Sonic Forces screen.jpg

It's another week, dear readers, and we have the Nintendo Download Update details for North America. There were various arrivals earlier in the week and now we have the formal update that is, as normal, rather busy and full of options. There are some varied and intriguing choices across the eShop, so let's get to it.

Switch Retail Downloads

Sonic Forces (SEGA, $39.99USD) - The long-awaited next entry in the 3D Sonic series, drawing ideas from the likes of Generations and Colors. In this one there are wisp powers once again, and in addition you also create and control your own avatar characters in some stages. We'll see how it shapes up on Switch in our review. Available from 7th November.

Farming Simulator: Nintendo Switch Edition (Focus Home Interactive, $49.99USD) - While it's easy to dismiss a humble farming sim, this series is surprisingly popular. Farming Simulator 17 attracted a whopping one million players within the first month of its launch. Even the German Chancellor Angela Merkel can't get enough of ploughing virtual fields. If that's your thing, this may be worth a look. Available from 7th November.

Switch eShop

Morphite (Level 77, $14.99USD) - Described as an "atmospheric exploration sci-fi shooter with platforming elements", Moprhite is a collaboration between Crescent Moon Games, We're Five Games and Blowfish Studios, and follows the exploits of Myrah Kale, whose life "takes a sudden turn when a routine mission develops into an interstellar adventure revealing her mysterious past and connection to the coveted substance Morphite." It looks intriguing and we'll get cracking on a review; in the meantime you can read our interview with one of the developers.

Perception (Deep End Games, $14.99USD) - Released on Halloween, this was a definite win for marketing and savvy timing. This only arrived on other platforms earlier this year and was received quite positively; it takes the first-person scary house trope and adds a twist. The protagonist is blind, so you can only see the surroundings in limited details and outlines, effectively using sound as your guide. This is an enhanced edition that includes three options for playing the campaign and various adjustments designed to improve on the original.

Super Beat Sports (Harmonix, $14.99USD) - This shares a couple of modes from a motion-focused title previously released on Apple TV, albeit this version has additional and new minigames. There are five games suited for between one and four players, and as you'd expect from a studio that once produced Rock Band titles these quirky sports games utilise rhythm gameplay. We'll get to the beat and bring you a review soon.

Chess Ultra (Ripstone, $12.49USD) - This aims to provide Switch owners with a substantial option to fulfil their chess needs. There are various tutorials, challenges and a few different boards, along with a variety of online and offline modes. Cross-platform play and a Switch exclusive desktop local multiplayer option stand out, along with the ability to setup online tournaments. We'll bring you a full review very soon.

Heroes of the Monkey Tavern (Monkey Stories, $9.99USD) - This one picks up the style of old-school first-person dungeon crawlers, with a mix of classes, enemies, puzzles and plenty of combat to tackle. It looks rather simplistic in footage but could, nevertheless, capture the stronger points of the genre; we'll work on a review to find out. Available from 7th November.

Sparkle 2 EVO (Forever Entertainment, $4.49USD) - A game that's earned some acclaim on mobile, it's focused on the gradual evolution you undertake as a small lifeform, with the goal being to 'transform into a magnificent aquatic being'. It looks intriguing, with the idea being that you have the freedom to explore and develop at your own pace. We'll evolve and let you know what we think in a review.

Wheels of Aurelia (MixedBag, $9.99USD) - A visually intriguing game that aims to blend a visual novel approach with 16 quickfire playthroughs. On paper it's a fascinating idea, but the execution struggles to align an interesting concept with an enjoyable gaming experience. We feel it fails to hit its mark, and said as much in our Wheels of Aurelia review.

Art of Fighting 3: The Path of the Warrior (HAMSTER, $7.99USD) - Despite the cast continuing to endure within The King of Fighters franchise, this title from 1996 was the third and last standalone entry in this series. It might be hard to believe with the Neo Geo being mostly populated by one-on-one fighting games, but this one actually does quite a lot to distinguish itself from the norm, starting with the control scheme and the way you can seamlessly string combos together. We'll let you know what we think of this ACA release in a review.

3DS eShop

Phil's Epic Fill-a-Pix Adventure (Lightwood Games, $7.99USD) - From a studio that's established a solid reputation for quality word and puzzle games, this focuses on picture logic. Described as a "mix of Minesweeper and Picross", you try to reveal large pictures by solving one grid at a time.

Hiding Out (Green Lightning) - Drawing inspiration from retro platformers, this looks like a simplistic title in which you hunt for photo parts. Available from 6th November.

New Nintendo 3DS eShop

Physical Contact: SPEED (Collavier Corporation, $4.46USD) - This series of rather simplistic multiplayer-centric titles continues its transition from Switch to New 3DS. We were left unimpressed with this card game in our original review.

Physical Contact: 2048 (Collavier Corporation, $4.44USD) - A variation on a well-known genre of number games often found on mobile, this suffers from a lack of imagination and poor presentation values, as we argue in our original Switch eShop review.

3DS eShop Demo

Style Savvy: Styling Star (Nintendo, free)

Wii U eShop

Tomeling in Trouble (HullBreach Studios) - In essence this is an action game that draws inspiration from the MOBA genre, albeit the arena-style battles are offline in single or local multiplayer.

Wii U Virtual Console

Power Golf (Konami, $5.99USD) - Konami's gradual and slightly surprising roll-out of TurboGrafx-16 games on the Wii U VC continues with Hudson's take on the grand old sport. Unfortunately we were rather unimpressed when we review this on the Wii Virtual Console.

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

There are some big choices this week - let us know what you'll be downloading in the poll and comments below.

What will you be downloading this week?

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