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Those of you that checked out the European Nintendo Download Update details earlier today may have spotted that one of the new releases, The Battle Cats POP!, is out today. In positive news for all cat fans it's also arrived early in North America, so it's available now on the 3DS eShop in both territories.

Once known as 'that weird cat game that keeps appearing in Japanese Nintendo Directs', The Battle Cats POP! began as a free-to-start smart device title that apparently picked up over 20 million downloads. This 3DS version was given a big push by Nintendo in Japan, though the strategy in the West seems to be to allow developer PONOS to drop it onto the store on a Monday and hope for the best.

As for what the game is, it's a side-scrolling real time strategy / tower defence title - we're getting strong Swords & Soldiers vibes off it, albeit with a lot of different cat types as units. The 3DS version also has a Vs. mode, but don't tell PETA.

Its price tag is $9.99 / €9.99 / £8.99, though is thankfully free of all the micro-transactions of the original version. Are you tempted to give it a try?