December2015
Review The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (Wii U eShop / DS)
An epic sail
When thinking about the best games from the Legend of Zelda series, many automatically jump straight in at the deep end with the big, home console releases; games such as Ocarina of Time and The Wind Waker always seem to make it to the top of peoples' lists. Games often overlooked are those that have appeared on Nintendo's portable...
September2015
Review Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer (3DS)
Home is where the art is
Animal Crossing, while being one of Nintendo's most beloved franchises of the past decade, has taken on a new level of fame thanks to its first 3DS outing, New Leaf. A massive seller all over the world, this quirky and charming life simulation has been instrumental in selling its host hardware to an entirely fresh sector of...
Review Super Mario Maker (Wii U)
Pixel perfect
In the year of Super Mario's 25th Anniversary Nintendo released Super Mario Galaxy 2, a terrific sequel, and the rather uninspired Super Mario All-Stars 25th Anniversary Edition. Not bad, but a continuation of the norm - an accomplished (almost perfect) slice of platforming heaven and another release designed for little more than...
July2015
Review The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Wii U eShop / N64)
A classic for any time
There's little remaining to say that hasn't already been said about The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. A true masterpiece and a genuine game-changer; what was once revolutionary is today simply one of the greatest action/adventure games ever created. Now available to download from the Wii U eShop, this latest release...
June2015
Review Big Brain Academy (Wii U eShop / DS)
So keep on playing those mind games
The advent of the Nintendo DS into the handheld arena back in 2004 ushered in a fresh experience for many gamers, made possible by the system's many new features and abilities. This brand of entertainment was often referred to as "Touch! Generations" by Nintendo, and ran throughout the Nintendo DS and Wii era...
May2015
Prepare to dye
Nintendo is generally relatively circumspect and cautious when introducing new IPs, but considering the pedigree the company has to uphold it's understandable that it doesn't wish to dilute its iconic brand with a torrent of forgettable franchises. Splatoon is unusual in that sense, then, and it's a game that brings a huge amount of...
Review New Super Mario Bros. (Wii U eShop / DS)
LittleBigKingdom
When New Super Mario Bros. released for the Nintendo DS back in 2006, it had been roughly 15 years since the portly plumber starred in a proper 2D platformer. Not only that, but side-scrollers in general had been largely ignored since 1996, when the Nintendo 64 hit the market and assured us that 3D gaming was the way of the future...
April2015
Review Yoshi Touch & Go (Wii U eShop / DS)
Fleeting fun
Between the DS, 3DS and Wii U, Nintendo has delivered many touch screen gaming experiences throughout the years. While some are genuinely creative and/or mechanically deep, others have ended up feeling like little more than an experiment or a tech demo rather than a full-fledged game; Yoshi Touch & Go falls into that latter...
Review Super Mario 64 (Wii U eShop / N64)
Platforming perfection
There are two types of gamer – those who have played Super Mario 64 and those who should. Regularly placing towards the high end of 'best game ever' lists, Super Mario 64 has become a standard name-drop in many a classic gaming debate. Since launching in 1996, there have been a number of successors and contenders for the...
Review Mario Kart DS (Wii U eShop / DS)
Flawed perfection
The 2005 hit, Mario Kart DS, marked a new era for Nintendo and its long-running racing series. This particular iteration was released during a transitional phase for the company, with Nintendo beginning to rethink the conventions of gaming. Mario Kart on the DS mirrored this fresh approach, incorporating a portable online...
February2015
Review Flipnote Studio 3D (3DS eShop)
Striking a nearly perfect note
From its launch in late 2008 until its eventual discontinuation five years later, Flipnote Studio was a smash hit among both the casual and professional creative types. As an application that assisted in creating flip-book style animations on the DSi, the concept was simple, but the amount of creativity that users put...
December2014
Review Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (Wii U)
Another treasure to track down
Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker has been Nintendo's greatest 2014 surprise, announced at E3 and rapidly turned around for a Holiday release — in North America, at least. In theory it's a new IP, too, taking the cute but minor Captain Toad character and providing him with his own game; the whole concept is a spin-off...
July2014
Review Wii Sports Club (Wii U)
Wii Sports Club Assemble!
Wii Sports Club began life as a rather interesting eShop initiative by Nintendo, as sports from the original Wii pack-in were gradually released with multiple purchase options — timed passes for a small amount or a permanent pass for fairly standard download price. With the set of five now complete it's hard to say how...
Review Wii Sports Club: Baseball + Boxing (Wii U eShop)
Swing and a miss
Wii Sports Club has had a rather odd history to date. Released in increments that have been surprisingly spread out, it's attempted to recapture the magic of the Wii bundle title while throwing in Miiverse, MotionPlus controls and GamePad features. Online play has also been a vital inclusion, yet the piecemeal distribution and...
March2014
Review Super Mario Kart (Wii U eShop / SNES)
A timely boost for a classic
With a PAL release a mere nine months after the April 1992 launch of the UK SNES, during a 16-bit era where show-boating superior technology and exceptional console power was at the forefront of Nintendo’s objectives, Super Mario Kart remained humble in exhibiting its technical prowess. European gamers had been...
Review Ice Hockey (Wii U eShop / NES)
Not that cool any more
Nintendo released a number of sports titles in the NES era, a reflection of a simpler time when having a fancy home console was enough of a novelty that a game simply called Ice Hockey would seem like an awesome prospect. You like Ice Hockey? You've got Nintendo? Get Ice Hockey, which is Ice Hockey on your Nintendo! That...
January2014
Review Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels (Wii U eShop / NES)
Super Masochist Bros.
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels is the famously difficult, Japan-only sequel to the titular plumber's breakout NES hit, expanding on the original formula with deviously challenging level design and obstacles. Western audiences were instead given the comparatively easy 'Super Mario USA' (a re-skinned translation of Nintendo's...
Review Super Mario Bros. 3 (3DS eShop / NES)
Pixel-perfect platforming
Many old-school Nintendo titles are remembered fondly and adored by nostalgic fans; The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Kirby’s Adventure and more still receive heaps of praise and see frequent re-releases to this day. Few games, however, received the unanimous commendations lavished upon Super Mario Bros. 3 on its release, an...
Review Super Mario Bros. 3 (Wii U eShop / NES)
A truly super Mario game
Super Mario Bros. 3’s recent arrival on the Wii U eShop seemed like a conspicuously low-key affair compared to the considerable hype that surrounded its hugely anticipated original release back the early nineties. However, that doesn't mean that the lack of booming fanfare should be interpreted as a cause for concern; over...
December2013
Review Wii Sports Club: Golf (Wii U eShop)
Definitely under par (that's a good thing)
It seems slightly odd that, nearly two-and-a-half years after it made an appearance in the big reveal of Wii U at E3 2011, we now finally get to play Wii Sports Club: Golf. Perhaps unlike its contemporaries to date — Bowling and Tennis — this is the first of the new download-only series that feels like...
Review The Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past (SNES)
A link to perfection
It's no accident that when Nintendo first decided to do a direct 3DS sequel to a Zelda title, it chose The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past as its reference point. A Link Between Worlds is set some years after the events of the 1991 SNES classic, but it uses a very similar map layout and very effectively tickles that...
November2013
Review Wii Sports Club: Bowling (Wii U eShop)
No splits here
When it comes to the games in the original Wii Sports that felt the most realistic and compelling, Bowling would have to be a candidate as the best of the lot. Golf and Baseball may have a say, too, while Tennis and Boxing — most definitely the latter — perhaps had the greatest degree of waggle. The fact Bowling reappeared in...
Review Wii Sports Club: Tennis (Wii U eShop)
What the deuce?
Way back at E3 2011, in that Wii U reveal that rather bizarrely confused half of those watching, Nintendo showed remixes of Wii Sports events that showed the GamePad being utilised in creative ways. It's perhaps surprising that over two years after that visual demo, we're just now seeing the iconic Wii pack-in make its way to...
September2013
Review Zelda II: The Adventure Of Link - Unforgiving But Underappreciated
Zelda II, have you any tough dungeons? Yes sir, yes sir...
Back in the early days of several franchises, the second game in a series tended to be radically different from the first, as developers had not quite pinned down what they wanted the series to become. Take a look at Castlevania II or the Western Super Mario Bros. 2, for example. Zelda II:...
Review Super Mario Bros. (Wii U eShop / NES)
Forever running to the right
Mario. Say it loud and there's music playing. Say it soft, and it's almost like praying. Super Mario Bros. was, is, and will always be one of gaming's great masterpieces, and its availability on any additional format is a good thing. It's come to the Wii and 3DS Virtual Consoles before, and now jumps onto the Wii U...