Nintendo Download Update: Last week of Hanabi Festival

One import arrived this week in the form of the already-announced Ogre Battle 64, but surprisingly another normal VC release accompanied it

Its sad to see the Hanabi Festival leave us once again, mainly because we have to go back to a very irregular and low quantity of VC games. At least it went out with a bang this time with the release of a classic Nintendo 64 game. Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber was released in the US in late 2000 by Atlus, but even with its high praise from reviewers, the title didnt succeed commercially. This was the most likely reason for the lack of a PAL version, so a Virtual Console release over nine years afterwards is a welcome sight for those fans reluctant to use a foreign console to play the game. The import tax brings up the price to a hefty 1200 Points, but considering the lack of N64 games available on the service in general, we dont think many people will mind.

Interestingly, a non-import Neo Geo game came out today as well. Fatal Fury Special is an enhanced version of Fatal Fury 2, already available on the service for the same price of 900 Points. Just like many of the Street Fighter II releases, releasing the better version of the game later seems like more of a money-grabbing exercise than anything. Regardless, the added combo system and characters still make it worth a look for both existing fans and those new to the series.

Unfortunately, we only get one of the two PAL WiiWare releases today, missing out on Art of Balance. Thats a shame, because the shape-stacking gameplay sounded pretty fun. What we did get is Diner Dash, a 1000-Point port of the popular PC restaurant management game. For the uninformed, you play the waitress Flo as she tries to keep the floor of the restaurant running smoothly on her own. This version actually has 8-person online multiplayer, but we dont know how well that works yet.

Happily, unlike the last two updates, today we received all five PAL releases for the DSi. Starting with the most expensive, Super Yum Yum: Puzzle Adventures for 800 Points follows a chameleon called Leon trying to eat all the fruit he can along the way to rescuing his babies from Ms. Tum Tum. It sounds fairly crazy, but the 48 levels should keep you playing for a while.

Next up for 500 Points is Gangstar 2: Kings of L.A. from Gameloft. The original game is only available for mobiles and the iPhone, so the direct release of the sequel on DSiWare is slightly curious. As you can probably guess, its a GTA clone of some sort, but we have no idea yet if the game works well on the DSi.

Last are three Game & Watch ports for 200 Points each: Chef, Judge, and Marios Cement Factory. These are obviously very outdated now, but $3 for reliving a childhood favourite isnt that bad. You can expect to see more of these arriving in later updates.

Virtual Console

Fatal Fury Special (NeoGeo – 900 Points)
Ogre Battle 64 (Nintendo 64 – 1200 Points)

WiiWare

Diner Dash (Hudson – 1000 Points)

DSiWare

Game & Watch Marios Cement Factory (Nintendo – 200 Points)
Game & Watch Judge (Nintendo – 200 Points)
Game & Watch Chef (Nintendo – 200 Points)
Gangstar 2 Kings of L.A. (Gameloft – 500 Points)
Super Yum Yum: Puzzle Adventures (Mastertronic – 800 Points)