The month of January concludes, and Nintendo's eShops continue to churn out the hits. Fire Emblem Awakening hits the 3DS eShop at midnight on February 4, and the Wii U eShop gets Puddle and a demo for The Cave. Even DSiWare and the Wii Virtual Console get some love this week! Be sure to check out your favorite Nintendo Digital storefront today, January 31, at noon ET for all of the latest games and updates.
Wii U eShop Indie Games
Puddle - Neko Entertainment
Demos
The Cave - SEGA
3DS eShop Retail Games
Fire Emblem Awakening (available February 4) - Nintendo, $39.99
Downloadable Games
Bloody Vampire - Agetec
Ikachan - Nicalis, $4.99
Witch's Cat - Agetec
Virtual Console
Ice Climber (NES) - Nintendo, $4.99
DSiWare
99 Moves - EnjoyUp Games
Wii Virtual Console
Metal Slug 4 (NEO GEO) - D4 Enterprise, 900 points
@TriforceBun Metal Slug 4 is still a Metal Slug game, so it's still fun, but yeah it is kind of unremarkable in the series. Both of these don't relate to the actual gameplay, but I dislike that Tarma and Eri in particular are replaced by two other random characters (I prefer both of them over Marco and Fio D:), and the new style of music that the soundtrack has is very unappealing to me.
It's a charming experience while it lasts, to be fair. It's just that there is no reason to go back there once you're done. Cave Story had tons of secrets, alternate endings and paths, etc. Ikachan has none of that. Go once through the game and you've seen it all.
Puddle has weird physics. I don't know if the fluid movement is scripted in some parts, or if the game is just being played at 1/10th the speed it would in real life, but the fluid seems to have a mind of its own and frequently just climbs up inclines and defies gravity when it feels like it. It makes it feel like you can only play the game the way it wants you to play. Doesn't that defeat the purpose of "physics-based gameplay"?
The game is gorgeous and it's not entirely unfun, though. At $8 I can't really complain too much. I think I'm getting my money's worth.
Yeah, Puddle was on every system last year. This version was supposed to correct most of the beefs raised in the reviews, so I don't know how much better the game is compared to the PSN version, but I can say it's not perfect.
Well it was an ambassador title, which most of us here are, I would guess.
I did bother to update the game, however (and the eShop as of last week didn't prompt you to do it upon visiting). Sadly, I did it too late, after I learned that my girlfriend is an Ice Climber fan. We both had our 3DS while waiting for The Hobbit to start! We could have done the Download Play thing!
Boo.
edit - I have to say, I think I've gotten used to the physics in Puddle and I'm appreciating it more, now. The varied environments, which go from lab to jungle to human digestive tract to sewers to ???, are very impressive. The gameplay changes up significantly every now and then (I just finished a section that reminded me of NightSky). It's a pretty cool little game.