From a “meh” week to a pretty dang good week, the Nintendo eShop offerings for the next seven days are pretty solid, including the highly anticipated Pickmin 3 and the highly challenging Cloudberry Kingdom.
The much-loved
[[ pikmin i ]] series returns this week in its third outing, giving fans all sorts of new colorful critters to befriend as they adventure across new and exciting landscapes.
“With three explorers at your command, split Pikmin into multiple squads to maximize your strategy,” reads a statement from Nintendo. Five Pikmin types, including the new Rock Pikmin and Winged Pikmin, offer unique abilities to help overcome enormous obstacles.”
In Pikmin 3, your home planet is running out of food and it's up to you, an adventurous space explorer with adorable alien helpers at your side, to save the day. There's also a multiplayer battle mode available, for those who feel like duking it out rather than, say, literally saving their home world. Look for Pikmin 3 to arrive on the Wii U eShop on Aug. 4.
Speaking of Wii U goodies this week, Cloudberry Kingdom makes the jump onto Nintendo's home console, bringing with it dozens of levels of nerve-fraying difficulty and white-knuckle platforming. This game can be tough as nails, but in that good way that makes you want to try a level over and over again rather than throw your controller through a wall. And once you get a run just right, making it from start to finish while dodging all manner of tricky obstacles, you'll feel like the best gamer who ever lived, masterfully conquering challenges that no man was ever made to withstand. There's also co-op, in case you feel like having a good reason for yelling at your friends for dying 100 times in a row.
The latest movie tie-in is coming to the Wii U and 3DS this week as Disney Planes prepares for takeoff. Players take on the role of Dusty, a former crop duster with a heart the size of Texas who must take on missions that will see him traveling the world. You'll also take a break from the “work” to compete in various air races, too. Look for it on both consoles come Aug. 6.
Finally for the Wii U is the SNES classic, Harvest Moon. Get back to nature and reconnect with your roots in the original farm simulator game from the 16-bit era, complete with crops to tend to, animals to raise, villagers to win over and possible spouses to woo. It's a classic that holds up.
Over to the 3DS eShop and the biggest draw for the week will likely be Kirby's Dream Land 2. Originally released for the Game Boy, Kriby 2 offers all new worlds to explore, new abilities to suck out of your enemies and even some giant animal companions to ride around on.
Your other options on Nintendo's portable front this week include Bike Rider DX, My Farm 3D and Family Kart 3D.
