This is a great idea! I do wish there were a way to release these old games for download to Nintendo systems, but since NO SUCH THING EXISTS YES OF COURSE WHATEVER DO THIS I DONT CARE ARRRGGH

Dat tagline indeed.

@unrandomsam
I dunno whether it was a great model - prior to the internet I don't think I ever was able to buy any of them other than when they were released at Retail. (Which I did when I could).

That may have been your experience, but the fact that it kept a large number of major companies afloat, with minimal to no advertising costs, and fostered talents that are still working in the industry today...I'd say that's the sign of a pretty tight model.

Sure, for kids without a credit card it made it difficult to buy the full games. But for what it was the model worked, and it was self-sustaining. Credit where it's due.

IntiCreates also did the Mega Man Zero series, which is my vote for overall strongest set of games in the Mega Man Universe.

And they did ZX and ZX Advent, which maybe weren't quite as well-received, but I loved them.

In other words THIS GAME IS GOING TO BE AWESOME YOU GUYS

While I don't object to the terminology, if anything this makes me feel like Nintendo has discovered Shareware. Get the first set of levels (or "episode" as they used to call them) for free. Tell your friends, have a blast, enjoy it to your little heart's content.

Then, if you'd like more, we'd be happy to sell it to you.

It was a great model until the internet and easier piracy rendered the whole thing moot...or so I thought. This is a great way for that spirit to live on, and I really do hope we see more of it.

@SuperMarioBros3
You can make your point without directly insulting the other commenters, I'm sure.

If I'm wrong let me know now and save us both a lot of time. Thanks!

This concept is just...I don't know how to phrase it, but it feels like something that should have been done a long time ago. The fact that it wasn't is kind of amazing to me, because as soon as I started with it everything felt so natural. I'm going to be sad when I finish all the puzzles because it's not like I can pick up another title and get more.

I do love Picross, and this is obviously pretty similar, but it's different enough to have its own unique feel, and boy am I digging it. The soundtrack is also brilliant. Lots of times with puzzle games I'll mute the sound and listen to something else on my iPod, but this one's full of great tracks.

Very happy with this purchase!

I don't quite understand why the Majora's Mask songs need any remixes or reimaginations.

They don't.

But if the music continues to inspire people and the listeners are enjoying it, I'm not sure it matters whether anyone "needs" them.

For God's sake, Level-5, don't you realize I'll buy anything from you at this point? Don't waste your time even telling me what it is. JUST SELL IT TO ME

Year of Waterworld on the Virtual Boy

Year of Gyromite

Up next: Twitch Plays Mega Man 9 No Damage

Thomas, shoot me your mailing address?

If anyone doesn't buy Bird Mania Xmas for 99 cents I will personally mail you a box of scorpions.

@bloodycelt:
Right, which addresses one of the conditions, but not the other two. And part of the fun is NOT doing the same variations every year.

@CaptainSquid
Little Mac barely missed out...and now I regret it, because it would have been great to have him right after his Smash Bros. announcement. Oh well. Maybe they'll announce the King of Red Lions next and I'll feel better.

@mozzy1
We already did Samus! She's taken now, we assume, so no more profiles for her.

@Everyone Bemoaning a Lack of Females:
Bear in mind that if you made a list of all female video game characters that have a) wide recognition b) a significant presence on Nintendo consoles and c) a rich enough history to mine for jokes, it would be substantially shorter than a list of male characters that satisfy the same conditions. A 1:10 ratio is probably about right on the whole. I'm by no means saying that's a good thing, but I can only work with what I have, and if I use up all of the female characters in one go, we'll run out!

Besides, that's not the important issue here...this is just all in good fun. Let's focus on the more important things, like whether or not Donkey Kong listens to Guns N Roses.

Samus's Epic Yarn

Love me some halc. And Game Chops in general. They've been on fire for a while now.

I'm about 1/3 of the way through it.

It's effing brilliant.

More like Mighty Bum Crack.

Nailed it.

@3dcaleb Correct, there is no 3D, and I'm not aware of being able to use 3D glasses for the Wii version.

This looks incredible.

I think the article should be edited to also review the Circle Pad Pro controls.

I would, but the game doesn't have Circle Pad Pro controls.

running around killing people has nothing to do with anarchy, nintendolife.

Where do we define anarchy as running around killing people? This is a game that features anarchy (an absence — or at least an optional ignorance — of definite rules) and also features running around killing people. We're not suggesting they're the same thing; we're mentioning both as being identifying aspects of the game.

How do the controls work without the circlepad pro

The controls work great, and to be totally frank I'm not sure the CPP could have improved things much. You won't have to worry about using the L button along with the D-pad, as you fire with Y. R cycles through the weapons, but you can also tap the current weapon on the touch screen to access a menu instead.

@6ch6ris6
Rosechu

Sonic Broom: It was a wild house party, alright, but can Sonic clean up the mess before Tails's parents get home?!

Sonic Bloom: Spend an entire day navigating Sonic around early 1900s Dublin, only really fast...because he's Sonic.

Sonic Tomb: Eggman finally gets the idea of just buying a knife and stabbing Sonic a bunch of times. The game is a visual novel in which you guide Tails through the stages of grief.

Knuckles looks terrible. Sonic somehow looks more bland than he did without all the crap they gave him to wear here.

Amy and Tails look very good, imho. This franchise is certainly having an ongoing crisis of visual identity though. How many reboots and reimaginings and backsteps and experiments can they do before the only consistent way to recognize anyone is by color?

Should I get this or Super Mario 3D World?

Good deal on Giana Sisters! I'll be grabbing that and probably Spin the Bottle, too. For that price...why not?

This @KeithTheGeek guy knows his onions.

Grabbing this tonight. I wasn't the biggest fan of the game, but a book like this is right up my alley. Very excited.

Awesome review, Lee!

@Mowzle
I'm surprised Chicken Brutus wasn't asked to do this one

I was actually asked, but things were pretty tight for me, and try as I might I wasn't able to squeeze any hamsters in.

Dare I...?

Veeeeeery interesting. Of course with Sonic 4, Pearl Habor Trilogy and EscapeVektor (WiiWare) I'm a bit skeptical about episodic download titles actually...you know...releasing their episodes.

Regardless, I'll be picking this up for sure. And dat Treasurenauts.

Brilliant.

Both the game and @Unca_Lz

@Bass_X0 So the Wii U version is better?

Wow. So interesting. I don't think I have much DSiWare saved anymore (I know I have Mr. Driller, Four Swords, Spin Six, Dark Void Zero and probably another couple) so maybe it's something to do with how much you have.

Whatever it is, very curious.

@MrSRArter
I'm not doubting you, but I've never had that issue. That's interesting. Do you have a particularly large amount of DSiWare or something? Very curious.

Great week! Who could possibly ask for more??

Hoooooooly heck that's a great price. Snap it up!

While I'd prefer a cheaper eShop release, I have to admit I'd be happy to pay $40 for all of these games. Cut the Rope is brilliant.

...on phones. The lack of multi-touch and refusal to adjust puzzles to take that into account means this isn't only more expensive, but it's far less playable.

Of course, I'm speaking historically, looking at the previous downloadable Nintendo versions. Maybe this release will be different and get the proper treatment. I sure hope so.

brb making a game for wiiu

Sad news. I haven't played Rune Factory 4...it was between that and Harvest Moon and I went with HM, but I still intend to pick this up as it looks great. Sorry that a whole mess of fans won't get the chance to do the same.

arrrggghh I would kill to get this in NA.

...and thank you, Kerry, for the best opening paragraph I've ever read. Outside of The Great Gastby, anyway.

Whelp, that sure is hideous.

Just putting this out there...I'm only going to use the Boo / Bullet Bill design from the Zelda pack. If you want the other Zelda inserts that come with it, shoot me an email and I'll happily send them to you when they arrive. My contact info can be found on my personal site (noiselesschatter dot com). I don't require anything in return, but if you WANTED to send something in return I wouldn't complain.

Got the Zelda set. Overall I prefer the Animal Crossing designs, but I could never forgive myself if I didn't go for the Boos.

Holy heck. The images make it look boring, but in motion it looks insanely fun.

Best news all week!