Wii Virtual Console Gets Tecmo Bowl, Sonic Spinball, Double Dungeons

March 12, 2007

Nintendo has released three new games for its Wii Virtual Console today, including NES classic Tecmo Bowl, as well as Sonic Spinball for the Genesis and Double Dungeons for the TurboGrafx-16.

Tecmo Bowl is of course one of the most famous third party NES titles ever released. Offering one or two player gridiron action for 500 Wii Points ($5). The game pits the player versus the computer in 11-game, single-elimination playoff action. Players also can select from 12 teams, and go head-to-head with a human opponent in action or coach mode. On offense there are usually two run and two pass plays to choose from. The player takes control of the quarterback before the snap and then either hands off to the running back or works through his receiver progression from the top to the bottom of the screen. Defense consists of trying to guess which offensive play the opponent will select and then taking control of one of the defensive players before the snap. Tecmo Bowl also features a simple power-meter system for kicking field goals, extra points and punts.

Today’s second Virtual Console release is Sonic Spinball, a pinball game originally released for the Sega Genesis in 1993. Supporting up to four players and costing 800 Wii Points ($8), the game offers four different pinball stages, wherein Sonic must collect rings and Chaos Emeralds, score points, and defeat each level’s boss.

Finally, Double Dungeons, is a rather simplified dungeon crawling RPG first released for the TurboGrafx-16 in 1990. In the game, up to two players can play simultaneously as they explore the dungeons six different levels across 22 scenarios. Because each level is independent, players can choose to start the game from any scenario other than the final one, which can only be selected once the previous five have been completed, as the passwords from those levels must be used to unlock level six. Double Dungeons costs 600 Wii Points ($6).