Today marks the beginning of some special on the Virtual Console. Named after the Japanese season famous for it’s wild fireworks displays, the ‘Hanabi Festival’ on Wii’s Virtual Console will run for 3 weeks, and will feature themed releases of games which have previously been previously unreleased in PAL territories.

To get the ball rolling, this week has been deemed ‘Mario Week’ to celebrate the original launch of Super Mario Bros. in Japan on 13th September 1985. This means that we can look forward to playing some great titles such as Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels and puzzler Mario’s Super Picross.

Over the next few weeks we can also expect to be able to sample some great US versions of the classics Ninja Gaiden and space shoot ‘em up Gradius III, and some Japanese games which never made it to these shores, such as Ninja JaJaMaru-Kun and the cult Nintendo 64 blaster Sin And Punishment.

For the fans of lists, here’s this week’s Virtual Console releases in full:

Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)

• Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels (600 Points)

  Super Mario Bros.™: The Lost Levels™ was originally only available for the Famicom Disk System in Japan and expands on the original with all-new level designs, trickier enemies and obstacles, and secret worlds to explore. For the Mario purist this is the ultimate gaming treat, but make sure you hurry.

  NOTE: This title is deemed a collector’s item, and will only be available to download until the last day of the event on 30 September (all other Hanabi Festival titles will remain available after the event), so don’t miss out!

Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES)

• Mario’s Super Picross (900 Points)

  This classic picture crossword game, previously available only in Japan, features hundreds of challenging yet relaxing puzzles. Each puzzle features a grid of tiles that reveal a picture when filled correctly. Like Picross DS, Mario’s Super Picross includes a save function allowing players to return to puzzles later and a selection of changeable background melodies.

TurboGrafx 16 (600 Points)

• Neutopia II (900 Points)

  In the first Neutopia title (also available on Virtual Console) the heroic Jazeta destroyed Dirth the emperor of darkness. Many years later, the shadow of darkness is spreading across the land and Jazeta must once again take up his arms to save his father and defeat Dirth once again.

Don’t forget to check back soon to find out what we think of these new titles and more in our Virtual Console Archive. Want to write your own review for these, or any of the previous Virtual Console releases? Then check out our Virtual Console user reviews thread over on the WiiDS.co.uk Boards.