Kirby's Pinball Land hits Nintendo 3DS eShop this week

Nintendo has revealed the latest batch of games and updates heading for its eShop this week, and there's a bit of a cult classic among them.

Sonic The Hedgehog wasn't the only platform character to appear in an inspired pinball hybrid in 1993, you know. Around the same time as Sonic Spinball was wowing (or at least mildly entertaining) Mega Drive owners, Kirby's Pinball Land was launching on the original Nintendo Game Boy.

In fact, as far as I can recollect, Kirby's Pinball Land was the better game, but that could just be my latent 12-year-old Nintendo fanboy gene kicking in.

Kirby's Pinball Land plays very much like a game of pinball, you'll be unsurprised to hear. Being a big round blob, Kirby himself is perfectly designed to play the role of ball. You must zing him around each of the three tables, racking up points and hitting targets.

Each table has three levels for you to skilfully ascend, with the ultimate reward being a ride to the boss stage. Each stage also has a mini-game section to unlock, including a fun little footy-themed one.

Kirby's Pinball Land will set you back £2.70 on the Virtual Console, and if you can stomach the basic black-and-white visuals, you may get a surprising amount of enjoyment for your money.

Later this week, Nintendo is also launching 3D RPG Planet Crashers, multiplayer sports sim Decathlon 2012 (which will also work on the Nintendo DSi), and budget puzzle game Candle Route (ditto). Oh, and some more video clips featuring a wizard and some plants, if you're interested.

Fans of Theatrhythm Final Fantasy (we included) will be pleased to hear that four add-on stages have been included in this week's update, which will set you back 90p each.

All this will be available on the Nintendo eShop later this week.