It's an exciting week for dedicated Nintendo gamers in Europe, with the New Nintendo 3DS arriving in stores and some long-awaiting retail games also landing in the eShop. Nintendo of Europe kept us waiting, but we now know that beyond those big-name releases there are loads of download-only treats too; there are plenty of options to consider, so without further ado let's get to the details.
Wii U eShop
Blek (Broken Rules, €5.49 / £4.49) - A rather unique and promising puzzle concept previously released on iOS and Android; the concept is simply to complete and form shapes by drawing lines, but with multiple solutions and a minimalist style this aims to be an immersive, relaxing experience. We'll chill out and let you know what we think in a review.
Red Riding Hood (Brave Rock Games, €0.90 / £0.66) - Effectively a visual / audio novel that utilises the GamePad, this is pitched as an entertaining story-telling approach for children; in reality we think it's a bit rubbish.
Wii U Virtual Console
Blaster Master (Sunsoft, €4.99 / £3.49) — Certainly classed as one of the stronger third-party titles of the NES era, you alternate between navigating the world in a tank and on foot, with eight regions making this lengthy by 8-bit standards. Importantly, it's a lot of fun over that playtime, as our Master Blaster review explains.
Mappy-Land (Bandai Namco, €4.99 / £3.49) - A surprise NES arrival, simply due to the fact it was never released on the Wii Virtual Console. It's an old-school platforming experience in which you play as "Mappy, the police mouse", with the basic premise of retrieving presents while avoiding an assortment of foes; we'll hop to it and bring you a review.
Wii U eShop Temporary Discounts
Trine 2: Director's Cut (Frozenbyte, €8.49 / £6.99 until 12th March, normally €16.99 / £13.99)
Spy Chameleon (EnjoyUp Games, €3.99 / £3.59 until 5th March, normally €4.99 / £4.49)
Spin the Bottle: Bumpie's Party (KnapNok Games, €3.99 / £3.99 until 26th February, normally €8.99 / £8.00)
Knytt Underground (Ripstone, €3.99 / £3.99 until 26th February, normally €8.99 / £7.99)
Wii U eShop Permanent Discount
Tested With Robots! (M.R. Games, €4.99 / £4.49, was €10.00 / £9.00)
3DS eShop
IronFall: Invasion (VD-Dev, free, €9.99 / £8.99 for Campaign or Multiplayer individually, €19.98 / £17.98 for both) - This action-shooter has been fairly heavily promoted by Nintendo, produced by a small studio of three and filling a notable gap in the eShop's line-up - it'll make use of the c-stick on the New Nintendo 3DS, while it includes local and online multiplayer mode for up to six alongside a single player campaign. It looks promising, but we'll see how it shapes up in our upcoming review. Available from 13th February.
Kirby Fighters Deluxe (Nintendo, €6.99 / £6.29) - One of two eShop releases that delivers an extended version of a minigame from retail title Kirby: Triple Deluxe, this is a Smash Bros.-lite concept in which multiple Kirby characters - each with a copy ability - duke it out. The single-player aspect is expanded with a couple of boss battles and nine stages for each copy ability, while there are more arenas for local multiplayer matches; we were fans of this in our Kirby Fighters Deluxe review.
Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe (Nintendo, €6.99 / £6.29) - The second of the spin-offs from Triple Deluxe, this is a rhythm game in which you manoeuvre with the Circle Pad and time button presses to bounce Dedede and grab stars. Like its sibling this adds plenty of content over what we saw in the original minigame, with 14 stages, lots of new music and a host of nods and fun references to various Kirby games. A twist on typical rhythm play that has fantastic music, we gave this a glowing recommendation in our Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe review.
3D Fantasy Zone (Sega, €4.99 / £3.49) - This iconic scrolling shooter comes in remastered form thanks to the brilliant work of M2, with upgraded visuals and the now-standard 3D Sega re-release bells and whistles. We'll bring you a review soon.
Undead Storm Nightmare (G-STYLE, €4.99 / £3.49) - A follow-up to DSiWare title GO Series: Undead Storm, the focus of this title is simple zombie shooting fun. With a top-down view and solid mechanics this certainly delivers, and we gave a recommendation in our Undead Storm: Nightmare review.
Space Lift Danger Panic! (Springloaded, €2.49 / £1.99) - A rather simple arcade / sci-fi concept, ultimately, in which you tap the screen to create portals and rescue tumbling humans. Though fun this can certainly be overly repetitive - nevertheless we gave it a decent recommendation in our Space List Danger Panic! review.
Best of Arcade Games - Air Hockey (Bigben Interactive, €9.99 / £8.99) - Another in this line of releases, this time promising 20 challenges in the simple game.
Best of Board Games - Chess (Bigben Interactive, €9.99 / £8.99) - Promising plenty of challenges, 'advanced' AI and the option to switch between 2D and 3D views, this joins the small band of chess options on the eShop.
Nintendo Anime Channel (Nintendo, free) - This free channel will host regular videos including Pokémon, Kirby and Inazuma Eleven.
3DS Retail Downloads
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D (Nintendo, €44.99 / £39.99) - Heavily in demand ever since The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D arrived on the current-gen portable, we now have its experimental and darker follow-up from the Nintendo 64 era. This version brings enhanced visuals and design tweaks to accommodate its new platform, but remains the same engrossing, captivating experience - we feel it's one of the definitive Legend of Zelda titles, and you can read more about it in our The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask review. Available from 13th February.
Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate (Capcom, €44.99 / £39.99) - Just like its predecessor in the west, this is the second iteration of Capcom's fourth main entry in the series; there are plenty of spin-offs and sub-entries, naturally.It's packed with a huge amount of content, features new weapons, monsters and shakes up gameplay with greater verticality in environments. A huge title in every respect, we'll bring you our review very soon. Available from 13th February.
Ace Combat Assault Horizon Legacy+ (Bandai Namco, €39.99 / £29.99) - Originally released late in the first year of the 3DS, we now have an enhanced version featuring a range of special Nintendo-themed planes that are either found in-game or unlocked at any time with the relevant amiibo toys. We rather enjoyed the original and will bring you a review of this fresh version very soon, but until then you can check out our recent first impressions article. Available from 12th February.
SpongeBob HeroPants (Activision, TBC)
3DS eShop Demo
Undead Storm Nightmare (G-STYLE, Free)
3DS eShop Temporary Discounts
Sweet Memories Blackjack (CIRCLE Entertainment, €2.99 / £2.69 until 26th February, normally €3.99 / £3.59)
Brunch Panic (CIRCLE Entertainment, €2.99 / £2.69 until 26th February, normally €3.99 / £3.35)
3DS HOME Themes
Ace Combat Assault Horizon Legacy +: ACES (Bandai Namco, €0.99 / £0.79)
Ace Combat Assault Horizon Legacy +: ADF-01 (Bandai Namco, €0.99 / £0.79)
Ace Combat Assault Horizon Legacy +: PHOENIX (Bandai Namco, €0.99 / £0.79)
Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate: Hunter's Seal (Capcom, €1.99 / £1.79)
Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate: Palicoes 4 Ever(Capcom, €1.99 / £1.79)
Basic Colour Set (Nintendo, free)
Simple Colour Set (Nintendo, free)
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask: Dire Moon (Nintendo, €1.99 / £1.79)
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask: Gold Edition (Nintendo, €1.99 / £1.79)
That's the full line-up for this week in Europe. Let us know what you'll be downloading in the comments and poll below.
What will you be downloading first this week? (231 votes)
- Blek (Wii U eShop)0.9%
- Red Riding Hood (Wii U eShop)0%
- Blaster Master (Wii U Virtual Console)
- Mappy-Land (Wii U Virtual Console)0.4%
- One of the Wii U eShop discounts
- IronFall: Invasion (3DS eShop)
- Kirby Fighters Deluxe (3DS eShop)
- Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe (3DS eShop)
- 3D Fantasy Zone (3DS eShop)
- Undead Storm Nightmare (3DS eShop)0%
- Space Lift Danger Panic! (3DS eShop)0%
- Best of Arcade Games - Air Hockey (3DS eShop)0%
- Best of Board Games - Chess (3DS eShop)0.4%
- Nintendo Anime Channel (3DS eShop)
- The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D (3DS retail download)
- Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate (3DS retail download)
- Ace Combat Assault Horizon Legacy+ (3DS retail download)0.9%
- SpongeBob HeroPants (3DS retail download)0%
- One of the 3DS eShop discounts0%
- One of the 3DS HOME Themes
- Nothing for me this week
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Comments 58
ughhh So close to Majora 3d.... I seriously cant wait anymore! even the new 3ds comes out too!
Lots of good options this week! Master Blaster, 3D Fantasy Zone and IronFall! Picking one to vote for will be difficult!
Wiik week for the Wee U. Now I can't decide for my first game on my first (N)3ds.. Hmmmm... Fire Emblem Awakening download it is along with Smash 3DS as a filler on the card slot.
Nothing for me. Except majora's mask which will already be on my gold new 3ds when it arrives. May plump for ace combat at a later date
No discount for buying both parts of Ironfall?
No multiplayer for me then.
The Majora's Mask 3DS themes for sure! Nothing else though.
Maybe ironfall, will wait on a review
Oh some free home themes! Basic but fully appreciated.
3D Fantasy Zone is joy, and that's a nice price.
Bored people: search for "Plaleaf" in Animal Crossing's Dream Suite and hopefully my town is still there. Never did finish the whole town properly, but I did make patterns for an Opa-Opa dress, Space Harrier shirt and a Fantasy Zone-themed flag that are kind of neat! Also, my town theme rocks.
No, I don't know why.
Nothing for me this week. May as well download GBA Castlevania later today then. I'm concerned about the 3DS VC games. I have a few I still want to download but Nintendo should still be releasing games for it.
@arronishere
Because there is no highlighted that you "buy" free themes.
There is only option: "One of the 3DS HOME Themes". (this is generalized/marginalized to themes, not to free themes)
So maybe because of that.
Also free IronFall version doesnt exist in vote poll so thats why.
Nothing this week. I would have picked up Zelda but I can wait a few months to get it.
@arronishere
True.
You can always dont vote. So many (not all) people vote for nothing.
Lot of goodies if I had my wallet ready and a fast click on elusive preorders ^_^;
As things are I'll only check the free Ironfall and Undead demo and maybe buy the one making me wish for more asap XP
Majora's Mask 3D and Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate are both must have for 3DS players.
Blek getting a Wii U port was unexpected....
I'll be picking up my Majora's Mask Special Edition and Limited Edition 3DS XL orders. And grabbing those beautiful themes.
meh
Ironfall invasion!! Woop woop! Would download MH4 too if I wasn't getting the preorder edition MM with the free skull kid figure
Gonna download Majora's Mask because it's part of the MM Special Edition New 3DS package in Europe.
Also, I so much wanna buy Monster Hunter 4 since "this is another special experience from Capcom", but I'm not sure "If [I'm] up for the investment in time"!
Sadly, my wallets kinda in a coma for this month already. Monster Hunter will have to wait until I can afford a N3DS.
Nothing for me this week. Zelda on cart and the n3ds Friday and a couple cover plates. €300, I think that's more than enough to give Ninty for one week.
I'll definitely give Ironfall a try. If I'm convinced about the online multiplayer, I'll probably buy that half of the pack. Likely not the campaign, though.
@bouncer0304 I'm right there with ya!
Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate for me!
I thought more Wii downloadable games were coming?
So I'm guessing the 3DS VC is just finished then? Great job Nintendo... /s
Wait... the Anime Channel is on 3DS only?
I thought it was going to be a WiiU channel?
It's not often that "nothing" doesn't win.
Both Zelda and Monster Hunter are very tempting.
So how long will North America have to wait for Blaster Master?
Where's the Wii game ? wasn't one last week either.
Only Nintendo Anime Channel this week for me.
Where is Pokémon Shuffle?
So many goodies for this pricey 3DS week, but Blaster Master on Wii U is a much welcomed surprise. There was me thinking I was running out of Wii VC games to "upgrade" to Wii U. XD
Getting a Majora's Mask New 3DS but also physical copies of both Majora's Mask (it's the collector's edition, and it's by far my favourite Zelda) and Monster Hunter 4 so no downloads as I'll have plenty to play this week.
More amiibo are launching next week too...ouch, my poor wallet!
Blaster Master is a fantastic game. I'm very curious if they kept the pause-on-bosses damage exploit
Zelda, of course, maybe even a theme because I can't resist when it's MM. I'm thinking 3D Fantasy Zone later, after the review. And I'll check out the Anime Channel, but I doubt I'll use it much. The N3DS will have to wait 'till Xenoblade 3D is out or near release date, with one or two cover plates for good measure.
I'm still holding out for new 3DS VC games and good discounts in the future...
Best 3DS line-up evah.
Literally nothing for Wii U. But good week for 3DS owners.
Ironfall, Monster Hunter 4, Majora's Mask... tempted with Kirby Fighters too. Don't know if I'm going to be able to afford them all. Those free themes are a no-brainer.
So, do we have to wait till Friday or is this up as usual on Thurs?
As much I love Nintendo's window into the past through their Virtual Console, why don't they ever release proper VC games we all actually want? I'm all for letting those that got lost and thrown into the shadows time to shine but for goodness sake, wake up Nintendo!
Iron fall is cheaper as two separate purchases than the bundle odd?
Nope. Its the exact same price as a bundle as being purchased seperately.
why don't they ever release proper VC games we all actually want?
Namco and Sunsoft have games they want to sell on the VC too. Thats this week. Plus some companies aren't interested in submitting their games to Nintendo yet.
So stoked to get it!
Just Majora's Special Edition this week.
My wallet has died. I may need to resurrect it with some cash before I buy MH4U.
Will get the three Ace Combat themes whilst the game and Majora's Mask will make its way physically.
@TheFatPlumber
Personally, I'm kinda glad they release some obscure games sometimes. Because of Mappy-Land's obscurity, I was afraid it'd never get a rerelease, yet it did, and I'm happy to see one of my childhood games back so I can play it again. Even some of the obscure games have their fans. (Frankly, I thought "Mappy-Land" was much better then "Mappy.") I may be the only person hear who was looking forward to that game getting a rerelease.
I also hope "Kung-Fu Heroes" (which is out in Japan's VC) comes here to, as that was also a good-yet-obscure NES game.
I reckon 3D Fantasy Zone will be the next download for me, although I might not download it for a while. For me, February was always going to be about Shantae and the Pirate's Curse (which I'm replaying).
Well I'm pretty sure I bought Blaster Master on the Wii VC, so with a discount that's obvious. Never heard of Mappy Land, but I enjoyed the Mappy arcade game so this might be worth a look.
Hopefully, it will all come to NA. That Nintendo channel seems interesting if it would come to NA. Can't wait for Majoras Mask theme and game! I have 3 dollars on my eshop; I plan to use it on Majoras Mask theme.
Holy cow! Ironfall is going to outsell Monster Hunter 4 in the Eshop? People probably getting Cartridge. That's what I'm doing and getting Sega's next 3D Classic. I hope sega will keep those coming although I think they are done after this next round of classics.
@XyVoX They will be saving Wii games for quiet weeks, they don't want you purchasing a Wii game instead of Majoras Mask.
As I don't have to worry about getting a new3ds as had mine oz one since November I will download all on offer except Zelda as ordered special edition game hoping that comes day early like last time
Fantasy Zone is £4.49 not the £3.49 stated above!
And for that reason I'm out.
This doesn't seem to be out in Aus today. Sad face
does anyone know how to get the free Majora's Mask theme? I Got the MM New 3DS XL with the game but don't know how to redeem the free theme. I know its a code but I don't know where it is or what.
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