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It's that time, once again, for the North American Nintendo Download Update. We'll dare to suggest that this week has a tasty line-up on offer, from quality download-only and retail arrivals on Switch to a big time release on 3DS, along with a long-awaited Wii U game to tempt us back to our GamePads. There's a lot to consider, so let's get to it.

Nintendo Switch eShop

Thumper (Drool LLC, $19.99) - Previously released on PSN and held up as a strong demonstration of VR gaming, this one now arrives on Switch for hybrid gaming on the TV or on the go. Psychedelic visuals, a pumping soundtrack and a sharp level of difficulty make this an enticing offering; we loved this in our Thumper review.

Galaxy Fight: Universal Warriors (HAMSTER, $7.99) - Released in 1995 by Sunsoft, the game sees you take on the mantel of one of eight warriors thrown into a world which we are told "was destroyed by the destructors of the universe". So yeah, it's basically a fighting game set in outer space! Not necessarily considered one of the better games of its era, this ACA game will nonetheless have the usual add-ons and customisation options.

Dark Witch Music Episode: Rudymical (Flyhigh Works, $7.99) - A spin-off to the 3DS games, this is a rhythm action game where you press the buttons in time to cut down Boing boings (bullets). You'll also need to jump at opportune times in order to avoid fiendish fire beams. We gave this a modest recommendation in our Dark Witch Music Episode: Rudymical review.

Nintendo Switch Retail Demo

Disgaea 5 Complete (NIS America, free) - This long awaited release of the enormous and quirky strategy RPG includes all of the DLC from the original release. It's willingly written and designed for older players, is utterly bonkers yet at the same time offers impressive depth in gameplay. We're working on a review and will share that before the game is released, and until then there's a free demo to try out. Full game arrives on 23rd May.

3DS Retail Download

Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia (Nintendo, $39.99) - The third and final major release for this IP on the 3DS (assuming you count the separate Fates parts as one game), this offers something a little different from the others. A remaster / reimagining of Fire Emblem Gaiden, it incorporates third-person dungeon crawling and some first-person sections, in addition to the usual top-down strategic RPG action. We go into the detail and nitty gritty of this game in our Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia reviewAvailable from 19th May.

3DS Retail DLC

Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia Season Pass (Nintendo, $44.99, twenty-two pieces of content) - The Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia Season Pass includes all five DLC packs as they release. By purchasing the Season Pass, fans who want to receive all DLC will save more than 30 percent compared to purchasing all 22 pieces of content individually.

DLC Pack #1 – Fledgling Warrior ($7.99, three pieces of content): Ideal for early- to mid-game adventurers, this pack includes a new dungeon (The Astral Temple) and two new maps, great for gaining more items, in-game currency and experience points.

See the full line-up of DLC for this game right here.

3DS eShop

Drancia Saga (CIRCLE Entertainment, $5) - From the developers of games like Fairune and more recently Kamiko, this is a 'frantic action' combat game with serious retro vibes that bring to mind a host of classics from the 8- and 16-bit eras; if you own the relevant games there are also guest appearances from the likes of Gunman Clive. We'll let you know what we think in a review.

Mysterious Stars 3D: Road to Idol (Collavier, $5.99) - This series of join-the-dots games on DSiWare was not exactly warmly received by our reviewers, but it returns on the 3DS with some added graphical flourishes.

Mysterious Stars 3D: A Fairy Tale (Collavier, $7.99) - This one also arrived on DSiWare and we gave it 3/10, so have our doubts that it's the next big thing on 3DS. 

DodgeBox (Bidemend Entertainment, $1.50) - A rather simple game in which you use the touchscreen to control a ball that's, well, dodging boxes.

3DS HOME Themes

Fire Emblem Echoes: Alm’s Army

Fire Emblem Echoes: Celica's Army

Wii U eShop

Darksiders: Warmastered Edition (Nordic Games, $19.99) - A pleasing arrival for those that enjoyed Darksiders II in the early days of Wii U and want to experience the first game on the system. Here's hoping this delivers a strong version of a game that's been on a number of wishlists since its original announcement. Available from 23rd May.

PINBALL (RCMADIAX, $1.49) - This seems like a rather basic iteration on the classic game concept, albeit with a twist as you try to hit hotspots to collect points while avoiding a 'danger zone'.

Wii U Virtual Console

Blazing Lazers (Konami, $5.99) - In the TurboGrafx-16 era this was held up as a top-of-class vertical-scrolling shooter, a visual showcase when released in 1989. That will sell the game to some already, and we did enjoy it back in the day in our 2007(!) review for the Wii Virtual Console version.


As always Nintendo of America wants you to browse the eShop and check out the official sales and deals website for discount details. 

Quite a lot to choose from this week - let us know what you'll be downloading in the poll and comments below.

What will you be downloading this week?

(You can select up to 15 answers)