It’s a Thursday, and with Thursdays comes another batch of games and sales on the Nintendo eShop. This week, we’ll take a short look at some of the indie titles that popped up today, in addition to two actual Nintendo titles, both of which will be officially released tomorrow.
Wii U eShop
Typoman – This intriguing puzzle-platformer by Headup Games has you control a stick figure made up of the letters H E R O, as you create words in order to proceed through the beautifully stylized levels. Typoman is available for $13.99, but has a special 15% discount until December 19th if you’ve already installed the demo on your console.
Totem Topple – From Crystalline Green comes a tower defense game with a creative twist. Construct unique totems with various effects depending on the head and segments you use. There’s a ton of fun combinations to defend yourself from the descending invaders. Totem Topple doesn’t have a lot to it, but for $2.99, and with a style reminiscent of the flash games of my youth, it seems like it could be a great time-waster.
Lucentek Activate – Perhaps the most bizzare game on our list today, this (rather self-indulgently titled) game by Joseph Lucente is hard to describe, because short of playing the game, it’s difficult to find out what exactly it is. From what I’ve seen online, it’s an action-adventure game, the vaguest of genres, and there’s FPS segments, parts that look a LITTLE like the Normandy deck from Mass Effect, and robot space dragons. It also visually nails the N64 era graphical style, although whether that was intentional or not is up to you to decide. Either way, for the low price tag of $9.99, maybe you can be the one to solve the mystery.
Street Fighter II: Turbo Revival – This Virtual Console release of the GBA remaster of Street Fighter II is pretty much what you would expect. It’s Street Fighter II Turbo, and that’s all it is. It’s hard to recommend this game to even die-hard fans of the series, as even with the low price tag of $7.99, the game is lacking any form of multiplayer.
Wii U Retail Titles
Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash – With the addition of the new Mega Mushroom item and gravity-defying Jump Shots, this latest installment in Camelot’s Mario Tennis series is another hilariously fun entry, this time boasting online multiplayer and Smash-like Amiibo support, allowing you to train your own powerful doubles partner, or a threatening opponent. In the US, the game costs $49.99, but the price may vary with region.
3DS eShop
Family Fishing – In this surprisingly deep arcade-style fishing game by Aksys Games, you’ll find yourself leveling your gear, travelling through various locations, attacking your foes to steal their catches, and even boss battles. This silly-sounding fishing sim might actually be worth checking out for the low price of $5.99
I Love My Pony – Despite promising an apparently captivating story, this appears to be a generic pony raising game, with a hair-raising price of $24.99. Even if you REALLY love your pony, I find it hard to recommend Bigben Interactive’s game. If you’re just looking for a game for your equestrian kid to play, you can very likely find other pony games that offer far more for a lower price.
3DS Retail Releases
Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon – After the mediocre Gates to Infinity, Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon (or PSMD) is a return to the former glory of the series, with all 720 pokemon available for recruiting, and 20 starter characters to play as. In addition, this game also comes with a free 3DS theme with all purchases up to December 6th. We’ll also have a review popping up soon, so watch out for that.
That rounds up this week’s eShop releases. All-in-all, a pretty good week, despite a few iffy games. Check back next week for more eShop Updates and Opinions.
