With the start of another week we have the usual batch of details for the goodies due in the European Nintendo Download Update. Coming up on Thursday we have a range of promising download-only titles across Wii U and 3DS, including a New 3DS exclusive. We also have a new Wii download on the way, along with high-profile DLC, demos and a batch of discounts. There's plenty to consider, so let's get to it.
Wii U eShop
Buddy & Me: Dream Edition (Sunbreak Games, €4.39 / £3.89) - This is a hugely colourful and charming endless runner that was previously released on smart devices; naturally the Wii U edition has some enhancements to suit the home console. It looks like a lovely game, though we'll see whether it's dreamy or nightmarish in a review.
Defend Your Crypt (Ratalaika Games, €2.99 / £2.69) - With retro-style visuals and a full stage view, this is a twist on real-time strategy and defence as you set traps to prevent treasure hunters stealing your gold. The concept certainly has potential, so we'll dig into a review and let you know what we think.
Jewel Quest (iWin Inc., €4.39/ £3.49) - As the title suggests this is a HD version of the popular jewel matching game, in this case with the promise of 72 boards to take on; though lacking bells and whistles it achieves its goals, earning a recommendation in our Jewel Quest review.
Toon Tanks (Petite Games, €1.99 / £1.79) - A top-down action game that seems like a revamp of late '70s classic Combat, it's a simplistic experience with little variety or incentive to keep playing - we explain why in our Toon Tanks review.
Hot Rod Racer (ZeNfA Productions, €2.99 / £2.69) - The second title from ZeNfA, this adopts a top-down view for some pacy racing, with some customisation options also available to boost your vehicle. We'll hit the roads and bring you a review.
Wii U Virtual Console
A Shadow's Tale (Hudson Soft, €19.99 / £17.99) - An interesting arrival in the Wii download stakes, this stood out as a particularly intriguing 2D platformer during the last generation. It has some clever ideas that are put to good use, albeit with a few flaws affecting the experience; you can learn more in our A Shadow's Tale review.
Wii U eShop Temporary Discounts
Word Search by POWGI (Lightwood Games, €5.99 / £4.49 until 28th July, normally €7.99 / £5.99)
STEEL LORDS (nuGAME, €7.50 / £6.00 until 18th August, normally €14.99 / £10.99)
Wii U Retail Demo
Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games (Nintendo, free)
3DS eShop
Adventure Labyrinth Story (CIRCLE Entertainment, €5.00 / £4.50) - A spin-off from Adventure Bar Story, this is a rogue-like RPG in which you set off into a randomly generated dungeon with the goal of retrieving legendary treasure. You start with nothing and try to build your way up as you explore, but if you die you revert back to level one and simply start again. We'll go exploring and bring you a review.
Ninja Smasher! (PUMO, €3.55 / £2.93) - A side-scrolling action title with a cute aesthetic, you play as a rather athletic ninja that can use a variety of weapons to dispose of foes; it could certainly be fun, and we'll check it out in a review.
Defend Your Crypt (Ratalaika Games, €2.99 / £2.69) - The same game as on Wii U, but available on the go.
New Nintendo 3DS eShop
Wind-up Knight 2 (Unity Games, €4.50/ £4.00) - This is a runner in which you swing your sword, jump, roll and use your shield to survive; titles of this type can potentially be fun, of course, and as a New 3DS release this is also one of the standard-bearers for the Unity engine on the portable. We gave the Wii U version a modest recommendation in our review, and will see how this one fares on the portable.
3DS DLC
Fire Emblem Fates: Map Pack 2 (Nintendo, €7.99 / £7.19) - Includes a total of six paid maps.
Fire Emblem Fates: Another Gift from Anna (Nintendo, free)
Fire Emblem Fates - I: In Endless Dreams (Nintendo, €0.49 / £0.49)
Fire Emblem Fates - II: Realms Collide (Nintendo, €1.99 / £1.79)
Fire Emblem Fates: III: The Changing Tide (Nintendo, €1.99 / £1.79)
3DS eShop Temporary Discounts
Word Search by POWGI (Lightwood Games, €5.99 / £4.49 until 28th July, normally €7.99 / £5.99)
Aqua Moto Racing 3D (ZordixAB, €3.99 / £3.59 until 28th July, normally €7.99 / £7.19)
European Conqueror 3D (CIRCLE Entertainment, €2.99 / £2.39 until 18th August, normally €3.99 / £2.99)
Glory of Generals (CIRCLE Entertainment, €3.99 / £3.59 until 18th August, normally €6.99 / £6.09)
Samurai Defender (CIRCLE Entertainment, €1.99 / £1.59 until 18th August, normally €2.99 / £2.39)
3DS Retail Demo
Kirby: Planet Robobot (Nintendo, free)
That's everything for the European Nintendo Download Update this week - let us know what you're planning to download in the poll and comments below.
Comments 54
Nothing for me this week. Another dreadful week. A Shadow’s Tale at €20 is too much. Its price was too high back then and it's definitely too high now(people back then said it should have been a Wiiware game). It's not a very good game either.
http://www.metacritic.com/game/wii/lost-in-shadow/critic-reviews 68%
I don't care how much it goes for on Ebay(that's Konami's fault for printing so few copies).
Buddy & Me: Dream Edition looks alright but it's more for a younger audience. It's twice the price on the eShop as it is on Android.
Just the Kirby demo for me
Nothing. That is not an impressive line-up.
Lol rough week it seems!
A Shadow's Tale is one of the few Wii titles that I've yet to get despite my interest in it, but the price is a little too steep.
Looks like it's demo download week.
I urge everyone who hasn't played a shadows tale to pick it up! Amazing game! €20 is a bit high though. Can get it cheaper on disc I think.
@readyletsgo In the States it can be bought cheaply but here in Europe they barely printed any copies. It's known as Lost In Shadow over there.
Nothing.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE Wow, metacritic, now there's a number that means absolutely nothing.
No proper VC again!
@LemonSlice When it suits people they dismiss it. The very same people will back it when it suits their agenda and they're singing the praises of a game they like and the Metacritic score agrees with them. Of course it means something but you probably don't like seeing 68%.
http://www.metacritic.com/game/wii/101-in-1-explosive-megamix 16%
http://www.metacritic.com/game/wii/super-mario-galaxy-2 97%
Which is the better game?
So going to buy Adventure Labyrinth Story and get the Kirby demo. One of the better eShop weeks in a while for me.
@JH64
What were you hoping for or expecting.
@Don More n64 games!!
Kirby demo, and some DLC?
I'll check this Mario & Sonic demo. 3DS version was... not good. Nevertheless, I don't plan to buy any of this sports games.
Also Wii games always cost 20 euros and this is not a good idea. Super Mario Galaxy and game from this week for the same price?
FE Fates Map pack 2 and Kirby demo for me. Also Nintendo's decision to give the Kirby demo gives hope for DQVII demo.
I'll download the Kirby demo.
Still have my original copy of a Shadow's Tale, as it was one of those games where the first trailer captured my interest, and I saw soon enough it would be a hard one to find after it's initial release. I loved it in all of its clunkiness. Just like quite a few Wii games, like Calling, Fragile Dreams,... Loads of atmosphere, lots of flaws, but memorable experiences in a positive way.
@Shambo I have Shadow's Tale on Wii but haven't played it yet. Guess I should give it a go. Haven't played Fragile Dreams or Calling though.
I want Tetrisphere for the n64. Doubt it's going to happen, but that's a game I'd like to play again.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE ah yes, I have bought it twice over the years, never more than €10 I think, must have been lucky.
Would love a port of this to the 3ds, would work really well with the 3d.
Dat Kirby demo is where it's at. It will make my wait for the right eShop balance (currently 20€) easier... or even harder!
At least Mario & Luigi: Dream Team Bros. is officially no longer part of my backlog, though - defeated you-know-which-final-boss yesterday night.
Cool, Mario and Sonic Rio has a demo! I wonder what content/playable characters will be featured.
I have the full game already, and I'm loving it! I'll download the demo to see if it's a good representation of the full experience.
A Shadow's Tale is a fantastic game, the perfect blend of ICO, FEZ and Prince of Persia. Highly recommended.
Should be noted Hot Rod Racer has a launch 15% sale as well.
Seriously NOE? The Turbografx launches in the US and you make me wait even longer for the Euro launch? I've been waiting for its return since the Wii U launched! T.T
After 2 weeks without any VC titles for the European Wii U catalogue (against 2-3 titles each week on the Japanese AND on the American Wii U catalogue), we'll got (finally...) for this week... "A Shadow's Tale" !! A Wii title ! That's a (bad) joke or what ?!
Eh ! What mean this kind of contemptuous regard we're undergoing ?
Erm Shadow's Tale is £ 45 from Amazon
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Konami-A-Shadows-Tale-Wii/dp/B003P0XOKK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1468852287&sr=8-1&keywords=lost+in+shadow
so virtual version is a hell of a lot cheaper
I'm with @SLIGEACH_EIRE on Shadow's Tale. It's a game I'm interested in adding to my collection, but it's not must-have enough to justify the physical prices, and the eshop price is too high for a non-stellar Wii download IMO. A first-week discount seen by the likes of the Metroid Prime Trilogy at £8 might have tempted me.
A Shadow's Tale is a recommendation from me, though it gets a bit repetitive over time since there isn't much variety. That's something I felt often with Hudson soft games.
HOLY CRAP! I can't believe Shadow's Tale made it! This game goes for crazy money on ebay.
Now I finally will have a chance to try it.
Boo. Nothing of interest there then.
It's so weird, just yesterday I was thinking about how it would be neat if there was a Planet Robobot demo on eShop, but that unfortunately there probably wouldn't be, and now here we are!
@SLIGEACH_EIRE it's only gonna get worse dude, chin up for now Eh. They at least managed to tick every box this week. Even a demo!
I shudder to think how bad the next 6 months is gonna get
Kirby demo for me. Maybe i'll be surprised and it turns out to be an amazing must-have game.
@wazlon They all are obviously far from triple-A budget titles, but if you're even remotely interested in atmospheric, low-print games no one seems to talk about, or Wii-pointer flashlight soft horror, I wholeheartedly recommend looking into them.
I can't stress hard enough that they're far from perfect though, so don't spend big money on them to turn out disappointed... With me, it just,... "clicked", I guess. Maybe look on youtube what to expect first, but I'd be careful for spoilers, as not knowing what to expect is also part of the experience...
there's one guy on miiverse who seems to buy and make the first comment for every single game ever. i keep waiting for him to open the comment section for steel lords, but apparently even he cannot bring himself to buy it.
Probably gonna try Mario and Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games Demo, to see if it's worth a purchase or not. I don't believe this game was deserving of a low Metacritic, so I'll have to see. Props to Nintendo for being on point with demos lately; last week we had the Star Fox Zero/Guard (which allows you to play all of Corneria and access a lot of online features), and now... Hopefully this works for them in the long run.
@Bloodix cheers for the heads up, I've been waiting for your next game to drop.
Should we be expecting lots of updates for this for this one to add stuff or is this a finished article
@buildz gotta love them demo's
Wish there was a demo for every game, I'd love to try everything before I buy. Or is that a bit ott?
@ULTRA-64 Not at all; it should be a thing anyway - stops us from wasting money on games that are bad. Screenshots aren't always the most useful tool in telling us the quality of a game; actually playing it, however, is.
@ULTRA-64 Thanks! Yep, like ZaciSa before it, I plan to have new updates for the game! At the very least the 1st update will have a new environment as well as new upgrade options.
I also have an idea for a multiplayer mode (both Vs and co-op type modes) that I am thinking of adding.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE SMG2 is the better game regardless of it having the higher score. And I actually don't care one bit about Shadow's Tale nor have I ever used Metacritic as part of an agenda. Thank you very much for being assuming.
And in case you meant to demonstrate that Metacritic can tell you whether the game is playable or absolutely sucks, yeah, that's about the extent of it. So I guess the number does mean something. My bad, I concede.
Shadows Tale was good but I backtracked for something to early and a bug caused me to get stuck. I was a far way along and was not going to restart it. I'll play it again some day as it was fun until that happened.
Recent first party demos from NOE: About 4 - 5
Recent first party demos from NOA: 0
Wow, a new New 3DS game! Finally those Unity games are starting to trickle in. Hope it's good!
I agree, poor week... I'm still hoping for Minish Cap on 3DS. Also SNES Smash TV please for Virtual Console!
Kirby demo for me since I can't huy the game yet.
Sad when the only thing I have to look forward to is the demo of Mario & Sonic. Then again if its as bad as some claim then I'll have more money for September.
Everyone should get Buddy and Me. I have it on my phone and will be getting it on Wii U, so much fun
@Shambo
Oi! Someone else liking it too! I have it as physical version as well, idea is wonderful and loved it - even it being bit clumsy
I found the game when I was just trailersurfing on YT and I knew I had to get it. Did not regret. But yea, even with my likes, 20€ sounds bit pricey.
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