About a year ago, Nintendo launched it's downloadable store for the 3DS, the eShop, some three months after the handheld originally launched. Given it's slow start, the eShop has certainly picked up lately, having produced some stellar titles and fond favourites for people to download - whether you fancy the block-shifting puzzler PullBlox, some old-school Mario platforming, or a relaxing game of virtual golf, the eShop does a pretty good job of catering to everyone's tastes. In fact, your average 3DS user has downloaded around four titles, and Nintendo have a cunning plan to bolster that number some more, in the form of two anniversary sales. Starting today and continuing until next Thursday, you'll be able to download any of the following five games at a 20% discount:
Pullblox
Was: £5.40
Now: £4.30
Playing as cute, mute sumo Mallo, Pullblox is part puzzle, part platform game where you're rescuing a number of children who've got themselves trapped inside a bunch of giant block puzzles. By pushing and pulling the blocks that make up each of the initially flat puzzles, you can create steps to reach the top and rescue the kids - which may sound simple, but as the puzzles get bigger and more complex, the two hundred levels quickly start to tax your brain...
Zen Pinball 3D
Was: £4.50
Now: £3.60
With the dwindling of real-life arcades and pinball machines, you might find yourself wanting to scratch that itch elsewhere, perhaps turning to virtual pinball instead. Zen Pinball 3D lets you flip through four intricately-themed tables - whether it's travelling back to Camelot and the Knights of the Round Table with the Excalibur machine, summoning stuff as a sorceror in Shame, exploring the hidden jungles of Eldorado searching for treasure from an ancient civilisation, or defending the Earth from hordes of hostile aliens.
Let's Golf 3D
Was: £5.40
Now: £4.30
Choose a character and get ready to tee up and putt your way through six different courses, themed after Mayan jungles, icy tundras and more. As you play through the career mode, you'll be competing in tournaments, winning medals and making your character better as you go - and if things look like they're taking a turn for the worse, each character has their own special ability, whether it's super powerful shots, or being able to stop a ball in it's tracks to give you an advantage.
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX
Was: £5.40
Now: £4.30
When time-travelling green elfy thing Link gets shipwrecked on the mysterious Koholint Island, he finds a whole host of characters who have no idea how or when they got there, let alone how to help him get back home. But eventually, a mysterious talking owl comes to your aid, telling you that you may be able to leave if you can solve the riddle of the Wind Fish, an omnipotent fish that rules over the island. As it turns out, the fish can only be awakened by the eight Instruments of the Sirens - so Link needs to traverse winding dungeons, dodge tricky traps and battle deadly bosses to find them all so he can return to his home of Hyrule.
Super Mario Land
Was: £3.60
Now: £2.90
Originally made for the GameBoy, Super Mario Land is the first and only game in which Princess Daisy gets kidnapped - by an evil space monster, who also took the time to hypnotise all of the inhabitants of Sarasaland. The familiar winning blend of platforming, coin collecting and power-ups is present and correct, but also introduces a couple of vehicles for Mario - the Sky Pop aeroplane and Marine Pop submarine.
At the time of writing, the Nintendo eShop doesn't have a dedicated anniversary sale section, so you'll need to search for the games you're interested in manually, by using the search box at the top of the Touch Screen. But remember - the offers will only be around for a week, and there's no word from Nintendo as to whether this'll be a one-off promotion or a regular thing, so if you want any of the games, make sure you buy them before the 28th June. And don't forget to check back next week for the second selection of games, which will also have 20% off.
