Nintendo finally managed to get their digital offerings right after two wrong starts with DSiWare and WiiWare, with the Nintendo eShop. Their digital offerings have been wholly excellent, and their unusual progressiveness in putting all retail games on there has been a boon as far as convenience is concerned.

This week’s eShop offerings are similarly great- Wii U owners finally get to play Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, the latest installment in Nintendo’s long running, ape starring platformer franchise, developed by star studio Retro (of Metroid Prime fame).

The 3DS might not be getting a major release like that this week, but the digital offerings are great- first up is the last of the Guild01 games (which also include Crimson Shroud, Liberation Maiden, and Aero Maiden), Weapon Shop de Omasse, wherein you are the blacksmith crafting weapons for great heroes on quests to save the world or something.

Yes, it’s playing an RPG from an all new perspective.

Other games released include Level 5’s Inazuma Eleven, the soccer sim/RPG hybrid that finally releases in the US, as well as the first three episodes of the Inazuma Eleven anime for free on the Nintendo eShop.

Stay tuned for our reviews.

Their most recent batch of efforts comes with a series of made for eShop games, the sequel to the hit Guild01 collection, Guild02. The new series of games got off to a somewhat inauspicious start with The Starship Damrey, a game with some great atmosphere and some good ideas that lacked in execution and the value proposition, but they seem to be back on track somewhat with this newest game.

Notice I say somewhat. Like its immediate predecessor, Attack of the Friday Monsters is a game with an incredible atmosphere, and a nice story to tell. Also like its immediate predecessor, however, it is a $7 game that would barely last you a full three hours. That, when all is said and done, is its biggest failing, because everything else, the game does exceptionally well.

It’s a charming game, that recreates the atmosphere of 1970s Tokyo almost disarmingly well, and lulls you in with its lovely graphics, its great soundtrack, and its wonderful characters, as you try and figure out the central mystery of the eponymous Friday Monsters. The game has all the wonderment and the sense of discovery that everyone probably remembers from childhood, as you begin to wander around rural Tokyo one summer afternoon, discovering the full city as your playground, making new friends, and trying to cope with the simple task that every child must eventually tackle- drawing the line between one’s imagination and one’s reality.

" The feeling of discovery, of amazement, of wonderment, of there being something more, possibly sinister, just beyond the surface, are all recreated wonderfully well in this game."

The game’s plot is replete with pop cultural references that you probably wouldn’t understand unless you lived in Japan in or around this specific time period, and the story might often be slowed down or get confusing as a result, but the core themes, the underlying themes are themes that all of us should identify with strongly, as they speak to our childhood. The feeling of discovery, of amazement, of wonderment, of there being something more, possibly sinister, just beyond the surface, are all recreated wonderfully well in this game.

The actual gameplay part of the game is sparse, like The Starship Damrey. Most of the game consists of conversations, that enhance the game’s excellent characterization so much, and there is also a nice card based battle system to engage your attention, even though the actual battle system is a pretty simple rock-paper-scissors system that relies on pure guesswork more than anything else. Like the actual rock-paper-scissors game, you have to make your own selection, and guess what your opponent will select. There’s not a whole lot of skill, then, like I said, but it does make for a nice change from all the walking around and talking to people that the game otherwise entails.

It’s probably just as well, then, with a gameplay foundation so thin, that Attack of the Friday Monsters doesn’t last more than two to three hours- how would the game’s gameplay mechanics possibly be able to support a full length game? The game would become unbearably shallow and repetitive, in spite of its oodles of charm.

"As it stands now, it is still a great game, but it is, after all, up to you to decide whether you want to spend $7 on a game that is barely longer than the average Nolan blockbuster."

And on the whole, I agree with that premise; I just wish that the game had actually been priced accordingly as well, because $7 is too steep a price considering how little is on offer, even if that little is incredibly well don. It’s disappointing, especially considering the value proposition of other eShop games, such as Crashmo and Level 5’s own Crimson Shroud. It’s disappointing that they have then, slipped up twice since then, first with The Starship Damrey, and now with Attack of the Friday Monsters.

The difference between that game and this, however, is that while The Starship Damrey was a fundamentally flawed game, Attack of the Friday Monsters is not. It is a sweet, charming game that is a great experience, and at a lower price would be recommended to all 3DS owners without hesitation. As it stands now, it is still a great game, but it is, after all, up to you to decide whether you want to spend $7 on a game that is barely longer than the average Nolan blockbuster.

This game was reviewed on the Nintendo 3DS.