NintendoWare Weekly: Bit.Trip Void, Super Mario Kart, A Boy and His Blob
by JC Fletcher 
{ Nov 23rd 2009 at 10:00AM } 
WiiWare
- Bit.Trip Void (Aksys Games, 1-4 players, 600 Wii Points): Gaijin Games' abstract exploration of the history of controllers continues with the analog-controlled Void. This time, as you weave into and out of giant patches of color, you can zone out into a chiptune-induced fugue state with three of your friends!
- Harvest Moon: My Little Shop (Natsume, 1 player, 1,200 Wii Points): In this spin-off game, you raise crops, and then use your harvest in your own shop. Prepare ice cream, juice, and other food items for your customers in minigames, and then put the earnings back into your farm and/or shop to expand.
- Little Tournament Over Yonder (Gevo Entertainment, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points): Control a Prince or Princess in a "little" turn-based strategy game, with action elements. Each unit gains individual experience after every match. If your little friend wants to play, it features a two-player competitive mode.
- Learning with the PooYoos: Episode 1 (Lexis Numérique, 1 player, 500 Wii Points): The awkwardly named educational title is finally here! Are you ready to find out about numbers, shapes, letters, and other basic concepts? No? Don't worry, a bunch of baby animals are here to help you.
- Electroplankton: Luminarrow, Sun-Animalcule, Lumiloop, Marine-Crystals, Varvoice (Nintendo, 1 player, 200 DSi Points each): Nintendo completes the DSiWare Electroplankton series with this release of five of Toshio Iwai's weird, wonderful musical toys.
- myNotebook: Blue (Nnooo, 1 player, 200 DSi Points): A cheap, potentially useful note-taking app. It'll be available in red and green soon, so if you prefer one of those to blue, hang on! No, we don't know why they weren't all released at the same time. Or why they're all being released separately.
- Castle of Magic (Gameloft, 1 player, 500 DSi Points): This platformer makes its way to DSiWare from the iPhone. It includes a unique camera function, through which photos containing certain colors will enable you to transform into powered-up forms of the same color.
- Super Mario Kart (SNES, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points): Mario and his friends race in go-karts, on tracks inspired by the Super Mario Bros. games. If this is new to you, you should go ahead and download the game. You'll like it. It'll really liven up that rock you've been living under.
- A Boy and His Blob: Trouble on Blobolonia (NES, 1 player, 500 Wii Points): The original game upon which WayForward's Wii game was based, A Boy and His Blob features the same fundamental gameplay: throwing jellybeans at a blob to induce transformations. However, there's no hug button!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jerk Face @ Nov 23rd 2009 10:05AM
Nostalgia aside, it is REALLY hard to go back to playing Mario Kart without an analog stick. D-pad racing = not fun times.
Darth Bradwart, The Dark Lord of the Sith-ATDF Co-Founder @ Nov 23rd 2009 10:06AM
Unless you're using an SNES d-pad...then it's fun times.
Jerk Face @ Nov 23rd 2009 10:08AM
I don't know, man. Even then.. there are certain advanced in technology that make specific genres hard to go back and enjoy. Like racing games pre-analog, for me. I'd rather keep my fond memories where they are.
redjack @ Nov 23rd 2009 10:20AM
It was always the more compact arenas in battle mode that ensured you were always on each other that I enjoyed the most about the original kart. Been waiting for this VC drop for awhile.
vidGuy @ Nov 23rd 2009 10:30AM
I haven't tried this, but doesn't the Virtual Console allow you to use the analog stick in place of the D-pad? I'm pretty sure I played Super Metroid with the stick.
Jerk Face @ Nov 23rd 2009 10:34AM
You know, vidGuy, I think you're totally right. Forgot about that. Well, damn!
butaneko @ Nov 23rd 2009 11:34AM
Analog stick or d-pad, the original Mario Kart had some pretty brutal controls. Every time I go back to it I'm stunned by how awkward it is.
That said I played this game into the ground when I was a kid. I used to spend hours trying to best my time on Ghost Valley I. I also used to have sleepovers with my friend and we would literally play battle mode all night. I think final head to head scores of like 100 W-105 L were the norm. We were well matched! Advanced shit like jumping red shells made battle mode the bomb!
Arrowned @ Nov 23rd 2009 1:26PM
"Advanced shit like jumping red shells made battle mode the bomb!"
I was never that good, but I enjoyed making a break for the side openings of closed corridors I knew someone was heading through, shooting a green shell at the junction point of my trajectory and theirs, and hoping for some great luck. I wasn't always lucky obviously, but when I was, my friends were always PISSED.
BlueXArmed @ Nov 23rd 2009 10:06AM
Why the hell didn't I bring my Wii home with me over the break?
Fernando Rocker @ Nov 23rd 2009 10:16AM
I need Bit.Trip Void...
Bit.Trip is one of my favorite series this generation, with only 3 games released so far (they will release other 3 games)... the gameplay and music are very good.
I hope they release some Bit.Trip games for DSiWare.
Fernando Rocker @ Nov 23rd 2009 10:20AM
Oh... Castle of Magic looks very good... pure platforming. Check the trailer:
http://dsiware.nintendolife.com/games/dsiware/castle_of_magic
samfish [don't use jelly, he uses vaseline] @ Nov 23rd 2009 10:48AM
If I'm not mistaken, you can play a demo for Castle of Magic on the iPhone/iPod Touch.
It was alright, assuming this is the same game. Nothing spectacular but pretty solid overall. If you're a fan of platformers, it might be worth checking out for $5 bucks.
Obie @ Nov 23rd 2009 10:28AM
This thanksgiving the after dinner game will be: Mario Kart! Modern Warwhat??
CJLopez @ Nov 23rd 2009 10:34AM
finally, i can finally have the whole mario kart collection on console!!!!!
samfish [don't use jelly, he uses vaseline] @ Nov 23rd 2009 10:49AM
Except the DS and GBA games!
CJLopez @ Nov 23rd 2009 11:11AM
thats why i stated consoles insted of handhelds
btw, ya finally got over the naked peach fever?
GewurztraminerX @ Nov 23rd 2009 10:49AM
Mario Kart was probably the first game that made me want the SNES.
Foetoid @ Nov 23rd 2009 6:28PM
Personally, the first Mario Kart game i got into was the Nintendo 64 version. I owned a snes but most of my time was chewed up with DKC 2 and 3, Uniracers and Yoshi's Island. Speaking of which...WHERE THE HELL IS YOSHI'S ISLAND NINTENDO!!!
GewurztraminerX @ Nov 23rd 2009 6:42PM
Yoshi's Island is a great game and the only reason I held on to a GBA playing device for as long as I did.
samfish [don't use jelly, he uses vaseline] @ Nov 23rd 2009 10:50AM
On the one hand, I can't complain about the Ninendo DD offerings as of late. They've been really really good!
On the other hand, screw NOA for only releasing the good stuff in November and December. They pulled this crap last year, too.
MLS @ Nov 23rd 2009 10:51AM
Bit.Trip:Voiiiiiiiid!
Been looking forward to this all month
Santos L. Halper @ Nov 23rd 2009 3:17PM
Hell yeah!!! Me too! I didn't think it was coming out until next Monday so this is an awesome surprise
CJLopez @ Nov 23rd 2009 11:11AM
finally got over the naked peach fever i see....
CJLopez @ Nov 23rd 2009 11:12AM
dam it joystiq comment system, this was supposed to be a reply yo samfish!!!!!!
ProfWho @ Nov 23rd 2009 11:27AM
So still no Cave Story?
Alex @ Nov 23rd 2009 11:37AM
Or Castlevania?
bongoes Sector 2814 @ Nov 23rd 2009 2:55PM
Yeah, when are we getting Cave Story?
Ironhammer @ Nov 23rd 2009 12:28PM
The original SMK was the most fun of them all because it's the only one that required driving skill to win a race. All versions since have had horrible cheating AI, and greatly increased chances for losers to catch up with items. The series really went downhill after the SNES version.
GewurztraminerX @ Nov 23rd 2009 1:12PM
The N64 and GBA games were pretty brutal, but the GCN and DS ones were great. I still think Double Dash is more fun than MKwii.
Darth Bradwart, The Dark Lord of the Sith-ATDF Co-Founder @ Nov 23rd 2009 1:18PM
The only issue I have with SMK is that Donkey Kong Jr does tend to be in 2nd all the time. He's the only real challenge.
gatotsu911 @ Nov 23rd 2009 1:53PM
Seriously, where the hell is Castlevania??? We get a friggin' Harvest Moon but STILL no Castlevania????
hobocop @ Nov 23rd 2009 2:48PM
No hug button? Pass.
Spike (GT: SitriStahl) @ Nov 23rd 2009 2:49PM
oh great, now i need wii points
Setai @ Nov 23rd 2009 2:53PM
Wow, this week's selection of games just gave me some hope that we might just see Cave Story before the year's end. Especially if they keep up with the 3-4 new wiiware games a week format.
billysea @ Nov 23rd 2009 3:35PM
I really hope people will start to see there are A LOT of great games on Wiiware.
The lack of marketing makes people think Wiiware has nothing compare to PSN or Live Arcade, but in fact that is not true, there are many great games on Wiiware:
World of Goo
Me, You & the Cubes (amazing game developed by Kenji Eno)
Bit.Trip series (Bit.Trip.Beat / Bit.Trip.Core / Bit.Trip.Void)
Lost Winds series
Contra Rebirth
Castlevania Rebirth
Gradius Rebirth
Tetris Party
Dr. Mario Online
Excitebike : World Rally
Pokemon Rumble
Final Fantasy IV : The After Years
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles series (My Life as a King / My Life as a Darklord)
Megaman 9
Bomberman Blast
Space Invaders: Get Even
Tales of Monkey Island series
Strong Bad's Cool Games for Attractive People series
Nook @ Nov 23rd 2009 3:51PM
billy, can you explain to me why certain types of people feel the need to post a list of what is already in the public domain? Prsuming one has a Wii - they can simply BROWSE the shop by any number of different ways. You're posting a list to the wrong crowd.
and newayz -
What might be right for you, might not be right for some.
Platy @ Nov 23rd 2009 3:59PM
Art Style series (Orbient, Cubelo and Rotohex)
Defend Your Castle
Groovin' Blocks
Maboshi's Arcade
Tetris Party
Toki Tori
Wild West Guns
Are other games i played and totaly recomend
SoshiKitai @ Nov 23rd 2009 5:57PM
People post lists because a good number don't even bother looking for the games since they just assume they're all bad.
...and on the sides: I find myself surprised at some lists when I completely missed out on an update that happened weeks ago but got buried in the new games.
...though I understand what you mean. They could just say: There's a lot of good games you haven't tried before in there, go look.
Nook @ Nov 23rd 2009 3:55PM
Mario kart eh? MMMM, you know that's kind of a hard sell now - I mean this version should have been posted before the N64 version - that way they for SURE would have milked me for the points - now....post MKWii, post MK64......yeah...going to pass on this blast to the past.
I will get the Harvest Moon for the wife though.
Platy @ Nov 23rd 2009 5:38PM
in my humble opinion .....
super mario kart >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>¹²³ Mario kart 64
SoshiKitai @ Nov 23rd 2009 5:46PM
The battle mode in Super Mario Kart is enough for me to purchase it.
Dodging shells just in time by hopping over 'walls' was just insanely fun.
Not to mention confusing shells to spin in circles was also very fun.
JC @ Nov 23rd 2009 8:05PM
so the rumors are true...
I need a nintendo points card tonight!
Omen @ Nov 24th 2009 11:24AM
No thanks, I'll be pirating this. Its over priced and emulation offers options that the idiotic developers never to think to include.