Both Mario and Link (four of them, to be precise) drop into Europe for this week's superb update...

This week's European shop updates has some serious big-hitting Nintendo action, with games from the Mario and Zelda franchises releasing on the eShop.

First up is The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords, which will be releasing on both the DSiWare store and the 3DS eShop and will cost absolutely nothing (until mid-February, at least). The release is to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Zelda franchise. Four Swords was originally a bonus multiplayer game in the Game Boy Advance version of Link to the Past, though this release will include all new levels and a full single-player mode.

The 3DS Virtual Console also gets another classic added to its library; this time it's Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins. The well-received Game Boy sequel to Super Mario Land had the debut appearance of Wario, as well as cult power-ups such as the Bunny Ears. It will be available to download on the eShop for �4/�3.60.

Rounding off this week's releases is escapeVektor: Chapter 1 on WiiWare. The game is from Australian developer Nnooo, perhaps best known for the WiiWare launch title Pop. It will be available for 500 Points.

Nintendo usually updates its online stores on Thursday. However, the official release date for Four Swords is this Wednesday, so we may get some Zelda lovin' a tad early than normal.