Nintendo has just released their weekly download report, containing information on all of the hot new additions to its various digital distribution services, and the two headliners couldn’t possibly be more different. It’s like it has something for everyone, provided you’re a fan of pleasantly thoughtful puzzles, crazy nonsense, or Mario … which probably covers everyone, anyway.
[aditude-amp id="flyingcarpet" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":563559,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"games,","session":"C"}']Falling firmly into the first camp is NightSky, which is available now for $9.99 on the eShop. It’s a 3DS port of a PC physics-based puzzler in which you guide a sphere through artsy Limbo-esque environments, which Nintendo’s official site describes it as an “ambient gameplay experience unlike any other on 3DS” and highlights as a game that features “no enemies, no bosses, and no violence.”
This puts it in stark contrast with the other new title on the eShop this week: Liberation Maiden. Developed by Grasshopper Manufacture, the studio behind No More Heroes and Lollipop Chainsaw (which already should set off a few “crazy nonsense ” red flags), Liberation Maiden puts you in control of a woman named Shoko Ozora and her giant robot suit, Kamui. Shoko must save the country of New Japan from some kind of invading army, and not simply because she’s “the chosen one” or some boring cliché like that, but because (and here’s that crazy nonsense) she’s the president. That means when she gets to yell cool stuff like “I’m issuing an executive order!” when she does special attacks. The gameplay looks like a more arcade shootery take on Zone of the Enders, with the anime flavor taken up a few notches (which is really saying something for anyone who is familiar with Zone of the Enders).
You can see Liberation Maiden’s launch trailer, along with a message from Grasshopper’s CEO Goichi Suda (or Suda 51, if you’re a cool kid) below. Though I can’t speak to the quality of the game itself, the trailer might be awesome enough to make you forget about the two losers running for president in our country and how neither of them is the pilot of a giant robot. Oh, well, at least you can download Liberation Maiden for $7.99 on the eShop and start contributing to President Ozora’s re-election campaign.
This week also sees another new 3DS game coming to the eShop on the same day it hits retail: Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask. Developed by Level-5, this latest entry in the Layton series has the professor and his young ward trying to stop a mysterious villain called The Masked Gentleman from wreaking magical havoc on a carnival. You will do this, of course, by meeting wacky characters and solving puzzles that may secretly trying to teach you math. Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask will be in stores and on the eShop on Sunday.
If you’re looking to get some more time (and some more thousands of coins) out of New Super Mario Bros. 2, Nintendo is also offering a pair of new DLC level packs for you to download this week. The official site describes The Gold Mushroom Pack as a “quick and easy way to up your coin count,” while Coin Challenge Pack B gives you three new levels to compete for high scores in (one of which is a new Ghost House, which is always rad). Both are available now for $2.50 each.
Finishing off the 3DS-related updates are a demo of Marvel Pinball 3D, an update for Mutant Mudds (which adds 20 free bonus levels), the NES version of Ghosts’n Goblins ($4.99), and Dracula takes on a lovely shade of green in the Game Boy classic Castlevania: The Adventure ($3.99).
Also, SNK brings another game to the Wii’s Virtual Console. Joining last month’s Real Bout Fatal Fury 2 is Shock Troopers, an arcade shooter in which you and a team of commandos must defeat an evil organization called The Bloody Scorpions. Hey, it’s still no Earthbound, but at least someone is still supporting the Virtual Console, right? Right?