With the US releases of Sin & Punishment and Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels on the Virtual Console a couple weeks ago, paying attention to which games get VC releases in both Japan and Europe get much more important, as these games are then ready to be used on the VC, and sport the possibility of crossing the ocean.

Highlighting this week's VC update for Japan is Alien Solider for the Mega Drive, developed by legendary development studio Treasure. Also making the jump are ZANAC for the Famicom, Power Golf for the PC Engine, and Art of Fighting for the NeoGeo, which the US got yesterday.

VISUALSHOCK! SPEEDSHOCK! SOUNDSHOCK! NOW IS TIME TO THE 68000 HEART ON FIRE! So says the title screen in Treasure's Alien Soldier, and they're right-- given the intensity of Alien Soldier, the Mega Drive's 68000 heart seems likely to overheat. But Japanese gamers will be playing the game on Wiis this week, which, we hear, are considerably more powerful than the Sega Mega Drive.

Alien Soldier is a sort of evolution of the gameplay found in Gunstar Heroes-- more weapons and customization, more moves, more bosses (the bosses are, in fact, the focus of the game, with simple, short levels between them), and more brutal difficulty. We're really hoping that this Japanese release leads to an eventual American release, because we're Treasure fanatics and the game never came out over here (except on the Sega Channel).

NOW IS TIME TO THE LIST OF JAPAN VIRTUAL CONSOLE RELEASES!

ZANAC (Famicom, 1 player, 500 Wii Points)

Alien Soldier (Mega Drive, 1 player, 600 Wii Points)

Power Golf (PC Engine, 1-3 players, 600 Wii Points)

Art of Fighting (Neo Geo, 1-2 players, 900 Wii Points)

Akira_EX via nintendowiifanboy.com »