischief, 1,500 Wii Points): World of Goo is an award-winning, physics-based puzzle/construction game made entirely by two guys. Grab living, squirming, talking globs of goo to build structures, bridges, cannonballs, zeppelins and giant tongues. The millions of Goo Balls that live in the beautiful World of Goo are curious to explore—but they don’t know that they are in a game, or that they are extremely delicious. World of Goo Corporation is contractually obligated to state that everyone is a winner, and is enthusiastic to celebrate everyone’s Goo building opportunities equally.

Art Style: CUBELLO (Nintendo, 1 player, Rated E for Everyone, 600 Wii Points): Art Style: CUBELLO mixes the strategy and feel of a traditional puzzle game with the precision and reflexes required in a shooter. As each stage begins, various colored cubes form into one large object called a Cubello, which floats and rotates as you play. Launch additional cubes from your magazine and try to connect four or more of the same color, removing them from the Cubello and eventually leaving only its core. Take on the challenge of either Stage or Endless mode and watch what happens when Bonus Time is activated. The straightforward controls and goal ensure that anyone can play, while offering enough depth that even advanced players will find themselves quickly addicted to the unique world of Art Style: CUBELLO.

Virtual Console

SECRET OF MANA (Super NES™, 1-3 players, Rated E10+ for Everyone 10 and Older—Mild Fantasy Violence, Mild Suggestive Themes, 800 Wii Points): Good and evil battle for a young warrior’s heart. There is one force in the universe that keeps good and evil in perfect balance. It is called the tree of Mana. But a magic sword has tricked a young warrior into upsetting this balance, spreading evil throughout the land. Thus, the warrior must undertake a dangerous journey to find the seeds of the Mana tree, which have been hidden for centuries. Only then can perfect harmony be restored. In this incredible adventure, things are not as they seem. Magic swords release evil as well as fight it. Treasure chests hold booby traps. Monsters are friends and friends are enemies. Potions give power, black magic takes it away. Dragons fly, weapons change. It’s a world turned upside down that you must help the warrior make right. And the only way to succeed is to solve the Secret of Mana.

STREET FIGHTER II’: SPECIAL CHAMPION EDITION (Sega Genesis, 1-2 players, Rated T for Teen—Violence, 800 Wii Points): STREET FIGHTER II’: SPECIAL CHAMPION EDITION was the first STREET FIGHTER game released for the Sega Genesis console. The STREET FIGHTER series can be considered one of the first fighting games to popularize competitive video game fighting. This version of the game contains both the CHAMPION and HYPER rule sets, from the two editions released in the arcades. It also introduced an exclusive Group Battle mode that is now a general feature in most fighting games. Play as one of 12 different characters, each with their own distinctive fighting style. Try single-player mode or challenge a friend in this legendary, classic fighting game.