Here’s something we didn’t expect. The new Nintendo Selects 3DS range – consisting of classic (Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, Star Fox 64 3D, Mario Tennis Open) and not so classic (Nintendogs + Cats, Yoshi’s New Island, Mario Party: Island Tour) budget price re-releases are arriving in both physical and digital form this Friday.
The price has been set at £15.99 a piece, which is actually £4 less than we predicted.
Better still, some retailers – such as ShopTo – have knocked a couple of quid off the RRP for the physical releases, offering each title at a low £13.85. As such, we wouldn’t be surprised to see a couple of these re-appear in the UK top 40 next week. Like many, we’d rather own a physical copy but it’s still thoughtful of Nintendo to reduce the eShop iterations, bringing everything in-line.
The 3DS eShop also sees the release of Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butoden (£29.99) this week, which includes a free theme and a download of the SNES brawer Dragon Ball Z: Super Butoden 2. That’s being joined by Thomas and Friends Steaming Around Sodor (£19.99), block shoving puzzle platformer Ninja Usagimaru – The Gem of Blessings (£4.49 – demo available) and a playable trial of Mercenaries Saga 2: Order Of The Silver Eagle.
Amazingly, there’s a new DSiWare release this week too – The Mysterious Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (800 Nintendo Points), which we imagine is another one of those hidden object games. Considering the last Nintendo DS release was Big Hero 6: Battle in the Bay way back in January, you can see why we’re surprised by its appearance.
Over on Wii U there are two mobile conversions to consider – the colourful Momonga Pinball Adventures (£4.99), curious racing/platforming hybrid Rakoo & Friends (£8.99), plus a HD version of the apparently pretty good Wii light gun shooter Wicked Monsters Blast!, now subtitled HD Plus (£7.19).
None of those take your fancy? Well how about a Virtual Console release of the GBA gem Konami Krazy Racers (£6.29). We’ve lavished praise on this kart racer before, hoping that it would one day make it to VC. “The absence of a power slide makes cornering tricky at times, but it’s still a neat little game that more people should have played. Now that’s something you can rarely say about launch titles†we said during our lookback at forgotten kart racers.
The Wii U gets the pick of the litter of this week’s discounts too. Rock ‘N Racing Off Road falls to £2.69 until 5th November while 2D space tower defence shooter ZaciSa: Defense of the Crayon Dimensions drops to a mere 90p. Nintendo Life thought it was platable enough. “It’s like a candy bar with sprinkles of goodness on top, but a bland, vaguely familiar filling that leaves something to be desired†was their verdict. Sounds like the gaming equivalent of a Blue Riband bar.