A Nintendo community
by the fans!
           
  Go to forum
 + 
Nintendo Download: Week of December 20, 2010.
News reported by 
(Editor)
December 20, 2010, 15:17
 
Here are this week's releases on WiiWare, DSiWare, and Virtual Console!

Virtual Console

Mario Party 2
Original platform: Nintendo 64
Publisher: Nintendo
Players: 1-4
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) - Mild Violence
Price: 1,000 Wii Points
Description: Get ready to party like it's the year 2000 all over again, complete with fancy costumes, bags of surprises and games galore. Mario and his Mushroom Kingdom friends return for a new round of Bowser-bashing board game action in Mario Party 2. Each of your favorite characters dons a differently themed outfit to take part in five fun-packed Adventure Boards: Pirate Land, Western Land, Space Land, Mystery Land and Horror Land. Then battle BowserTM on his own specific board - if you're brave enough. Up to four players (additional accessories required, sold separately) can travel around the boards and compete in minigames for coins while also using items to gain an advantage. Win the most stars and become the ultimate victor: the Super Star. Or, if you just feel like proving your minigame mettle, visit Mini-Game Land. Head to the Mini-Game Stadium and replay your favorites, including the Item, Battle, Duel and Chance Time minigames.

WiiWare

Frobot
Publisher: Fugazo
Players: 1-4
ESRB Rating: E10+ (Everyone 10 and Older) - Mild Fantasy Violence, Mild Suggestive Themes
Price: 1,000 Wii Points; demo version available for 0 Wii Points
Description: Frobot is programmed to make love, not war. But when his five foxy girlfriends get botnapped, he doesn't skip a beat in taking the fight to the streets. Blast your way up from the Funkytown Slums to the BotBlocker HQ and save them. In Burn Baby Burn mode, earn powerful weapons including the Robo Hustle dash and the Jivestalker disco ball to help take on the Man. In The Big Payback, journey through a story mode filled with action, adventure and fro-frazzling physics puzzles to rescue your girlfriends. In Superfreak, find hidden power picks and upgrade your style. It's a fight to the last Fro in Frobot's multiplaya arena. Face off with up to three of your friends on one screen to see who will earn the spotlight. In It's Raining Guns, access an expanded arsenal of funky weapons, including the Bass Bomb grenade and the Heartstopper shield. And in Do the Hustle, you can unlock multiplaya maps by beating single-playa levels in record time.

Note: Some demo versions do not support all game features, and players cannot save their in-game progress in demo versions.

Inkub
Publisher: Cosmonaut Games
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) - Cartoon Violence
Price: 500 Wii Points
Description: In Inkub, you are responsible for the defense of incubators, each one connected to a life support system by means of transparent carbon tubes. For years, different organisms, viruses and bacteria have formed colonies that attack the species in each incubator. Your objective is to repel the attacks of these organisms and keep the eggs in the incubators safe. To do this, you have an arsenal of weapons, mines and blockers available. Different weapons will be unlocked as you progress through the game, including laser canons, projectiles, blockers, mines and speed inhibitors. Use them by placing them throughout the tube to repel enemy attacks.

Nintendo DSiWare

Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp
Publisher: Digital Leisure Inc.
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: T (Teen) - Suggestive Themes, Fantasy Violence
Price: 800 Nintendo DSi PointsTM
Description: Princess Daphne has been spirited away to a wrinkle in time by the evil wizard Mordroc, who plans to force her into marriage. Only you, Dirk the Daring, can save her. Transported by a bumbling old time machine, you begin the rescue mission. But you must hurry, for once the Casket of Doom has opened, Mordroc will place the Death Ring upon Daphne's finger and she will be lost forever in the Time Warp. Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp is a fully animated arcade classic from legendary animator Don Bluth. You'll make your way through time by using your Nintendo DSiTM system to move and wield your sword. Beware of your foes, for they are numerous. Only you can save Princess Daphne.

Cosmo Fighters
Publisher: Abylight
Players: 1-4
ESRB Rating: E10+ (Everyone 10 and Older) - Cartoon Violence
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: There's a battle to fight in outer space, but before you meet your fate, train yourself against the CPU to master all the tricks and combos. Whether playing one-on-one or against a group of three, your training will pay off once you challenge your friends and foes. Anyone can play, but only the well trained will win. Send your friends a demo via DS Download Play to allow them to play solo or in a Versus mode. Finding opponents for the Multiplayer mode is easy because only one player needs to have the game loaded onto his or her system. Let the fight begin!

Paul's Monster Adventure
Publisher: Agetec, Inc.
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) - Comic Mischief
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: Prepare to embark on an epic adventure and enter a land where monsters known as bosses once ruled with an iron fist. The local inhabitants have rebelled against the bosses by stealing their food supply. Now the bosses are slowly dying from starvation, and it's up to you to save them. Explore and discover magical items that will aid you on your adventure. Interact with intriguing monsters that desperately need your help to regain their energy. Be warned: The inhabitants may consider your heroic efforts to be a threat and become aggressive if you are caught with food. Do you best to avoid them, but if you need it, you're equipped with a powerful hammer that will temporally knock out the inhabitants. It's time to step up to the challenge and restore order to this chaotic land.

Just SING! Christmas Vol. 2
Publisher: dtp young entertainment
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 200 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: You are the star! Prepare yourself for the next edition of Christmas karaoke. Holiday classics such as "We Wish you a Merry Christmas" and "Deck the Halls" are waiting for you. Enter the festively decorated stage in a fancy Santa costume, then sing into the built-in microphone of your Nintendo DSi system to instantly capture the magical Christmas spirit. Hit all the right notes and sing in time to reach the top of the high-scores list.

URL to share (right click and copy)
Posted: 12/20/10, 15:17
 
Why not sign up for a (free) account?
 
I'll be checking out the Frobot demo. Some previews on Destructoid kept making the parallel with Zelda, but from the trailers the game just looked really mediocre.

Posted by 
 on: 12/20/10, 16:58
The NWR crew were pretty brutal about the game. Funny name, though. Is MP2 still the best Mario Party (besides DS, which none of you played)?

I played Wii Party recently. Pretty fun.

Posted by 
 on: 12/20/10, 17:16
Yes, Mario Party 2 is the best one. And I played the DS game! Wii Party is pretty good too, but if you have 4 GCN/CC lying around and want a fun party game over the holidays, I definitely recommend downloading Mario Party 2.

Posted by 
 on: 12/20/10, 18:35
I wonder what kind of game Frobot is? The description wasn't really clear, though it sounds like it's not a puzzle game or anything.

Posted by 
 on: 12/21/10, 00:43
Oh man, huge fan of Mario Party. I have 1 and 4, I think; we used to have "Mario Parties" at my house, complete with season long standings, factions, and storylines. It was also the WWF Attitude era, so you can use your imagination..

Posted by 
 on: 12/21/10, 00:43
Why start with 2? 1 was a classic!

Posted by 
 on: 12/21/10, 00:52
@carlosrox I liked 1 a lot too, but...

X-pert74 said:
I'm certain Nintendo is skipping over the first game because a lot of people hurt their palms while rotating the control stick in the original Mario Party; hence why those games completely disappeared from Mario Party 2. I read an issue of Nintendo Power about it back in the day. So I don't expect the original game to ever be rereleased without significant changes.

Posted by 
 on: 12/21/10, 00:54
@X-pert74

This frequently happened at Mario Parties. Someone shouldn't have to go on the DL from a videogame, haha.

Posted by 
 on: 12/21/10, 00:56
Oh hey, Frobot. That's a cool game that doesn't look very good.

Posted by 
 on: 12/21/10, 01:13
@Secret_Tunnel

I downloaded the demo. It's an adequate top-down puzzler from what I could see, nothing too original but it's competent.

But my god, is there a less appealing-looking game out there? Maybe that Wiiware game from former Naughty Dog employees with the ugly dog and cat characters.

Posted by 
 on: 12/21/10, 18:13
Haha, Bruiser and Scratch? From Steel Penny Games? That always stuck with me, too, for some reason...

Posted by 
 on: 12/22/10, 04:23
I can see that!



I withdraw what I said, Bruiser and Scratch looks way more appealing than Frobot.

Posted by 
 on: 12/22/10, 05:14
I actually sort of enjoyed the Frobot demo. It reminds me of the original Zelda dungeon layouts, but you shoot stuff instead of sword stuff and you lay bombs instead of...well, yeah.

The visuals are pretty ugly, though I like the funk style. With a little more polish, I'd be pretty tempted to give it a buy.

Posted by 
 on: 12/25/10, 19:05
 
 +