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It's Nintendo Download update day, North America, and there are some real goodies on offer this week. We have long awaited Wii U eShop games, a rare NES shoot 'em up on the 3DS Virtual Console and various other treats. Without further ado, here are the details.

Wii U eShop

Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams (Black Forest Games, $14.99) — With its original roots in crowdfunding, this action platformer has impressed gamers on PC, Xbox 360 and PS3, as well as some European Wii U owners. With beautiful visuals, plenty of challenge and a clever switch mechanic that necessitates manipulating the environment, this is certainly well worth anyone's consideration. Only let down by a GamePad off-tv sound bug — due to be fixed in an update — and the lack of easier difficulties to accommodate more players, we gave this a strong recommendation in our Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams review.

Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara (Capcom, $14.99) — After a fairly lengthy delay due to issues with the submission process, this reworked release of two arcade classics finally comes to the Wii U. This should provide some classic beat 'em up action, with drop-in and drop-out online co-op, the ability to shake up the experience with House Rules, challenges, unlockables, online leaderboards and use of the GamePad's touch screen. We can only hope that the delays have been used to optimise the experience for the best results; we'll see soon in our review.

Spot the Differences: Party! (Sanuk Games, $5.00) — Continuing the trend of WiiWare games coming to the Wii U eShop in enhanced form, we have a new entry in this series that'll have you poring over near identical images for fun. This will apparently have 360 pictures and 3,600 differences to find, and considering the fact our main complaint with the original was the fuzzy image quality on display, this may strike a positive blow for the genre. We'll dig out our magnifying glass and hurt our eyes by staring too closely at the TV for a review.

Wii U Virtual Console

Breath of Fire II (Capcom, $7.99) — Nintendo's classic 16-bit console is revered for many things, but one of its strengths was surely the abundance of RPG adventures that it brought gamers keen for an adventure. This may be a sequel on the Super NES, but it offers up just that kind of experience while being undoubtedly old-school — and harsh — in its approach. We'll take this on for a fresh review, but until then you can check out our original Wii Virtual Console Breath of Fire II review.

3DS eShop

Boulder Dash-XL 3D (Reef Entertainment, $4.99) — Originally a retail title in Europe, its recent budget download re-release in the region has offered excellent value, which has now pleasingly arrived in North America. With lots of clever action puzzles and challenges as well as retro stages for fans of the original Boulder Dash, this has plenty to offer; check out our Boulder Dash-XL 3D retail review for the full lowdown.

Darts Up 3D (EnjoyUp Games, $2.99) — Looking to hit its doubles when under pressure, this is the first darts title to come to the 3DS eShop, so at least it's not a crowded market. With Mii Support, the option for friends to temporarily access the whole game via Download Play and some motion sensing thrown in for accurate aiming, this could be a fun recreation of the pub pastime. We'll put on a bright shirt and a lot of weight and let you know where this is a bullseye.

3DS Virtual Console

Summer Carnival '92 RECCA (Kaga Electronics, $4.99) — A bit of a rare treat for shoot 'em up fans, this shooter was developed by Naxat Soft for their Summer Carnival tournament in 1992 and was only released in Japan. Designed to push the NES to its limits, it's now available in the West for the first time and represents a serious but enjoyable challenge for fans of the genre. If you want to know more check out our Summer Carnival '92 RECCA review.

3DS Retail Download

Sonic Generations (SEGA, $29.99)

DSiWare

Jewel Adventures (Enjoy Gaming, 500 Nintendo Points) — This one will be aiming to distinguish itself among a number of match-3 games on DSiWare and the 3DS eShop. With 250 levels promised and a fantastical background story of fighting the forces of darkness it may do just that, but we'll see in our upcoming review.

Quite a few solid options are vying for your funds this week. Let us know what you plan to download in the poll and comments below.

What will you be downloading first this week? (304 votes)

  1. Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams (Wii U eShop)9%
  2. Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara (Wii U eShop)22%
  3. Spot the Differences: Party!  0.3%
  4. Breath of Fire II (Wii U Virtual Console)6%
  5. Boulder Dash-XL 3D (3DS eShop)3%
  6. Darts Up 3D (3DS eShop)2%
  7. Summer Carnival '92 RECCA (3DS Virtual Console)12%
  8. Sonic Generations (3DS retail download)3%
  9. Jewel Adventures (DSiWare)1%
  10. Nothing for me this week42%

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