Sonic the Hedgehog-inspired Freedom Planet joins Wii U eShop

By Danny Cowan October 1, 2015

freedom planet hits wii u eshop freeplanwiiu header

This week’s Wii U eShop update marks the console debut of Freedom Planet, an indie-developed tribute to 16-bit era platformers and Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog series.

Released digitally for PCs in 2014, Freedom Planet combines the high-speed platforming of the classic Sonic games with open-ended level design suited for a cast of characters with widely varied traversal abilities.

Related: Double Dragon, River City Ransom IP now under new ownership

Also on the Wii U this week is River City Ransom, an NES brawler developed by Double Dragon series creator Technos. River City Ransom expands on traditional brawling mechanics with an RPG-like structure, allowing characters to power up their stats throughout by purchasing items and equipment.

River City Ransom also boasts a two-player co-op mode that lets players team up with friends to take down the gangs that occupy the streets of River City. The game has earned a cult following in the years after its release, and is widely cited as one of the best beat-’em-ups of the 8-bit era.

Toto Temple Deluxe also arrives on the Wii U this week, offering team-based multiplayer action with “king of the hill”-styled mechanics. Up to four players compete in local multiplayer battles that center around an egg-laying, explosive goat that can instantly take out the competition.

Other Wii U eShop games premiering this week include The Rivers of Alice: Extended Version, Gemology, VoxelMaker, and Pumped BMX. 3DS owners, meanwhile, can expect to see Kemco’s retro-styled RPG Chronus Arc.

This week additionally marks the launch of a Nintendo-sponsored contest that challenges players to put their drawing skills to the test via Miiverse. Artists can compete by submitting a work of Animal Crossing-themed fan art, and winning entries will receive a free digital copy of the recently released Happy Home Designer.

Nintendo closes out this week’s digital lineup with a new batch of Super Smash Bros. DLC for the Wii U and 3DS, adding new character costumes and playable stages, including a level inspired by Super Mario Maker.

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Nintendo last week announced its intentions to shut down the Wii U and 3DS eShops, the systems' digital storefronts, in March 2023. This decision was disappointing for hardcore fans who stuck with Nintendo during that rocky era and extremely worrying as many of the games available on the platforms won't be preserved.
More significant Wii U games and a handful of 3DS titles were ported to Switch, but many titles are still stuck on those systems and can’t be ported. Once the digital storefront shutdowns, digital-only titles will be gone forever, and physical copies of these titles will get more expensive and harder to experience. Fans and game preservationists have not been pleased by this decision, with the Video Game History Foundation giving the most candid response.
https://twitter.com/GameHistoryOrg/status/1494398068346654720
Following this announcement, Digital Trends spoke to an industry analyst and game preservationists to get a better idea of what exactly caused Nintendo to shut down these stores and to learn how it could do a better job at preserving its legacy.
Why is Nintendo shutting down the 3DS and Wii eShops?
Officially, Nintendo’s FAQ on the eShop closures says “this is part of the natural life cycle for any product line as it becomes less used by consumers over time." The answer doesn’t get into specifics and might confuse those still playing games on the system or fans of games only available on Wii U or 3DS. Omdia Principal Analyst Matthew Bailey explains Nintendo’s user base argument in more detail, highlighting the massive gap between the number of people playing the Switch as opposed to the Wii U.
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If one is going off just the numbers, it’s sensible that Nintendo would want to focus on the majority of its players. Bailey admits that “Switch users are already reaping the benefits of Nintendo’s singular first-party development focus on one platform.” Still, one might argue that Nintendo should just let the eShops remain up even if it isn’t actively updating or maintaining them.

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“As these systems age, they require patches, security, special contracts, updates, and personnel that know how they were built (and maintained),” his Twitter thread explains. “As time goes on, there are security holes, servers, code, infrastructure, etc., that can’t be brought up to modern standards. It becomes a constant struggle between maintaining legacy systems, paying people to do so, and trying to keep up with global regulations. It’s not cheap by any means. They can’t just ‘leave the lights on’ and stop supporting them. What if someone hacked the payment processor?”
With every passing year, the Wii U and 3DS eShops likely became more expensive to maintain and an increased security risk for the video game publisher. Instead of investing the time and resources into pleasing a smaller amount of players, the easier option is to turn everything off entirely. While he isn’t affiliated with Nintendo, Game Over Thirty’s assessment aligns with what we’ve heard from Nintendo and Omdia.
"The Wii U’s global active installed base will drop under one million in 2022."

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nintendo shuts down wiiu 3ds eshop

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