With the NA releases of Sin & Punishment and Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels on the Virtual Console, 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.

This is the first of the three regions to get the Wii-enhanced Pokémon Snap this week, with Europe presumably getting this on Friday, and North America already confirmed to have it December 10th. It was a fun, if not short game, that took hours of my time some years ago.

The other three games joining Pokémon Snap are Downtown Nekketsu Koushinkyoku Daiundokai, a Kunio-kun game for the Famicom, Rolling Thunder 2 for the Mega Drive, and Gate of Thunder for the PC-Engine CD.

Two games this week involve things being thundery, at least in terms of title. Of course, neither Gate of Thunder nor Rolling Thunder 2 has much to do with actual thunder -- Rolling Thunder 2 is about dudes shooting guns at each other, and Gate of Thunder is about spaceships shooting space guns at each other. Pokémon Snap we've already discussed. It's really easy, but surprisingly fun for a Nintendo 64 game Pokémon spinoff game, and with added functionality that will let you bug the hell out of your Wii friends with annoying spam.

What should have been the biggest news on the list -- a Kunio game -- is instead not. When Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari came out, we feared we were mistaken and that it was actually Downtown Nekketsu Koushinkyoku Daiundokai, a street-Olympics game that predated the game known as Crash 'n the Boys Street Challenge. Well, this week, it actually is Downtown Nekketsu Koushinkyoku Daiundokai. So, uh, yeah.

• Downtown Nekketsu Koushinkyoku Daiundokai (Famicom, 1-4 players, 500 Wii Points)
• Pokemon Snap (Nintendo 64, 1 player, 1000 Wii Points)
• Rolling Thunder 2(Mega Drive, 1-2 players, 600 Wii Points)
• Gate of Thunder (PC Engine Super CD-ROM, 1 player, 800 Wii Points)

Akira_EX via nintendowiifanboy.com »