Monday morning means one thing, and that's European Nintendo Download news. This week's offerings include plenty of retail titles, including two very different new RPG adventures on the 3DS and some Wii U retro goodies, alongside plenty of others and some discounts. Let's get right to it.
Wii U Virtual Console
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (Nintendo, €4.99 / £3.49) — This still remains, arguably, the biggest oddity of the Zelda franchise — no, we don't count CDi games! With a top-down overworld and side-scrolling action when in dungeons and towns, the leveling-up elements of this release also set it aside from its contemporaries; it can also be teeth-grindingly difficult. It's perhaps the series underdog and may not be for everyone, but we thought it deserved support and praise in our Zelda II: The Adventure of Link review. This is the US version of the game.
Gradius (Konami, €4.99 / £3.49) — This is a name that'll be familiar to gamers of a certain vintage as one of the defining shooters of the 8-bit era. This one is of the sidescrolling variety, and though its age is starting to show is still well worth consideration, as our 3DS Virtual Console Gradius review explains. This is the US version of the game.
Wii U Permanent Price Reduction
The Croods: Prehistoric Party! (NAMCO BANDAI Games, €29.99 / £19.99, was €44.99 / £39.99)
Family Party: 30 Great Games Obstacle Arcade (NAMCO BANDAI Games, €19.99 / £19.99, was €29.99 / £27.99)
3DS eShop
Happy Circus (Moving Player, €2.99 / £2.69) — Another title to join the steadily growing library of education games on the 3DS, this one promises to help youngster learn to read and count in six languages, all wrapped in a cute circus animal bow. We'll learn our ABCs and bring you a review.
3DS Virtual Console
Milon's Secret Castle (Nintendo, €3.99 / £3.59) — More NES nostalgia arrives on the 3DS, this time in the form of a Hudson Soft title that's being brought to the service by Nintendo. An action adventure, this is perhaps well known for being a fairly cryptic title that, nevertheless, has its share of fans. In our view this isn't an 8-bit experience that's aged well, as we explained in our Wii Virtual Console Milon's Secret Castle review.
3DS Retail Download
Inazuma Eleven 3 (Level-5, €34.99 / £29.99) — Available in two varieties, Lightening Bolt and Bomb Blast, the third main series entry will be alive and kicking on the 3DS eShop and in stores from 27th September. Originally a DS title given some 3D treatment for a trilogy re-release in Japan, this arrives in Europe in its individual 3DS form. You can expect more of the same as its predecessors, with lots of wacky special moves, and we'll bring you our review very soon.
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers (NIS America, €39.99 / £34.99) — This 3DS remake of the classic SEGA Saturn title arrives in Europe not long after its release in North America; that's not a sentence we can type often. This cyberpunk tale includes the usual franchise mix of first-person dungeon crawling, and also provides an accessible option for newcomers to dive in — all while keeping veterans pleased. You can read our glowing recommendation in our Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers review.
FIFA 14 (Electronic Arts, €49.99 / £39.99)
Jewel Master Cradle of Rome 2 (Rising Star Games, €19.99 / £17.99)
Jewel Master Cradle of Egypt 2 3D (Rising Star Games, €19.99 / £17.99)
Around the World with Hello Kitty and Friends (Bergsala Lightweight, €29.99 / £29.99)
3DS eShop Temporary Discount
Tangram Style (Moving Player, €2.99 / £2.69 until 31st October, normally €5.99 / £5.39)
3DS Permanent Price Reduction
The Croods: Prehistoric Party! (NAMCO BANDAI Games, €29.99 / £19.99, was £24.99 / €34.99
A lengthy list this week, albeit one packed with a number of retail downloads and some discounts. Let us know what you plan to download in the poll and comments below.
What will you be downloading first this week? (180 votes)
- Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (Wii U Virtual Console)
- Gradius (Wii U Virtual Console)
- The Croods: Prehistoric Party! (Wii U eShop permanent discount)0%
- Family Party: 30 Great Games Obstacle Arcade (Wii U eShop permanent discount)0%
- Happy Circus (3DS eShop)0%
- Milon's Secret Castle (3DS Virtual Console)
- Inazuma Eleven 3 (3DS retail download)
- Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers (3DS retail download)
- FIFA 14 (3DS retail download)
- Jewel Master Cradle of Rome 2 (3DS retail download)0%
- Jewel Master Cradle of Egypt 2 3D (3DS retail download)0%
- Around the World with Hello Kitty and Friends (3DS retail download)
- Tangram Style (3DS eShop temporary discount)
- The Croods: Prehistoric Party! (3DS eShop permanent discount)
- Nothing for me this week
Please login to vote in this poll.
Comments 47
I'll possibly look into Tangram Style out of everything
Pathetic VC week and plenty shovelware for 3ds, hooray, now we know it is succesful. It's weird that good news is bad news.
Good job Nintendo, no 3ds VC games. >:/
Nothing worthwhile on either VC this week. Come on Nintendo, I REALLY want to throw money at you, but you aren't giving me anything to work with...
@DarkCoolEdge
Remember, X/Y and Sonic Lost World are pretty much around the corner by now.
As for me, well, nothing this week. I just hope Nintendo starts rereleasing the "big ones" for GB/GBC/NES at a faster pace, so we can finally get our GBA Virtual Console - on the 3DS, that is.
I would be more likely to play Milon's Secret Castle than the NES version of Gradius.
2 more empty Miiverse communities. Woohoo.
Konami seems disinterested with Nintendo these days.
PSP got Gradius Collection for example.
(If I was going to get a classic version of Gradius (Or Salamander) it would be a TG16/PC Engine port - Or Gradius Rebirth.)
Crisis Force is the best Konami NES/Famicom Shooter. (And it is the only good one).
@unrandomsam Gradius II would have been a better release, the NES version even had speech!
baah... i was hoping for some good games and such.... but i was wrong again
still looking forward to the AC BF
Man crappy week, especially after last week. Oh well, gotta save up anyway. Sooooo many good games are just around the corner!
Loved DoReMi Fantasy. Now that it's 1€ cheaper than on WiiWare I might try it... Or maybe I wait for it to come to Wii U, so I can play it on the Gamepad AND on the TV.
@Cohort As far as I am concerned if they give another console the best version there is no way I will ever buy the inferior one. (That PSP collection has arcade versions of Gradius I-IV (And a version of Gradius Gaiden).
Nothing to download, but bought soul hackers and will buy inazuma, all retail of course.
@unrandomsam I'm guessing that it's easier to pump out the NES ports, I don't even know if the Wii eShop upgrade is even worth it for NES Gradius? But Gradius II was great!
Looks like a Nintendo only VC for the Wii U from now on?
No more eshop games for me until a unified account system is in place (unless maybe for cave story+ if it ever comes out here?!)
Soul Hackers is out?!
That kinda caught me by surprise,
guess I'll go out and get the retail version then!
As I have a 3ds and a Wii, there's definitely nothing for me this week. I wish they would up the release rate a little bit. I mean, the Wii seems to have come to the end of it's VC life pretty much now and that was by no means a game library that reached it's full potential.
"The Croods: Prehistoric Party! (NAMCO BANDAI Games, €29.99 / £19.99, was €44.99 / £39.99)
Family Party: 30 Great Games Obstacle Arcade (NAMCO BANDAI Games, €19.99 / £19.99, was €29.99 / £27.99)"
As much as I tried, I can't make any sense of the prices. Non-equal cuts, and the same goes for the comparison between £ & € prices. And both are coming from the same company. Which I can't make any sense of either, since they used to make great games.
Games I will buy or I already have on wii u:
Nintendoland
new Super mario bros U
Pikmin 3
Wonderful 101
Rayman legends
Donkey kong tropical freeze
Sonic lost world
Mario 3d world
Smash bros
Mario kart 8
Bayonetta
Xenoblade 2
Fire emblem x shin megami tensei
Zelda windwaker HD
hey there are 14 games and they are mostly exclusives
More, I will buy some third party if they will be converted well, Acreed 4 or watch dogs
About ps4 or X1 I simply say that there are mostly multiplatform and games for pc fan base, so I f I want something more of that then I can buy on pc.
At the moment the nintendo still remains the best offer (if you have a PC), because if you have a pc you don't need a ps4 x1 necessarely
About the eshop it is clear that aaa games can't be released every week, around november and december there will be more release, the virtual console will improve in the future, probably with new consoles (gamecube etc.)
We simply have to be patient
I simply suggest to nintendo to put somethng new on virtual console, like YS serie for super famicom, secret of mana 2, SMT and other games never released here, in fact earthbound did well in europe,
But, comparing the wii 1 virtual console nes and snes with wii u, I think they will reach soon the same number of rom for nes and snes so something new will come out
about zelda 2 I think it is a great game, with great atmosphere
Milon's Secret Castle?! HAHAH, all I thought of was the Angry Video Game Nerd.
I don't know if Cradle of Rome 2 will be released on eshop in US but the physical copy is $19.99 new and $14.99 for preowned. These games always plummet in price after a few months. Usually at 6 months they go on clearance for less then 7 dollars used. The DS versions I never paid more then $6.99 for any Jewel puzzle game. I would pass on the eshop version unless its $6.99 at most.
I hope Tangram Style is on sale in US for $2.99 I will get it.
Hello Kitty pwns all.
Nothing for me on 3DS until those Megadrive classics arrive
Where have the days gone that I actually looked forward to what de 3DS eshop had to offer?
I'm certainly going to have to get a bigger SD card for my 3DS - it has games coming out of its earholes.
I'd be interested in Soul Hackers, but after downloading Monster Hunter 3 at a discount price, I've got no room. Then again, I've got Etrian Oddesey yet to buy, so maybe in a few months.
I might read up on Inazuma 11 as well. I played the DS original, and didn't get on with it, so I'll have to do a bit of research to see if this sequel is better for me. It was an interesting idea.
Other than that, I don't see anything I'd dash out (for a game credit card at GAME) and buy. I'm dissapointed that the Virtual console is going so slowly. Unlike some other commenters, I hadn't noticed that the 3DS virtual console has been neglected so, but I'd be interested in seeing more games - if not for some more Gameboy classics not available on the Wii/WiiU VC.
I really want Inazuma Eleven three... Too bad I'm in the soccer playing states
I'm so, so so, sooo, so tired of NES games getting the red carpet treatment. It's just overkill at this point. Where's our update for N64 games? Where's more SNES games? Where's all the games that Japan has gotten on the VC that came out in English as well? Criminey...
I really don't know why there aren't n64 games on the WiiU VC yet. Surely it's not that hard...
@mashirokun96 Nintendo doesnt want to make a fortune with super mario 64 and mario party games i guess
FIFA eshop €50. Funny.
Such a disappointing week for Europeans. Hopefully NA gets better VC treatment (SMB3 please).
still no Flipnote studio 3d
@AlexSora89 I don't want either of them. I want snes and/or gba games. And GBC games. And better NES games.
I'm still waiting for A Link to the Past for Wii U VC. I don't want to play with Wii VC version.
Maybe on of the Inzuma games.
Nothing, well I can't complain, it was a really good week last week.
Milon's Secret Castle was reviewed by the Angry Videogame Nerd. That should tell you enough.... ;P
I'm surprised they're not trying to drop some of the DKC SNES games to build up for Tropical Freeze's release.
Really surprised to read zero love for Zelda II TAOL's release. It's my favourite NES game of all time and if you're one of the few yet to have played a version of it, IMO it's a quintessential 8-bit experience. #IAMERROR
I got a £5 reward card, so I'm gonna get Zelda 2 and maybe Pilotwings.
Yes! inazuma eleven
''only'' 11 more days to Wind Waker HD. I am so hyped
What about Flipnote Studio 3D?
Would buy the Zelda NES titles on Wii U but already have them on the 3DS. Wish more titles especially the promised GBA titles would come out on the Wii U VC. Would love for any N64 titles on Wii U. Would actually like to see Virtual Boy games on 3DS, I would buy them all at like $5 to $8 each.
Zelda II is a great one despite its flaws, and I personally love Gradius with all it's flickering slowdown glory. Of course, I played those as a kid so they get to play the nostalgia card on me.
Those are some classic Virtual Console releases, too, so no one can really complain... except for those who expected all the previous Wii releases to suddenly be converted over and ready to go.
I only wish they all came with the instruction manuals with all the art and stuff.
i have about £7.81 on my 3ds just waiting for the megadrive 3d classics, It seems to be taking an age to release them...where are they?
Finally, Konami on Wii U Virtual Console at all!
Tap here to load 47 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...