August2013
Review River City Ransom (3DS eShop / NES)
BARF!
River City Ransom — or Street Gangs as it was known upon release in Europe — is arguably one of the most famous fighting titles for Nintendo's 8-bit NES console. Ported from the Japanese Famicom title Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari, the game combined the pugilistic focus of Double Dragon (which was created by the same company, Technōs...
December2012
Review Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward (3DS)
I want to play a game
You wake up in a sealed metal bunker, surrounded by strangers, an odd bracelet secured around your wrist. You're told that there's only one way to escape: earn a certain number of points by participating in a deadly game with and against your fellow prisoners. But who can you rely on? Can you pick out allies from enemies? Would...
June2012
Review Double Dragon II: The Revenge (Wii Virtual Console / NES)
Revenge is sweet
When Double Dragon first hit the arcade scene back in 1987, it was immediately lauded for its intense beat 'em up gameplay and slick visuals and soundtrack. After making pit stops on a number of platforms, the NES included, the game only grew in popularity. So it was only natural that a sequel, Double Dragon II: The Revenge would...
May2012
Less was more
In 2008, a Flash-based platformer/puzzle game called Shift was released online. Its gameplay was a model of brilliant simplicity: levels were constructed from black and white blocks, and the Shift key would flip the room upside down, turn background objects solid and push previously solid objects into the background. It was a premise...
October2011
Review 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors (DS)
Fine, fine, fine
You wake up in a cabin on a ship, clueless as to how you arrived. You soon remember a mysterious figure in a gas mask and an odd odour filling your apartment. Before you have time to put the pieces together, the window cracks and water begins to flood the small space. Either you find a way out of the locked room, or you drown. This...
September2011
Review Defense of the Middle Kingdom (DSiWare)
Middle of the road
Many games take the history of Asian nations as their focus, from the Japanese combat-based Samurai Warriors series to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms games, which use the warring kingdoms of first-century China as their basis. The newest to enter the ring is Defense of the Middle Kingdom, which also focuses on the latter's...
BIT.TRIP for your trip
It's impossible to deny just how successful Gaijin Games has been at capturing the old-school flavor of video games from our past and their ability to mould those sensibilities with modern technology. Their BIT.TRIP series has spawned some of the most popular downloads available on WiiWare and is now making a go at retail...
Review BIT.TRIP COMPLETE (Wii)
Aptly titled
The BIT.TRIP titles have been wildly popular on WiiWare, but despite being able to purchase the games individually, fans of the series have been clamoring for a Wii compilation disc release since the series was completed. With the release of BIT.TRIP COMPLETE, fans not only get the collection they've wanted, but also a wealth of brand...
June2011
Review Pro Jumper! Guilty Gear Tangent!? (DSiWare)
There is no tagline for a title like that
If you’ve never been confused by a video game’s title, now’s your chance! With all of its punctuation and absurdity, Pro Jumper! Guilty Gear Tangent!? is easily one of the most interesting titles on the DSiWare service. As the name suggests, this is a spin-off of the Guilty Gear series of fighting...
Review BlazBlue: Continuum Shift 2 (3DS)
Keeping the 2D brawlers alive and well
The catalogue of 3DS launch games has, arguably, been a mixed bag. Unlike the DS before it, however, the 3DS is quickly building a fantastic stable of fighting games with Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition and Dead or Alive: Dimensions; BlazBlue: Continuum Shift II is no exception. Until now, this stylish 2D...
February2011
Review BIT.TRIP FLUX (WiiWare)
FLUXing good
With the BIT.TRIP series, Gaijin Games has somehow been able to take gamers back to the early days of video gaming while at the same time combining this nostalgic experience with a whole host of challenging and engaging gameplay elements. BIT.TRIP FLUX marks the sixth and final release of the series, and while it might look like little...
November2010
Reward this hound or send it to the pound?
For all of those gamers out there who are looking for a shallow, average dog racing simulator, Derby Dogs is the WiiWare game for you. Stripped down to the bare minimum, this game will allow you to train your dog to be the top racer, but that’s about all that’s offered here. Disguising itself as a pet...
October2010
Review BIT.TRIP FATE (WiiWare)
You can't fight fate
If we've learned anything from the BIT.TRIP series, it's that you don't need a lot of flashy visuals or complicated mechanics to make a great game. The unique combination of old school arcade elements blended together with a host of musical rhythm overtones have given the series a look and feel all its own and made the titles...
September2010
Review Everyday Soccer (DSiWare)
Hardly in the Premier League
When it comes to soccer on the DSi, it really comes down to the Real Soccer franchise, and we're certainly not complaining. For a mere 800 Points you can get a portable, yet retail-quality version of the beautiful game with tons of content. Still, it's nice to see a game like EveryDay Soccer come along. Offering a more...
August2010
Review BlayzBloo: Super Melee Action Battle Royale (DSiWare)
A royale pain
Arc System Works' BlazBlue fighting games, with their unique anime-style visuals and enjoyable fighting engines, have become quite popular among fans of the genre. Of course, this makes it all the more confusing to see them take such a high-quality series and dumb it down for their DSiWare spinoff release BlayzBloo: Super Melee Action...
Oh deer
Deer Captor is a blast from the past, a lazy rehash of a genre over two decades old that lets you blast stuff. The game doesn't look or feel particularly bad upfront - it has decent graphics, clean presentation and well functioning motion controls - but playing it is simply a bore, like you've been sold some watered-down version of those...
June2010
Review Don't Cross the Line (DSiWare)
Simple fun when you're low on funds
If you've ever been a child, you've probably encountered your fair share of activity books. Within these collections of mazes, word searches and other such sources of momentary amusement, arguably the most forgettable of the bunch is the "don't cross the lines" puzzle. It's so underwhelming that if...
May2010
Review BIT.TRIP RUNNER (WiiWare)
Running down a dream
The BIT.TRIP series is one of the shining stars of Nintendo's WiiWare service. The simplicity of the game mechanics would work well on the 30-year-old 8-bit consoles to which they pay homage, but it's the intelligence of design and music-rhythm aspect that makes them so addictive. BIT.TRIP RUNNER is the latest entry in the...
February2010
Review Family Go-Kart Racing (WiiWare)
A pit stop on the road to hell
The family that just can’t get enough of each other is back in their eighth outing on WiiWare. By now, Aksys has had plenty of time to figure out what works and what doesn’t in this series of games. And it was becoming pretty obvious that if these games have a fault (and they’re all pretty flawless) it’s that...
January2010
Review Jazzy Billiards (DSiWare)
Every day I'm hustling
Out of the entire spectrum of bar games to make the digital jump, billiards is second only to poker in delivering really fun interpretations, like Virtual Pool on PC. What makes that series great is a total understanding of why billiards is fun and how to translate that into mechanics that feel more like skill than luck. Arc...
Review Animal Puzzle Adventure (DSiWare)
Puppies and kittens and piglets, oh my
Aksys Games makes most of their living by translating and localising Japanese games for Western markets. Their choices for WiiWare offerings, at least, haven't been great so far, but they've now graced the DSi Shop with partner developer Arc System Works' Animal Puzzle Adventure
December2009
Review The Combatribes (Virtual Console / Super Nintendo)
A beat 'em up that packs very little punch
There was a time when Technos ruled the beat-'em-up genre of fighting games during the 8-bit era with their Double Dragon and River City Ransom titles, but sadly the 16-bit generation wasn't as kind to the company. Once Capcom's Final Fight hit the scene, there was little room left for any other...
Review Castle of Shikigami III (Wii)
Shooting things and shooting the breeze...
The Castle of Shikigami series is one of the more recent shooting franchises to appear in Japanese arcades and subsequently home consoles. Castle of Shikigami III is the first to appear on Wii with Aksys providing the localisation for North America. Combining good looks, humour and challenging gameplay,...
November2009
Review BIT.TRIP VOID (WiiWare)
Don't avoid the VOID
The third release (of six) in Gaijin Games' BIT.TRIP series has quite a bit in common with its predecessors. And that is a good thing. Even better, though, is just how much VOID manages to stand apart from its popular older brothers. Rather than striving to recapture their specific glories, VOID charts territory of its own. And...
Review Family Card Games (WiiWare)
The family that plays drinking games together, stays together
Worn out from extended sessions of Table Tennis, Mini Golf and Slot Car Racing? Feeling like if you have to look at Mommy, Daddy, Billy, or Sarah’s plastic smiling faces one more time you will throw your Wii Remote through the TV? Why not unwind with a few pleasant card games?...
