Download Digest: Alucard makes his triumphant return
- March 19, 2007 17:01 PM PST
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GamePro lists the available downloads this week for the Virtual Console, Xbox Live Arcade, and the PlayStation Store.
By Eugene Huang
This week's offerings for downloadable titles on the next-gen front seem a little sparse in comparison to other weeks, but for what it lacks in quantity, it truly makes up for in quality. As usual, let's start off with:
Wii
This Monday's update of Virtual Console titles begins with Excitebike, an old, but good relic of the 8-bit era. Control a tiny biker on a tiny bike as he (she? it?) races around a set of motocross tracks, being careful not to overheat your ride. And once you get tired of the tracks that are provided, feel free to make new ones in Design Mode. Excitebike can be all yours for the price of 500 Wii Points.
Genesis fans who long for the 16-bit era can instead download Beyond Oasis. In a battle of armlet vs. armlet, you fight as Prince Ali, who uses his gold armlet to control four elemental spirits that aid him in his quest. Your enemy: an unknown evil force who has somehow gained control of the silver armlet and is using it for their own evil gains. Stop them, but only after paying up 800 Wii Points.
And last up is SPLATTERHOUSE, a classic Namco side-scrolling action game once developed for the TurboGrafx16. In the game, you play as Rick, a parapsychology student of a curious nature who, with his girlfriend Jennifer, ventures into the creepy mansion of the mad scientist Dr. West. In short, Jennifer gets kidnapped, and Rick gets knocked unconscious before awakening to find himself with an inexplicably rippling build and an evil mask that has somehow attached itself to his face. Rick must make his way through the mansion, rescue Jennifer, and defeat the mansion's sinister force before his mask becomes a permanent fixture. SPLATTERHOUSE can be purchased for 600 Wii Points.
Xbox 360
This week's entry into Xbox Live Arcade is none other than the beloved classic Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. The popular PlayStation title has finally been re-released nearly a decade after the original hit stores in 1997. You play as Alucard, Dracula's estranged son, who must explore the entirety of his father's mysterious castle to defeat him and his minions once and for all.
While Symphony of the Night was one of the first games to make the presence of 2-D games felt in the polygonal 3-D era, it was also a trendsetter in the fact that it was the first game to exceed Microsoft's previous size limit of 50 MB. In that regard, it may have influenced Microsoft to loosen its size restrictions to its present limit of 150 MB for XBLA games. Symphony of the Night goes on sale this Wednesday for an as-of-yet undisclosed price.
PlayStation 3
Sadly, we still have not yet received word of any downloadable games to be made available this week. Still, next week looks to be a big one for the PS3, with a couple of significant titles making their way into the PlayStation Store. Look out for our Download Digest piece next Monday for the full skinny.
