Wii Shop Channel Monday - Hockey Allstar Shootout, Bruiser & Scratch, and Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (again)
Monday, December 8th, 2008 at 8:51am by David
Virtual Console gets the shaft this week with another version of Sonic The Hedgehog 2, this time for Master System. WiiWare on the other hand has a couple intriguing titles. Bruiser & Scratch is a new dog & cat puzzle game, while my pick this week is Hockey Allstar Shootout. For only 500 points you get to use your Wii Remote like a hockey stick!
Full release details after the break. Anything here sound like a Wii delight to you?
WiiWare
Bruiser and Scratch (Steel Penny Games, Inc., 1 player, Rated E for Everyone, 1,000 Wii Points): Bruiser and Scratch are stranded in a strange world with a dark secret. Their only hope in finding a path home is to unravel the mystery of this place, one oversized puzzle at a time. Along the way, they make new friends and meet up with old adversaries, each of whom plays a role in their journey. Bruiser and Scratch offers a number of tutorial levels to bring the player up to speed gradually. The story unfolds over 48 puzzles and six landscapes. And for players who can’t get enough, Challenge mode offers 75 additional puzzles that range from child’s play to mind-bogglingly difficult.
Hockey Allstar Shootout (Big Blue Bubble Inc., 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone, 500 Wii Points): Use the Wii Remote controller as a stick and take the shot as you compete in three exciting Hockey Skills Challenges. In Head 2 Head, it’s just you versus the best goalies in the world in a five-puck shootout. Race against the clock to post the most goals in the fastest time. The three difficulty levels will place you against three increasingly talented goalies, each donning the jersey of their home country. In two-player mode, each player will take a turn as shooter and as goalie, and the player who scores the most goals in five shots is the winner. In Sharp Shooter, you post a high score in one of three difficulty levels by breaking as many targets as you can. Each time a shot fails to break a target, an X will appear in the upper left corner. Three misses and the game is over. Power Shot has you take your best shot and watch the Shot-Speed Clock light up. You have three attempts to blast the fastest shot you can, and only the best speeds will grace the high score list.
Virtual Console
Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (SEGA MASTER SYSTEM, 1 player, Rated E for Everyone, 500 Wii Points): Play the popular Sonic The Hedgehog sequel, made specifically for the SEGA MASTER SYSTEM. Sonic returns home to his island just in time to see Dr. Eggman (a.k.a. Dr. Robotnik) run off with Tails. In fact, Dr. Eggman has kidnapped all of Sonic’s animal friends and placed them in robotic mind-controlling suits. He demands the six Chaos Emeralds, hidden on the island, in exchange for their safe return. Explore underground mine shafts, dash through underwater tunnels and hang glide through the clouds in Sonic’s search for the Chaos Emeralds. Once Sonic’s found them all, he must face off with the evil Dr. Eggman and thwart his plan for global domination.
December 8th, 2008 at 11:19 am
isn’t it kind of dumb to release the old sonic games for that much of a price? you can get the collction for gamecube or ps2 used for around 10-13 bucks, which includes like 9 games or something like that….
December 8th, 2008 at 11:49 am
I hate putting in discs, so it’s nice to buy games like Sonic or even Metal Slug and just have access to them on the channels menu. Plus, I’m just buying my favorites of each franchise.
December 8th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
not when its the sonic from the master system? why would they do that when the genesis one is superior in every way? its like releasing street fighter II on vc, but the nes version rather than the super nes. weird i say…
December 8th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
wow nintendo is stupid..make sure u dont release any of the good games
December 8th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
Another snoozer week.
December 8th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
I don’t know what you guys are all complaining about here. I mean, Sonic The Hedgehog 2 for Master System is a good steal for just $5. Besides, playing the Master System version on Wii is better than playing it’s duplicate Game Gear version. And @ skafreak51: not really dumb no, because they still have Sonic Chaos, and Sonic Triple Trouble & Sonic Blast they can release for Wii also all for 500 Wii Points [ $5 ] each. All in all, Sonic games to me in 8-Bit are a good step back to play from the usual 16-Bit Sonic games. Now if only they would release Sonic & Knuckles, I’d be happy.
December 8th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
I forgot to mention one last thing about the Sonic Triple Trouble game. Personally I liked that one more than Sonic 3 seeing as how it was kind of like a Game Gear version of Sonic 3 that was released for Game Gear & Master System. Sonic Chaos I think also filled in as a Sonic 2.5 between Sonic 2 & Sonic 3 [ Genesis versions ]. Truly good games
December 8th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
I think seeing the Master System versions of Sonic games released is a good idea - it a curiosity that many people (such as myself) probably didn’t play, but might be willing to drop $5 to see. And these games aren’t included on the Sonic Mega Collection either, are they?
As for the other games, they both look interesting. A hockey shootout novelty for $5 (hopefully it has at least decent controls - if so, then it’s probably a steal) and a puzzle game by some ex-Naughty Dog devs? Wii could be doing a lot worse than this.
Why so negative, guys?
December 8th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
I’ll take a look at Hockey Allstar Shootout, just cause I play hockey.
December 8th, 2008 at 5:53 pm
When will Mario Party 1 come out on virtual console? This is the game I’m most nostalgic about and at the time i played this game (when it was new) it was the bulk of my current video game playing career (what I mean by that is when I played Mario Party 1, it was while the game was new. Unlike games like SMB for the NES when i played that game years after it came out, I played Mario Party 1 from its getgo.)
This game was huge for me and Im dying for the day it comes on VC. anybody think it EVER will?
December 9th, 2008 at 12:09 am
Please no one bother with Hockey Allstar Shootout. Check out WiiWare World tomorrow and you’ll see why…
December 9th, 2008 at 3:15 am
I think seeing the Master System versions of Sonic games released is a good idea - it a curiosity that many people (such as myself) probably didn’t play, but might be willing to drop $5 to see. And these games aren’t included on the Sonic Mega Collection either, are they?
@ ejamer: Yeah man, I feel the same way you do about the Sonic [ Master System ] games. I mean, I never played them on Master System cause HECK!, I never owned a SEGA Master System. But I definitely have no problem what so ever dropping down $5 [ 500 Wii Points ] for a game like Sonic 1 or 2 for Master System. Even if I did play the same version back on the Game Gear a long time ago. The Master System versions look much more crisp. Plus, I think Sonic 2 is on Sonic Gems Collection ONLY! That and I have to apologize to everyone for earlier, I checked GameFAQS not too long ago earlier today after I made my 2nd comment on this article and found out that
Sonic Chaos was the only Master System Sonic game to be released and not Sonic Triple Trouble. My BAD!
December 9th, 2008 at 11:02 am
Eep. Although I try to stay positive, people might be right to complain about the WiiWare games up for sale this week (judging from recent review scores).
In fact, it looks like Sonic 2 for the Sega Master System is probably the best choice from the three games this week. Oh well - at least it’s a completely new and different Sonic game, and not a scaled-down Master System port like some people seem to think.