December2014

  • Review Christmas Wonderland 4 (3DS eShop)

    Straight on the naughty list

    Shovelware is as much a part of Christmas as roasted livestock and silly jumpers, particularly for children whose parents don’t know any better, and it seems that Microvalue isn't happy with ending its Christmas Wonderland series as a trilogy. Christmas Wonderland 4 is a point and click game that has you looking at a...

November2014

  • Review Vacation Adventures: Park Ranger 2 (3DS eShop)

    The mediocre outdoors

    The thing about vacations is that once you go back somewhere, no matter how much you loved it the first time, it's never really going to be quite the same. The people are new, the places might have changed, and your overall experience is likely to be largely different. This isn't the case with Vacation Adventures: Park Ranger...

March2014

  • Review Vacation Adventures: Park Ranger (3DS eShop)

    Park 'n Hide

    Nature. The Great Outdoors. Land of beauty and majesty, where the earth itself holds reign over a freedom and intrinsic order spanning the eons. And, if you’re a hidden object game, a primo place to dump all manner of human-made junk imaginable for people to find. The nature of hidden object games can’t be denied, however, and...

November2013

  • Review Christmas Wonderland 3 (3DS eShop)

    Another name on the naughty list

    It was a cold night, and the gentle snow was just beginning to fall. All throughout Nintendo Life HQ there was evidence of good cheer. After all, Christmas was coming! Martin and Morgan were decorating the tree, newcomer Liam was introducing the team to his home-made eggnog, and Ron was entertaining the children by...

October2013

  • Review Halloween: Trick or Treat 2 (3DS eShop)

    Another hidden-object game? Now that's scary!

    Halloween: Trick or Treat 2 (the sequel to the abysmal Halloween: Trick or Treat on DSiware) is a collection of games that mostly revolve around hidden-object searches, with a continuous focus on spooky settings and creepy themes; it features pre-rendered, quasi-blurry images loaded with junk, where you...

  • Review Mystery Murders: The Sleeping Palace (3DS eShop)

    Dead or just resting?

    You won't have to look long to find quite a few hidden-object games on the 3DS eShop, but the Mystery Murders series stands out by attempting to inject a little soul into the I-Spy formual. Equal parts PC-style adventure game and Where's Waldo whodunit, they frame the item-finding with simple puzzles and spooky stories. The...

April2013

  • Review Mystery Murders: Jack the Ripper (3DS eShop)

    Serial Filler

    Mystery Murders: Jack the Ripper is a hidden-object game that tasks you with solving the mystery that has puzzled the world for well over a century now — just who was Jack the Ripper? Here, you’ll be transported to the Whitechapel district of London during the Autumn of 1888 to attempt to stop the infamous serial killer before he...

March2013

  • Review Easter Eggztravaganza (DSiWare)

    All cracked up

    Whenever a major holiday is just around the corner, it’s no surprise that a flood of related products hit the market just in time to grab the attention of consumers. It happens with almost everything, from food to toys to lawn ornaments, and video games are no exception. While it’s not fair to knock a product for being a blatant...

December2012

  • Review Christmas Wonderland 2 (DSiWare)

    Roast it on an open fire

    A textbook example of a sequel nobody asked for, Christmas Wonderland 2 has graced DSiWare. We guess, however, that we should be somewhat grateful. After all, last year Microvalue released two awful holiday-themed hidden object games: Halloween: Trick or Treat and the first Christmas Wonderland. This year it only left one...

December2011

  • Review Christmas Wonderland (DSiWare)

    Cruel, cruel Santa…

    Christmas is here, with endlessly looping festive songs on the radio, frazzled and angry shoppers seeking toys that are always out of stock, and themed downloads appearing on DSiWare. Christmas Wonderland has arrived: is it a land full of magic and goodwill, or a cheap resort with dogs dressed as reindeer? Christmas Wonderland...