While the Monday blues are common, the Nintendo Download update arrives to bring a ray of sunlight to our week. This time around there are a few retro games, including a surprise return, Sonic dashes onto the Wii U and 3DS and we have some encouraging discounts to consider. Let's get right to it.
Wii U Virtual Console
Urban Champion (€4.99 / £3.49) — IT'S BACK!!!! The urban fighting game we all want to play again and again and again! A timeless classic... or not. If you didn't buy it on the Wii Virtual Console or as a 3D Classic, you have a chance for buyer's remorse once again; if you don't believe us, check out our Wii Virtual Console Urban Champion review. This is the US version of the game.
Clu Clu Land (Nintendo, €4.99 / £3.49) — This is an action puzzle game from the early days of the NES, in which you manoeuvre bubbles by throwing them around the stage. This can also be played with a friend, but the single-screen puzzling is underwhelming, as explained in our Wii Virtual Console Clu Clu Land review. This is the US version of the game.
Wii U Retail Downloads
Sonic Lost World (SEGA, €49.99 / £39.99) — Of the exclusive Sonic games coming to Nintendo systems, this is the one that's brought the most hype. Introducing cylindrical environments and promising parkour moves to join the usual Sonic speed, much of the footage and pre-release coverage has been positive, alongside SEGA making noises about satisfying fans of all dispositions. We'll let you know what we think in our review later this week — available from 18th October.
- Receive download codes for the additional level available in the Deadly Six Edition and five Black Bomb colour powers if you purchase Sonic Lost World from Nintendo eShop on your Wii U between 00:01 (UK time) on 18th October and 23:59 (UK time) on 26th October.
Hot Wheels World's Best Driver (WB Games, €29.99 / £24.99) — Available from 18th October.
3DS Virtual Console
City Connection (HAMSTER, €3.99 / £3.59) — Another NES title makes its way to the 3DS VC, with this one very much part of the early 8-bit generation of simplistic, single screen experiences. In our opinion this isn't a retro gem, as you can see in our Wii Virtual Console City Connection review.
3DS Retail Downloads
Sonic Lost World (SEGA, €39.99 / £34.99) — Developed separately from the Wii U version by Dimps, this 3DS title incorporates similar ideas but with alternative level designs; it also features Wii U connectivity to send assist tools to the home console. This aims to give 3DS owners a Sonic experience that stacks up against its HD brethren, and we'll let you know how well it does so in our upcoming review — available from 18th October.
Game Festival 2 (Big Ben, €24.99 / £19.99)
3DS eShop Temporary Discounts
SteamWorld Dig (Image & Form, €7.19 / £6.39 until 20th October, normally €8.99 / £7.99.)
Aqua Moto Racing 3D (Zordix AB, €5.99 / £5.39 until 31st October, normally €9.99 / £8.99).
3DS eShop Permanent Discount
Planet Crashers (UTV Ignition, €4.99 / £4.49, was €9.99 / £8.99)
DSiWare
Cute Witch! Runner (EnjoyUp Games, 200 Nintendo Points — This budget DSiWare spin off takes the endless sidescrolling element of Dress to Play: Cute Witches! and packages it as a one-off experience. That's not necessarily a bad thing, however, and this is entertaining despite its simplicity; check out our Cute Witch! Runner review for more details.
That's your lot, Europe, so let us know what you plan to download in the poll and comments below.
What will you be downloading first this week? (164 votes)
- Urban Champion (Wii U Virtual Console)
- Clu Clu Land (Wii U Virtual Console)
- Sonic Lost World (Wii U retail download)
- Hot Wheels World's Best Driver (Wii U retail download)0%
- City Connection (3DS Virtual Console)
- Sonic Lost World (3DS retail download)
- Game Festival 2 (3DS retail download)0%
- SteamWorld Dig (3DS eShop temporary discount)
- Aqua Moto Racing 3D (3DS eShop temporary discount)
- Planet Crashers (3DS eShop permanent discount)0%
- Cute Witch! Runner (DSiWare)0%
- Nothing for me this week
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Comments (87)
Another crap week - man Picross E3 can't get here soon enough....
Nintendo must have 2 people in the entire company working on the Virtual Console
@Grubdog I dont think there is even one person in the whole world dedicated to manage the VC releases. I bet there is a single guy somewhere who does it in his free time, when he is bored with his other task at Nintendo.
But I am super excited for Steamworld Dig. I was hoping for a bigger discount, but after this great response to this game I cannot wait a day longer.
Getting Sonic Wii U physical so no d/ls for me. The steamworld discount is nice but I already own it. VC is looking very poor though.
Almost odd to think a few months ago we were suffering from a massive game drought. And now it seems massive games are releasing on an almost weekly basis. It's become pretty difficult to actually keep track of it all
Really looking forward to Lost World reviews. I loved Sonic as a kid, but haven't enjoyed any 3D stuff so my expectations are pretty low. Would be a very pleasant surprise if its good though.
any sonic's demo given ?! maybe in 2 weeks i think...
VC...MEH... come on Nintendo for Xmas we need more VC platforms
Sonic Lost World will be my first EVER Sonic titles! Will buy them both physically and download Steamworld Dig instead.
Steamworld Dig got some great reviews and I have been meaning to give it a go. Looks like the time has come.
Sonic Lost World at retail for me. VC still looking a bit sad.
whoa lost world already! just got a 3ds last week so its a toss up between this and pokemon. can anyone help me?
Isn't Skylanders Swap Force coming to this week?
Pre-ordered Sonic Lost World can't wait but I have to beat The Legend of Zelda Wind Waker HD Hero Mode first. Then Pokemon X and Y then I can start Sonic Lost World.
@wasf
There's a demo out in Japan so I hope it comes to other regions soon enough.
Hmmm... I wonder if the steamworld dig discount is coming to North America. I can hold off downloading for a few more days. Neat of Sega to offer the preorder features on the eshop. Buying right away is still not as good as digital preoder but better than missing out.
3 awful NES VC games.
Maybe Nintendo wanted to highlight Sonic Lost World, but this is really frustrating.
Still, Pokémon!
This is what kills me about Nintendo's handling of Virtual Console. We get like one title a week on Wii U, and there are literally THOUSANDS of good to excellent games out there to be made available, but what do they release? A steaming pile of crap like Urban Champion, widely regarded as one of their worst first-party NES titles. Every time I fill out a Club Nintendo survey, I chastise them for not doing right by Virtual Console.
@JJtheTexan
We usually get two or three games a week, not one. But yeah, quite a few of them haven't been all that good
@SanderEvers Have you played the 3DS version ?
(Interested in whether the framerate and draw distance are reasonable.)
@cookiex yeah I noticed they got a pre release demo and got my hopes up we would get the same! Really want to try before I buy with this!
Urban Champion? Really? Of all the NES games this one? Great...
Considering Sonic though (preferably retail), but unless I see a demo or a very convincing review I'm not touching it.
I can't wait for lost world!
By the way isn't lost world a stage in sonic adventure?
I continue to say that, when there are games like ys 4 ys 5 popful mail street gangs 2 and 3, secret of mana 2 for super famicom never localized, it is useless to put games like clu clu land and urban champion. The games I mentioned have priority.
About sonic I'm happy but sega should release also other games like phantasy star, shining force etc. , Sega is wrong when thinks that nintendo = sonic because we want other ip
I love nintendo, but man do they frustrate me more than any other company I know of. Remember they have a system that has amazing power potential,a second screen,and a back catalogue of masterpeices most of the competition can only dream of,And its struggling to sell.its REALLY struggling right now.
Now ofcourse any other company would pull their finger out,and start throwing everything they can at the e shop,from snes to n64 and even gamecube,as well as making certain wii classics like mario galaxy, metroid prime trilogy etc available to download for the wiiu,all with second screen suport. Then they would advertise the hell out of the machine and say "look at us,we have great games like mario 3d world,sonic lost world and zelda windwaker hd,but also a HUGE back catalogue of games available on our e shop,we have the only console backwards compatible with not just wii but our whole history of systems. Available right now at a touch of a button".
But do nintendo do that? NO! They release a tiny trickle of poor nes games, an even tinier trickle of snes games, under utilise the eshop to the point of it being laughable and show a 30second advert of a game once every 3 month.
I MEAN CMON NINTENDO,DO SOMETHING! Ive mentioned things that could easily be done within a month or 2,surely its not that hard to port these vc games,wii had handfuls everyweek,why is it so hard for nintendo to put it on wiiu?
So frustrating
I love nintendo, but man do they frustrate me more than any other company I know of. Remember they have a system that has amazing power potential,a second screen,and a back catalogue of masterpeices most of the competition can only dream of,And its struggling to sell.its REALLY struggling right now.
Now ofcourse any other company would pull their finger out,and start throwing everything they can at the e shop,from snes to n64 and even gamecube,as well as making certain wii classics like mario galaxy, metroid prime trilogy etc available to download for the wiiu,all with second screen suport. Then they would advertise the hell out of the machine and say "look at us,we have great games like mario 3d world,sonic lost world and zelda windwaker hd,but also a HUGE back catalogue of games available on our e shop,we have the only console backwards compatible with not just wii but our whole history of systems. Available right now at a touch of a button".
But do nintendo do that? NO! They release a tiny trickle of poor nes games, an even tinier trickle of snes games, under utilise the eshop to the point of it being laughable and show a 30second advert of a game once every 3 month.
I MEAN CMON NINTENDO,DO SOMETHING! Ive mentioned things that could easily be done within a month or 2,surely its not that hard to port these vc games,wii had handfuls everyweek,why is it so hard for nintendo to put it on wiiu?
So frustrating
Sonic lost world disc version for me, but I clicked the digital option for the vote.
When are you guys going the do the review for lost world?
First of all, i don't buy overpriced VC games. Secondly, with like over 100 Wii U eShop games announced, where are they? Its weeks since last release. I hope there some sale atleast.
Nothing for me. I know that i will buy the 3 next Two Tribes games, and the first is coming in october.
I only buy physical copies of Retail games thou, so there is never any retail download for me. Physical copies is also cheaper than download versions which is awkward.
Well of course VC will suck when they're only releasing stuff from NES & SNES (the worst systems ever)... Who cares anyway because now we have Sonic waving the flag of victory
DAT URBAN CHAMPION
I'll get Steamworld Dig whilst it's discounted, and I've got a physical copy of Sonic Lost World for the Wii U preordered from Shopto. Everything else there looks crap....I mean, Urban Champion again? Really?
lol @ Steamworld Dig discount.
I'm greatly looking forward to Sonic Lost World on both consoles! I'm unable to get them on day one but I will get them soon, Wii U first probably. I'll aim for the retail edition of Wii U since I don't think the eShop version comes with all of the Deadly Six Edition content. I just hope that I'm not too late when I'm able to buy it...
I'm also excited to pick up those 3DS discounts & hopefully Toki Tori 1 on Wii U next week
@MadAussieBloke Did you just call the NES and SNES the worst systems ever? Are you serious?
Those two systems run circles around the N64, Gamecube, and Wii.
The NES and SNES are easily Nintendo's best home consoles and are only matched by their handheld lineup.
The SNES is Nintendo's best home console, and even with the handhelds is only really beaten by the DS and GBA.
@Caryslan He wasn't being overly serious, he's just the Sega version of WaveBoy.
hm some nice discounts. too bad i dont have money right now
I saw one of them playing sonic lost world on Wii U on my friends list the other day so the review must be coming soon
Nothing for me this week, getting Lost Worlds on disc (not paying £39.99 for download). I've run out of patience for Gamecube games on the Wii U VC, so I've bid on a copy of the actual game!
Ahh yes, the Nintendo tradition of following up a major release with a steaming pile of cow poop on the eShop a few days later. Urban Champion makes me laugh. Its like they've got 1 guy coding VC games and he went on vacation back in June... and hasn't returned.
Whatever happened to Sega's 3D Classic range, releasing the Sonic 3D Classic one week before Lost World would have been a good idea to build hype
@ferthepoet If they hurry up and release those awesome Megadrive 3D classics then SEGA will officially save the 3DS VC yet again... Now they need to bring SEGA systems to the WiiU to really breathe some life back into that mofo
I've said it before and I'll say it again... Where the fook is Cave Story+?!?!?!?!?
I'll get Sonic Lost World at retail!
@MadAussieBloke Damn stupid phone,dude im realy sorry I was trying to scroll down the page and my phone thought I was trying to report your comment! Anything I can do to reverse this? Once again im realy sorry. NL IF YOUR READING THIS DONT DO A MIIVERSE AND BAN HIM BLINDLY OR ANYTHING!
@ddbangsy Cheers dude. I realy want nintendo to do well. But sometimes they remind me of some 5 year old genius pianist. Yes the music is unparralleled but its still a 5 year old and has no clue about performance or stage presence...or something like that anyway!
IGN has a video on the first 3D level and on a 2D level of Sonic the Lost World. Both of them looks amazing.
I agree that Nintendo should focus on all the popular games in the past. I do not know why they keep porting poor old games (Clu Clu Land?) to the Wii U Virtual Console.
Terrible Wii U VC selection this week but Sonic Lost World could be good.
What a load of rubbish
Can't believe europe got Sonic Lost World first....
that makes it better so I can see the review!
Also Urban Champion! when is that coming in the US?
Urban Champion!!!!!!! Everyone should buy this game to see exactly how dangerous the streets are in a land where no one ever invented manhole covers.
@mariobro4 Thats been the same for every Sonic game in the past few years.
That's the fighting game they pick? Why don't they get the anchors outta their pants and release Super Smash Bros., a fighting game that's actually GOOD?
Anyway, can't wait for both versions of Sonic Lost World. I know I gotta wait until the 29th, but it's worth it!
Any ideas on when that sonic lost world review will be out? Im trying to decide whether to keep my pre order
Urban Champion...
To the person in charge on WiiU VC.. Really!?!
Wow, City Connection? That's a pretty good game!
Seriously.. release some good super nintendo games for Wii U, not this crap. I'd really like to buy A Link to the Past before A Link Between Worlds is released.. is that too much to ask?
Wow, another crap week. Who in the world asked for Urban Champion?
At least Sonic Lost World is out on Friday. Got the Deadly Six Edition preordered.
still no Flipnote studio 3d!!! aghh it's like Nintendo don't care about it anymore
Sonic Lost World for 3DS.
Second retail download for me, after Pokémon X (technically the third one counting Boulder Dash XL 3D, but that's a smaller game at a lower price, so I don't know if it counts).
Wait, Sonic Lost World on friday!? Can someone tell me when it's coming to America? I've read that the 22 but then I read it was delayed one week til 29, but now I'm confused.
I would download Steamworld Dig but I already own it. So awesome game, totally surprised me. Best DC game so far.
Can Nintendo life some how find out if A Link to the Past is coming to Wii U VC and when?
I remember playing City Connection. Too bad it's UK only though.
I was waiting for a better time to pick up SteamWorld Dig, and it looks like my patience was rewarded!
@AdanVC Friday in Europe. A week or so in the US.
After last week's Tennis/Golf release I was fairly sure it couldn't get much worse on the Wii U VC.
I was wrong.
On the plus side, at least Nintendo has started offering two crappy titles per week instead of one. At this rate it will only take 15 years to release their 1st party catalog of NES, SNES, GB, GBC, GBA, N64 and GC titles.
nice, steamworld dig for me!
Nintendo really seems to be pushing early NES games for some reason. maybe they are cheaper to port??
Wii U's VC seems like such a HUGE set back compared to the Wii's VC. In my opinion Nintendo is just doing the Wii U VC on the cheap until the install base increases.
sure they throw early adopters a bone every now and then but as a whole the Wii U VC is garbage with 80% of the title hardly worth $1 let alone $5
@Mainer82 mate I think we need to start spamming miiverse until they release it!
I must be the only person in the world who got some enjoyment out of Urban Champion. Granted, I think there are better NES games out there, and I'm unlikely to ever spend money for it on the VC , but I've played it in the past, and enjoyed it to some degree.
It's not the worst game in the world. Its just something that has aged poorly like most other early NES games.
To be honest, I wish Kung Fu would come out on the VC. Now that is an early NES game worth downloading.
@Grubdog It probably means that Nintendo of America and Nintendo of Europe don't really treat the VC as a priority.
I don't think Japan has ever really been lacking on the VC front but then again, I wouldn't be surprised if the 3rd party developers over there are more willing to put stuff up on the VC.
There are currently 199 VC (and 3D Classics) games on the 3DS in Japan and 67 VC games for the Wii U. Quite a bit more than the other regions.
EDIT: The actual numbers per system in Japan for VC.
Lol, Urban Champion isn't even in 3d!
Sonic Lost World is out THIS WEEK??
How the hell did that slip my mind?
Pokémon X & Y and now this.... My Memory card is filling fast!
Will also be picking up the Wii U version, god it will be good to have a reason to turn that thing on again lol
What a good news, Sonic's extra level will be avaible also with digital purchase ^O^
Between Pokemon and Phoenix Wright... totally a bad position for a release, but at least now it's worthy to consider to download it at launch!
Sonic Lost World is the first Sonic game I'll buy since Adventure Battle 2 on NGC. Wii U is on a roll.
I wonder how much money they have made with people stupidly downloading urban champ
I don't remember City Connection, but I do remember Car Vup on the Amiga. That was a cool game. It looks to be a similar game in terms of objective. I doubt it plays the same though
City Connection looks like a classic next to Clu Clu Land.
And Nintendo obviously dropped Clu Clu Land next to Urban Champion because there was no way anyone would buy Clu Clu Land unless it was next to the single biggest pile of crap on the NES.
How are they justifying $5 for 8bit NES games like urban champion lol. I can get PS1 games like dino crisis 2, FF7, Resident Evil 2 for $6 on PSN (for my PS3 & PSP). I love Ninty and my WiiU, but my nostalgic attachment (been with Ninty since mid 80's) has been fading and fading these past few months and their VC choices and how their determining their prices. not value of the game but the console it was released on.
And, by that logic, they're creating a VC drought and bringing crappy VC games just so they will have the SLIGHTEST chance in selling. It's ridiculous and gets more painful week after week logging on and reading these 'Weekly Download' topics ... no offense to NL, not your fault
Wonder what will be on eShop for VC in NA this week.....
I actually enjoy urban championship. Hav it as a 3d "classic"
@Gold Probably nothing. I'm still waiting for SMB3...
@AyeHaley Sonic generation and sonic colors are also very good. Highly recommended!
Anyone know when this content will go live today?
@LunaticPandora When is Picross E3 coming out coz i can't wait to play it as well.
Don't know mate. It was meant to be september but of course that turned out to be not true, someone on the review page claims november but didn't give a date. It's quite vague so I'm not optimistic about it, and the fact that NLife won't alter the release date to something other than september is annoying too.
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