Shantae Banner

Update:

EARTHBOUND!!!

Original Article with updated entry:

It's Monday, and as is now tradition Nintendo Download fans in Europe find out what's on the way in this week's update. There are some long awaited and potentially intriguing arrivals this week, along with a few price reductions to tempt us. Without further ado, let's get to it.

Wii U Virtual Console

Earthbound (Nintendo, €9.99 / £6.99) — Deep breaths everyone, Earthbound is available now. It's had a passionate following demanding its Virtual Console release since the service began on the Wii, but supposed licensing issues seemingly prevented it from arriving on the service. Announced earlier this year with much fanfare it makes a surprise appearance this week, delighting many retro gamers even if it does come in above the standard SNES price band. We'll work on a review of this Wii U Virtual Console release very soon.

Wii U Retail Download

The Smurfs 2 (Ubisoft, €39.99 / £31.99)

Wii U eShop Temporary Discount

Puddle (Neko Entertainment, €4.99 / £4.49 until 1st August, normally €9.99 / £8.99)

3DS eShop

Attack of the Friday Monsters! A Tokyo Tale (Level-5, €7.99 / £7.19) — Possibly the most intriguing of the Guild02 titles coming to the eShop, this is a mystery title that'll likely focus on exploration and storytelling above all-else. Has Level-5 saved the best for last in this series? We'll work on a review to let you know.

Robot Rescue 3D (Teyon, €2.99 / £2.69) — The third entry in this puzzle series from Teyon, and the first on 3DS, previous titles have offered tough puzzles at a budget price. This is apparently a MEGA pack of content with some levels from the DSiWare titles and new additions; we'll wrap our head around moving multiple robots at once and bring you a review.

3DS Virtual Console

Shantae (WayForward, €4.99 / £4.49) — Happy news for Europe as, after a bit of a delay from its original release date, this Game Boy Color title from WayForward finally has a confirmed time of arrival. The action / platformer / exploration title, where hair is a very useful weapon, has been on a number of wishlists — DSiWare sequel Shantae: Risky's Revenge was one of the best and most popular games on the service. We'll be whipping our hair back and forth to bring you a review, soon.

Spelunker (Tozai Games, €3.99 / £3.59) — Continuing the recent trend of Wii U Virtual Console releases jumping over to the 3DS equivalent, this is an old-school arcade-style puzzle platformer. In our view its issues of poor design and sloppy controls hold it back in a big way, as we explain in our Wii U Virtual Console Spelunker review.

3DS eShop Demo

The Denpa Men 2: Beyond the Waves (Genius Sonority, free)

3DS eShop Permanent Discount

Virtue's Last Reward (Rising Star Games, €24.99 / £19.99, originally €40.00 / £30.00)

3DS eShop Temporary Discount

Fractured Soul (Endgame Studios, €4.99 / £4.49 until 1st August, normally €7.99 / £7.19)

DSiWare

Fashion Tycoon (MSL, 500 Nintendo Points) — In this title you play as Lilly, who's tasked with designed her way to the top of the Paris fashion world within 45 days. We'll summon our inner fabulous designers and fashion a review for you.

Rabi Laby 2 (Agetec, 200 Nintendo Points) — This DSiWare sequel finally makes its way to Europe, bringing more budget-priced action-puzzle fun to the system. In some ways this feels distinctly like a level pack for the original, but despite that lack of creativity it's still an enjoyable experience, as explained in our Rabi Laby 2 review.


So there are some decent choices this week, including some that have been on the radar for a while. Let us know what you'll be downloading in the poll and comments below.

What will you be downloading first this week? (176 votes)

  1. The Smurfs 2 (Wii U retail download)2%
  2. Puddle (Wii U temporary discount)4%
  3. Attack of the Friday Monsters! A Tokyo Tale (3DS eShop)19%
  4. Robot Rescue 3D (3DS eShop)  0%
  5. Shantae (3DS Virtual Console)30%
  6. Spelunker (3DS Virtual Console)  0%
  7. Virtue's Last Reward (3DS retail download permanent discount)3%
  8. Fractured Soul (3DS eShop temporary discount)2%
  9. Fashion Tycoon (DSiWare)  0.6%
  10. Rabi Laby 2 (DSiWare)1%
  11. Just the free demo for me8%
  12. Nothing for me this week31%

Please login to vote in this poll.