By now, Nintendo's Wii console should need no introduction. Despite a few initial hurdles and ostensibly being named after male genitalia (apparently Nintendo Lil' Winky, Baby Maker and Bald-Headed Giggle Stick were also in contention), the console single-handedly revived Nintendo's sagging fortunes following the Gamecube's lacklustre performance and has quickly become the home console sales leader both here and abroad, with over thirty million units sold at $249.99 a pop.

In fact, despite being on the market for a full two years now, Wii consoles are still every bit as hard to find on store shelves as they were back in 2006, a fact made all the more hilarious by the sight of homeless people melting down PlayStation 3 consoles for warmth during the Holiday season. 'Tis the nature of the beast, I suppose. Fortunes can turn quickly in an industry as large and multi-faceted as this one, and though Sony unequivocally won the hardware battle last time around, companies who rest on their laurels too long often get a swift kick in the pants for their complacency.

Along with all the third-party, third-rate shovelware (of which there is an alarming amount), the Wii boasts a lineup of truly sensational titles like Super Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3, Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Okami, and more. Still, for many gamers, the decision to jump to Nintendo's platform was not only influenced by the promise of new and unique gameplay experiences -- the kind Nintendo has built its entire marketing campaign around -- but also by the lure of games long since past. While the Virtual Console hasn't quite reached its goal of being "the greatest video game archive in history," as Nintendo once put it, there's still a lot to like about having a digital copy of your favourite NES or Super NES classics ready to play whenever you boot up your Wii.

Video game purists will likely still have their old Nintendo consoles, and even with the cleanliness and convenience of being able to download classic games right to your Wii, nothing really beats digging out a twenty-year-old piece of gaming history and dusting it off for a few rounds of Duck Hunt. The beauty of Nintendo's service then? Being able to catch up on a whole lot of awesome games that flew under the radar back when you were a little less savvy about your video game purchases.

First up: Mega Man 2. One of those games that earned its classic status ages ago and yet, for some reason or another, I never got around to playing, MM 2 was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1989 and became a bestseller virtually overnight. Featuring an endearingly bare-bones plot about an evil Dr. Wily and his eight rampaging robots, the game thrusts players into the action as Mega Man (known as Rock Man in Japan, oddly enough), an advanced humanoid cyborg championed by Dr. Light. Players jump, shoot, run, climb, skid and fly through a series of stages, each one culminating in a final showdown with one of Dr. Wily's bad-ass bots; defeat the boss and his signature weapon (or ability) becomes available to you.

Success depends on your ability to use each weapon wisely during the course of the game to tackle foes that might previously have been too difficult or to reach areas once thought off-limits. Can't handle that pesky Wood Man? Backtrack to Metal Man's stage and swipe his Metal Blades -- that arboreal asshole won't stand a chance. Can't seem to reach that 1-Up? Equip the platform powerup and simply hop your way there. It's this type of revolutionary, non-linear gameplay that made Mega Man 2 a breath of fresh air twenty years ago, and it still works well today.

As for presentation, Mega Man 2 wins points for some clever level design and clean, crisp graphics. To be honest, while these aren't the best visuals to come out of the 8-bit era, they're still pretty damn spectacular for the time period. Likewise, I can point to a few other NES games whose soundtracks rise superior, but these tunes definitely fit the mood and tone of the game and are catchy enough to merit your attention.