Owing to a holiday on Tuesday Nintendo are releasing downloads for both Wii and DSi on Wednesday. Only one WiiWare release and two VC releases appear for the Wii, though Virtual Console fans will be excited to see the first NEO GEO game in ages. 4 DSiWare releases join them including a catch-up Art Style game and some more mahjong on-the-go.
WiiWare
Ah! Eureka! Item Search Game (500pts - Ateam) -- Next week's sole WiiWare release is a "find the items" game similar to the recently-reviewed Cate West Wii disc release. This one is bright and colourful so it should appeal to the kiddies and takes place in a zoo.
Virtual Console
Fire Emblem Gaiden (500pts Famicom - Nintendo) -- The 2nd and last Fire Emblem entry on the Famicom; also never released outside of Japan.
Garou Densetsu Special (900pts NEO GEO - SNK Playmore) -- Released elsewhere as Fatal Fury Special, this is an update to Fatal Fury 2 with some extra characters and gameplay changes.
DSiWare
Kyoto Students Taishi Higashida Thought Puzzle Inspiration Signed Painting (200pts - Jupiter Corporation) -- This appears to be an attempt to render a children's puzzle book into a DSiWare game. Use the stylus to do colouring, draw lines between matching shapes and other simple games.
Daily Sodateru Diary Calendar (200pts - IE Institute) -- More lifestyle stuff from IE Institute. To be honest it's difficult to tell what this is supposed to be for -- some kind of diary? Anyway you cannot have enough calendar programs on DSi, can you?
Handy Mahjong (200pts - ITL) -- Yet another mahjong game, but this one is a two-player game similar to those you'd find in a Japanese arcade -- minus the nekkid anime girls. You can even play this locally head-to-head if you can find someone else with a Japanese DSi who's downloaded it!
Art Style: Digidrive (500pts - Nintendo) -- This appears to be the Japanese version of Art Style: Intersect -- already reviewed in this very website!
Comments 31
More Neo Geo releases are always welcome. And, with all this hype over Castlevania Rebirth, WHERE IS RONDO?
Yeah no kidding. Where the heck is Rondo? Japan's had it for over two years I think.
it`s about time that the other consoles got some more games on the vc.sega and nintendo seem to have had the monopoly on there as of recent weeks.
Still doing those "first"-jokes? And even twice in one comment? Go you...
Great to see the Neo Geo finally returning, though.
I just hope that D4 realise where they went wrong with Neo Geo releases last time. There was a focus on poor and generic action games and an abundance of fighting games that are now quite dated and do not show off the Neo Geo at its best. Although I understand that those games had to be released some time, they should have slipped in some more well known gems from the console. I hope this is the start of a strong Neo Geo presence on the Virtual Console again around the world. Some people may say that 900 points is too expensive for a Neo Geo game. I disagree. Its just the same as an import SNES or Genesis game yet the graphics are vastly superior that a measly 100 points difference for a Neo Geo game compared to a crappy 16-bit port is actually a bargain.
I would also like to see D4 release some of SNK's NES titles. They have some hidden gems that deserve a second chance again. I was getting worried about Neo Geo support and I hope they pick up the Metal Slug series again. Fatal Fury Special is a good fighter for anyone who has not tried it.
If D4 would just release Crystalis...
What are the other IE Institute Lifestyle stuff?
No games Japan got interest me this week finally.
drools Need Fire Emblem...
what i would do for a new fire emblem game........ or, for that matter, an old fire emblem game (which really, why is an english one not possible? the Gameboy/ Gameboy Color is not only a dead system, but one whose games can't even be played by a living system. the Gameboy Advance is likewise a dead system, and all the new DS's can't play its games. the Game Gear is very dead and has been released in compilations for years. why can't portable games be sold on VC? i would like Iwata's toes for portable systems... and then do it again for Fire Emblem GBA!)
Fatal Fury? Sweetness!!! ^^
Should I get Special first or Fatal Fury II next? 'cause I've been confused in the chronology and order.
Fatal Fury Special is basically Fatal Fury II but with more characters in. I'm guessing more special moves too.
Ooh, the next Escape Game.
Fatal Fury Special!! AND Fire Emblem Gaiden!! T'is a great day in Japan, it must be. Now I think I'll go and play those games to celebrate.
Ah, man, we really need to get Fire Emblem Gaiden in some form. That game is fantastic! Best in the series, IMO.
@StarBoy91: Fatal Fury Special is to Fatal Fury 2 what Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo is to Street Fighter 2, more or less down to every single change.
Essentially, you got the four bosses from Fatal Fury 2 added to the roster, in addition to 3 "new" character, all taken from the first Fatal Fury's gallery of non-playable bosses (namely Tung Fu Rue, Duck King and... Geese Howard himself (!)). There's also a new, secret boss who's hard to reach, Ryo Sakazaki from Art of Fighting, and he can be unlocked as well. In addition to that, many fighters have new moves, and there's a bunch of gameplay tweaks all over the line.
So yeah, if Special is available, there's little use in getting FF2.
@Ratengo: Ah well, here's me hoping I can have simplified titles. I don't suppose you have a handy website with all the Japanese public holidays?
@JuneBelle: These guys release a title for students learning English or some kind of brain-training-type game every week it seems. Just check the previous Japanese download articles!
I remember hearing somewhere that the GBA's Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones was a port of Gaiden or something of the sort. I've played Gaiden, but I've never played Sacred Stones, so I wouldn't know for sure.
But Gaiden is unlike any game other in the FE series, and is awesome! There's a pretty good English translation patch for it too... now if only Nintendo would use them.
@SmaMan: You heard wrong. Sacred Stones and Gaiden are completely different games.
Then Special it is then (unless I decide to buy Fatal Fury Anthology someday, which I don't feel like right now because SNK might release SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 2 on the PSP anytime soon, I think).
@StarBoy91
If I were you, I'd just get Special, since the other games on the Anthology aren't that good, IMO.
Where can I get the Translation Patch? I've been playing most of it in Japanese so far, and it's been pretty...tough, to say the least.
ill get fatal fury special whenever it shows up US side
As I said before, I don't give two sh*ts about Fatal Fury, but it's great to see that the Neo-Geo isn't completely dead yet. Now I just hope Blazing Star, Metal Slug X, and Magical Drop make their debut soon as well.
How awful. The Fatal Fury series is dreadful up until Real Bout.
there should be more neo-geo games on the virtual console like world heroes 2, metal slug x & king of fighters '95
so what's the hold up with nintendo & D4's agreements
No. Not World Heroes 2. Thats not worth wanting on the VC (although we all know that once the Neo Geo properly starts up again, it'll be one of the first games released).
I like World Heroes. I think it's a good Street Fighter clone, maybe even better.
Never played any World Heroes actually - mainly because of FightersGeneration's criticism of the series. And besides those early NeoGeo fighting games turn me off. I got the Art of Fighting collection on PS2 for £5 but I disliked it so much I sold it. Even Art of Fighting 3 wasn't worth bothering with much.
Well, to each his own. Though I have found World Heroes to be better than both Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting (despite what people say). ^^
I really enjoyed World Hereos as well and Art of Fighting 3 is terrrific, so I'm all the more happier with the NeoGeo fighters.
great more fighting games for the neogeo, but for me would be nice to see some shmups for the neageo, blazing star, last resort, pulstar? don't know if neogeo cd versions are possible on virtual console, any takers? any more good shmups for neogeo we could suggest.
Tap here to load 31 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...