Moon Chronicles, Shovel Knight, Retro City Rampage headline Nintendo's digital line up

Nintendo has outlined its digital release schedule for 3DS and Wii U for the coming months, packing in several popular indies.

Nintendo chose to send text descriptions for some 3DS and Wii U titles; this is a good thing as some of them are likely to be be unfamiliar to you. Get the skinny below:

3DS digital release schedule

• Retro City Rampage: DX (VBlank Entertainment Inc.) - February 6
  Jump into the 8-bit open-world. Steal cars and outrun the law while jumping on pedestrians for coins and collecting power-ups. Retro City Rampage: DX fuses modern with retro, in a celebration and send-up of the ’80s and ’90s. It features a full Story Mode of open-world missions, along with Arcade Challenges for quick pick-up-and-play action. If free roaming’s your thing, the interactive city full of shops, mini-games, customizations, collectibles and special guest stars should keep you busy too. This definitive version of the game on Nintendo 3DS includes content not found on other platforms.
• Siesta Fiesta (Mojo Bones) – March
  Mojo Bones is proud to present Siesta Fiesta: a colorful blend of block-breaker, pinball and side-scroller. Join the snoozing Siesta – and the fun-loving Fiestas – on this one-of-a-kind adventure across Fiestaville’s eight fun-filled regions, each with its own wacky contraptions and power-ups to interact with. Bounce, boost and rebound your way through frantic time trials, exciting Piñata bosses, a multitude of game mechanics and the madness that is Fiesta mode. Siesta Fiesta lands on the Nintendo 3DS eShop this March.
• Moon Chronicles (Renegade Kid LLC.) – March
  Experience Renegade Kid’s award-winning first-person shooter remastered in glorious 3D. Rebuilt from the ground up to take advantage of Nintendo 3DS, Moon Chronicles delivers an atmospheric first-person sci-fi adventure with enhanced graphics and intuitive touch-screen controls for a truly immersive experience. Join Major Kane on a mysterious mission to Earth’s moon to investigate a unique hatch of unknown origin. Moon Chronicles is the first Nintendo 3DS title to be launched with episodic content. With each new episode, players are brought one step closer to understanding the secrets that lie beneath the surface of the moon.
• Treasurenauts (Renegade Kid LLC.) – May
  The famous Treasurenauts have been marooned on a perilous, uncharted island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean – courtesy of Bad Pirate Pete. His terms for escape are simple: Collect $1 million worth of treasure before he returns to the island, and offer it as payment for passage back to the mainland. Littered with fiendish foes, creepy crawlies and treacherous traps, exploring the many mysterious labyrinths found on the island is a challenge that only the most skilled and fearless Treasurenauts can handle. Even having the choice of equipping a sword, a gun or bombs will only help so much. Enjoy playing Treasurenauts as a single-player adventure or team up with a friend for a cooperative multiplayer expedition via Download Play. Many secrets are to be found on this rambunctious romp, bestowing you with bounties of treasure, extraordinary new abilities and much more.
• Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse (WayForward Technologies) - Q1

Wii U digital release schedule

• Wooden Sen’SeY (Upper Byte Studio) – February
  Wooden Sen’SeY is an action-platformer set in a unique “Japan Steam Rock” universe with tons of humor, varied game play and attitude to spare. You follow Goro, a village chief, as he seeks revenge through a variety of levels. He will defeat his enemies using his axes to slice, dice, squash and grapple. The game features nine original environments, each with its own original music and unique game mechanics. As one of the first Wii U digital titles to be developed with the Unity engine, this game features off-TV game play and integrated motion controls using the Wii U GamePad and Wii Remote and Nunchuk controllers.
• Ittle Dew (Ludosity AB) - February/March
• Ballpoint Universe (Arachnid Games) - March 18
• Armillo (Fuzzy Wuzzy Games) - March 24
• Nihilumbra (Beautifun Games) - March
• Scram Kitty and His Buddy on Rails (Dakko Dakko Ltd.) - March
• Squids Odyssey (The Game Bakers) - March
• Monkey Pirates (Henchmen Studio) - Q1
• Teslagrad (Rain Games) - March/April
• QUBE Director’s Cut (Toxic Games) - April
• Assault Android Cactus (Witch Beam Games) - Q2

Coming to both systems
• Shovel Knight (Yacht Club Games) – March 31
  Shovel Knight is a sweeping classic action adventure game with awesome game play, memorable characters and an 8-bit retro aesthetic. It’s a hot mashup of new and old. You play as the eponymous Shovel Knight, a small knight with a huge quest. Shovel Knight has come to this land with two goals: to defeat the evil Enchantress and quest for his lost beloved. He wields a ShovelBlade: a multipurpose weapon whose techniques have now been lost to the ages. Always honest and helpful, Shovel Knight is a shining example of the code of “Shovelry”: Slash Mercilessly and Dig Tirelessly! The Wii U version of the game features off-TV play and Miiverse integration, while the Nintendo 3DS version uses StreetPass for a unique versus mode sure to be a hit with fans.
• 1001 Spikes (Nicalis) – Q1
  Discover the lost treasures of Ukampa in South America as Aban Hawkins goes to look for his estranged father, world-famous archaeologist Jim Hawkins, who mysteriously disappeared while exploring the ruins. Aban Hawkins races into the frozen tundra of the Antarctic, undiscovered temple ruins and the vast caverns of South America in search of his father and the legendary treasure rumored to lie behind the Golden Door of Poko-Mum. In this classic 8-bit style platformer, Aban has 1,001 lives to complete the 100+ levels filled with devious traps and dangers that will test the limits of his skills, reflexes and patience. The Wii U and Nintendo 3DS versions of the game will both feature one- to four-player simultaneous game play, cooperative multiplayer and unlockable characters.