Duck Hunt

Christmas is nearly upon us. What better way to celebrate than vegetate on the sofa after all the festivities and play some Nintendo games with your loved ones? There are lots of new goodies for you to download on this week, not least a Wii Remote-enabled Duck Hunt on the Wii U Virtual Console. Let's see what Santa has in his bulging sack for us.

Wii U eShop

Spy Chameleon (EnjoyUp Games, €4.99 / £4.49) - Don't let the comic look fool you. Being a good RGB agent requires a lot of talent. Spy Chameleon is an arcade-puzzle game where the player must avoid being seen thanks to the chameleon's ability to change colours and camouflage. Through 5 missions and 75 levels, the player will discover different enemies and abilities to complete these super-secret missions: taking photos of a celebrity with her lover and stealing the secret formula of a successful soft drink are just two examples. Watch your enemies, choose the best path and run to the next safe point. The duration of each level can mean finishing a game in just minutes or spending hours trying to complete the missions and all the challenges, getting the best time among your friends or completing all the achievements. €3.99 / £3.59 EnjoyUp loyalty price for users who own 99 Seconds, Abyss, Darts Up, Rock Zombie or Unepic on the same Wii U.

Wii U Virtual Console

Duck Hunt (Nintendo, €4.99 / £3.49) — This is being listed as a VC release by Nintendo, demonstrating that it'll be the good old Duck Hunt familiar to NES gamers with the exception of Wii Remote pointer controls as opposed to using the NES Zapper. A bit of a cult classic, and the quirky appearance of Duck Hunt Duo in Super Smash Bros. makes its arrival rather timely. We'll get shootin' for a review.

Kuru Kuru Kururin (Nintendo, €6.99 / £6.29) - Steady your hands and steel your nerves for one of the most challenging puzzle-action games ever created. Kuru Kuru Kururin puts you in control of a rotating helicopter that must be carefully manoeuvred through increasingly tight and tricky labyrinthine levels. Avoid the walls and obstacles, or you’ll lose precious time and lives, as you try to reach the goal. It starts simple but soon you’ll be facing moving pistons, floating spikes and all manner of dangers. We'll let you know what we think in a review, soon.

Mega Man Zero (Capcom, €6.99 / £6.29) - Awakened after a century of sleep, in a strange war torn world, Zero becomes the hero in the first of his own series of adventures. Mega Man Zero sees the cybernetic warrior join forces with a resistance group battling a strangely familiar foe. This new spin-off series introduced new gameplay elements like mission-based levels, and weapons that level-up as you gain more experience; and also Cyber Elves: small but powerful creatures that grant a wide range of useful abilities. We'll bring you a review soon.

Mario Party Advance (Nintendo, €6.99 / £6.29) - Mario and friends bring the party to Game Boy Advance with a dizzying range of activities for single players plus their pals. Mario Party Advance also introduces Professor E. Gadd's Gaddgets: wacky toys and tricks that bring the fun outside of the game. Bowser has crashed the party and scattered all the minigames around Shroom City. Collect them all by completing the single-player game boards. Once unlocked, minigames can be played as often as you like. Earn coins to unlock Gaddgets such as the Compatibility Meter which lets you see how strong your friendships really are! We'll get the party started to bring you a review.

Wii U Retail Downloads

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (Activision, €59.99 / £49.99)

Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark (Activision, €59.99 / £49.99)

3DS eShop

Brutus & Futée (Microids, €6.99 / £6.29) - Brutus & Futée is an adventure puzzle game in which the player takes on the role of the author of an animated series. Help Brutus and Futée find their way and overcome the obstacles they meet. Draw objects and paint or erase the setting to assist the two heroes. Their journey will take them through a variety of different environments and present them with a host of dangerous situations, from an ancient Inca temple full of mysteries and secrets, to the maze in a production studio governed by a rather jittery Boss. We'll head out on an adventure for our review.

PUZZLEBOX setup (Bplus, €2.99 / £2.69) - In PUZZLEBOX setup you hold the Nintendo 3DS system upside-down. Use the stylus to select a coloured tile on the Touch Screen which is then on the upper side. If you release the colour the tile falls down in the selected column. Let the matching tiles fall down into the glass bottle on the 3D Screen to copy a painting or to complete a setup. We'll spin right round baby, right round, for our review.

Best of Mahjong (GameOn, €1.99 / £1.49) - Relax your mind with the ancient game of tiles. "Best of Mahjong" features 404 layouts of the traditional tile-matching game in 3D, each with millions of different shuffles to play. The game's style and interface has been designed for easy and intuitive operation with the Nintendo 3DS stylus or +Control Pad. The graphics can be customised with various tile-sets and backgrounds. We'll try to handle all that Mahjong and let you know what we think.

Best of Solitaire (GameOn, €2.99 / £2.49) - "Best of Solitaire" features 101 variations of the most well-known and best-loved single-player card game including Klondike, Freecell, Spider, Pyramid, Yukon. Most games have custom gameplay options so you can enjoy the game with your favourite rules. On-screen instructions allow learning of new Solitaire variations. Statistics are available for players who love to track their wins. Save the game status any time for later. The game's style and interface has been designed for easy intuitive operation with the Nintendo 3DS stylus or the +Control Pad. We'll make sure our reviewer stops playing this for free on their PC before starting a review.

3DS Retail Downloads

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (Activision, €39.99 / £29.99)

Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark (Activision, €39.99 / £29.99)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Danger of the Ooze (Activision, €39.99 / £29.99)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Activision, €39.99 / £29.99)

3DS Demo

WRC FIA World Rally Championship The Official Game Demo (Bigben Interactive)

3DS HOME Themes

? Block (Nintendo, €1.99 / £1.79) - Celebrate this iconic item with a yellow and black colour scheme, ? Block background, and ? Block folders and icons.

Bountiful Boos (Nintendo, €1.99 / £1.79) - This theme stars the bashful Boo and includes ghostly icons, folders, and SFX. Scroll the Touch Screen to animate the lower Boo.

Completely Goomba (Nintendo, €1.99 / £1.79) - This theme's ALL about Goombas. It features custom SFX and earthy tones. If you love Goombas, this one's for you.

Animal Crossing: New Leaf Welcome to 2015 (Nintendo, €1.99 / £1.79) - Isabelle and Pietro ring in 2015 in this festive theme. Scroll the Touch Screen to see fireworks and party poppers explode.

Special Offers

Super Mario 3D World (Nintendo, €39.99 / £34.99 until 1st January, normally €59.99 / £49.99)

Assassin's Creed III (Ubisoft, €9.99 / £7.99 until 1st January, normally €19.99 / £15.99)

Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag (Ubisoft, €14.99 / £9.99 until 1st January, normally €29.99 / £19.99)

Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth (Ubisoft, €4.99 / £3.99 until 1st January, normally €19.99 / £15.99)

Rabbids Land (Ubisoft, €4.99 / £3.99 until 1st January, normally €19.99 / £15.99)

Rayman Legends (Ubisoft, €14.99 / £11.99 until 1st January, normally €29.99 / £23.99)

Sports Connection (Ubisoft, €4.99 / £3.99 until 1st January, normally €19.99 / £15.99)

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Blacklist (Ubisoft, €9.99 / £6.49 until 1st January, normally €29.99 / £19.99)

ZombiU (Ubisoft, €9.99 / £7.99 until 1st January, normally €19.99 / £15.99)

Just Dance 2015 (Ubisoft, €29.99 / £22.49 until 1st January, normally €39.99 / £39.99)

Watch_Dogs (Ubisoft, €39.99 / £33.49 until 1st January, normally €59.99 / £49.99)

Cloudberry Kingdom (Ubisoft, €4.89 / £3.89 until 1st January, normally €9.99 / £7.99)

Child of Light (Ubisoft, €4.89 / £3.89 until 1st January, normally €14.99 / £11.99)

Knytt Underground (Ripstone Publishing, discount from 25th December)


That's the festive download line-up for Europe this week. Let us know what you'll be downloading in the poll and comments below.

What will you be downloading first this week? (234 votes)

  1. Spy Chameleon (Wii U eShop)2%
  2. Duck Hunt (Wii U VC / NES)32%
  3. Kuru Kuru Kururin (Wii U VC / GBA)6%
  4. Mega Man Zero (Wii U VC / GBA)8%
  5. Mario Party Advance (Wii U VC / GBA)2%
  6. Brutus & Futée (3DS eShop)  0%
  7. PUZZLEBOX setup (3DS eShop)  0%
  8. Best of Mahjong (3DS eShop)  0%
  9. Best of Solitaire (3DS eShop)  0%
  10. One of the many retail games1%
  11. One of the 3DS themes1%
  12. One of the tempting special offers29%
  13. Bah Humbug, nothing for me this week!17%

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