Sonic Wrecks recently posted a video from SEGA’s official library that dates way back to 1992, from a time when the plumber-hedgehog rivalry was at boiling point. Just watch the first minute of this video and revel in the brazen way SEGA took on Mario way back when.

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As the new trailer below shows, you can shout at your character to give them an extra bit of power. While it might make you look a bit odd out in public, it’s only helping a necktie-wearing gorilla to win an Olympic medal; nothing that could get you committed.

North American 3DS owners can get a free trial of the game next week as part of the 3DS demo download program.

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[1] denotes last week’s position. [N] indicates game is a new entry. [-] indicates a non-mover.

Popular Last Week — All Downloads

In a surprising turn, excellent puzzler Pushmo has overtaken Club Nintendo reward 3D Classics: Xevious to take the silver medal spot in this week’s chart. Both Xevious and Mario vs. Donkey Kong are only Club Nintendo rewards until 10th January, so be quick if you want to snap them up.

1. [-] Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again!
2. [3] Pushmo
3. [2] 3D Classics: Xevious
4. [-] Freakyforms: Your Creations, Alive!
5. [6] Mighty Switch Force
6. [7] 3D Classics: Kirby’s Adventure
7. [5] The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening DX
8. [-] Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins
9. [-] Plants vs. Zombies
10. [12] Super Mario Land
11. [-] Photo Dojo
12. [13] Kirby’s Dream Land
13. [14] Tetris
14. [N] VVVVVV
15. [10] Metroid II: Return of Samus
16. [-] Bloons TD
17. [15] Cut the Rope
18. [-] Mario Clock
19. [17] GO Series: 10 Second Run
20. [19] Inchworm Animation

Popular Last Week — 3DS Download Software

Xevious is toppled by Nintendo Life eShop Game of the Year winner Pushmo. Richly deserved.

1. [2] Pushmo
2. [1] 3D Classics: Xevious
3. [-] Freakyforms: Your Creations, Alive!
4. [-] Mighty Switch Force
5. [-] 3D Classics: Kirby’s Adventure
6. [N] VVVVVV
7. [8] 3D Classics: Excitebike
8. [7] Let’s Golf! 3D
9. [6] Thriller (video)
10. [9] Pyramids
11. [-] 3D Classics: Urban Champion
12. [10] Night of the Living Carrots (video)
13. [12] The Pig Who Cried Werewolf (video)
14. [13] 3D Classics: TwinBee

Popular Last Week — DSiWare

No repeat of Cut the Rope’s recent up-15, down-15 performance, but three new entries make it into the top 20.

1. [-] Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again!
2. [-] Plants vs. Zombies
3. [-] Photo Dojo
4. [5] Bloons TD
5. [4] Cut the Rope
6. [7] Mario Clock
7. [6] GO Series: 10 Second Run
8. [-] Inchworm Animation
9. [10] Tetris Party Live
10. [9] Anonymous Notes Chapter 1 — From the Abyss
11. [-] Nintendo Countdown Calendar
12. [-] Cave Story
13. [-] Zenonia
14. [-] Bomberman Blitz
15. [16] Mario Calculator
16. [N] Cake Ninja
17. [-] Face Pilot: Fly with Your Nintendo DSi Camera!
18. [N] Doodle Fit
19. [N] Come On! Heroes
20. [15] Army Defender

Popular Last Week — 3DS Virtual Console

Bionic Commando grabs a spot just outside the top ten, with all games but the top two moving places. Weird.

1. [-] The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening DX
2. [-] Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins
3. [4] Super Mario Land
4. [5] Kirby’s Dream Land
5. [6] Tetris
6. [3] Metroid II: Return of Samus
7. [8] Mega Man: Dr. Wily’s Revenge
8. [9] Pac-Man
9. [10] Donkey Kong
10. [11] Game & Watch Gallery
11. [7] Blaster Master: Enemy Below
12. [N] Bionic Commando
13. [16] BurgerTime Deluxe
14. [12] Double Dragon
15. [13] Mario’s Picross
16. [14] Gargoyle’s Quest
17. [18] Golf
18. [15] Adventure Island
19. [17] Catrap
20. [19] Radar Mission

Popular Last Week — Video Charts

Here are the 20 most popular videos across North America last week.

1. [2] Nintendo 3DS Camera Preview
2. [3] Swapnote Video
3. [5] Mighty Switch Force Teaser Trailer
4. [N] Nintendo Show 3D: December 29, 2011
5. [1] Nintendo Show 3D: December 15, 2011
6. [6] Mighty Switch Force Teaser Trailer #2
7. [4] Pushmo Video
8. [7] Nintendo Show 3D: December 1, 2011
9. [N] Super Mario 3D Land Super Play Video
10. [11] 3D Classics: Kirby’s Adventure Video
11. [12] What Is Nintendo Video?
12. [8] Freakyforms: Your Creations, Alive! Video
13. [10] Mutant Mudds Video
14. [9] Sonic Generations Video
15. [13] Tetris Video
16. [17] Pokedex 3D Video
17. [N] Pokedex 3D Video
18. [19] The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D Video
19. [16] Zelda: Skyward Sword Opening Trailer
20. [-] The Legend of Zelda Hollywood Concert Coverage

After the break we’ve got all-time charts. There may be some surprises.

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All-Time Best Sellers — All Downloads

Quite a few movers in the all-time chart, with 3DS downloads 3D Classics: Kirby’s Adventure, Pushmo and Freakyforms all climbing. That’s what we like to see.

1. [-] 3D Classics: Excitebike
2. [-] The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening DX
3. [-] Super Mario Land
4. [5] Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again!
5. [4] Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins
6. [-] Kirby’s Dream Land
7. [-] 3D Classics: Xevious
8. [-] Plants vs. Zombies
9. [10] 3D Classics: Kirby’s Adventure
10. [12] Pushmo
11. [13] Freakyforms: Your Creations Alive!
12. [9] Donkey Kong
13. [11] Photo Dojo
14. [14] Let’s Golf! 3D
15. [-] Anonymous Notes Chapter 1 — From the Abyss
16 [-] GO Series: 10 Second Run
17. [-] Inchworm Animation
18. [-] Cave Story
19. [-] Mario Clock
20. [-] Metroid II: Return of Samus

All-Time Best Sellers — 3DS Download Software

More people have bought VVVVVV since Thursday than have bought Pyramids since October.

1. [-] 3D Classics: Excitebike
2. [-] 3D Classics: Xevious
3. [-] 3D Classics: Kirby’s Adventure
4. [-] Pushmo
5. [-] Freakyforms: Your Creations, Alive!
6. [-] Let’s Golf 3D
7. [-] Thriller (video)
8. [-] Mighty Switch Force
9. [-] 3D Classics: Urban Champion
10. [11] Night of the Living Carrots (video)
11. [10] 3D Classics: TwinBee
12. [N] VVVVVV
13. [12] Pyramids
14. [13] The Pig Who Cried Werewolf (video)

All-Time Best Sellers — DSiWare

Bloons continues to sell well, floating into the top 15 after making its first appearance at number 18 last week.

1. [-] Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again!
2. [-] Plants vs. Zombies
3. [-] Photo Dojo
4. [-] Anonymous Notes: Chapter 1 — From the Abyss
5. [-] GO Series: 10 Second Run
6. [7] Inchworm Animation
7. [6] Cave Story
8. [-] Mario Clock
9. [10] Tetris Party Live
10. [9] Zenonia
11. [-] Shantae: Risky’s Revenge
12. [-] Army Defender
13. [-] Bomberman Blitz
14. [-] Nintendo Countdown Calendar
15. [18] Bloons TD
16. [-] Mario Calculator
17. [15] Anonymous Notes: Chapter 2 — From the Abyss
18. [17] Pop Island — Paperfield
19. [20] Cut the Rope
20. [19] Dr. Mario Express

All-Time Best Sellers — 3DS Virtual Console

Link remains unbeaten but further down the charts Blaster Master: Enemy Below takes a bump to move up three places.

1. [-] The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening DX
2. [-] Super Mario Land
3. [-] Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins
4. [-] Kirby’s Dream Land
5. [-] Donkey Kong
6. [-] Metroid II: Return of Samus
7. [-] Mega Man: Dr. Wily’s Revenge
8. [-] Game & Watch Gallery
9. [10] Pac-Man
10. [9] Mario’s Picross
11. [-] Gargoyle’s Quest
12. [13] Tetris
13. [12] Alleyway
14. [-] Baseball
15. [-] Double Dragon
16. [-] Tennis
17. [20] Blaster Master: Enemy Below
18. [-] Radar Mission
19. [17] Avenging Spirit
20. [-] Burgertime Deluxe

And we’re done.

How Japanese Folklore Inspired Mario’s Tanooki Suit – This year saw Mario’s betailed suit hit the headlines again, so it’s good to learn more about where it came from, courtesy of Chris Ingram.

The Development Process of Go! Go! Kokopolo – An in-depth take on one of DSiWare’s best games; full of character and quality, Zach’s article was a great look at how it all came together.

Nintendo Life Book Club: Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest – Nobody slates awful games and books like Philip J. Reed. One of the most entertaining reads we’ve ever published.

A Peek Behind the BIT.TRIP Curtain – BIT.TRIP is the best series on WiiWare, and Jon’s feature on its development was superb.

The History of BIT.TRIP Part 1, The History of BIT.TRIP Part 2 and Wii Controllers – What Could Have Been – There are some fascinating Wii Remote patents out there, so Tom Whitehead took a look at what the now-iconic controller could have become. Really interesting read.

10 Life Lessons Learned from Mega Man – Phil loves his Mega Man series and this list of important life lessons was even picked up by Capcom. Includes gems like “However Much You May Fight, Your Family Loves You”.

Re-Examining Zelda: Twilight Princess – Jacob Crites took a long, hard look at one of Link’s most divisive adventures and came up with one of my favourite lines of the year: “The dorky clowns in Lake Hylia didn’t have to transform into muscle-bound hunks for Midna to see their true personalities. Why did she have to transform into a big blue hottie for us to see hers?”

My Best Stuff

I’ve written quite a lot of news, features and reviews in 2011 – probably close to 1,500 I think – but here are some of my favourites.

The Sonic Games That Never Were – Beta and cancelled Sonic games that never saw the light of day.

Celebrating 10 Years of Animal Crossing – A look back at a decade of Bells and talking animals. I love this series and it’s good to say so.

Preview: Super Mario 3DS and a later Preview: Super Mario 3D Land – The latter preview is probably the hardest I’ve had to write, and now I look back at it it isn’t as good as I remember. Still, it’s a good sign of just how far we’ve come as a site.

A huge and heartfelt thanks to everyone who takes the time to contribute to Nintendo Life. I genuinely appreciate all your hard work and believe we have one of the best teams out there.

Here’s to an even more exciting and successful 2012.

For North America, the biggest news is Kid Icarus: Uprising’s release date of 23rd March, but there’s a bit more to discover in the list below; Rayman Origins is on course for a release in the first quarter, for instance.

As before Nintendo remarks this is a partial list of upcoming games, so if your favourite game — let’s say, just for instance, Animal Crossing — isn’t there, don’t panic.

Nintendo 3DS Software in Early 2012

Nicktoons MLB 3D — March
Resident Evil® Revelations — Feb. 7
Circle Pad Pro Accessory — Feb. 7
METAL GEAR SOLID® 3D Snake Eater — Q1
Pro Evolution Soccer 2012 — January
TEKKEN 3D Prime Edition — February
Tales of the Abyss® — Feb. 14
Kid Icarus: Uprising — March 23
Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games™ — Feb. 14
CRUSH™3D — Q1
NCIS The Video Game (Based on the TV Series) — March 6
Horses 3D — March 6
Funky Barn — Q1
Rayman® Origins — Q1