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European Nintendo downloads: Banana fighting street

by JC Fletcher { Nov 6th 2009 at 12:10PM }

Finally, the wait for Fighting Street is over for Europe! We suppose it's timely, given that a new Street Fighter game is in the news now, but ... it's still Fighting Street. The continuation of Tales of Monkey Island should be a bit more welcome, as should the DSiWare Bomberman Blitz.

Manic Monkey Mayhem on WiiWare sounds like it could be great (monkeys throw bananas to knock each other off of platforms), with online play -- but, of course, we always feel guarded about unknown WiiWare games. But monkeys! We look forward to hearing impressions.

As for the rest, Uno sounds like Uno and SUDOKU sounds like sudoku, but louder.

Fighting Street (Turbografx-16 CD-ROM, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points)
Manic Monkey Mayhem (WiiWare, 1-4 players, 1,000 Wii Points)
Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 3: Lair of the Leviathan (WiiWare, 1 player, 1,000 Wii Points)
Uno (WiiWare, 1-4 players, 500 Wii Points)
A Little Bit of ... All Time Classics: Family Favorites (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)
Bomberman Blitz (DSiWare, 1-8 players, 500 DSi Points)
SUDOKU (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)

Japanese Nintendo downloads: Neo Geo, Art Style return

by JC Fletcher { Nov 3rd 2009 at 11:15AM }

This week marks two major events (sort of) for the Japanese Wii and DSi download services. First, both Wii and DSi downloads now go up on the same date. In this case, it's November 4, which is today in Japan. Second, the Neo Geo is back! The last Neo game came out in Japan in July 2008.

On DSiWare, there's more mahjong, more calendar apps, and more Art Style. Digidrive is a remake of one of the original Bit Generations games. It's been released as Intersect in Europe.

Fire Emblem Gaiden (Famicom, 1 player, 500 Wii Points)
Fatal Fury Special (Neo Geo, 1-2 players, 900 Wii Points)
"Aha! I Got It" Escape Game (WiiWare, 1-4 players, 500 Wii Points)
Kyoto Students Taishi Higashida Thought Puzzle Inspiration Signed Painting (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
Handy Mahjong (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
Daily Growing Journal Calendar (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
Art Style: DIGIDRIVE (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)

Nintendoware Weekly: Sparkle Snapshots, Fighting Street, Carnival King & more

by JC Fletcher { Nov 2nd 2009 at 9:44AM }

Nintendo actually released a respectable number of downloadable games this week: 8 games across Virtual Console, WiiWare and DSiWare. You may have even heard of some of them!

As far as we can tell, the highlights of the week are a DSiWare photo decoration app and the embarrassing parent of the Street Fighter series. Hit the post break and find out if any of the many offerings are what you were looking to drain your Nintendo Points on.

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MSX returns to Virtual Console in Japan with ... Metal Gear!?

by JC Fletcher { Oct 30th 2009 at 3:00PM }

There hasn't been an MSX game released on Virtual Console in Japan since July 2008. Konami has decided to start releasing its MSX library on Virtual Console, and as a result (should these games actually come out), the MSX selection will more than triple in November. Which just means it'll go from a whole two games to seven.

One of the MSX classics planned for November? The original Metal Gear! Only available in America as a bonus with Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence, the debut of Hideo Kojima's verbose series will be on Japan's Virtual Console for 800 points sometime next month.

The full list of planned releases, which doesn't include whatever arcade games Bandai Namco will overcharge for, is after the break.

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European Nintendo downloads: Zombies Lit, BBQed My Ghost Mansion

by JC Fletcher { Oct 30th 2009 at 2:00PM }

Nintendo of Europe apparently believes Halloween is serious business and worth celebrating. Four of the five new downloadable games this week are in some way horror-themed! Zombies Ate My Neighbors arrives on Virtual Console in the same week as its North American release (under the European title Zombies), as does (unfortunately) Ghost Mansion Party. WayForward's LIT proves a more appropriate Halloween release than its Valentine's Day-adjacent release in the US would suggest.

Perhaps the biggest, scariest surprise of all: Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ is out in Europe, finally! And, while it was released on a cartridge here, it's an 800-point DSiWare download in Europe! No excising of zombie food talk for this one.

Zombies (SNES, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points)
LIT (WiiWare, 1 player, 800 Wii Points)
Ghost Mansion Party (WiiWare, 1-4 players, 1,000 Wii Points)
Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ (DSiWare, 1 player, 800 DSi Points)
A Little Bit of ... All Time Classics: Card Classics (DSiWare, 1-8 players, 500 DSi Points)

Japanese Nintendo downloads: WiiWare ReBirth

by JC Fletcher { Oct 27th 2009 at 12:44PM }

WiiWare is officially back in Japan, with one of the most content-rich updates we'd ever seen. Just Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth would be enough to make this week remarkable, but Game Arts' Shadow Walker and Bit.Trip VOID are available as well, along with an oddity from D3!

Not enough? How about four Virtual Console games, including a Sonic & Knuckles with the lock-on feature intact? Or a budget DSiWare game about blowing up asteroids to save the Earth?

@SIMPLE Series Vol. 5: THE Judo (WiiWare, 1-2 players, 700 Wii Points)
Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth (WiiWare, 1 player, 1,000 Wii Points)
Bit.Trip: VOID (WiiWare, 1-4 players, 500 Wii Points)
Shadow Walker (WiiWare, 1 player, 1,000 Wii Points)
Championship Lode Runner (Famicom, 1 player, 500 Wii Points)
Sonic & Knuckles (Mega Drive, 1 player, 600 Wii Points)
Face Off (Arcade, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points)
Rolling Thunder 2 (Arcade, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points)
Earth Saver (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
Puzzle Selection Monthly Crossword House vol. 6 (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)
Hills and Rivers Remain (DSiWare, 1-4 players, 800 DSi Points)

This Week on the Nintendo Channel: Excitebiking to the World Rally

by David Hinkle { Oct 26th 2009 at 4:15PM }

This week's most noteworthy item on the Nintendo Channel is undoubtedly the unveiling of Excitebike World Rally -- if you haven't had a chance to check out the brief trailer for November's WiiWare racer then, by all means, get with the clicking. If that doesn't tickle your fancy, then we suggest you check and make sure it's still breathing, because a new Excitebike is definitely a fancy tickler.

Head past the break for this week's Nintendo Channel content.

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NintendoWare Weekly: Zombies Axed My PictureBook

by JC Fletcher { Oct 26th 2009 at 10:20AM }

Of course Nintendo of America didn't release Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth today. That would have been far too obvious. However, rather than disappointing us with this week's selections, Nintendo actually surprised us with a very welcome, seasonally appropriate Virtual Console classic! Knock on the post break and see what kind of downloadable candy Nintendo is shoving into our pillowcases.

[Image credit]

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European Nintendo downloads: Protothea finally arrives for some reason

by JC Fletcher { Oct 23rd 2009 at 1:45PM }

We have a message to deliver to our European friends from the distant past: don't buy Protöthea. We had pretty much forgotten about this shooter, released soon after the North American launch of WiiWare, until Ubisoft inexplicably dusted it off for European release. There were much better shmups on the Wii a year ago, and there are only more now. Happily, there are also more arcade games now, like the wonderful Shinobi!

Shinobi (Arcade, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points)
PictureBook Games: Pop-Up Pursuit (WiiWare, 1-4 players, 800 Wii Points)
Protöthea (WiiWare, 1 player, 1,000 Wii Points)
A Little Bit of... Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training (DSiWare, 1 player, 800 DSi Points)
Combat of Giants: Dragons - Bronze Edition (DSiWare, 1-4 players, 800 DSi Points)

Gallery: Protothea

Japanese Nintendo downloads: Fire Emblem Premake and Uno

by JC Fletcher { Oct 20th 2009 at 10:00AM }

Just like last week, the original version of a game remade on DS has been released on Virtual Console in Japan: last week it was Kirby Super Star, and this week it's Fire Emblem. We're guessing this is a coincidence, otherwise it's a really weird initiative. Also like last week, Namco Bandai releases a pair of arcade games in the same series, this time the more recognizable Dig Dug. And WiiWare returns! ... With Uno.

On DS, there's another chunk of The Tower DS, more Japanese city maps, and some English training.

Fire Emblem: Dragon of Darkness and Sword of Light (Famicom, 1 player, 500 Wii Points)
Dig Dug (Arcade, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points)
Dig Dug II (Arcade, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points)
Uno (WiiWare, 1-6 players, 800 Wii Points)
The Tower DS: Challenge in front of the suburban train station! Gigantic Shopping Center (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)
Pocket Rurubu: Kamakura and Pocket Rurubu: Osaka (DSiWare, 1 player, 800 DSi Points each)
High School English Foundation 400 Word Master (DSiWare, 1 player, 800 DSi Points)

VC in Brief: Rygar (Arcade)

by David Hinkle { Oct 19th 2009 at 5:15PM }

Rygar (Arcade, 1-2 players, 600 Wii Points)
Rygar is a pretty intense title. Luckily, the quarter-munching gameplay of the arcade classic translates to the Wii very well. For one, you don't need to run out of quarters from dying -- oh, and you will die, believe it. Second, every time you die or even continue once you've run out of lives, you pick up right from where you left off. So, there's no replaying stages or sections of the game you've previously played as a result of dying. Have we mentioned how much you'll die?

You will die. A lot.

Every week, we like to check out what's new on the Virtual Console. We offer these videos as a sort of taste to help you decide whether or not you would want the game in question. We also toss in our own two cents because we're pushy jerks like that.

NintendoWare Weekly: LostWinds, Shootanto, Rygar ... Domo

by JC Fletcher { Oct 19th 2009 at 9:51AM }

It's an unexpectedly packed week for Nintendo downloaders! On WiiWare, there's a game that should be wonderful and another that should be, uh, interesting. There's an arcade classic on Virtual Console, and DSiWare features the arrival of one of the weirdest game series to be announced at E3: a set of five games based on NHK mascot and generally adorable monster Domo-kun.

Gallery: Domo games (DSiWare)

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European Nintendo downloads: Surprises abound

by JC Fletcher { Oct 16th 2009 at 3:01PM }

We'd never heard of most of the games in this week's European Wii/DSi Shop update. While that could point to shovelware, we prefer to think of it as surprises. Until we find out for sure that it's all shovelware, at least.

Heron: Steam Machine is a really promising-sounding name for a game that turns out to be a pretty familiar puzzle trope, but with rubber ducks added. Not herons. Little Tournament Over Yonder is a cutesy strategy game. and Viking Invasion on DSiWare is tower defense. Wakugumi is an interesting puzzle game in which you move black and white squares around to create unbroken loops, capturing the opposite-color squares inside. And Super Return of the Jedi is a backgammon game. Or a side-scrolling action game based on the movie. One of those.

Heron: Steam Machine (WiiWare, 1-4 players, 500 Wii Points)
Little Tournament Over Yonder (WiiWare, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points)
Super Return of the Jedi (SNES, 1 player, 800 Wii Points)
Viking Invasion (DSiWare, 1 player, 800 DSi Points)
Wakugumi - Monochrome Puzzle (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)

Japanese Nintendo downloads: Kirby and Kissy

by JC Fletcher { Oct 13th 2009 at 11:30AM }

Despite the continued absence of WiiWare, there's plenty of stuff to download this week if you have a Japanese Wii or DSi. After giving the DS version most of the year to sell, Nintendo has released the original SNES version of Kirby Super Star to the Virtual Console. It's joined by a Namco shooter, Baraduke, and its sequel, in the rare case of an entire series being released to the Virtual Console at once. Baraduke stars Kissy, who, in Namco's weirdly cross-game universe, would go on to marry Dig Dug's Taizo Hori and give birth to Susumu Hori, Mr. Driller.

DSiWare has an especially full lineup this week, with two new cheapo G.G. Series games, one of which is some kind of ninja platformer, and the other a brawler. There's also 200-point tower defense and math training! For a little more cash, there's another Jinguuji Saburo/Jake Hunter mystery, as Arc System Works takes the Telltale path to releasing adventure games.

Kirby Super Star (Super Famicom, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points)
Baraduke (Arcade, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points)
Bakutotsu Kijuutei: Baraduke II (Arcade, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points)
Amakuchi! Dairou Castle (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
Calculation 100 Barrage (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
G.G. Series Ninja Karakuri Den (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
G.G. Series Super Hero Ouga (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
Tantei Saburo Jinguuji: Drastic Move & Mysterious Case (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)

VC in Brief: Final Fight 2 (SNES)

by David Hinkle { Oct 12th 2009 at 6:30PM }

Final Fight 2 (SNES, 1 -2 players, 800 Wii Points)

This week's offering punches the Virtual Console silly, continuing the adventures of everyone's favorite wrestler-turned-politician (What, you think Jesse Ventura deserves that honor? Pfft ...) in Final Fight 2. It doesn't innovate or really add much more to the original experience -- well, except for more dudes to punch. There are plenty more thugs to beat on, that's for sure. But what it lacks in innovation, it makes up for in dudes to punch. Seriously, do you wanna punch dudes? Because that's totally what's going on here.