It's a banner week for the Nintendo Download, as the sequel to a belly dancing half-genie platformer for the Game Boy Color becomes the priciest DSiWare title yet.
In 2002, WayForward Technologies released Shantae for the Game Boy Color. It was a strong platformer, following young half-genie Shantae on a quest to recover a prototype steam engine stolen by the cunning female pirate Risky Boots. Shantae whipped enemies with her ponytail and transformed into various animals along the way, eventually foiling Risky's evil plot.
Alas, pirates never give up.
Risky is back in Shantae: Risky's Revenge, the first 1,200 point DSiWare title. Originally slated to be a three-part episodic game, WayForward instead releases the follow-up as one big game with a $12 price tag. Fans can expect the same flirtatious humor, ponytail whipping, and belly dancing transformation from the first game.
Non-fans might shy away from that $12 price tag. Nintendo really needs to institute some sort of demo system to help move these riskier titles. Based on the quality of the original I'd say give it a go, but who knows what has changed over the past eight years?
This week also sees the release of the classic game Rummikub for DSiWare, Racers' Islands – Crazy Racers for WiiWare, episode three of the colorful Learning with the PooYoos series, and Fatal Fury 3 for the Virtual Console.
Shantae: Risky's Revenge
Publisher: WayForward
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E10+ (Everyone 10 and Older) – Comic Mischief, Mild Cartoon Violence, Suggestive Themes
Price: 1,200 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: The sequel to the critically acclaimed Shantae is here! Fans asked, and WayForward has answered with a powder keg of high-octane, hair-whipping, hip-shaking action available only on the Nintendo DSiWare service. Shantae: Risky's Revenge sets the bar even higher with thousands of frames of animation, huge multi-sprite bosses and a quest so big it's bursting at the seams. Guide "half-genie" Shantae through haunted wastelands, burning deserts, enchanted forests, dripping caverns and deadly labyrinths. Discover magical attacks, brew zombie coffee, save golden babies and master the art of belly dancing to transform Shantae into more powerful creatures. Use your powers to foil the lady pirate Risky Boots and save Sequin Land from certain doom. With its infectious characters, flirtatious humor and deliciously outlandish action, Shantae: Risky's Revenge offers up all the hair-whipping, belly-dancing action you can handle.
Shantae: Risky's Revenge
Shantae: Risky's Revenge
Rummikub
Publisher: Games Factory Online
Players: 1-4
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 800 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: For more than 50 years, players have loved Rummikub for its combination of tactical thinking, luck and tense competition. In this new edition for the Nintendo DSiWare service, combine the tiles to create the smartest combinations and play with friends who have their own copy of Rummikub. You can also pit your wits against the computer in single-player mode at various difficulty settings. Collect all the medals Rummikub has to offer and become the world champion.
Racers' Islands – Crazy Racers
Publisher: ZALLAG
Players: 1-4
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) – Mild Cartoon Violence
Price: 1,000 Wii Points
Description: Six drivers are competing on a popular TV show: an English lord, a dangerous beauty from Russia, a Mexican desperado, an eccentric Frenchman, a Japanese prodigy and an American bulldozer. Whichever driver you choose, you'll have to drive and shoot simultaneously to be the first to cross the finish line. The game includes 20 different races and six thematic islands styled to look like a big amusement park. Unique game play lets you drive with one hand while aiming with the other. Discover tons of content like new items, trophies and time trials.
Racers' Islands – Crazy Racers
Learning with the PooYoos: Episode 3
Publisher: Lexis Numérique
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: EC (Early Childhood)
Price: 500 Wii Points
Description: Welcome to the world of the PooYoos, the first fun poetic brain-trainer for children ages 3 to 6. With the PooYoos, a merry band of adorable baby animals, children will have fun while learning basic development concepts such as numbers, letters, lateralization, shapes and colors. Children get to dance with their new friends and earn lovely interactive rewards. With two levels of interactivity, children can play activities based on plants and music. This game has been designed for use by children who have not yet grasped reading. The instructions are spoken in French, English or Spanish, depending on the language setting of your Wii console.
Learning with the PooYoos: Episode 3
FATAL FURY 3: ROAD TO THE FINAL VICTORY
Original platform: NEOGEO
Publisher: D4 Enterprise
Players: 1-2
ESRB Rating: T (Teen) – Violence
Price: 900 Wii Points
Description: Originally released in 1995, this is the fourth title in the Fatal Fury series of beat-'em-up games. Previous releases in the series used a two-plane battle system allowing you to move and fight between the foreground and background. This game features a three-plane format – foreground, background and main plane – known as the Oversway System. Characters will automatically move back to the main line after a certain period of time in the foreground or background planes. Other new features include Combination Arts (the ability to execute combo attacks with simple rhythmic button taps), Hidden Abilities (superior versions of the popular Special Moves and Super Special Moves from previous installments) and minor tweaks to all of the characters' Special Moves. As a result, this installment offers the deepest strategies and tactics in the Fatal Fury series to date.