We're counting down to the Wii's launch with a daily look at what retro games we'd like to see on the Virtual Console. Click here for an archive of previous days, or keep on reading below!
Released: Lolo 1 - 1987, Lolo 2 - 1989, Lolo 3 - 1991
Developer: HAL Laboratory
Console: NES
Players: 1 (2 player simultaneous in Adventure of Lolo 3)
Save: 4-letter password (16 character in Adventure of Lolo 3)
Virtual Console Likelihood: 4 / 5
Before Lololo and Lalala made Kirby's life miserable pushing blocks in Kirby's Dream Land for the Game Boy, they were Lolo and Lala — ball-shaped adventurers fighting the Great Devil's Evil Empire. In Adventures of Lolo, the title character is a blue ball with arms, feet, and a cute little tail, out to save his friend Lala (a pink ball with arms, feet, and tail - so you know it's a girl) in a scary looking 8-bit castle. To do this, Lolo must push blocks around and open treasure chests in order to clear each floor of the castle. More of a puzzle game than a real adventure, failure to push the blocks the right way leads to certain doom at the hands of happy-looking snakes and pink devil creatures. Collecting heart tokens enables Lolo to fire a pulse of good energy at enemies blocking your way, trapping them inside a ball that can be pushed. Once all the heart tokens have been collected, the treasure chest of the level opens, revealing the key to the door to the next floor. Sometimes, collecting all the heart tokens also wakes up sleeping monsters, so getting to the chest is often more difficult than opening it. Pressing Select kills Lolo instantly, allowing the player to start the level over again if one should get stuck.
Graphically, it looks like any other NES game — a few colours, cartoony characters full of personality, and grid-based level design. The music is fun, happy, catchy, and repetitive, just like a good mascot-based puzzle game should be. I've got many great memories of this game, and its sequels. Adventure of Lolo 2 was basically just an expansion of the first game, although it added harder levels and more enemy types. Adventure of Lolo 3 from 1991 is my favorite, as not only is it the most polished of the series, it added simultaneous multiplayer so that both Lolo and Lala could complete levels as a team. It also gave players a world map to explore and other characters to talk to. Balls with personalities didn't get this fun again until SEGA put monkeys inside them.
Released: 1985
Developer: Nintendo
Console: NES
Players: 1
Save: Battery Save (for the track design mode only)
VCL: 5 / 5
Nintendo's first great racing game in which combat took a major role, Mach Rider set the stage for future titles like F-Zero and Mario Kart. Although many people have seen him as a statue in Super Smash Bros. Melee, few have seen him in action on the NES. I say "him", but the game begins with the narrator telling the player "You are Mach Rider!" So really, Mach Rider is you, the player. Unlike Mario or Pit, Mach Rider's personality and motivation are entirely customizable. The game was one of the first to be released on the NES, and also one of the first to have the ability to save player data, which was necessary because Mach Rider allowed players to create their own tracks, much like Excite Bike did before it.
Mach Rider has three modes — Fighting, Endurance, and Solo. In Fighting mode, the player is taken through the main game, taking place in 2112 where the Earth has been invaded by "evil forces". Mach Rider must journey to neighbouring sectors and destroy the invaders. Basically, the player has to complete tracks by avoiding obstacles such as oil spills and ice, and preventing other drivers from living full, natural evil-invader lives by shooting them with the guns mounted on Mach Rider's motorcycle. Survival is the only goal; as crashing into riders or hitting obstacles will make Mach Rider explode, reducing his energy remaining instead of actually killing him. Mach Rider is like the T-1000 in that he can be blown into a million pieces and then just reform in seconds, not wasting any time. In Endurance Mode, the player must travel a certain distance before the time runs out, again avoiding CPU racers and ground obstacles. Solo mode allows players to try for a best time on a certain track or on a custom designed track. Like almost all NES games, score is calculated as well in all modes. Points are scored by shooting other racers and travelling as far as possible. Points are useful because a high score lasts as long as the game is turned on, so people who completed Super Mario Brothers over and over again for days without switching games or eating can still have fun doing that even in a driving game.
#30 (Third Party) - The Adventures of Lolo
Developer: HAL Laboratory
Console: NES
Players: 1 (2 player simultaneous in Adventure of Lolo 3)
Save: 4-letter password (16 character in Adventure of Lolo 3)
Virtual Console Likelihood: 4 / 5
Before Lololo and Lalala made Kirby's life miserable pushing blocks in Kirby's Dream Land for the Game Boy, they were Lolo and Lala — ball-shaped adventurers fighting the Great Devil's Evil Empire. In Adventures of Lolo, the title character is a blue ball with arms, feet, and a cute little tail, out to save his friend Lala (a pink ball with arms, feet, and tail - so you know it's a girl) in a scary looking 8-bit castle. To do this, Lolo must push blocks around and open treasure chests in order to clear each floor of the castle. More of a puzzle game than a real adventure, failure to push the blocks the right way leads to certain doom at the hands of happy-looking snakes and pink devil creatures. Collecting heart tokens enables Lolo to fire a pulse of good energy at enemies blocking your way, trapping them inside a ball that can be pushed. Once all the heart tokens have been collected, the treasure chest of the level opens, revealing the key to the door to the next floor. Sometimes, collecting all the heart tokens also wakes up sleeping monsters, so getting to the chest is often more difficult than opening it. Pressing Select kills Lolo instantly, allowing the player to start the level over again if one should get stuck.
Graphically, it looks like any other NES game — a few colours, cartoony characters full of personality, and grid-based level design. The music is fun, happy, catchy, and repetitive, just like a good mascot-based puzzle game should be. I've got many great memories of this game, and its sequels. Adventure of Lolo 2 was basically just an expansion of the first game, although it added harder levels and more enemy types. Adventure of Lolo 3 from 1991 is my favorite, as not only is it the most polished of the series, it added simultaneous multiplayer so that both Lolo and Lala could complete levels as a team. It also gave players a world map to explore and other characters to talk to. Balls with personalities didn't get this fun again until SEGA put monkeys inside them.
#30 (Nintendo) - Mach Rider
Developer: Nintendo
Console: NES
Players: 1
Save: Battery Save (for the track design mode only)
VCL: 5 / 5
Nintendo's first great racing game in which combat took a major role, Mach Rider set the stage for future titles like F-Zero and Mario Kart. Although many people have seen him as a statue in Super Smash Bros. Melee, few have seen him in action on the NES. I say "him", but the game begins with the narrator telling the player "You are Mach Rider!" So really, Mach Rider is you, the player. Unlike Mario or Pit, Mach Rider's personality and motivation are entirely customizable. The game was one of the first to be released on the NES, and also one of the first to have the ability to save player data, which was necessary because Mach Rider allowed players to create their own tracks, much like Excite Bike did before it.
Mach Rider has three modes — Fighting, Endurance, and Solo. In Fighting mode, the player is taken through the main game, taking place in 2112 where the Earth has been invaded by "evil forces". Mach Rider must journey to neighbouring sectors and destroy the invaders. Basically, the player has to complete tracks by avoiding obstacles such as oil spills and ice, and preventing other drivers from living full, natural evil-invader lives by shooting them with the guns mounted on Mach Rider's motorcycle. Survival is the only goal; as crashing into riders or hitting obstacles will make Mach Rider explode, reducing his energy remaining instead of actually killing him. Mach Rider is like the T-1000 in that he can be blown into a million pieces and then just reform in seconds, not wasting any time. In Endurance Mode, the player must travel a certain distance before the time runs out, again avoiding CPU racers and ground obstacles. Solo mode allows players to try for a best time on a certain track or on a custom designed track. Like almost all NES games, score is calculated as well in all modes. Points are scored by shooting other racers and travelling as far as possible. Points are useful because a high score lasts as long as the game is turned on, so people who completed Super Mario Brothers over and over again for days without switching games or eating can still have fun doing that even in a driving game.