Oct. 1, 2007
This is a special week on the Wii Shop Channel. Frankly, it's a gamer's dream come true: Nintendo is launching the new Import genre with the release of two games that previously have never been available in the Western Hemisphere on their original platforms. The first will be hugely popular with Mario™ fans, who will love reliving the style of his classic games as they encounter new skills, new levels and new dangers. Nintendo® 64 enthusiasts also get a masterpiece of the shooter genre and perhaps the best game never released outside of Japan. Welcome to Import Week for the Wii Shop Channel!
The two new classic games go live at 9 a.m. Pacific time. Nintendo adds new games to the Wii Shop Channel 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:
Super Mario Bros.™: The Lost Levels™ (NES®, 1 player, rated E for Everyone, 600 Wii Points): Originally released in Japan as Super Mario Bros.® 2, this game has previously made only brief cameo appearances in the Western Hemisphere. Now available on the Virtual Console™ in all of its original splendor, Mario fans will appreciate the familiar look and feel of the game, while finding that its updated game play creates an entirely new challenge. No longer content just to wear different-colored overalls, Mario and Luigi also possess different skill sets: Mario can stop quicker, while Luigi can jump higher. In addition to the classic enemies already known to fans worldwide, there are also Poison Mushrooms, backward Warp Zones, and the occasional wind gust (which can help or hinder your progress) to take into account. And if that's somehow not enough, expert players can go looking for the game's secret worlds. So get ready to put your Mario skills to the ultimate test, and save the Princess again. Just don't be surprised if she's in another castle.
Sin & Punishment™ (Nintendo 64, 1-2 players, rated T for Teen – Blood, Fantasy Violence, Mild Language, 1,200 Wii Points): Created by the legendary development studio Treasure, this is a game that hard-core gamers and fans of Japanese imports recognize as one of the finest Nintendo 64 titles to have never previously reached North American shores. Its unique combination of English voice-overs with Japanese subtitles (preserved in this version) has only added to the enthusiasm for its eventual release here. Experience the frenetic pace of a classic shooter, while choosing from a variety of options and a number of different skill levels until you are ready to take on the full-blown challenge of Turbo Hard mode. Not to be outdone by the action, however, the intriguing story line gives the game its soul and draws you even further into the mix. Set in the near future, on an overpopulated Earth starved for resources, players uncover the intriguing mystery of two teenagers (Saki and Airan) and their battle against the Ruffians as they advance through level after level of nonstop action. Take a deep breath, gather your energy and prepare to see why this game is so highly praised.
For more information about Wii, please visit wii.com.
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Originally posted by: Bill Aurion
Augh, I need a Wii Points card!
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Originally posted by: UncleBob
I am ecstatic and anyone who disses Super Mario Bros. 2 JPN again will be forced to play it. And every time you die in the game - you die in real life.
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Originally posted by: GoldenPhoenix
I remember reading that Nintendo didn't bother translating anything in SMB2 (Lost Levels) so I'm not sure there is a reason for the higher price if that is the case, except to screw people.
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Originally posted by: Svevan
Considering that Lost Levels was released as a full game in Japan, I don't think your "expansion pack" verbiage is really working out.
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Originally posted by: Svevan
So back to Sin and Punishment:
Hello! This game is kinda hard. And awesome. It's like Gunstar Heroes meets Star Fox 64. The Gunstar Heroes comparison is stronger, thanks to silly music, stupid nonsense story, tons and tons of enemies, short length, high difficulty, etc.
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Originally posted by: Ian Sane
"I don't see how making every single level in the game new, adding 50% more levels, adding a new 'power up' (or, Power Down, if you will), new effects, new enemies and new graphics to the game makes it an 'expansion pack'."
Compared to virtually all of Nintendo's sequels at the time it feels like an expansion pack. Hell it looks almost identical to Super Mario Bros. Every other Mario game in screenshots alone looks unique. You can spot what game is which from a mile away. And I don't consider stuff like red pirana plants as new enemies. A palette swap with slightly different behaviour? Come on. I expect way better from Nintendo. Even the NES Mega Man games are less lazy than that. Normally I don't like corporations changing a game to make it part of another franchise but Super Mario Bros 2 is a major exception. North America got a much better sequel even if it really wasn't one.
How much new graphics are in the game anyway? The clouds? All the "new" enemies use the same sprites from Super Mario Bros. The whole thing looks like something a fan made.
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Originally posted by: Svevan
WHAT? NO WAIT, WHAT? Sin and Punishment was made by THE SAME GUYS THAT DID GUNSTAR HEROES? Get out of town, Sophia, GET OUT OF TOWN.
That COULD be the reason....
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Originally posted by: PartyBearQuote
Originally posted by: Ian Sane
"I don't see how making every single level in the game new, adding 50% more levels, adding a new 'power up' (or, Power Down, if you will), new effects, new enemies and new graphics to the game makes it an 'expansion pack'."
Compared to virtually all of Nintendo's sequels at the time it feels like an expansion pack. Hell it looks almost identical to Super Mario Bros. Every other Mario game in screenshots alone looks unique. You can spot what game is which from a mile away. And I don't consider stuff like red pirana plants as new enemies. A palette swap with slightly different behaviour? Come on. I expect way better from Nintendo. Even the NES Mega Man games are less lazy than that. Normally I don't like corporations changing a game to make it part of another franchise but Super Mario Bros 2 is a major exception. North America got a much better sequel even if it really wasn't one.
How much new graphics are in the game anyway? The clouds? All the "new" enemies use the same sprites from Super Mario Bros. The whole thing looks like something a fan made.
It reminds me of the mission packs we used to get for PC FPS games. They were typically big enough to count as full games, but they used all the same assets as the original game. They were also harder than the original thanks to devious level design.
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Originally posted by: Entroper
Thankfully, I already have The Lost Levels on my SNES in Super Mario All-Stars.
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Originally posted by: DeezerQuote
Originally posted by: Entroper
Thankfully, I already have The Lost Levels on my SNES in Super Mario All-Stars.
It's really a shame that somehow they messed up the jumping in Lost Levels (and SMB) in All-Stars. When Mario jumps and breaks a brick, he is pulled upward for a split-second.
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Originally posted by: thatguy
As for Sin and Punishment, I figured out the way the controls flowed pretty quickly, with one exception: How do you sword things? I know it's possible, I've seen it on youtube, so it has to be true. I think I've tried all the buttons, though, so I must be missing how the timing works.
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Originally posted by: Smoke39Quote
Originally posted by: thatguy
As for Sin and Punishment, I figured out the way the controls flowed pretty quickly, with one exception: How do you sword things? I know it's possible, I've seen it on youtube, so it has to be true. I think I've tried all the buttons, though, so I must be missing how the timing works.
Did you even play the training thing? O:< Press the shoot button when a swordable object is in range.
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Originally posted by: Caliban
Super Mario Bros The Lost Levels is hard, but I like the fact that when I lose all my lives I can continue from the beginning of the world I was in, for example I lost my last life on world 2-2 and so I can continue but I'm back at 2-1 instead of 1-1 like in Super Mario Bros.
I also got Sin and Punishment but I have yet to try it out, unfortunately.
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Originally posted by: Myxtika1 Azn
You can also continue from where you game overed in Super Mario Bros. Just hold down the A button and press Start.