It's the norm now, but it's another very busy week in the North American Nintendo Download update. We reckon it's a bit of a corker, too, with major retail releases being joined by some very tempting download-only titles. The Switch, 3DS and Wii U are all catered to, so let's get to the details.
Switch Retail Downloads
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda, $59.99USD) - A title that has been eagerly anticipated, bringing the remastered version of a gaming classic to Nintendo hardware for the first time. An enormous adventure with impressive independence and flexibility, it still stands up as a wonderful gaming experience; we get into detail in our Skyrim review. Available from 17th November.
Gear.Club Unlimited (Microïds, $44.99USD) - This aims to fill a gap in the Switch library with realistic driving and some tasty licensed cars. This has multiple modes and local co-op and aims to deliver a premium driving experience; we'll get into gear with a review. Available from 21st November.
SUPERBEAT: XONiC (PM Studios, $39.99USD) - Another welcome music rhythm release on the Switch, adding its own spin to the genre along with 68 songs to play. Available from 21st November.
MXGP3 - The Official Motocross Videogame (Milestone, $39.99USD) - This tasks you with tackling unpredictable and dynamic weather conditions in various motocross races. From sun to heavy rain, every change will decisively influence the rider's visibility and the highly-deformable ground, 'putting even the most expert player to the test'. We'll see whether it stays on track in a review. Available from 21st November.
Switch eShop
RIVE: Ultimate Edition (Two Tribes $12.75USD) - The final game from Two Tribes, it's an intense and attractive platforming shooter with smart controls and hacking mechanics. It finally arrives on Nintendo hardware with a co-pilot mode and 60fps performance; we're working on a review, but in the meantime you can check out our recent interview with Two Tribes. Available from 17th November.
Lumo (Rising Star Games, $19.95USD) - This love letter to the popular isometric platformers from the '80s has received acclaim from many sources for its intuitive and engrossing play mechanics, visual style, irreverent humour and chilled out music. We'll let you know whether it's still magic on the Switch.
VVVVVV (Nicalis, $9.99USD) - Originally developed by Terry Cavanagh, this was a title that was a bit of an early gem on the 3DS eShop, keeping us hooked with its deceptively simple visuals and tough puzzle platforming. As for what this Switch version will offer, Nicalis promises smooth 60fps gameplay and multiplayer. We'll check it out for review and let you know what we think.
Battle Chef Brigade (Adult Swim, $19.99USD) - Developed by Trinket Games and published by Adult Swim, this has a fantastical setting that mixes up combat with match-three play. The mash-up of game styles and intriguing visuals could be a tasty combination; we'll check it out in a review. Available from 20th November.
Ginger: Beyond the Crystal (Badland Games, $19.99USD) - Heavily inspired by the likes of Super Mario 64, Spyro, Zelda and Donkey Kong Country, this is a 3D platformer with 200 side quests, 15 bonus levels and plenty of enemies to face off against. We'll check it out in a review.
Dead Synchronicity: Tomorrow Comes Today (Badland Games, $19.99USD) - This is a dystopian point-and-click adventure that has a fascinating art style and story, with a tale of world-ending events and a disease sweeping through humanity. This has some big fans on PC, in particular, and we'll check it out for review. Available from 21st November.
Xenoraid (10tons, $8.99USD) - A shoot 'em up that aims to add its own spin with procedural levels, four fighters to choose from, 'tilt' aiming and accessibility for those that struggle with bullet-hell shooters. We'll dive in and let you know what we think in a review.
Antiquia Lost (KEMCO, $12.99USD) - Having brought a range of RPGs to Wii U and 3DS, KEMCO is now stepping up its Switch output. It features a "half-slime heroine, Lunaria" that needs to find and eat gems, and it's a world with three tribes to discover and utilise. We expect relatively stock RPG action, but it'll be interesting to see whether this is an accomplished download-only effort.
Green Game: TimeSwapper (iFun4all, $2.99USD) - This one is all about manipulating time to protect a flying bird, with the promise of a big challenge over 50 levels. Available from 17th November.
Karnov's Revenge (HAMSTER, $7.99USD) - A fighting game originally released in 1994, it showcases 13 different fighters - including the titular Karnov, who previously starred in his own 1987 arcade action title. We can expect the usual ACA feature to enjoy, too.
3DS Retail Downloads
Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon (Nintendo, $39.99USD each) - A title that's likely to drive plenty of interest in the 3DS over the festive period, these mid-gen entries may revisit a familiar land but nevertheless shake things up a fair amount. We get into what's new and why the additions are fantastic in our Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon review. Available from 17th November.
River City: Rival Showdown (Natsume, $29.99USD) - Known in Japan as Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari SP, this brawler has multiple story paths, supports local co-op and even has a 'bonus Double Dragon game'. Available from 21st November.
3DS eShop Demo
Phil's Epic Fill-a-Pix Adventure (Lightwood Games, free)
3DS HOME Theme
Pokémon: Necrozma
Wii U Virtual Console
Salamander (Konami, $5.99USD) - Known as Life Force in some territories, this iconic shooter from Konami alternates from horizontal to vertical stages and hits plenty of its marks — attractive 8-bit visuals, memorable tunes, tight gameplay and the option for two-player co-op. We enjoyed it a lot in our most recent review.
Break In (Konami, $5.99USD) - The latest TurboGrafx-16 title to arrive courtesy of Konami, this is a retro pool game for your consideration. We weren't big fans in our original Break In review.
As always Nintendo of America wants you to browse the eShop and check out the official sales and deals website for discount details.
There are a lot of choices this week - let us know what you'll be downloading in the poll and comments below.
Comments 66
I’m gonna Buy VVVVVV again because I loved it so much on 3DS....then I’m gonna check out that Battle Chef Brigade.
I’ve got high hopes. I saw some guy on Twitter say it gives him the same feeling he got the first time he played Shovel Knight. I’m stoked.
Also for retail will be Axiom Verge and Azure Striker Gunvolt on the 21st
Skyrim? Skyrim.
Just got Rocket League so nothing for me this week.
I need to check out Salamader
@LegendOfPokemon
How is Rocket League? I put it on my wishlist for now cause I'm still working through Rabbids/Doom/Mario. Just curious about your thoughts.
no discounts, or did ya just run out of room?
ahh i see the italics part now. thanks everybody!
Just Pokemon for me this week.
GEEZ! Gear.Club Unlimited at $44.99, the price looks expensive but Need for Speed and Forza, 2 full price games, are running the full gambit with the unnecessary lootboxes to stand a chance in the game plus Gear.Club has the added benefit of taking it anywhere with me so...the price may not be so bad in comparison.
No Netflix, web browser or virtual console on the Switch?
Always enjoy point/click adventures so I'll check out Dead Synchronicty and I'll keep adding to my huge library of Virtual Console/Eshop/WiiWare games on my Wii U with the TurboGrafx games.
@Bengals76 Not for a while, son.
@Bengals76 Why would you want that? Don't you have a phone that has all that?
I'll give Skyrim a shot when I can find it for twenty. I haven't played many WRPGs.
I guess Rival Showdown for me. Ultra Sun is going to be physical for me.
@crackafreeze I HAVE to get Wonder Boy III if its price drop is true.
@russellohh the bottom of the article has italics detailing some info, something about what NoA wants
@GC-161 to be fair watching movies on a phone is awful.
Just beat Super Mario Odyssey and beat Fire Emblem Warriors last weekend, so I'll take some time to beat Ace Attorney Phoenix Wright: Spirit of Justice and poke around in my backlog of Switch games. There's definitely some good stuff on tap this week. I see another point-and-click in there, Dead Synchronicity: Tomorrow Comes Today-- I don't know anything about that game, but I'll be waiting to hear more. Ah, more River City and a... "bonus Double Dragon game"?? Overall, I'm going to try and keep my plate clear since I have to prepare for Xenoblade Chronicles 2.
Dead Synchronicity looks interesting
Skyrim here I come. Rive will be a nice addition as well.
Skyrim
Gear.Club
Xonic
MXGP3
Lumo
Rive
Vvvvvv
River City is insanely tempting.
Still waiting on Picontier ... oh and with the recently-announced-as-completed 80’s Overdrive I’ll be waiting on that too!
So 13 months later, we now have every game from the Switch preview trailer
@faint Watching a movie on any screen smaller than what you find at theaters can be described the same way by purists.
However, my phone has a decent size high-res screen. And they don't look bad at all on it. So it really depends on what phone you have.
I hate to admit it but I broke down and ordered Ultra Moon. Let’s hope it lives up to the review.
A bunch of good stuff I would buy physically
Very packed week. Interested in Xonic, Rive and the Phil demo.
Getting Skyrim and Superbeat in physical format.
Wow a good week! Skyrim physical for sure. Then rive, battle chef and ginger look good!
Lumo on eshop and Skyrim retail. Gonna be a good weekend.
Still playing Rocket League so nothing for me. Would consider Skyrim if I hadn’t played it to death years ago.
@JaxonH Skyrim
I hope you didn't get carried away downloading stuff and miss out on your GCU discount. One of the things I've always disliked about these articles is how they are so eShop and digital focused as opposed to just "New games out this week'.
Ordered Snipperclips Plus, Lego Marvel 2 and Pokemon Ultra Moon all on cart at Amazon, so no downloads for us this week. Or last, or next, not sure about all of those games dates, they'll get here when they get here.
Which reminds me I have to pick up Knack 2 at Redbox, bought it used for $14.99, seemed worth it for a $40 2 month old game.
Ultra Moon for me
Very small detail, but Skyrim will be the final game released that originally appeared in the Switch teaser trailer released last year.
Salamander on TG-16 huh...? Well lets dust off the Wii U Gamepad and hear that soundtrack... now its only a matter of time until Rondo and Gofer No Yabou...
And I want a lot of games, but I’m still working on Mario Odyssey, finding 302 koroks, got Splatfest, PS4 Doom for $20 last weekend, and other things in life to do. Like work and art. Lol
@rjejr
Still buy physical but, I've decided to go digital as well for all the top retail games.
Bought that Nyko kickstand that stores a 2nd micro SD inside of it, got a 400gb in the Switch and 256gb in the kickstand. When the 400 fills, I'll move all digital copies of major retail games over to the spare SD and just install from cart on the first. That way can put in a cart and play still, but if on the go can swap SD for easy access to all the best of the best.
LA Noire is mint btw. Impeccable port. Rocket League is crazy fun on Switch too. Playing anywhere is amazing.
Wow I’m running outta cash!! So the Switch at this point already has 30% of the Wii U’s Total library and it’s not even in the Wild a year yet- and on top of that, the quality vs quantity ratio is so much better on Switch! What a turn around! 👍
@MoonKnight7 After playing a few hours, it’s fun, but can be quite hard to play. It’s worth the $20, but I would only recommend it if you are willing to spend the many hours it will take to improve (and so far I haven’t felt a sense of progression like I have with ARMS and Splatoon.)
@LegendOfPokemon
That's fair, thanks for the feedback.
RCR Rival Showdown was this upcoming week? Man, I gotta strategize now.
So, Salamander and Fighter's History Dynamite for download.
River City Ransom Rival Showdown and Skyrim physical. Then Disgaea 5 for the $20 Black Friday deal at Best Buy.
Aaaand I'm broke, LOL.
@JaxonH "Playing anywhere is amazing."
Going to be interesting going forward if the PS5 has a lackluster reception in a few years b/c everybody wants to game portable now?
Well not everyone, but enough to make their voices heard. I'm still not sure that guys over 30 understand that guys under 15 want to play portable b/c they live portable on their phones. Soon kids will view tvs the same way as they view landline phones and cable tv. "Why?"
Been waiting for RIVE so I’ll get that eventually for sure. No time... though I’ve snuck in some Contra III on the SNES classic with my son.
Skyrim should be arriving in the post next week. I'll probably download Rive. I'm very interested in Gear Club, but I'll wait and see how it's received before I decide for sure. I played a lot of NFS on the WiiU and that game was/is great.
@rjejr Smartphones and tablets have caused people to expect technology to fit their lifestyle rather than expect to change their lifestyle to use technology. Not a bad thing, I don’t think.
Still, there’s some worthwhile concern that such a big societal focus on selling to consumers leads to people expecting everything to revolve around their comfort and a resistance to any type of goal that requires discomfort.
I had already pre-ordered Pokemon Ultra Sun, but on a whim decided to get the pre-order discount through amazon and ordered Skyrim today, but won't get it til tuesday probably, which is fine since I've got pokemon and rocket league to play.
@MoonKnight7 No problem! 😃
@aaronsullivan "a resistance to any type of goal that requires discomfort"
Oh don't go bringing Millennials into this.
I like tech, I'm a geek and a nerd before we were cool, but the 24/7 screen time does bother me. Phones are useful tools. GPS when you're lost in NJ - I hate driving in NJ - calculators, weather forecasts. Where to avoid the latest terror attack, whether it's gunfire, vehicle or IED, they seem to be almost daily now. But the addiction. I bet cigarette companies are jealous of how addictive those little screens are. And w/ near 100% cell phone coverage and portable batteries there's no need to ever turn it off. Once we're all wearing some form of Google glass or Hololens it's over. Though a world were everyone has a real time lie detector app going 24/7 should make for some interesting conversations. And WH press conferences.
@rjejr
PS5? Surely you mean the PS on/off and the microsoft 0/1.
Erm...are we sure Salamander isn't the PC-Engine version? That was way better than the NES version.
@SetupDisk I have no idea what MS can possibly call it's next gaming machine, if it even has another 1, after Xbox, 360, 1, and 1X, though I still think Xbox Eleven is a viable option XXI and good marketing stragety - Ours goes to 11 - but if the sun comes up that day the next Sony machine will launch as PS5. PS4go w/ TV out doesn't count.
downloading the home theme for the 3ds. Getting Ultra Sun/Moon physically. Might pick up some games for the Switch during Black Friday. debating on Skyrim, just not sure if I need another RPG when I'm getting XC2 on Dec 1.
Rive for me. Now all I need is Floor Kids and Xenoblade to round out my Switch library and I’m good for 2017.
@Bengals76 Didn't you know that not having streaming apps was one of the strengths of the Switch (according to Nintendo Life)?
@rjejr Xbox Next.
Technically nothing this week, but both Skyrim and Ultra Sun are sitting on my Christmas list. If they don't show up under the tree, I'll definitely be buying them!
@Bengals76 "No Netflix, web browser or virtual console on the Switch?"
Sometimes we're just not allowed to have nice things. Case in point, you still have Marvin Lewis, don't ya?
PINBALL TI-...oh right, it was delayed till next month....bleh.
Nothing for me again. I'll just stick with what I have now then, at least until SEGA 3D Classics 2 whatever is localized. Of course, it probably isn't going to now anyway.
Rive: Ultimate Edition and (thanks to the sale) Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap for me.
@Crono1973 Xbox Next
That would be great if it came out in 1985.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ctxorm7duw
Pokemon hype!
The lack of hype in these comments for Battle Chef Brigade is worrisome. Hopefully the reviews will be good enough to get some attention.
Salamander! Yes!!
Still no review of Harmonix' Super Beat Sports
I want so much!!!
Show Comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...