The drive on my Wii lit up blue a little while ago, letting me know there was some kind of news available. Upon booting it up, I was a bit disappointed to discover that it was just a Check Mii Out update.

While I had it on I figured I’d check out the store for any recent updates. None of the recent VC titles mentioned on news sites had really piqued my interest, but looking through the list I saw StarTropics, and vaguely remembered it being recommended as a sleeper classic. So, of course, the poor impulse control part of my brain took over and bought it.

It’s kind of Zelda-ish, with an overworld map you move around on to get from place to place, towns to enter, and dungeons that take you to another overhead view where you fight enemies (a yo-yo being your main weapon) and navigate puzzles. Unlike Zelda though it’s pretty linear so far, since the overworld areas are somewhat limited.

I made it through the first dungeon without too much trouble. The dragon near the end killed me once until I figured out the trick to beating him (stay one square below where you’d attack him from, and jump up towards him only when he shoots fire at you, hit him a few times, jump back, and repeat).

That got me a submarine that took me to another area where I got a quest to find a missing dolphin, found a message in a bottle on the beach, discovered a secret path to a heart powerup, and entered the dungeon there. There were a couple new enemies here, including an annoying pufferfish-like thing that shot hard-to-dodge projectiles at me when I couldn’t get at him, but I still made it through to the end boss. This boss is a bit tougher and I lost the rest of my lives, so I’ll have to start the dungeon over again next time, but I know his trick now (he only comes close enough to be attacked very briefly, but you pick up a couple items that can freeze time for a while in the previous room, so you have to use them while he’s close enough).

It’s not particularly deep, but it’s still a nifty little game.