It's the second Monday of the new year, and another three games will be added to the North American Wii Shop Channel today, in the form of two WiiWare games and one Virtual Console game.

The first WiiWare game is Jungle Speed from Playful Entertainment. Based on the card game of the same name, the game supports up to eight players simultaneously, with four players using the Wii Remote while the other four uses the Nunchuk. Everybody has a set of cards that continually gets flipped in turn until two of the face-up cards match. When this happens, the players with the matching cards have to the reach for a totem in the center of the table; whoever doesn't grab the totem is forced to take all the cards currently on the table. The first player to get rid of all of his cards wins.

The other WiiWare game is Planet Pachinko by Allied Kingdoms Inc. Despite the name, it is a run-and-gun shooter starring a robot searching for his puppy in the space temples clearly derived from the famous Japanese gambling machines: Pachinko. With four different types of weapons--rockets, lasers, grenades, slime launchers--the robot family must make their way through the temples, while also fending off the looting pirate Vile Vill. Another player can join the fray for some cooperative play.

The lone Virtual Console game today is Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse for the NES. The final game in the series, this game stars Trevor Belmont, set two hundred years before the original Castlevania. Joining Trevor in his quest to defeat Dracula are three others, whom Trevor can switch with at any time: the priestess Sypha Belnades, the pirate Grant DaNasty, and Dracula's son Alucard. Each character has their own unique abilities.


Recap:

NES: Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, 1 Player, 500 Points

As always, games go live at Noon EST, 9AM PST. Keep track of the latest Virtual Console and WiiWare releases with the all-new 2009 edition of What's New on the Wii Shop Channel? in the Wii Virtual Console forum.

Akira_EX via press.nintendo.com »