Smash Wiiu

Another week begins, but the European Nintendo Download Update should have some exciting titles to cheer anyone up, with two of the year's biggest retail titles arriving on both Wii U and 3DS. Beyond those big contenders we have some enticing download options, so let's get to the details.

Wii U eShop

Thomas Was Alone (Mike Bithell / Curve Studios, €7.99 / £6.99) — This is a puzzle platformer with a focus on storytelling, as UK comedian and actor Danny Wallace narrates a tale of exploration, friendship and survival. A simple art style is a unique foil to a touching soundtrack and plot; our review will be with you very soon, but in the meantime check out our interview with Curve Studiosavailable from 25th November.

Pier Solar and the Great Architects (WaterMelon, $14.99) — This HD release of WaterMelon's Genesis / Mega Drive RPG took a while to arrive, but it lands with a bold promise of a sizeable adventure to deprive you of tens of hours. It's an admirable labour of love, but some flaws meant we awarded this 6/10 in our Pier Solar and the Great Architects review.

Ittle Dew (Ludosity, €9.99 / £8.99) — Following the adventures of Ittle Dew and her companion Tippsy, this is a top-down adventure with some hints at mature humour. Is draws heavy inspiration from The Legend of Zelda, so much so that the title was once pitched to Nintendo as a game for the iconic series. This does forge its own identity, however, and we were rather impressed in our Ittle Dew review.

Shiny The Firefly (Padaone Games, 6.99 / £6.29) until 31st December, regular price will be €9.99 / £8.99) — This sounds like a rather colourful puzzle adventure that may suit younger gamers, as you help a firefly find and rescue his babies within a crowded and dangerous garden. We'll see if it lights up the eShop in our review.

Wii U Virtual Console

Breath of Fire (Capcom, €7.99 / £5.49) — The Super NES wasn't short of RPG titles, and here's one of Capcom's more prominent efforts from the era; you play as Ryu (and companions) who has the ability to transform into a powerful beast, which must be handy when saving the world. We gave the sequel — which oddly arrived first — 6/10 in our review, but we'll see what this first entry serves up. This is the US version of the game.

Wii U Retail Downloads

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U (Nintendo, €59.99 / £49.99) — The time has finally come for eager Smash fans, with the home console version of the fourth generation in the fighting franchise. It boasts an enormous roster, a broad variety of stages and a range of favourite and new modes, along with substantial support for the amiibo range of figures. Thankfully after all the hype it lives up to expectations, as we explain in our Super Smash Bros. for Wii U review which will, don't forget, be updated once we've been able to fully sample the online play.

Penguins of Madagascar (Little Orbit, €39.99 / £34.99)

Wii U DLC

Hyrule Warriors Twilight Princess Pack (Koei Tecmo, €6.99 / £6.29):

  • A new Adventure Mode map (Twilight-covered Hyrule) with six new 8-bit weapons and sixteen new alternatively-coloured costumes as rewards
  • A new playable character (Midna in her true Twili form)
  • A new weapon type for Zelda (Dominion Rod)
  • Two new costumes (Ilia's Clothes for Zelda and Postman Uniform for Link)

Wii U eShop Temporary Discounts

Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams (Black Forest Games, €8.99 / £7.79 until 4th December, normally €14.99 / £12.99)

BIT.TRIP Presents: Runner 2 Future Legend of Rhythm Alien (Choice Provisions, €3.99 / £3.33 until 11th December, normally €11.99 / £9.99)

3DS eShop

Castle Conqueror EX (CIRCLE Entertainment, €3.99 / £3.49) — A series that's had a long life, it now comes full circle (geddit?!) with a remaster of the first title on the 3DS eShop. This makes modest improvements over the solid original, making it worth a punt for newcomers but potentially disappointing for those that enjoyed it the first time around, as we explain in our Castle Conqueror EX review.

Talking Phrasebook: 7 Languages (Sanuk Games, €4.99 / £4.49) — This is designed to help you with key languages on your travels while also offline; it includes English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Dutch.

My First Songs (Ringzero Games, €4.99 / £4.49) — A singing game for toddlers that includes 15 songs; this seems to be a re-release of the Wii U equivalent, which didn't impress us.

3DS Virtual Console

Pokémon Puzzle Challenge (Nintendo, €4.99 / £4.49) — Joining its more illustrious 'mon arrivals, this Game Boy Color title serves up six different modes of tile-related puzzling. We still owe you a review of this, which we'll aim to publish soon.

3DS Retail Downloads

Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire (Nintendo, €44.99 / £39.99) — The long awaited remakes of the Game Boy Advance titles, these arrive around a year after Pokémon X & Y and utilise its 3D engine and a number of 3DS features. Far from being simple re-makes, these introduce new Mega Evolutions, the Soar ability and even new story elements; we cover these in detail in our Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire review. Available from 28th November.

Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth (Atlus, €39.99 / £34.99) — The first Persona title on Nintendo hardware, this blends the cast of the third and fourth games into a new art style and Etrian Odyssey-style gameplay. A lengthy and relatively complex RPG, we were full of praise as we awarded 9/10 in our Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth review.

Adventure Time: The Secret of the Nameless Kingdom (Little Orbit, €29.99 / £24.99)

Penguins of Madagascar (Little Orbit, €29.99 / £24.99)

Horse Vet 3D (Treva Entertainment, €29.99 / £24.99) — We were far from impressed with this in our review.

3DS DLC

Shin Megami Tensei IV (Atlus):

  • Ancient One of the Sun — €0.99 / £0.75
  • Eternal Youth — €1.79 / £1.49

3DS eShop Temporary Discounts)

Farming Simulator 14 (Focus Home Interactive, €19.99 / £12.99 until 11th December, normally €29.99 / £19.99)

The Keep (Cinemax, €5.99 / £5.49 until 11th December, normally €9.99 / £8.99)

3DS Demos

Fishdom H2O: Hidden Odyssey (Cypronia, free)

Survivor - Heroes (Bigben Interactive, free)

3DS HOME Themes

Pikmin Working Together (Nintendo, €1.99 / £1.79)

Pikmin and a Hungry Bulborb (Nintendo, €1.99 / £1.79)

Spotlight: Shovel Knight (Yacht Club Games, €1.99 / £1.79)


The eShop stores are packed full of options this week in Europe. Let us know what you're planning to download in the poll and comments below.

What will you be downloading first this week? (173 votes)

  1. Thomas Was Alone (Wii U eShop)3%
  2. Pier Solar and the Great Architects (Wii U eShop)3%
  3. Ittle Dew (Wii U eShop)6%
  4. Shiny The Firefly (Wii U eShop)  0%
  5. Breath of Fire (Wii U Virtual Console)2%
  6. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U (Wii U retail download)19%
  7. Penguins of Madagascar (Wii U retail download)1%
  8. Hyrule Warriors Twilight Princess Pack (Wii U DLC)15%
  9. Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams (Wii U eShop temporary discount)1%
  10. BIT.TRIP Presents: Runner 2 Future Legend of Rhythm Alien (Wii U eShop temporary discount)6%
  11. Castle Conqueror EX (3DS eShop)1%
  12. Talking Phrasebook: 7 Languages (3DS eShop)1%
  13. My First Songs (3DS eShop)  0%
  14. Pokémon Puzzle Challenge (3DS Virtual Console)1%
  15. Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire (3DS retail download)6%
  16. Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth (3DS retail download)4%
  17. Adventure Time: The Secret of the Nameless Kingdom (3DS retail download)  0%
  18. Penguins of Madagascar (3DS retail download)  0%
  19. Horse Vet 3D (3DS retail download)1%
  20. Shin Megami Tensei IV: Ancient One of the Sun (3DS DLC)  0%
  21. Shin Megami Tensei IV: Eternal Youth (3DS DLC)  0%
  22. Farming Simulator 14 (3DS eShop temporary discount)  0%
  23. The Keep (3DS eShop temporary discount)3%
  24. Fishdom H2O: Hidden Odyssey (3DS demo)  0%
  25. Survivor - Heroes (3DS demo)  0%
  26. Pikmin Working Together (3DS HOME Theme)1%
  27. Pikmin and a Hungry Bulborb (3DS HOME Theme)1%
  28. Spotlight: Shovel Knight (3DS HOME Theme)1%
  29. Nothing for me this week24%

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