It’s Hanabi Festival time again for this week’s European and Austrlian Virtual Console, and in addition to Metal Slug, there are a trio of retrograde titles that were never released here in the west - a puzzler, a sports sim, and a side-scrolling shooter.

Puyo Puyo 2: Tsuu (SEGA Mega Drive, 1-2 Players, 900 Wii Points):

Puyo Puyo Tsu (Also known as Puyo Puyo 2, or Puyo Puyo Tsuu) is the sequel to Puyo Puyo, made in 1994 by Compile. Compile put more thought into this game after its predecessor became successful, but never knew how much of a turnaround the game would bring. Due to its highly acclaimed success, it became the most predominant game of the series. Though with many of its rules being experimental, the ability of Sousai and Rensa Sibari became a top hit immediately, thus creating longer matches for better gameplay. Also due to its successes, it became the most widely known multiplatform game in Japan, appearing on 12 domestic consoles, and on the PC.

The name of Puyo Puyo Tsu comes from an English pun, as Tsu, when spoken aloud, sounds similar to Two (in which, is the sequel, Puyo Puyo 2).

The object of this head-to-head puzzle game is to clear your grid of falling patterns called puyos by forming chains of four or more same-colored puyos in a straight line or one of several geometric patterns.

What makes this a challenging two-player contest is the fact that when you clear a chain of puyos from your grid, it drops a random piece of filler onto your opponent’s grid. The more puyos you clear, the more you fill your opponent’s grid, and if you can clutter up his grid enough to fill it to the top, you’ve won the game.

An intriguing backstory makes this an amusing experience for one or two players.

Break In (TurboGrafx-16, 1-2 Players, 700 Wii Points):

In a bit of a break from the norm of Naxat Soft’s other games, such as the sublime surreal pinball “Crush” series and a host of shoot ‘em ups, Break In is a rather normal game. Unlike the title would suggest, it is in fact not a game where you break into buildings or anything similar - It is actually a snooker game.

Cho Aniki (TurboGrafx-16, 1 Player, 700 Wii Points):

Cho Aniki is a Japanese video game series that debuted in 1992 for the Turbografx system. The game’s sequels and spin-offs later appeared on the Super Nintendo, Wonderswan, Playstation and PlayStation 2. A side-scrolling shooter in the vein of Gradius, Cho Aniki is best known for its wacky humor and vivid, surreal imagery. None of the games were seen release outside Japan, but the series title loosely translates to English as “Super Big Brothers.”

The first in the increasingly bizarre Cho Aniki series of side-scrolling shooters. As in many of the best examples of the genre, Cho Aniki puts the player in control of a flying avatar that must clear out several levels of enemies while avoiding their firing patterns and attacks, as well as collecting power-ups that increase firepower, life, etc…

The unique aspect to Cho Aniki (much like Konami’s Parodius games) is that the whole game is filled with bizarre stuff. Two different playable characters are available (male and female) with different firing modes and other characters can aid them as options. Said characters include flying babies and laser shooting bodybuilders. Enemies include flying heads and gigantic bodybuilders, as well as other examples of (usually very muscular) men fused with all sorts of machinery.

Single player-only gameplay with 3 difficulty levels to choose from.

Metal Slug (Neo Geo, 1-2 Players, 900 Wii Points):

Metal Slug is a run and gun video game for the Neo-Geo console/arcade platform created by SNK. It was released in 1996 for the MVS arcade platform. The game is widely known for its sense of humor, extremely fluid hand-drawn animation, and fast paced two-player action. It is the first title in the Metal Slug series.

Metal Slug was originally released on the Neo Geo, being a sidescrolling shoot ‘em up. The story is simple, you’re a soldier (or two, if you want to play with your mate) up against a gigantic army.

Every level consists of you running forward blasting everything that moves, and getting any powerup in the way (there’s also a wide selection of weaponry in the game), and in the end of each level you’re up against a gigantic boss.

Until next week… spend those Wii Points wisely!