The LoadDown - 12/21/2009 - Super Smash Bros. At Last!

A relatively quiet week on the downloadable scene, it appears, as the holidays kick into gear... but there's one HUGE title and a number of good ones.  And my slightly-early New Year's resolution is to start covering PS3 downloadables in this feature as well.

WiiWare -- Chances are you'll decide to go play Super Smash Bros. on the Virtual Console.  If that doesn't appeal, there are 3 WiiWare games and one application this week.  Eco Shooter: Plant 530 is a scrolling shoot/vacuum game.  TV Show King 2 is a sequel to Gameloft's original, which debuted on WiiWare before going to retail disc release last year, and adds three much-needed features: online play, a bigger 8,000-question database, and the ability to create and share new questions.  Pallurikio is an action platformer with tilt/roll controls.  Happy Holidays Christmas is not a game, but an application allowing users to create and send holiday cards to friends via the Wii messaging system. 

Virtual Console -- Two games.  First, the long-awaited Nintendo 64 classic Super Smash Bros. makes its Virtual Console debut -- Nintendo's first Mario-universe fighting game remains a frenetic fan-favorite, sure to provide plenty of local multiplayer holiday fun.  And Tecmo brings the original coin-op Ninja Gaiden to the Virtual Console Arcade -- most of the home versions were derivatives "inspired by" the original (the Atari Lynx edition being the sole exception), so it's nice to finally have the actual arcade game at home.

DSiWare -- 5 titles this week, 4 of them games.  UNO is the classic card game.  Dragon's Lair is the dated but still beautifully-animated laserdisc arcade game of yore, rendered fully and well on the DSi.  Hot and Cold: A 3D Hidden Object Adventure takes the familiar online Flash object-hunting game concept into true 3-D, with hot/cold voice feedback as the player throws stuff around searching for the target item.  High Stakes: Texas Hold 'Em is a traditional poker game with local multiplayer support.  Finally, myNotebook: Green continues the popular DSi utility series.

XBLA -- Two games last week.  Alien Breed Episode 1 is the first chapter of an overhead-perspective action series from Team 17 (Worms) -- it's kind of like Alien Syndrome a la Dead Space; I spent some time with the demo but wasn't compelled to buy the full version.  Puzzlegeddon is yet another colorful puzzle game, set in cartoon outer space, with multiplayer and customization features to bring some variety to the table.

PS3 -- One downloadable game debuted last week, Puzzlegeddon (also on XBLA, see above).