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Donkey Kong Jr. leads charge of Virtual Console releases

Juvenile mascot's retro platformer joined on the Wii by Columns, Ristar, and Victory Run.

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Nintendo has pledged to provide new Virtual Console games every Monday, and today's batch includes a quartet of selections from the Sega Genesis, the Nintendo Entertainment System, and the TurboGrafx-16.

Nintendo had the NES version of Donkey Kong available to download on the day the Wii launched, and now it has reunited ape father and son: Donkey Kong Jr. has arrived on the Virtual Console. Originally released on the system in 1986, the game features the offspring of the original Kong attempting to free his father from the clutches of fellow Nintendo mascot Mario. Donkey Kong Jr. is available for 500 Wii points ($5).

Representing the Sega camp is a pair of games virtually bookending the Genesis' life span. From the early days of "blast processing," there's 1990's gem-addled puzzle game Columns, while 1995's platformer Ristar was released in the console's latter days, when Sega was splitting its attention along a swollen product line that included the Genesis, the Sega CD, the 32X, the Game Gear, and the Saturn. Columns and Ristar both sell for 800 Wii points ($8).

Finally, Hudson Entertainment has another TurboGrafx-16 game on tap in the racing game Victory Run. Challenging players to complete a marathon taking place over the course of multiple days, Victory Run lets players perform maintenance on their cars to keep parts from wearing out over the course of the race. Victory Run is available for 600 Wii points ($6).

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