Nintendo Download: Shantae Half-Genie Hero, Mario Party 2, more

Even though we’re counting down the days until Nintendo’s Switch Presentation, the consolemaker is still adding new titles to the Nintendo eShop, including one game that’s retro-styled and another that’s just plain retro.

WayForward’s Shantae series began on the Game Boy Color all the way back in 2002. It wasn’t a design choice to create retro-styled side-scrolling platforming in those days, but it is today, and Shantae still looks impressive in her first high definition outing on the Wii U. In Shantae: Half-Genie Hero, a mysterious crime wave has swept through Sequin Land, and players will need to master the genie’s “devastating Hair-Whip Attack” to fight back against the criminal masterminds employed by Risky Boots.

Also available to download for the Wii U today is Mario Party 2, which was originally released for the Nintendo 64 in 2000. More than a dozen sequels have been added to the Mario Party in the years since, but I’m sure one of the earliest games in the franchise still has plenty of fans for this Virtual Console re-release.

You can learn more about both of these games (and a few other new releases) after the break.

Wii U eShop

Shantae: Half-Genie Hero – Shantae embarks on her first full HD adventure! When a mysterious crime wave sweeps Sequin Land, it’s up to Half-Genie Hero Shantae to save the day! Use Shantae’s devastating Hair-Whip Attack to send monsters flying, or Belly Dance to transform her into more powerful forms. Topple the masterminds behind each criminal caper and prepare for the ultimate showdown against Shantae’s arch nemesis: the bodacious buccaneer Risky Boots.

Mario Party 2 – Get ready to party like it’s the year 2000 all over again, complete with fancy costumes, bags of surprises and games galore! Mario and his Mushroom Kingdom friends return in this Nintendo 64 sequel for a new round of Bowser-bashing board game action. Each of your favorite characters wears different themed outfits to take part in five fun-packed Adventure Boards: Pirate Land, Western Land, Space Land, Mystery Land, and Horror Land.

Radiantflux: Hyperfractal – Data-fractal hyper structures are the new storage medium favoured by big companies. You are a neo-hacker, a new breed of bedroom fract-breaker, and these data-structures are your playground. After receiving an unusual email instructing you to hack your own homepage you discover a hidden world that will take you through the hack-zone and deep into the dark-web to yield untold riches in lost and forbidden softwares.

3DS eShop

Geki Yaba Runner Deluxe – Transform your moustached hero into a raging force of destruction or a super speedy gnome to overcome Gekiyaba’s toughest obstacles to face the ultimate challenge. Can you overcome every hurdle to save the princess in peril?

Gourmet Dream – Gourmet Dream is a management game in which you take up the role of a restaurant manager and help your shop to grow. The aim of the game is to help your restaurant flourish until it is evaluated as an “S Rank” restaurant. In order to do this, you will have to create a menu to suit your customer’s needs, hire and train staff that provide great food and service, and run promotions to increase the number of customers that come to your restaurant. In essence, you will be raising your store into a “Highly Esteemed Gourmet Restaurant.”

Hit Ninja – In this arcade game your task is to hit all the targets with your shuriken. Beat the target score on every level and become a ninja legend! Enjoy the intuitive and fun launch mechanic which becomes more challenging at higher levels! The colourful 3D graphics and the Japan inspired settings is waiting for you!

Mini Golf Resort – Welcome to the most amazing mini golf resort ever on Nintendo 3DS! Grab your golf clubs and get ready to play through 56 incredible courses in four unique worlds. Enjoy a combination of real golf club rules and wacky mini golf fun as you shoot your ball through pipes, up extreme ramps and around crazy obstacles towards the hole!

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John Scalzo is Warp Zoned's Editor-In-Chief and resident retro gaming expert. You can email him at john AT warpzoned DOT com.