3DS Adds Yoshi's New Island, Galaga This Week

Nintendo 3DS owners had better be ready for an egg-citing egg-stravaganza, as Yoshi’s New Island finally bounces onto the scene as the latest platforming adventure for the Big N’s handheld device, leading the charge for a week of updates including the likes of Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels and legendary arcade classic, Galaga.

This might actually be one of the busiest weeks yet for the Nintendo eShop and Virtual Console, offering up a handful of games and even a couple of sales for Wii U and 3DS gamers to enjoy.

Starting things off on the 3DS this week is Yoshi's New Island, follow-up to the SNES classic Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, and seemingly cut from the same hyper-colorful, adorable cloth. As fans of the original game will remember, however, Yoshi's Island shouldn’t be immediately written off by core gamers just because of its sugary sweet wrapping paper. This game promises some tricky platforming spread throughout its dozens of levels, as well as some spiffy sequences and mini-games that take advantage of the console’s unique hardware, including touchscreen and gyroscopic controls.

“It’ll take more than egg tosses and flutter jumps to lead Yoshi and Baby Mario through a dangerous new island littered with inventive power-ups,” reads a statement from Nintendo announcing Yoshi’s New Island’s release in both physical and digital copies.

The 3DS Virtual Console is also getting a nice shot in the arm this week in the form of Galaga, the wave-blasting alien attack game that lit up arcades back in the 1980’s and eventually became a fan-favorite on the NES.

A handful of other titles are making their way to the 3DS this week, including the oddball cross-over, Madagascar 3 & The Croods Prehistoric Party Combo Pack, and eShop offerings Bubble Pop World, Cube Tactics, Lola’s ABC Party and a demo for WAKEDAS.

Over to the Wii U and the heaviest hitter for the week is the new Virtual Console offering, Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels. Originally released as Super Mario Bros. 2 in Japan, U.S. gamers didn’t get their hands on these offerings until Super Mario All-Stars hit the SNES. Basically, it’s everything you loved about the original Super Mario Bros., only more of it.

Other than that, some new DLC content for the eShop version of Castlestorm rounds out this week’s new offerings on the Wii U.

Finally, there are a couple of sales for thrifty gamers to consider. SteamWorld Dig will be marked down by 50 percent on the 3DS through 9 a.m. on March 16, meaning you only have a couple of days to act if that’s something you want to add to your digital game collection. There’s also a Zen Studios sale going on from March 17 through March 31, offering half off on Zen Pinball 3D, Marvel Pinball 3D and Star Wars Pinball.

Ryan Winslett

Staff Writer for CinemaBlend.