On the Download: April 28 - May 4

Sometimes things do not go as planned.  Originally, I wanted this edition of On the Download up much sooner, but when a two hour nap turned into a ten hour sleep plans changed.  On the topic of plans changing, earlier this week I could not think of any downloadable games coming out this week to warrant a new edition of On the Download.  Then I saw all the coverage for Far Cry 3:  Blood Dragon and well my plans changed.  Sometimes downloadable games can sneak up on you like it did to me this past week if you are not on top of them.  Over the past few weeks, there has been a whole slew of noteworthy downloadable games to hit market such as Fez, Papo and Yo, Dyad and Monaco all for PC.  It is a good time to be a gamer with an internet connection.

Last week I looked at the launch of the Wii U Virtual Console, well more games came out for the service this past Thursday on the eShop.  These aforementioned games are Mega Man and Pac-Man.  While the releases have been cut back from the last week's launch, it is very nice to see Nintendo show continued support for the Virtual Console considering how poor the support was for it during the later years of the Wii's life cycle.  As long as Nintendo keeps releasing Virtual Console games on a regular basis, hopefully once a week, it will provide a good library of games for a system in dire need of them.  While Mega Man and Pac Man may already be on many other platforms, the Wii U versions of these games include all the bells and whistles like restore points and Miiverse support that are included in Wii U and 3DS Virtual Console games.  For 5 dollars apiece, these are two classic games for gamers both young and old to download for the Wii U.

It is 2007.  The world is left in shambles of nuclear fallout after Vietnam War II.  You play as Cyber Commando Rex Colt as you set out to kill enemies, rescue a damsel in distress and ultimately save the world like Cyber Commandos do best.  The game I am talking about is Ubisoft's standalone downloadable expansion to Far Cry 3 called Far Cry 3:  Blood Dragon.  Blood Dragon's only tie to Far Cry 3 is that they both use the same game engine.  Ubisoft Montreal has crafted an insane game that looks to parody what people love about 80s action movies:  inane plot; cheesy one-liners; unnecessary sci-fi elements and; tons of explosions.  You do not need Far Cry 3 to experience the insanity of Blood Dragon, only 15 dollars or 1400 Microsoft Points and a Xbox 360, PS3 or PC.

On the Download: April 8-14

Finally got quite a bit to talk about this week for On the Download.  It seemed things have picked up yet again in the downloadable space with quite a few big releases this week.  Got a full order of games to talk about today, so let us dive right into the biggest downloadable games of the week.

When I first opened up the Nintendo eShop today, I was upset that Nintendo had yet again not add anything to the 3DS Virtual Console.  I turned off my 3DS disappointed only catching a glimpse at this week's biggest edition, Ketzal's Corridors, scrolling through the eShop's main menu.  I would soon see that to be a mistake after watching the trailer and reading a few things on Ketzal's Corridors as it looks to another unique original title for the Nintendo eShop.  Ketzal's Corridors is action-packed puzzler which sees the player quickly rearranging their guardian in order to pass through the hole in each wall.  It looks like an ancient version of Hole in the Wall mixed with Tetris as the guardians are shaped like Tetriminos.  Ketzal's Corridors features a story mode, which contains over a hundred levels, and a couple multi-player modes.  You can play multi-player by sharing one 3DS or through local wireless connection.  The two multi-player modes offered are Tower Trial, which can be played either with one or two 3DS's and has you battling your friend to see who can match their silhouettes to ten holes sooner than your opponent, and Ruin Run, which has players compete to see who gets the most hearts in a head-to-head run through the ruins.  If you looking for some high speed puzzle action, Ketzal's Corridors looks to be the 3DS downloadable title for you and it costs only 7 dollars.

The last couple of years have seen fighting game genre rise from the ashes of obscurity to new heights.  Following the big wave of interest in fighting games is a 2D fighter you can download on XBLA or PSN called Skullgirls.  Skullgirls allows players to face off with a different amounts of characters per team up to three fighter limit.  Teams are balanced by numbers, so single-player teams are stronger and possess more health, but larger teams can perform character assists and tag in and out on the fly.  Skullgirls has various features that makes it standout from other fighting games.  These features are infinite detection, which allows players a chance to break out of a loop combo, easier inputs for complex actions and protection against unblockable attacks.  Skullgirls has 8 fighters for you to play as with more coming in the future as DLC.  Done with Street Fighter, Tekken or another fighter, give Skullgirls a chance it will run you 15 dollars or 1200 Microsoft Points.

Coming to XBLA this Friday the 13th is this year's Grand Prize winner at the Independent Game Festival that took place at the Game Developer's Conference early last month, Fez.  Fez is a platformer developed by Polytron, which features 2D to 3D perspective shifts very similar to Super Paper Mario and Crush.  A catastrophic event changes Gomez's, the main fez-wearing protagonist, 2D world forever and it is up to our hero to set things right.  You will have to flip levels from 2D to 3D and back again in order to traverse each beautifully realized level.  It is hard to describe Fez into words it is a game that you have to see in motion to really get how great a concept and how beautiful the graphics are.  Fez looks to be a one-in-a-kind game that Xbox owners should go out and download.  You will be able to pick it up tomorrow for 800 Microsoft Points.