If last week’s Wii U release of Twilight Princess HD didn’t fill you with gooey nostalgia, then perhaps this week’s re-release of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past on New 3DS will.
As last week’s surprise Nintendo Direct reported, the New 3DS VC SNES re-releases feature a “perfect pixel” mode allowing them to reproduce the original hardware’s aspect ratio. Sadly though, SNES games already purchased on Wii/Wii U cannot be transferred over – they’re required to be purchased again, much to fan’s anguish.
A discount offer is in place, at least. The timeless Super Metroid also launches on New 3DS this week for £7.19 – until 17th March, purchasing either A Link to the Past or Super Metroid brings the price of the other down to £3.59.
Earthbound and Super Mario World arrived on New 3DS last week – right after the Nintendo Direct, in fact – with a similar discount scheme.
Over on Wii U not one, not two, but three Super Mario games are due Thursday – Super Mario Advance, Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2 and Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3. They’re set to cost £6.29 each, or (to quote Nintendo) “You can get the third game for free if you buy two of Super Mario Advance, Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2 or Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 with the same NNID until 24th March”.
We assume Nintendo is referring to Yoshi’s Island – Super Mario Advance 3 as “the third game†but to be honest it isn’t particularly clear. They might be talking about Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3.
Can’t we just have Super Mario All-Stars on Wii U VC and be done with this nonsense?
Other Wii U releases for this week include the 2.5D brawler Steel Rivals (£5.99) – which received a bit of a kicking on Steam – Teyon’s colourful Bird Mania Party (£1.79 – screenshots and a video here), procedurally generated shooter Star Ghost (£7.99) and Dreamals (£4.49), a 2D block shoving puzzler first released on PS4 late last year. Brash Games thought it was pretty good.
Then on 3DS there’s Blast ‘Em Bunnies (£2.99) – which is also due on Xbox One, PS Vita and a wealth of other formats this week – and NIS America’s SRPG Stella Glow (£34.99 with free The Witches and Bubu theme).
Stella Glow’s review scores have generally been favourable with reviewers seemingly in agreement that it’s a solid RPG, if an unspectacular one.
Scores include 7.5 from God is a Geek, 7.0 from Destructoid and 7/10 from Cubed3. “It’s not likely to reach Final Fantasy or Xenoblade levels of RPG acclaim, but it does its own thing well, brings originality to the mix, and is sure to catch many an RPG fan’s eye†said Cubed3.
This week’s list of discounts is almost as fatiguing as the 25 (twenty five!) add-ons lined-up for Blast ‘Em Bunnies come launch day.
Fatiguing, in this case, because they’re the same old games that have been discounted many times before, such as VAN HELSING SNIPER ZX100, Snow Moto Racing 3D, Football Up 3D, 3D MahJongg, Rock ‘N Racing Off Road DX and Abyss.
We will however give Never Alone (£4.29 until 23rd March), Spy Chameleon (£3.59 until 7th April) and Art of Balance (£5.36 until 31st March) a shout out though, as they don’t turn up in the proverbial bargain bin quite as often.