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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)

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)

European Nintendo downloads: Happy Hallowinter

by JC Fletcher { Oct 9th 2009 at 1:30PM }

We knew about this week's marquee European WiiWare release yesterday, and, happily, LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias has actually arrived on the Wii Shop. For just 1,000 Wii Points, you can begin causing irrevocable damage to the ecosystem of another landscape by haphazardly altering the weather. Fun! For season-themed entertainment, we'll definitely take that over Happy Holidays: Halloween, an app that lets you make Halloween e-cards and send them to your friends' Wiis. We're not going to think too much about that one, much like publisher 505 Games.

The Virtual Console has an inferior, but more Haggar-centric, Final Fight sequel, along with Wonder Boy III, which is good but not as good as the other version of the same game already there (Dragon's Curse). And on DSiWare, Photo Clock and ... oh, hey, Dragon Quest Wars!

LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias (WiiWare, 1 player, 1,000 Wii Points)
Happy Holidays: Halloween (WiiWare, 1 player, 500 Wii Points)
Final Fight 2 (Virtual Console, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points)
Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap (Virtual Console, 1 player, 500 Wii Points)
Photo Clock (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
Dragon Quest Wars (DSiWare, 1-4 players, 500 DSi Points)

Gallery: LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias

European Nintendo downloads: Consider yourself a hero

by JC Fletcher { Sep 4th 2009 at 11:14AM }

This week's new PAL Wii Shop update is short on selection, offering only one new game for Wii and one new app for DSi, but both are intriguing. Konami's Contra ReBirth arrives in the West for the first time, offering the first original Contra gameplay since 2007's brilliant Contra 4 -- though don't expect anything that revelatory.

DSiWare now features an app we've been curious about since its non-unveiling at E3: 6 in 1 Dictionary with Camera Function; an app that is designed to translate between six different languages, even with words photographed by the DSi camera.

Contra ReBirth (WiiWare, 1-2 players, 1,000 Wii Points)
6 in 1 Dictionary with Camera Function (DSiWare, 1 player, 800 DSi Points)

European Nintendo downloads: Oscar in Troll-land

by JC Fletcher { Aug 28th 2009 at 3:15PM }

This week's European Wii/DSi Shop update includes no Virtual Console game, but it does almost include Trolls! That's right, Oscar in Toyland is a DSiWare remake of an Amiga game called Trolls! Thankfully for people who value sleeping at night without those faces burned into their minds, the Trolls license has been removed. Even if it's a Trolls game, a near-direct port of an old game on DSiWare is pretty cool.

On WiiWare, Gameloft offers a Texas Hold'em Poker that isn't the same game as the Texas Hold'em Tournament that's been available since March. Want Texas Hold'em without the pressure of the tournament setting, or something? Well, there you go. In addition, this week's WiiWare Mr. Driller game is now available. There's also new DLC for My Life as a Darklord.

Texas Hold'em Poker (WiiWare, 1-5 players, 600 Wii Points)
Mr. Driller W (WiiWare, 1 player, 800 Wii Points)
Oscar in Toyland (DSiWare, 1 player, 800 DSi Points)

European Nintendo downloads: Pilotwings (finally)

by JC Fletcher { Aug 21st 2009 at 11:15AM }

Without a doubt, the highlight of this week's WiiWare, Virtual Console, and DSiWare offerings in Europe is Pilotwings, the SNES launch title that should have been on the Virtual Console in 2006. It has finally arrived in PAL territories, and we have high hopes for a North American release soon. (Which we really shouldn't.)

The other new additions are actually pretty great as well: Mario vs. Donkey Kong and Pop! Plus Solo are now up on DSiWare, and two distinctly different paddle games, Bit.Trip: Core and Arkanoid Plus, are on WiiWare:

Pilotwings (SNES, 800 Wii Points)
Bit.Trip: Core (WiiWare, 1 player, 600 Wii Points)
Arkanoid Plus (WiiWare, 1 player, 800 Wii Points)
Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again (DSiWare, 1 player, 800 DSi Points)
Pop! Plus Solo (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)

European Nintendo downloads: Flipnote Phantasy

by JC Fletcher { Aug 14th 2009 at 10:40AM }

If you're into RPGs and in Europe or Australia, today's Wii Shop update is killer -- the original Phantasy Star for Sega Master System is available! For a ridiculous 500 Wii Points, you can get one of the best role playing games ever made. We hope you have a high tolerance for first-person dungeons.

WiiWare gets another of Arc System Works' Family titles, about which we've learned to be wary -- but we're intensely curious about the idea of a slot car racing game. Also, Tecmo's 3-2-1 Rattle Battle!, a game whose openness about being entirely about shaking the Wiimote frantically is impressive.

On DSiWare, Europe gets a number puzzle game with online multplayer, based on a larger DS game that didn't come out there! And Flipnote Studio finally arrives! Go download it and make Flipnotes! Right now!

Phantasy Star (Master System, 1 player, 500 Wii Points)
Family Slot Car Racing (WiiWare, 1-4 players, 500 Wii Points)
3-2-1 Rattle Battle! (WiiWare, 1-4 players, 500 Wii Points)
Sujin Taisen Number Battle (DSiWare, 1-4 players, 500 DSi Points)
Flipnote Studio (DSiWare, 1 player, free)

European Nintendo downloads: Shinobi takes revenge on bonsai

by JC Fletcher { Aug 7th 2009 at 3:00PM }

Today, we're jealous of European gamers, for one reason: The Revenge of Shinobi. The totally awesome Shinobi sequel isn't on the Virtual Console in North America, and it isn't on the Sega Genesis Collection or Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection. presumably due to the appearance of copyrighted characters (some of which were included without permission the first time!). We could totally be playing it now if we were in Europe (or Australia). Hopefully this release means that Sega is clear to release it in North America as well.

We'd be jealous of Bonsai Barber, which is surprisingly great, but we already have it! And we don't currently need maps of European cities, so the City Transport Map DSiWare games can wait as well.

Bonsai Barber (WiiWare, 1-4 players, 1,000 Wii Points)
The Revenge of Shinobi (Mega Drive, 1 player, 800 Wii Points)
City Transport Map Vol. 1 & 2 (DSiWare, 500 points each)

VC/WiiWare Friday: At least there's Monkey Island

by JC Fletcher { Jul 31st 2009 at 12:15PM }

Today's Wii Shop releases in Europe worry us a bit. After two weeks of nothing on the Virtual Console in North America, the first week in Europe post-Hanabi Festival offers ... also nothing. No Virtual Console games. This is a bit troubling, on account of the fact that we like Virtual Console games.

We can only distract ourselves from our increasing panic with a decent-looking WiiWare selection -- three games, one of which is the first Tales of Monkey Island. And on DSiWare, Guitar Rock Tour, from the shockingly wealthy Gameloft.

Driift Mania (WiiWare, 1-8 players, 800 Wii Points)
Tales of Monkey Island: Chapter 1: Launch of the Screaming Narwhal (WiiWare, 1 player, 1,000 Wii Points)
The Three Musketeers: One for All! (WiiWare, 1-3 players, 700 Wii Points)
Guitar Rock Tour (DSiWare, 1-4 players, 500 DSi Points)

Gallery: Tales of Monkey Island

VC/WiiWare Friday: Cute Overload

by JC Fletcher { Jul 24th 2009 at 1:00PM }

The latest Hanabi Festival on the European Wii Shop is ending in just about the most aww-inducing, candy-colored way possible: with Kirby's Dream Land 3 and Detana!! Twinbee.

These two cute classics are joined by a WiiWare game called ColorZ, which features a color-shifting mechanic similar to Treasure's Ikaruga in a sort of maze-navigating game. Also on WiiWare this week: Heracles Chariot Racing. And on DSiWare, A Little Bit of ... Brain Training Sudoku, which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like.

Detana!! Twinbee (Turbografx, 1-2 players, 700 Wii Points)
Kirby's Dream Land 3 (Super NES, 900 Wii Points)
ColorZ (WiiWare, 1-3 players, 700 Wii Points)
Heracles Chariot Racing (WiiWare, 1-4 players, 800 Wii Points)
A Little Bit of ... Dr Kawashima's Brain Training Sudoku (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)

VC/WiiWare Friday: Number 300

by JC Fletcher { Jul 17th 2009 at 10:30AM }

It's a very momentous week for the PAL Virtual Console. Not only is it (still) a Hanabi Festival, the 300th Virtual Console game has been released in the region. It's either the wonderful Compile shooter MUSHA or the Konami table tennis game Smash Table Tennis, so ... let's say it's MUSHA. It sure took a while for Smash Table Tennis to show up, though.

This news managed to overshadow the launch of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a Darklord, but don't miss it if you want to play a tower defense game ... from inside the tower!

MUSHA (Mega Drive, 1 player, 900 Wii Points)
Smash Table Tennis (Famicom Disk System, 1-2 players, 600 Wii Points)
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a Darklord (WiiWare, 1 player, 1,000 Wii Points)
A Little Bit of ... Puzzle League (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)

VC Friday: Zoda's Revenge on Art Style: BOXLIFE

by David Hinkle { Jul 10th 2009 at 2:25PM }

This week, our neighbors across the pond finally get the very excellent Zoda's Revenge: StarTropics II. We've had a blast with it ever since it released way back in December, and now you all finally get to see what all of the fuss is about. Trust us, this game is very, uh, fussable.

Continued →

VC/WiiWare Friday: Happy Hanabi Festival

by JC Fletcher { Jul 3rd 2009 at 10:15AM }

Nintendo of Europe's Hanabi Festival returns, bringing with it, of course, import games! Fantastic stuff is available this week on Virtual Console: Pulseman, a Mega Man-style platformer from a pre-Pokemon Game Freak, and Ogre Battle, the legendary strategy title from Yasumi Matsuno's Quest.

This week's awesomeness extends to WiiWare, with both Bplus's Bit Boy!!, the maze action game that shuffles between various levels of retro, and Gradius Rebirth, which settles at the 16-bit era. And on DSiWare, the Mario calculator and clock apps arrive. Roll your eyes all you want, but they're surprisingly delightful. Details after the break.

Nintendo also announced Hanabi Festival titles you can expect in following weeks: Bomberman '94, Kirby's Dream Land 3, Zoda's Revenge: StarTropics II, MUSHA, Detana!! Twinbee, and the NES Smash Table Tennis!

Continued →

VC Friday: Hudson Powers Up

by JC Fletcher { Jun 26th 2009 at 6:15PM }

This week in Europe, Hudson Soft has one release on all three Wii download services. That's a pretty impressive feat, even if the individual games don't seem that exciting. We suppose 50 sudoku puzzles for 200 points is nice, and SimEarth is a good game.

The Hudson releases are joined by Taito's Puzzle Bobble/Bust a Move update and by Altered Beast. Now, we love Altered Beast more than most people (by which we mean we love it some), but 900 points for the arcade version? What's that about?

WiiWare:

Puzzle Bobble Plus! (1-2 players, 800 Wii Points)
Water Warfare (1-2 players offline, 2-8 online, 800 Wii Points)

Virtual Console:

Altered Beast (Arcade, 1-2 players, 900 Wii Points)
SimEarth (Turbografx-16 CD-ROM, 1 player,800 Wii Points)

DSiWare:

Sudoku 50 for Beginners (1 player, 200 DSi Points)

VC Friday: Let's Catch a Kindred Spirit

by JC Fletcher { Jun 19th 2009 at 11:40AM }

This week, the European Wii Shop is granted with a somewhat anticipated new title, and one we're glad is launching there before it does here. We're intensely curious about the platform action title Icarian: Kindred Spirits, and the fact that it's coming out in Europe first means we'll get to read reviews. We hope those 100 soundtrack downloads are claimed by now, by the way!

Also available for download this week: Let's Catch on WiiWare, and some more Brain Training on DSiWare.

WiiWare:

Icarian: Kindred Spirits
Let's Catch

DSiWare: