February2022
Review Ocean's Heart (Switch) - Charming 2D Zelda-Like With Obvious Nods To Minish Cap
The Legend of Talia: The Wind Wannabee
When someone talks about spiritual successors in the video game industry, a few names immediately come to mind. Stardew Valley, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, and Yooka-Laylee all aimed to bring back genres synonymous with long dormant franchises. If a spiritual successor exists to bring back something...
January2012
Review 40-in-1 Explosive Megamix (DSiWare)
More is less
You’re given a bag of sweets. On the outside they’re a bit misshapen or broken up, but at least they’re brightly coloured, there’s a big variety of flavours and there are plenty of them, right? The first one doesn’t taste quite right. Neither does the second one. Nor the third. Half the bag has to be thrown in the bin when all...
October2011
Review 101-in-1 Explosive Megamix (WiiWare)
101 reasons to avoid this
One hundred and one games. It's a tempting proposition isn't it? It's unlikely that as an average consumer you will play, let alone purchase, one hundred and one games in a whole year, so when Nordcurrent comes a-knockin' at your door and offers you exactly that many titles for the low, low price of 700 Points, you'd be...
August2011
Review Monochrome Racing (WiiWare)
Unintelligent design
One of the best modes in the Micro Machines games was undoubtedly “Head-To-Head”, in which the goal was to reach the furthest edge of the screen while pushing an opponent to the opposite side. The balance of risk and reward resulted in a nail biting play experience where one mistake would cost you dearly, the most talented...
July2011
Review Jewel Keepers: Easter Island (DSiWare)
Semi-precious stones
No one knows what it is that makes match-three puzzle games so fun and addictive to play, but it’s unavoidable. Wherever you turn, match-three puzzles exist, and it’s clear that DSiWare is no exception to that rule. With games such as Bejeweled Twist and Ikibago already available, Jewel Keepers: Easter Island is in good...
March2011
Review Monster Buster Club (DSiWare)
Will the kids win or get busted?
The gargantuan success of the DS and subsequently the DSi has meant that the little handheld has become a prime device for games based on children’s television and film. The latest in the list of games targeting this audience has arrived on DSiWare, Monster Buster Club. Does this collection of mini games bring...
Review Arcade Essentials (WiiWare)
We’re gaming like it’s 1979
Before the modern era of electronic entertainment, a major venue for any gamer was the local arcade. These establishments were noisy fun factories featuring enough flashing lights to cause fits, homes to huge game machines that were simple and addictive – the perfect combination for separating you from your pocket...
February2011
Review Jewel Keepers: Easter Island (WiiWare)
You cannot do that!
Jewel Keepers: Easter Island owes a debt to Bejeweled, falling within the range of 'match three' games which have sprung up over the last few years. Popcap's game had been around for a while but became a huge success on ITunes and Facebook, creating scores of imitators in the process. So where does this particular imitator fall?...
January2011
This tractor's a little bit rusty
Nordcurrent don't have a great record when it comes to WiiWare, having brought us the some stinkers such as Robin Hood: The Return Of Richard and 5 Arcade Gems. Now we have Urbanix, where you play as a tractor who is simply trying to build a town on an empty field, while cloning the gameplay of arcade classic Qix...
May2010
Review Robin Hood: The Return of Richard (WiiWare)
Another porting disaster
WiiWare has already seen a few ports of iPhone games, but this one in particular has to take the cake as the laziest of all. A shooting gallery game based around the legend of Robin Hood, you must protect the people of Nottingham from the seemingly endless hordes of knights running around. As this is a Wii game we're talking...
April2010
Review 5 Arcade Gems (WiiWare)
Gems? More like paste.
The term "arcade" has seemingly come to be synonymous with a game that has a "pick-up-and-play" feel to it, just as arcade games of old. Of course the motivation of manufacturers of these arcade machines was to encourage players to drop coins on games they hadn't seen before, in the hopes they would enjoy...
October2009
A mini-game too far...
Mini-games. One might say that mini-game (or, more nicely, "party game") collections have a serious presence on the Wii; it is often a fact bemoaned by more "hard-centred" gamers. Some of these titles are amongst the more successful games on the platform: both Carnival Games and Game Party have done quite...
May2009
Review Minon: Everyday Hero (Wii)
He may be an everyday hero, but Minon certainly isn't ordinary...
The Japanese have a rightly earned reputation for releasing oddball game titles; it's not so much that the gameplay is unusual, but the content itself. Minon: Everyday Hero (Go! Go! Minon in Japan) is a prime example, seeing as the titular super hero does mundane things like helping...
