Retro Gaming Australia

Castlevania: Vampire’s Kiss is a retelling of the PC Engine CD game Akumajou Dracula X: Chi no Rondo, where Richter Belmont ventures into the castle to rescue his girlfriend Annette, who has been kidnapped by the Dark Priest Shaft, a servant of the castle’s master, Dracula. Despite being considered to be inferior in every way to the original, Vampire’s Kiss now commands a ridiculous price on the secondary market.

The criminal mastermind Carmen Sandiego is on the loose again, presumably with some form of time machine. As a result, you get to spend the next couple of hours doing history homework in order to catch her.

Castlevania: The New Generation (Bloodlines for our North American friends, and Vampire Killer in its Japanese incarnation) was the first game in the franchise to be released on a Sega format. It saw the legendary Vampire Killer whip passed to a new, non-Belmont character, John Morris. Morris is joined by Eric Lecarde, whose girlfriend was transformed into a vampire when Dracula’s niece, Elizabeth Bartley, attempted to revive her uncle. The two join forces to destroy Dracula (yet again).

Mad City is the Japanese incarnation of the game we know as The Adventures of Bayou Billy, one of Konami’s lesser NES efforts. Whereas Bayou Billy was bullshit hard, Mad City is far more reasonable – it’s still not that good though.

The Australian Classification Board has assigned a rating of M to the Metal Gear Solid: Digital Novel Pack, a pack containing the Metal Gear Solid: Digital Graphic Novel released previously on the PSP, and its sequel Metal Gear Solid: Bande Dessinee.

The graphic novels, written by Kris Oprisko and illustrated by Australian artist Ashley Wood are based on the first and second Metal Gear Solid games respectively. They were released in paper form from 2004, before being converted to motion comics with voices provided by many of the original cast members.

There is some sentiment that this could be a sign of a separate retail release for the graphic novel pack, as previously seen in Japan, but it is more than likely that this rating just refers to the disc that is included in the Metal Gear Solid Legacy Collection, due to hit Australian retail stores in September,

Source: Australian Classification Board (via Siliconera)

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow was the third of the Game Boy Advance Castlevanias, and a pretty damn good game all around. You play as Soma Cruz, who discovers he wields the power of dominance, which grants him the ability to use the souls of enemies he defeats. Of course, those of you who have played the sequel, Dawn of Sorrow, know exactly why that is.

Contra: Shattered Soldier, the last traditional Contra game for home consoles, will join the PS2 Classics range in North America next week.

The game is best remembered for putting the series back on track after the dire Contra: Legacy of War and C: The Contra Adventure.

Expect to cough up $US9.99 for this one.

Contra III: The Alien Wars (or Super Probotector: Alien Rebels, or Contra Spirits) marks the debut of Konami’s platforming shooter series on the 4th generation consoles. Like most Konami SNES/SFC releases, we recommend going after the Super Famicom version: it’s cheaper (especially if you want it complete) and it’s easier (thanks to unlimited continues).

Konami’s all star video game parody Konami Wai Wai World for the Famicom is a crazy little piece of Japanese exclusive software, which series a hero called Konami Man journeying through a number of worlds from Konami games such as Castlevania, and teaming up with Konami heroes like Goemon, the Vic Viper and the ever-popular Moai head.

Thanks to the efforts of Zynk Oxhyde, Konami Wai Wai World can finally be enjoyed in English. Of course, to be able to enjoy the game, you’ll need the translation patch, a copy of the game ROM and either an emulator or a flash cartridge like the N8 or Power Pak.

You can get the translation patch here

Nano Breaker is a game cast in the mould of Castlevania: Lament of Innocence, but ditches Dracula and the occult for cybords and plasma weapons. Nano Breaker was brutalised by critics of the day, despite those same critics being more receptive of Lament of Innocence. Today Nano Breaker is remembered as being one of the bloodiest games ever released.