Bub and Bob are back - With two friends!
Bub and Bob come to WiiWare today!
It seems like Nintendo of Europe wants to make up for their single WiiWare release two weeks ago - This week there's not one, not two, but three new games available! Sadly there are no new DSiWare games today, you can’t have everything you want can you?
Bubble Bobble Plus! is obviously the biggest release of the bunch - This remake of the original game features improved graphics and sound, along with new levels, a selectable difficulty and a 4-player mode! It costs 800 Wii Points, which is very reasonable, and you can even download two DLC packs (With 50 extra levels each) for 200 points each. While waiting for the review, you could go over Sean's first impressions from the Japanese version one more time.
Equilibrio was released in the US last Monday - You maneuver a ball through an obstacle course by tilting your Wii remote. Previous "tilting" games on WiiWare, such as The Incredible Maze, have proven quite disappointing - Maybe this one will fare better? As you might've noticed our review isn't up yet - Don't worry, it'll be available very soon! In the meantime, why not read our Equilibrio interview?
Today's final new game is Family & Friends Party. This was also released in the US a while ago. It's a party game where you and up to 7 friends play a variety of minigames, which are all quite simple - Solving mathematical equations, guessing words, identifying a picture, and others. We thought it was quite average - There are better party games available on WiiWare already!
So which of these 3 WiiWare games (if any) will you be buying? Do let us know in the comments area below.
1. Mopsical
09 Apr 2009, 21:07 BST
I'm starting to worry if Bit.Trip is coming to Europe at all...
But who cares? BUBBLE BOBBLE, HERE I COME!
2. Dazza
09 Apr 2009, 21:11 BST
It's nice that NoE are getting their act together and giving us the news a few hours early. The future is looking bright on the upcoming WiiWare schedule for a change in Europe
Bubble Bobble Plus is a instabuy for me, yay finally!
3. Corbie
09 Apr 2009, 21:12 BST
Yay for bubble Bobble Plus! Nice to see Europe getting some Nintendo love tonight.
4. Lode Runner
09 Apr 2009, 21:15 BST
Whoa... you guys are lucky.
5. xesbeth
09 Apr 2009, 21:26 BST
And NO GRADIUS! Damn it! When this game be released in europe for god's sake??!!!! It's too hard to translate a shmup?! Jeez... >___<
6. Neomega
09 Apr 2009, 21:32 BST
Bub Bob+ looks good!
7. Objection_Blaster
09 Apr 2009, 21:40 BST
Pretty nice update. I'm looking forward to the Equilibrio review...
8. King Elemento
09 Apr 2009, 21:44 BST
@1. Mopsical:
I think the developers have confirmed it coming to Europe, but based on the list Nintendo gave us, Nintendo doesn't have anywhere to fit it in for release with in the next couple of months.
Sadly by that point, the second Bit.Trip game will probably be out.
9. Wiiloveit
09 Apr 2009, 21:55 BST
I'll be getting Bubble Bobble Plus and Equilibrio (here's hoping they're not too difficult
).
I'm confused over the absence of New Adventure Island and Bit.Trip BEAT though. It seems ages since we got a Huson game now, and you guys have had Bit.Trip for a good few weeks. At least we know what to expect next time though, eh (cough, you hearing this Nintendo?, cough).
10. Bahamut ZERO
09 Apr 2009, 21:58 BST
I need Bubble Bobble Monday. I just need it.
11. gameking23
09 Apr 2009, 22:05 BST
Ya now Europe has Equilibrio. Now maybe everyone will get an official review.
12. RGVEDA
09 Apr 2009, 22:13 BST
Cool! 3 Games. Please now for every WiiWare Release Week!
13. calculon
09 Apr 2009, 22:14 BST
Looking forward to both Bubble Bobble and Equilibrio. I, also, am wondering where the hell Bit Trip BEAT and New Adventure Island are. Oh well.
14. Bahamut ZERO
09 Apr 2009, 22:19 BST
Soooo....
How bout' that Equilibrio review?
No? ......didnt think so.
15. KnucklesSonic8
09 Apr 2009, 22:31 BST
lol, Bahamut.
If anyone wants to know about Equilibrio, then just ask. I got it when it came out.
I'm REALLY happy for you guys getting BBP. It makes up for past releases, I bet. This is msot definitely a sign that BBP is coming to our WiiWare soon as confirmed by Taito themselves that it's slated for April release and the ESRB Rating not too long ago.
16. ReZon
09 Apr 2009, 22:32 BST
Bubble Bobble Plus... mmm... 800 points is very reasonable too.
17. Terranigma
09 Apr 2009, 22:37 BST
Nice. I'll download Bubble Bobble at some point, though there is still a lot of stuff I want on the service.
18. longtimegamer
09 Apr 2009, 22:42 BST
Who IS the reviewer for equilibrio anyways?
19. Gh0sTiE5
09 Apr 2009, 22:43 BST
I cant wait for Bubble Bobble!
20. Terranigma
09 Apr 2009, 22:51 BST
I Didn't even notice that there was no review until now. I wonder what's happening.
21. MasterGH
09 Apr 2009, 22:59 BST
Bubble Bobble Plus is getting downloaded by me in..about 65 minutes
I've had points on my Wii waiting for this thing for around 7 weeks. Now....Cave Story, could you please come out in two weeks? My other points are sitting there for you.
22. Bass X0
09 Apr 2009, 23:16 BST
Family and Friends may be average but since it was going to be released anyway, its better for it to be during a three game week than by itself. And we're really not that lucky - America gets one game every week, we get used to get 0.5 games a week - i.e. one every two weeks. I hope this is a sign of things to come for WiiWare even if we do mostly play catch-up with the American releases. The more the merrier I say, even if they're crap or average releases. I do hope LIT gets released soon, I think I may be downloading that sometime after it gets released.
23. Sycoraxic98
09 Apr 2009, 23:17 BST
XD. Nice, guys. Here's MY review of Equilibrio, since Monday: Good, but kind of overly difficult. Wiimote better than Balance board. 7 or 8/10
24. Atlantis1982
09 Apr 2009, 23:34 BST
I don't see three games, I only see one remake and two shovelware titles.
Fine, fine. I salute NoE for releasing more than one, even with that awkward scheduling they do with WiiWare/VC weeks.
25. Bass X0
09 Apr 2009, 23:43 BST
Well games like the big three take time to develop; can't expect to get similar quality games like those three every week.
26. Bahamut ZERO
10 Apr 2009, 00:34 BST
@KS8: You bought another WW game? Why am I not surprised
But can we have your review (and then watch the reviewer, most likely Matt (hes been doing overtime on this site, and I applaud him for that) have a completely different review)
27. Ferret75
10 Apr 2009, 00:42 BST
I'm looking forward to Bubble Bobble.
28. Outrunner
10 Apr 2009, 01:32 BST
I'm not gonna cry for Gradius since I just downloaded Bubble Bobble and it's ace. But next time Nintendo, please...
29. Awesome5
10 Apr 2009, 02:10 BST
Why is europe getting all the good stuff? cough cough Majora's Mask cough cough.
30. Sonatina_Gena
10 Apr 2009, 02:53 BST
Europe has Bubble Bobble now? Congrats! (That game is just too cute...)
31. calculon
10 Apr 2009, 06:33 BST
Both Equilibrio and Bubble Bobble are well worth the download imho.
7/10 for Equilibrio, 8/10 for Bubble Bobble
32. tyrrok
10 Apr 2009, 06:44 BST
Hey Knuckles, is equilibrio very difficult? Looks pretty cool! I hope we get bubble bobble plus fairly soon.
33. Corbie
10 Apr 2009, 06:49 BST
Equilibrio is easily worth the 500 points. And it gets pretty tough in later stages. It has a nice gradual progression of difficulty.
34. tyrrok
10 Apr 2009, 06:54 BST
Thanks, im gonna pick this up tomorrow!
35. Sean Aaron
10 Apr 2009, 07:33 BST
Well, I'm going to get Equilibrio anyway. I'm looking forward to some Balance Board action (after some yoga, of course)!
I'll be more likely to use the BB in Overturn when it comes here as well as it won't mean having to sync the board to a different machine and back again.
36. Corbie
10 Apr 2009, 09:29 BST
Well something came up for our designated Equilibrio reviewer so I'll be stepping in to review the game. I'll try to get it reviewed as quickly as possible.
37. LEGEND MARIOID
10 Apr 2009, 09:50 BST
Great. Bubble Bobble was on my insta-download list, so i will b downloading it soon all things being well. Is it meant to pack a serious challenge? For some that'll b a good point, for others it'll b a bad point. Either way, its meant to be quality, and its only 800 pts. Doesn't it have differing difficulty levels to increase accessibility, anyway? Not sure about Equilibrio. Review? To b fair, you guys have had to do a lot of reviewing lately!
38. i8cookie
10 Apr 2009, 10:01 BST
what a load of bollocks. We've really been shafted recently, and zelda mm was no consolation, i'm sure most of us got it when we bought wind waker. All these re-releases/re-makes, how many times will you buy the same game? Nintendo must think we are a bunch of idiots.
39. Sean Aaron
10 Apr 2009, 10:15 BST
@LEGEN MARIOID: The Japanese release has four difficulty levels and yeah, the boards get pretty hard, not to mention the unlockable content which is even more challenging. I don't think I've ever gotten past level 32 in any version I've played!
40. RGVEDA
10 Apr 2009, 10:15 BST
I´ve read, that Bubble Bobble has 200 Levels. 100 Arcade original Levels and 100 New. Then you can Download 200 more, each Download Pack contains 100 levels! So ca. 400 Levels for this game!
41. Djungelurban
10 Apr 2009, 10:19 BST
Bubble Bobble is gonna be a contender alright, it has already entered the top 20 over here. I mean, sure it's far from what Mega Man 9 managed (reached 1st in a few hours) but the hype for that game was totally out of control... I'd say it has a decent chance of going straight to 1st in its first week.
42. Sean Aaron
10 Apr 2009, 11:00 BST
The unlockable content is actually 50 levels each I think, RGVEDA, but still you've got 100 original ones, 100 new ones and the "Super" variants of each with different enemies, and then on top of that the extra 100 levels.
Well, I think it's enough Bubble Bobble for any sane person, really...and the music is really great too!
43. Jayenkai
10 Apr 2009, 11:26 BST
Equilibrio : Jay thoughts
1. I'm up to level 9, and it's still tutorial levels. If I did crap like this, I'd have more than 10 levels per game, too.. Man, I hate tutorials...!
2. Balance board completely unnecessary.. You still have to hold the controller in your hand anyway.. If you stand on the floor, hold the controller, and lean as you would on the balance board.. .. Same thing.
3. Levels last (so far) about 5 or 6 seconds.. Then there's a 5 or 6 second unskippable jingle, then there's the highscores, then there's the "You got X 'not-an-achievement'" thing, then there's level select.
By level 3 you're wishing it just got on with the game already.
44. RGVEDA
10 Apr 2009, 11:30 BST
Oh, right. 50 each. Sorry, my mistake
45. Shiryu
10 Apr 2009, 13:55 BST
Still no Gradius, but this will do just fine. _
46. quakster
10 Apr 2009, 14:00 BST
The levels in Bubble Bobble Plus go like this:
100 Arcade levels (with Super versions) 1-2 Players
100 Arrange levels (with Super versions) 1-4 Players
100 Expert Levels (50 per pack, 200 points a pop) 1-4 Players
There are four difficulties to choose from and you can play the game normally (unlimited continues), or play Ranking (limited number of continues).
47. LEGEND MARIOID
10 Apr 2009, 14:56 BST
@Sean. Thanks mate.
I've had a sess on BBP and am impressed though not quite as much as I thought I'd be. 7 or 8/10 "personal rating". Still a solid, worthy download for anyone. Recommended.
48. KnucklesSonic8
10 Apr 2009, 15:24 BST
On Equilibrio, yes, it does get difficult. I'm on Level 24 or so. And yes, I've used the Balance Board two nights ago just to fool around with it.
Anyone wondering if it's worth 500, it is. Anyone who actually liked The Incredible Maze should get this.
Levels can last more than 5/6 seconds so don't get thrown off by what the above posted said.
Balance Board is not completely unnecessary. You only hold the controller in your hand to confirm selections.
@Bahamut: You shouldn't be surprised since I've been waiting for this game for quite some time...
Anything else you guys wanna know, feel free to ask.
49. indenmark
10 Apr 2009, 17:20 BST
So how does "Bubble Bobble Plus!" compare with the original NES version?
Favorably, I'm guessing.
50. Toddr
10 Apr 2009, 17:28 BST
Man, I want equilibrio so bad but I've only got 300 points and won't be getting any for a while.
51. quakster
10 Apr 2009, 17:56 BST
@indenmark: Bubble Bobble Plus is based on the arcade version, so the levels, colors and fruits differ from the NES version, but in every other conceivable way it's definitely better.
52. indenmark
10 Apr 2009, 20:35 BST
@quakster: thanks for the reply, but I couldn't wait . . . I went ahead and d/led it, and I'm glad I did.
I like the enhanced look . . . particularly the tail and death animations.
Plus, it's good ol' Bubble Bobble!
Did you d/l it?
53. quakster
10 Apr 2009, 21:04 BST
I did and I've played it for like six hours.
54. MickEiA
11 Apr 2009, 01:50 BST
ive got 900 points itll probaly go to bubble bobble
55. indenmark
11 Apr 2009, 06:04 BST
@quakster:
What level are you on? I bet it's more than 7.
One thing that I find annoying is that there's no save, is there? I don't like starting from the beginning every time, although the swirly-bubble intro screen IS nice.
56. quakster
11 Apr 2009, 08:39 BST
It's Bubble Bobble. You're supposed to get as far as you can on a single playthrough. Thanks to having played other versions of the game, I breezed through it in no time.
Now, to do the same with a limited number of credits...
57. slangman
11 Apr 2009, 15:07 BST
Still no Gradius, but at least this is one of the better Wiiware updates we have had for ages. And the less said about Family & Friends Party the better.
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