Finally, Smash Bros. has hit the Nintendo Wii's Virtual Console! I don't know about you guys, but I have been waiting for this to hit since the Wii was first released.

The other games joining Smash for release this week include Ninja Gaiden, Dragon's Lair, and Eco Shooter, just to name a few. The retail side of things is surprisingly not nearly as filled with shovel ware with Guitar Hero: Van Halen popping up, along with some Final Fantasy. It's the last Nintendo Weekly Update before Christmas so let's see what last minute gifts we can ask to be in attendance under our tree.

Retail

  • Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Crystal Bearers

Price: $49.99

System: Wii

Release: Dec. 26, 2009

This game takes place 1000 years after the first Crystal Chronicles, so don't look for the character you had in the last game because he's dead. Instead, you take control of a character named Layle whom just happens to be a "Crystal Bearer" (this means he has magical abilities). You are sent to protect a ship when all of a sudden you are blind sided by monsters, thus the adventure begins!

  • Guitar Hero: Van Halen

Price: $49.99

System: Wii

Release: Dec. 22, 2009

Band specific music games seem to be all the rage lately, with Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, Beatles: Rockband, and the newly announced Greenday: Rockband all on the shelves or shortly hitting them. Guitar Hero: Van Halen features not only the iconic rock group, but also bands like Queens of the Stone Age, Weezer, The Offspring, Blink-182 and Queen. I would be more excited for this title if there weren't a new Guitar Hero out every other month.

WiiWare

  • Eco Shooter

Price: 1,000 Wii Points ($10)

In Eco Shooter you shoot cans that have been animated by aliens to gain "Can Energy"... I'm going to go ahead and recommend that you buy this game if you are a member of Green Peace or your a fan of Whale Wars.

  • Happy Holidays Christmas

Price: 500 Wii Points ($5)

This game stationary app is all about spreading the joy of the Holidays. You use this WiiWare title to send virtual Christmas cards to your friends' Wii Message Boards. No it's not a game at all.

  • Pallurikio

Price: 1,000 Wii Points ($10)

You take control of a round, spherical, globe looking character as he jumps and rolls across different platforms!

  • TV Show King 2

Price: 800 Wii Points ($8)

The sequel to TV Show King, TV Show King 2 offers 8,000 new questions, the abilty to write your very own questions, and online play! Hellz Yeah.

DSiWare

  • Dragon's Lair

Price: 800 DSi Points ($8)

This game is a classic. For those of you who don't know what Dragon's Lair is you guide a hero by the name of Dirk the Daring. It's all about timing in this game, you have to hit the directional buttons when they appear on the screen to help Dirk survive his quest.

  • High Stakes: Texas Hold'Em

Price: 500 DSi Points ($5)

Poker is all over TV and now it can be all over your DSi! If you are a huge fan of poker you may want to to check it out, if your not a fan then maybe you should not take this gamble and invest in another game.

  • Hot and Cold: A 3D Hidden Object Adventure

Price: 800 DSi Points ($8)

Apparently this game has already been released in cartridge form (similar to last week's Rayman). If you like the "Where's Waldo" style "try to find this" books then you should check this out.

  • myNotebook: Green

Price: 200 DSi Points ($2)

There are already myNotebook: Blue and Red, so if you were holding out for green then here is your chance! It features 18 different unlockable paper styles! FUN!

  • UNO

Price: 800 DSi Points ($8)

It's UNO and it's on your DSi. You should invest $8 in this game because not only do you get to play the classic card game on your handheld, but you also get online play. Sick deal if you like UNO.

Virtual Console

  • Ninja Gaiden

System: Arcade

Price: 600 Wii Points ($6)

Arcade games have no standard pricing, but it's usually not nearly this cheap, nor is it a well known game series! This is the game that started the Ninja Gaiden series and you should check it out!

  • Super Smash Bros.

System: Nintendo 64

Price: 1,000 Wii Points ($10)

Nintendo decided to pay homage to this game and make it the 500th game available for download on their system. Super Smash Bros. on the N64 was the game that started the entire Smash Bros. series. Although there are no trophies, a roster of 35, or online play in this installment it is still a fantastic game! It features the original 12 characters and 4-player match-ups. You need to own this game!

That is everything you can look forward to this week for the Nintendo systems. Not a bad week, we get Smash, Final Fantasy, and some Van Halen. If you are still looking for a possible gift for someone these are great ideas. Anyway Game Rant will see you Nintendo fans next week when we check out the recently announced WiiWare title "The Magic Obelisk" by GAME ARTS, along with the first Wii and DS games of the New Year!

What do you think about this week's releases? Picking up any?