This Week in Defunct Games - March 9, 2012

What Is It? Here it is, the first Neo Geo game to hit the Wii Virtual Console since Magical Drop 2 way back in 2010. The King of Fighters '97 is the fourth installment in the 15 year old franchise. This 1997 model adds multiple play styles (Advance and Extra), new characters (Chizuru, Ryuji, Blue Mary and the return of Billy Kane) and a brand new boss. Thankfully the good, old-fashioned 2D fighting remains untouched. Fans of SNK's fighting franchise won't be disappointed with this long-overdue port.

Does It Still Hold Up? If you've played King of Fighters '95 or '96, then you largely know what to expect from this 1997 release. With the exception of the new play modes, very little has changed in this sequel. The graphics still look good, thanks in large part to its timeless hand drawn style. I find some of the music grating, but overall this SNK classic has managed to hold up.

Is It Worth The Money? Believe it or not, The King of Fighters '97 marks the first true two-player Virtual Console release since Mario Part 2 in December of 2010. Enjoy it while it lasts gang, because you never know when Nintendo is going to go on hiatus again. Now that the Neo Geo Station is up and running on the PlayStation Network (or is it Sony Entertainment Network now?), it's getting harder to justify these more expensive Virtual Console releases. The lack of an online mode hurts a game like this. On the other hand, it's about time Nintendo uploaded another 2D fighting game for the Wii.

What Is It? It's easy to come up with reasons to love Metroid. It's not just the strong female lead or memorable enemies, but it's the way this science fiction world opens up with each new weapon you find. This series masters the concept of being isolated from rescue, forced to take on and learn an alien world. It's a franchise that has influenced the way modern games are made, which is not something you can say about every classic game. There's just one problem: It's hard to go back to Zebes again.

You play Samus, a lone bounty hunter who is spending her weekend exploring an alien home world. Instead of using the typical linear level structure of most 8-bit NES games, Metroid offered a large open world from of mysteries. But as open as it seems, large chunks of the map are blocked off. It's up to Samus to find all of the weapons, items and keys to search the entire planet and, most importantly, destroy the evil Mother Brain.

Does It Still Hold Up? It turns out that it's near impossible to play a Metroid-style game without a map. Although the visuals get the job done, the backgrounds are constantly repeating. Usually this wouldn't be an issue, but it tends to make the different parts of the world hard to keep track of. It his only made worse by the lack of a map. Throw in some bad check pointing and you have a game that flies in the face of good game design.

Is It Worth The Money? Metroid isn't a bad game. Even with its litany of questionable design decisions, you can still see why this game caught on a quarter century ago. The good news is that Super Metroid and the Prime series were able to capitalize on the winning formula. These days you're better off spending your time with one of those games and leaving the original to history. Or better yet, check out the incredible Game Boy Advance remake (Zero Mission).

What Is It? Don't be thrown off by the unusual name, this is still the 8-bit Punch-Out!! you remember growing up with. After landing himself in prison for rape, Mike Tyson's endorsement was yanked from Nintendo's top-selling boxing game. In this revision Iron Mike has been replaced by Mr. Dream, an equally ferocious foe with a ridiculous nickname.

Getting past the name, Punch-Out!! marks the third NES game to hit the 3DS Virtual Console. This is also the first NES game to not be part of the Ambassador Program, which came as a surprise. If you can get over the weird name and minor changes, you'll find a totally functional boxing game that requires equal parts skill and memorization. With memorable characters and fast action, this Nintendo boxing game is a real knock out.

Does It Still Hold Up? All things considered, Punch-Out is an extremely short experience. There are only a few boxers and once you've mastered the strategies it's easy to whip through the easier fighters. On the other hand, the graphics are perfectly detailed and the gameplay, while simple, is well thought out. This is the best sports game Nintendo ever made for their 8-bit console and it still holds up a quarter century later.

Is It Worth The Money? Why wasn't this part of Nintendo's 3D Classics line? Of all the games begging to get the 3D makeover, Punch-Out!! has to be at the top of the list. Either way, this port comes as a real surprise. Nintendo looked on track to release all ten of their Ambassador Program games (just like we suggested a month ago) and leave it at that, but the house of Mario had better things in mind. This is Nintendo off script, which gives me hope that 2012 will see a lot of big surprises.