Every week Cyril Lachel comes down from his giant castle in the hills to provide the final word on all of the classic downloadable games and retro compilations. This is the Retro Round-Up, your official guide to the best (and worst) in classic gaming for the Nintendo Virtual Console, Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network. Join us as we shed some light on what games are worth your five or ten dollars, and what games you should avoid at all costs. For more information about these games (and retro gaming in general) we invite you to check out Defunct Games. Talk about a slow week. This week Nintendo uploaded one game to the Virtual Console, an obscure 2D shooter called Super Turrican. And to make matters worse, neither Sony nor Microsoft uploaded any classic games, which left us looking to GameTap for our old school fix. Thankfully GameTap delivered, offering two free games and a Genesis title that is subscriber-only. Find out where we came down on these games when you read this week`s Retro Round-Up!

Super Turrican
What Is It?
Super Turrican is the Super NES version/sequel to the popular Commodore 64 title. At its core Super Turrican is nothing more than a cross between Contra and Metroid, a fast-paced arcade-style shooter that had you exploring, collecting new items and taking down giant bosses. Of course, the real reason people care about this game now is because it`s developed by Factor 5, the developers behind last year`s disastrous Lair, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron and Ballblazer Champions. The good news is that Super Turrican is a lot better than Lair, which isn`t saying a whole lot. While it`s not very original (this game steals from almost all of the pre-1990 action games, including Mega Man, Contra, Metroid and many more), there`s something endearing about Super Turrican. Perhaps it`s the fact that there aren`t a lot of games like this on the Virtual Console or maybe it`s the fact that this game has held up incredibly well, but I had more fun playing Super Turrican than I did playing just about any other shooter in recent months. Super Turrican may not have a name like Contra or Metroid, but this shooter is every bit as fun as those two classic franchises.

Does It Still Hold Up?
The action is fast-paced, the power-ups are fun to play with, the game controls well, the bosses are cool, the explosions are large ... what more could you want from a 2D shooter? Sure, the graphics look a little dated and the story isn`t quite there, but it`s hard to look past the exciting action and cool level designs. Super Turrican definitely holds up.

Is It Worth The Money?
For whatever reason Super Turrican is the only Virtual Console game uploaded this week, which doesn`t give you much of a choice. Regardless, Super Turrican should be more than enough for action fans; it`s a fantastic shooter that most gamers probably ignored the first time around. The good news is that this suggests that we`ll also see the Mega Turrican games and maybe even Super Turrican 2, the superior Super NES sequel. Either way, Super Turrican is worth picking up ... even if the name doesn`t grab you.


This Week in GameTap
Every week I plan on taking a look at the classic games being uploaded on the GameTap service. Regardless of whether it`s part of their free or premium service, GameTap offers a wide variety of old school games that is worth checking out. Here are the most recent games uploaded to their server, keep in mind that all of these games are free to play unless otherwise stated:

Batman Returns (Genesis/Subscription Required) - The...