Pandora’s Tower, Wind-Up Knight 2 join Wii U eShop

By Danny Cowan Published August 13, 2015

pandoras tower out on wii u eshop header — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Xseed’s action-RPG Pandora’s Tower joins the Nintendo eShop this week, becoming one of the first legacy Wii games to launch digitally for the Wii U as part of the Virtual Console service.

Originally released in North America in 2013, Pandora’s Tower is a hack-and-slash action game with a unique premise, challenging players to defeat gigantic creatures in order to prevent a young woman’s monstrous transformation. Between trips to Pandora’s Tower itself, players can strengthen the main character’s relationship with the cursed woman, changing the way gameplay progresses and shaping one of multiple endings.

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Pandora’s Tower was one of three key releases targeted by Operation Rainfall, a fan-driven campaign that sought to increase awareness and drum up localization support for a handful of RPG-influenced Wii games. Operation Rainfall centered its awareness campaign around Pandora’s Tower, along with fellow Wii RPGs The Last Story and Xenoblade Chronicles. All three games eventually saw release in North America after a sustained effort from Operation Rainfall.

Pandora’s Tower is the latest in a steady stream of Wii Virtual Console releases from Nintendo in recent weeks. Last week saw the digital launch of Kirby’s Return to Dreamland, joining previous releases like Metroid Prime Trilogy, Super Mario Galaxy 2, and Punch-Out.

Developer Robot Invader’s Wind-Up Knight 2 also arrives on the Wii U eShop this week. A sequel to a 2011 mobile game, Wind-Up Knight tackles the endless runner genre with an array of unique momentum-based mechanics.

Nintendo’s 3DS hosts a number of new games as part of this week’s eShop update as well, including I Love My Dogs, Best of Arcade Games: Air Hockey, and Best of Arcade Games: Bubble Buster. Brave Tank Hero additionally launches this week from publisher Natsume and Guilty Gear series developer Arc System Works.

Digital versions of the 3DS retail games Garfield Kart and Paddington: Adventures in London are also available as part of this week’s eShop lineup.

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