This week in the Nintendo eShop: Shantae gets physical, the Wii U gets its GPU hacked, and Mario Party 2 crashes Wii U Virtual Consoles.

It’s déjà vu in the sales department this week as both Capcom and Level-5 host repeats of previous sales held earlier in the year. Capcom’s sale is of particular note, letting players save up to 75% through January 4th on heavy hitters from the Phoenix Wright, Resident Evil and Monster Hunter franchises. Those in need of some over-the-top courtroom drama to drown out your family’s holiday theatrics might want to check out Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice. We here at Nintendo Wire gave it a glowing review, praising it for recapturing the magic and underdog nature of the original Ace Attorney games that’s been missing from the franchise for a while.

On the Level-5 front, I still personally recommend Liberation Maiden for its frantic mech-based combat, Weapon Shop de Omasse for RPG enthusiasts who’ve always dreamed of running their own armory or Attack of the Friday Monsters! A Tokyo Tale for its quirky, yet whimsically Ghibli-esque tale of a boy in search of monsters. The Level-5 sale is available now through December 27th, with most games being offered at a 62% discount.

WII U RETAIL

Shantae: Half-Genie Hero (WayForward, $29.99 | available 12/27) – While Shantae’s fourth undertaking in pirate pummeling released digitally a few days ago, physical copies have been pushed back to next Tuesday. For those who missed out on last week’s update, the bodacious buccaneer Risky Boots is back to her old tricks and it once again falls on the shoulders of our hair-whipping heroine to free Sequin Land from her evil misdeeds. Thankfully, Shantae’s trademark belly dancing powers are back, featuring all new creature transformations and magical attacks to help players fully explore its Metroidvania-esque world. Coupled with its comical cast of characters, humorous dialogue and beautifully HD animated sprites, this may very well be the series magnum opus. Look forward to our full review in the coming days to see Daniel Dell-Cornejo’s thoughts on Shantae’s latest swashbuckling adventure.

WII U DOWNLOAD SOFTWARE

RADIANTFLUX: HYPERFRACTAL (TACS Games, $2.99) – Born from research into raymarching fractal structures on the Wii U’s GPU (what?), RADIANTFLUX is a bizarre combination of action, adventure and puzzle-solving presented in a faux ‘90s desktop computer environment. Players assume the role of a hacker penetrating the dark-web after receiving a mysterious email. If that weren’t trippy enough, your journey through the underbelly of the interweb rewards you with a suite of in-game applications to pass the time, including an intense bullet hell shooter, a Doom clone, a Game Boy emulated puzzler and even a classic take on Minesweeper. It’s a perfect example of the quirky, yet lovingly crafted experiences that could only be sprung to life through the creative minds of indie developers, and further proof that the Wii U still has a few tricks up its sleeves in the waning months before the Nintendo faithful inevitably make the Switch.

WII U VIRTUAL CONSOLE

Mario Party 2 (Nintendo, $9.99) – Originally released on the Nintendo 64 back in 2000, Mario’s second outing in minigame mayhem improved upon the foundations established by the original interactive board game to great success. Featuring all your Mushroom Kingdom favorites, Party 2 slaps on a fresh coat of paint via themed game boards and appropriately cosplayed characters to heighten the fun factor. Gone are the GamePad breaking, physical trauma inducing minigames of its predecessor, replaced instead with a new injury-free set inviting mental scarring and social anxiety. Though seriously, that’s half the fun! Bottom line, this is Mario Party at its finest, before modern entries sacrificed strategy, trash talking and cheating for more streamlined, family friendly experiences. Welcome to the Thunderdome.

WII U SPECIAL OFFERS AND DEALS

Pirate Pop Plus ($2.49 | 50% off) until 1/4
SteamWorld Heist ($9.99 | 33% off) until 1/5
SteamWorld Dig ($1.99 | 80$ off) until 1/5
Runbow ($7.49 | 50% off) until 1/4
Darksiders II ($7.99 | 80% off) until 1/5
Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate ($13.59 | 66% off) until 1/4
Resident Evil Revelations ($9.99 | 75% off) until 1/4
DuckTales: Remastered ($5.99 | 60% off) until 1/4
Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara ($5.99 | 60% off) until 1/4
Teslagrad ($4.49 | 70% off) until 1/5
Tengami ($4.99 | 50% off) until 1/5
Skylanders SuperChargers Portal Owner’s Pack ($24.99 | 50% off) until 1/2
The Book of Unwritten Tales 2 ($3.99 | 80% off) until 1/5
Little Inferno ($4.99 | 50% off) until 12/29
Chasing Aurora ($3.99 | 50% off) until 1/5
Soul Axiom ($7.49 | 50% off) until 1/12
3Souls ($1.95 | 50% off) until 1/8
The Peanuts Movie: Snoopy’s Grand Adventure ($19.99 | 50% off) until 1/2
The Amazing Spider-Man Ultimate Edition ($19.99 | 50% off) until 12/31
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 ($24.99 | 50% off) until 12/31
TRANSFORMERS: Rise of the Dark Spark ($19.99 | 50% off) until 1/2
TRANSFORMERS PRIME ($24.99 | 50% off) until 1/2
Jeopardy! ($7.99 | 80% off) until 1/5
Wheel of Fortune ($7.99 | 80% off) until 1/5
Legend of Kay Anniversary ($4.99 | 80% off) until 1/5
PictoParty ($3.99 | 50% off) until 1/5
Angry Video Game Nerd Adventures ($4.99 | 50% off) until 1/5
Ohayou! Beginner’s Japanese ($3.99 | 20% off) until 1/5
Pinball Breakout ($5.00 | 28% off) until 1/5
Shadow Puppeteer ($10.49 | 30% off) until 1/5
Plenty of Fishies ($2.99 | 40% off) until 12/29
FreezeMe ($6.99 | 50% off) until 12/30
Rorrim ($3.00 | 40% off) until 12/29
Double Breakout ($5.00 | 28% off) until 1/5
Pinball Breakout ($5.00 | 28% off) until 1/5
Wicked Monsters BLAST! HD+ ($1.99 | 75% off) until 1/5

Check Nintendo’s website for the full list of deals available.

3DS DOWNLOAD SOFTWARE

Mini Golf Resort (Teyon, $4.99 | available 12/22) – Those looking for a family friendly outdoor activity to partake in this holiday season, yet were denied by the cold, icy heart of Mother Nature might want to turn that frown upside down. Starting today, you can get your putt on from the comforts of your own living room courtesy of Mini Golf Resort! Combining real golf rules with wacky mini golf fun, players putt their way through 50+ courses and a whopping 1,000 holes to prove who’s the ultimate mini golf master! Despite sporting some of the most creepy, disproportionate looking avatars I’ve yet to come across in a video game, this actually looks like it could be quite entertaining, especially if you can rope up to six other players into a match. I don’t even care that it’s most likely a straight up port of its DS/Wii counterpart. Mini golf rules, women are funny, get over it.

Geki Yaba Runner Deluxe (QubicGames | $4.99) – A port of the same game on mobile devices and (possibly) lazy sequel to WiiWare’s 2 Fast 4 Gnomz, Geki Yaba Runner is yet another autorunner in a vastly flooded market. Players assume the role of foot fetished gnomes in their misguided quest to collect socks and save princesses. Its 130 Levels are heavily designed with unfair deaths that demand trial and error and the repetitively cheery music will no doubt drive players to the brink of insanity, making this hard to recommend for anyone other than the truly masochistic among you. If a burning desire to speedrun Battletoads gets you out of bed in the morning, maybe this one’s right up your alley.

Gourmet Dream (CIRCLE Entertainment | $5.00) – Have you ever wondered what it would be like to run your very own restaurant? Ponder no more as simulation game Gourmet Dream has finally been localized for the West! Help your restaurant flourish by creating menus to suit customers’ needs, hiring and training staff to provide reliable food and service and running promotions to increase both revenue and customers. If it’s anything like Conveni Dream, don’t expect a particularly deep or visually stunning experience. Despite being developed by fighting game juggernaut Arc System Works of Guilty Gear and Blazblue fame, gameplay runs the risk of getting a little stale once your restaurant is up and running on its own. Maybe wait for some reviews to trickle out on this one first before committing.

NEW 3DS DOWNLOAD SOFTWARE

Hit Ninja (Petite Games, $1.99) – Skimming the memo on why ninjas are cool, Hit Ninja tasks players with tossing shuriken at wooden targets in the backyard of a Japanese water garden. $2 nets you nine different stages and layouts to master with little else to do than continue challenging your own high scores. Unfortunately, those on regular 3DS systems hoping to become ninja legends will have to sit this one out because reasons. For those truly wishing to learn the ways of the ninja, I recommend playing through Ninja Gaiden without save states.

3DS DEMO

Ice Station Z (Wobbly Tooth, Free) – A free demo for Ice Station Z crawls its way into the eShop this morning! For those who missed it back in November, Ice Station Z is an open world zombie survival game boasting both single and multiplayer modes, with local and online support included. There’s something immensely endearing in its N64/PlayStation era polygonal aesthetic, fitting in perfectly with the tense and gloomy undertones the game is going for.

3DS HOME MENU THEMES

Mario’s Happy Holidays – $1.99

3DS SPECIAL OFFERS AND DEALS

Pirate Pop Plus ($2.49 | 50% off) until 1/4
SteamWorld Heist ($9.99 | 33% off) until 1/5
SteamWorld Dig ($1.79 | 80$ off) until 1/5
Lord of Magna: Maiden Heaven ($9.99 | 66% off) until 12/28
Monster Hunter Generations ($19.99 | 50% off) until 1/4
Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate ($9.99 | 50% off) until 1/4
Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate ($19.99 | 33% off) until 1/4
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice ($19.99 | 33% off) until 1/4
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies ($11.99 | 60% off) until 1/4
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy ($14.99 | 50% off) until 1/4
Mega Man Legacy Collection ($7.49 | 50% off) until 1/4
Resident Evil Revelations ($4.99 | 75% off) until 1/4
Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D ($4.99 | 75% off) until 1/4
Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition ($4.99 | 75% off) until 1/4
Attack of the Friday Monsters! A Tokyo Tale ($2.99 | 62% off) until 12/27
LIBERATION MAIDEN ($2.99 | 62% off) until 12/27
WEAPON SHOP de OMASSE ($2.99 | 62% off) until 12/27
Inazuma Eleven ($9.99 | 50% off) until 12/27
AERO PORTER ($2.99 | 40% off) until 12/27
CRIMSON SHROUD ($2.99 | 62% off) until 12/27
THE STARSHIP DAMREY ($2.99 | 62% off) until 12/27
BUGS vs. TANKS! ($2.99 | 62% off) until 12/27
Cartoon Network: Battle Crashers ($19.79 | 34% off) until 1/12
The Peanuts Movie: Snoopy’s Grand Adventure ($14.99 | 50% off) until 1/2
Angry Video Game Nerd Adventures ($4.99 | 50% off) until 1/5
Adventure Bar Story ($3.99 | 33% off) until 1/5
Swords & Soldiers 3D ($1.99 | 75% off) until 1/5
AeternoBlade ($2.99 | 80% off) until 1/5
The Amazing Spider-Man ($14.99 | 50% off) until 12/31
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 ($14.99 | 50% off) until 12/31
TRANSFORMERS PRIME The Game ($14.99 | 50% off) until 1/2
TRANSFORMERS: Rise of the Dark Spark ($14.99 | 50% off) until 1/2
TRANSFORMERS: Dark of the Moon Stealth Force Edition ($19.99 | 50% off) until 1/2
The Legend of Korra: A New Era Begins ($14.99 | 50% off) until 1/2
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Danger of the Ooze ($14.99 | 50% off) until 12/31
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ($14.99 | 50% off) until 12/31
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ($14.99 | 50% off) until 12/31
Disney 2-pack: Frozen-Big Hero 6 Combo ($19.79 | 34% off) until 1/12
Journey to Kreisia ($4.99 | 50% off) until 12/29
Infinite Dunamis ($4.99 | 50% off) until 12/29
Witch & Hero ($2.79 | 30% off) until 1/12
Witch & Hero 2 ($2.79 | 30% off) until 1/5
The Legend of Dark Witch ($2.79 | 30% off) until 1/12
The Legend of Dark Witch 2 ($4.99 | 28% off) until 1/12
Mercenaries Saga 2 ($3.99 | 20% off) until 1/12
Conveni Dream ($3.99 | 20% off) until 12/29
Luxor ($0.99 | 83% off) until 12/29
Hidden Expedition Titanic (83% off) until 12/29
4 Elements ($0.99 | 83% off) until 12/29
Azada ($0.99 | 83% off) until 12/29

Check Nintendo’s website for the full list of deals available.

What games will you be downloading this week? Be sure to let us know in the comments!

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