Devilishly difficult

Nintendo has confirmed what download delights are coming to North America this week, and it's certainly a diverse range. We have a download-only retail game on Wii U — if you can tolerate the term — some retro goodness and a long-awaited demo joining a major retail release on 3DS, and a solitary DSiWare game; only Wii misses out. Check out the details below.

Please note that not all retail prices have been provided, so we will update as soon as we have confirmed details.

Wii U eShop

Fist of the North Star: Ken’s Rage 2 (TECMO KOEI GAMES, $59.99) — This is the first download-only retail game on Wii U. Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage 2 is a collaboration between the popular manga "Fist of the North Star" and the "Warriors" video game series, which is known for its action-packed gameplay. Various episodes have been included from the original manga in addition to the Raoh storyline and the final story revolving around Bat and Rin. The game's Legend Mode follows the overall story of the original manga, while Dream Mode focuses on events that take place between episodes in the original story. Watch out for our upcoming review.

3DS Virtual Console

Mega Man 2 (Capcom, $4.99) — It's more Mega Man goodness, bringing classic NES robot master battling to you on the go. With all six NES titles coming to the 3DS Virtual Console in the coming months, we can expect lots of classic Blue Bomber gaming, with this entry arguably representing one of the finest classic series releases. We'll be blasting through the 3DS version for a review, but in the meantime you can check out our Wii Virtual Console Mega Man 2 review.

3DS retail demo

Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan (Atlus, free) — The latest entry in this challenging but popular RPG series is now only a few weeks away in North America, and as promised there's now a demo to get the adventure started. The best thing is that your progress can be carried across to the retail game should you take the plunge; you can't ask for fairer than that.

3DS retail downloads

Brain Age: Concentration Training (Nintendo, $29.99) — The Brain Age series was hugely popular on DS, so Nintendo will be hoping that this new and challenging entry will repeat that success on 3DS. This one focuses on short exercises to improve your focus, and arrives on the eShop alongside the retail release on 10th February; we're putting our minds to bringing you a review soon.

Three previously released retail titles are also making their first appearances on the eShop:

Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 3D (Konami, $TBC) — available from 12th February
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell 3D (Ubisoft, $29.99)
Rayman 3D (Ubisoft, $29.99)

DSiWare

Ah! Heaven (CIRCLE Entertainment, 200 Nintendo Points) — One of a number of planned releases from CIRCLE in the next few months, this platformer looks set to offer simple gameplay and 24 stages at a budget price. We'll see whether it's a divine gaming experience in our upcoming review.

Nintendo Video

BearShark (CollegeHumor, free) — No place is safe from BearShark. Not water. Not land. And now BearShark is even invading the third dimension. Starting Feb. 8, Nintendo is partnering with CollegeHumor.com to bring an original 3D animated program to Nintendo Video for the Nintendo 3DS system. BearShark is an animated series that follows a bear and shark tag-team as they cause hilarious mayhem over land and sea in their continued pursuit of a poor sap named Steve.


A diverse mix included this week, so let us know which will drain you of funds in the poll and comments below.

What will you be downloading first this week? (227 votes)

  1. Fist of the North Star: Ken’s Rage 2 (Wii U retail download)8%
  2. Mega Man 2 (3DS Virtual Console)31%
  3. Brain Age: Concentration Training (3DS retail download)9%
  4. Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 3D (3DS retail download)  0%
  5. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell 3D (3DS retail download)1%
  6. Rayman 3D (3DS retail download)3%
  7. Ah! Heaven (DSiWare)  0%
  8. Nothing for me this week47%

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