Castlevania II, Samurai Ghost, Magician Lord scare up Wii VC

With Halloween just around the dark and eerily-lit corner, Nintendo has released its latest batch of classic console offerings for the Wii's Virtual Console Monday smorgasbord, including Konami's strange but nonetheless fantastic action RPG hybrid Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, which to this day still has many of us humming its tunes while lathering up in the shower. But for the sake of argument let's assume you are not the sort of person who likes thwarting the undead with a thorny whip -- perhaps you'll enjoy what else this week has to offer:

• Castlevania II Simon's Quest (NES, 1 player, 500 Wii Points): The gem of this latest batch, Simon's Quest reminds us that not only is it a horrible night to have a curse, but also that that shifty riverman has a thing for Dracula's heart.
• Samurai Ghost (TurboGrafx16, 1 player, 600 Wii Points): If you can't beat'em, join'em seems to be the motif in Namco's 1992 side scroller, as Samurai Ghost has you floating about as the undead ronin Kagekiyo on a quest for revenge and, we assume, candy.
• Magician Lord (Neo Geo, 1-2 players, 900 Wii Points): The latest Neo Geo release to crop up on the Virtual Console, Magician Lord is also one of the most fondly remembered among the pricey platform's library, and we're all too eager to rejoin the shape shifiting Elta, the last of the magician lords, on his quest to throw down with the nefarious Gul-Agieze.