Super Mario Bros. 2 comes to Euro VC

Headlining this week's retro titles available for download by Wii owners on Nintendo's Virtual Console in Europe is the Nintendo Entertainment System classic Super Mario Brothers 2. The platform game was released in 1989 and was originally not a Mario game at all, but a remake of Japanese game Yume Kojo: Doki Doki Panic with Mario characters. Players can choose between four characters--Mario, Luigi, Toad, and Princess Peach, each of which having different abilities--to play throughout the game. The characters battle through seven worlds to free the land of Subcon from the reign of evil frog tyrant Wart.

Next up is Mach Rider, a game originally released in 1987 for the NES. Mach Rider is a futuristic racing video game set in 2112, with the main character travelling from sector to sector on his motorbike, destroying the Quadrunners--aliens who have invaded Earth--and searching for survivors. The game also includes a level editor that enables gamers to create their own courses, which can then be saved on the VC version.

The third title up for grabs this week is Blazing Lazers, a TurboGrafx-16 title from 1989. The vertically scrolling space shoot-'em-up is based on the Japanese film Gunhed. It has nine levels, with four main weapon types to blast away the baddies--bullets, waves, rings, and lasers--all of which can be upgraded a number of times.

The games are all now available for download--Super Mario Bros. 2 and Mach Rider are both available for 500 Wii points (approx £3.50), while Blazing Lazers costs 600 (£4.20).