Watch Dogs Screen3

Another week begins, but at least those of us in Europe have the Nintendo Download news to cheer up our day. This week's line-up includes some major retail releases, new download-only options across the board (even DSiWare makes an appearance) and a range of DLC, HOME themes and more. Plenty to cover, so let's get on with it.

Wii U eShop

Rock Zombie (EnjoyUp Games, €6.99 / £6.29) — An experience that harks back to some sillier games of generations passed, this is a campy beat 'em up in which you tackle zombies as a rock band, which the game is at pains to emphasize is an all-female band. It's not a classic, but we couldn't help but be a little charmed in our Rock Zombie review.

Wii U Virtual Console

Wild Guns (Natsume, €7.99 / £5.49) — A 16-bit gallery shooter set in a Steampunk Wild West, which is a description that will already have some reaching for their credit card. In our view this is a bit of an under-appreciated classic, as a title that was top of class in its era and allows the mix of manic dodging with gallery shooting to also be enjoyed in co-op. We were full of praise for this in our Wild Guns review. This is the US version of the game.

Natsume Championship Wrestling (Natsume, €7.99 / £5.49) — Completing a Natsume double header on the Wii U Virtual Console this week, here we have a SNES era wrestling game that also supports four player local matches. There are 12 different fighters, and we felt this put up a good fight as we awarded 7/10 in our Wii Virtual Console review; we'll grapple with it once again. This is the US version of the game.

Wii U Retail Downloads

Watch Dogs (Ubisoft, €59.99 / £49.99) — The Wii U iteration of this open-world title has been delayed to such an extent that it'll likely arrive with little fanfare on the system, especially as this is the year's busiest period of game releases. Some have no doubt been waiting, however, and will hope that the action and hacking shenanigans come across well on Nintendo's console; we hope it's not a dog's dinner of a port.

Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric (Sega, €49.99 / £39.99) — This spin-off universe of Sonic caused a stir earlier in the year, with this Wii U entry being joined by a 3DS game, TV series and merchandise. This adventure platformer wasn't issued pre-release for review and has been attracting some scathing critiques from consumers online, but we'll take a look and figure out whether it's boom or bust for the hedgehog's latest release. Available from 21st November.

Wii U DLC

Two Watch Dogs DLC packs will be available on day one:

Conspiracy (Ubisoft, €4.99 / £3.99) — People aren't always what they seem. In this case, they're cyborgs from space. Don't believe me? Try plugging in the Conspiracy! Digital Trip and we'll talk after. You've got a specific lens to see their real faces. Find them, identify them, and kill them.

Access Granted (Ubisoft, €6.99 / £5.49) — Extend your hacking abilities in 3 new missions. Unlock 6 additional skins and access new powerful perks to increase your control over Chicago.

3DS eShop

101 Pony Pets 3D (Selectsoft, €4.00 / £3.59) — We can't help but be a little concerned when a pet sim has '101' and '3D' in the title, though undoubtedly with a name like that it's targeting faint praise. This one isn't actually horrendous — we damned it with faint praise such as "there are plenty of worse pet-themed titles out there" when awarding it 5/10 in our 101 Pony Pets 3D review.

3DS Virtual Console

Lufia: The Legend Returns (Natsume, €4.99 / £4.49) — This Game Boy Color entry was the third in this particular '90s RPG series, and the first portable iteration. Unsurprisingly you're tasked with saving the world in a "compelling storyline", while there are 12 playable characters — we'll get questing to bring you a review.

3DS Retail Downloads

Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal (Sega, €39.99 / £34.99) — Unlike its Wii U contemporary's departure from standard Sonic fare, this effort from Sanzaru Games employs some of the more recognisable 2D portable norms for the mascot. It does have more exploration, however, while you can also switch between Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and newcomer Sticks to make use of their various abilities. It seemed reasonably encouraging based on its demo, but we'll see how the full game stacks up. Available from 21st November.

Tetris Ultimate (Ubisoft, €19.99 / £15.99) — This entry has unique modes on the 3DS not available on home consoles, with an impressive array or modes and options and a budget price. We'll let you know what we think.

Asterix: The Mansions of the Gods (Bigben Interactive, €34.99 / £29.99)

3DS DLC

Two Shin Megami Tensei IV DLC packs will be available:

Snake Scale Equipment (Atlus, €0.99 / £0.75) — Three Delivery Challenge Quests, each with an armour piece of the add-on-exclusive. Deity Scales set as reward. Note: These Challenge Quests can be accepted early in the game.

Clipped Wings 2 (Atlus, €1.79 / £1.49) — Add add-on-exclusive Challenge Quest to defeat the Archangels Gabriel and Michael. Completing this quest lets you fuse Herald Gabriel and Herald Michael. Note: This quest relates to the main story. Recommended progress: Endgame.

3DS Demo

Asterix: The Mansions of the Gods (Bigben Interactive, free)

3DS HOME Themes

Pokémon: ONEMURI Pikachu (Nintendo, €1.99 / £1.79)

Pokémon: Primal Groudon/Primal Kyogre (Nintendo, €1.99 / £1.79)

Sonic Boom Theme (Nintendo, free)

Super Mario: Pastel Pink (Nintendo, €1.99 / £1.79)

Super Mario: Neon Green (Nintendo, €1.99 / £1.79)

Super Mario: Blue (Nintendo, €1.99 / £1.79)

3DS eShop Temporary Discounts

Wakedas (Circle Entertainment, €1.99 / £1.79 until 11th December, normally €2.99 / £2.50)

World Conqueror 3D (Circle Entertainment, €3.99 / £3.59 until 11th December, normally €4.99 / £4.49)

3DS eShop Promotion

Darts Up 3D (EnjoyUp Games, €0.49 / £0.45 if you already downloaded Darts Up on Nintendo eShop for Wii U and have linked your Nintendo 3DS and Wii U with the same Nintendo Network ID. Normally €2.99 / £2.69)

DSiWare

Around the World in 80 Days (DSiWare, 800 Nintendo Points) — When a fresh DSiWare title appears you can be sure that's it's either a match-3 title or hidden object game. This is the former, so we'll get cracking to let you know how it stacks up against the 1,357 other games of its type on the service.


Plenty of choices this week, Europe. Let us know what you're planning to download in the poll and comments below.

What will you be downloading first this week? (206 votes)

  1. Rock Zombie (Wii U eShop)2%
  2. Wild Guns (Wii U Virtual Console)5%
  3. Natsume Championship Wrestling (Wii U Virtual Console)1%
  4. Watch Dogs (Wii U retail download)18%
  5. Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric (Wii U retail download)2%
  6. Watch Dogs: Conspiracy (Wii U DLC)2%
  7. Watch Dogs: Access Granted (Wii U DLC)  0%
  8. 101 Pony Pets 3D (3DS eShop)  0%
  9. Lufia: The Legend Returns (3DS Virtual Console)4%
  10. Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal (3DS retail download)  0%
  11. Tetris Ultimate (3DS retail download)  0%
  12. Asterix: The Mansions of the Gods (3DS retail download)1%
  13. Shin Megami Tensei IV: Snake Scale Equipment (3DS DLC)  0%
  14. Shin Megami Tensei IV: Clipped Wings 2 (3DS DLC)2%
  15. Asterix: The Mansions of the Gods (3DS demo)2%
  16. One of the 3DS HOME Themes13%
  17. Wakedas (3DS eShop temporary discount)  0%
  18. World Conqueror 3D (3DS eShop temporary discount)  0%
  19. Darts Up 3D (3DS eShop promotion)  0%
  20. Around the World in 80 Days (DSiWare)  0%
  21. Nothing for me this week45%

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