August2009
Review Arkanoid Plus! (WiiWare)
Another breakthrough for Taito?
Taito's doing a fine job reviving its classic franchise on WiiWare - Space Invaders was revived with a completely different, fun gameplay style, while three games from the Bubble Bobble series all got decent to great remakes. This one's more like the Bubble Bobble games, in that it's a straight-up remake of the...
July2009
Review Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a Darklord (WiiWare)
Here's your chance to try out life as a Darklord!
As a launch title for the WiiWare service in all regions, the long-titled Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King was highly anticipated by fans of the famous series and city-building enthusiasts alike. Having received positive critical acclaim from the gaming world, which appeared to...
June2009
Review Puzzle Bobble Plus! (WiiWare)
The third Bubble Bobble series remake to hit WiiWare. Is it any good after the somewhat disappointing Rainbow Islands?
Puzzle Bobble - or Bust-A-Move as it's known in North America - is perhaps the most well-known game in the Bubble Bobble series. Almost everybody's played it in some way or form, with multiple versions and a ton of rip-offs over the...
Review Final Fantasy IV: The After Years (WiiWare)
Does this title retain the magic of the original 16-bit release?
We've already seen companies like Capcom and Konami resurrect classic franchises on the WiiWare service, many using the classic 8 and 16-bit visuals found in the original titles to give them even more retro appeal. So it should come as no surprise that Square Enix has also seen fit to...
May2009
Review Dragon Warrior Monsters (Game Boy)
Does this monster-hunting spin off live up to the Dragon Quest name?
It's always a risky proposition when you create a spin-off of an already established and popular franchise, so when Enix decided to take the theme of their hugely popular Dragon Quest series and build a monster-hunting title around it, some RPG fans were more than a little...
Review Crystal Defenders R2 (WiiWare)
Does this second Crystal Defenders release bring enough new material to the table to warrant a look?
Whereas the Xbox Live Arcade and iPhone releases of Crystal Defenders came in one package, Square-Enix has chosen to split the WiiWare release into two separate parts. We've already seen Crystal Defenders R1 released on the service and now we've...
Review Rainbow Islands: Towering Adventure! (WiiWare)
Is there a pot of gold at the end of this rainbow?
So there you are, transformed from a bubble-blowing dinosaur into human form again, ready to start your life afresh – maybe get a flat, a new car and settle into a good routine. But then, before you can say "9 to 5", you gain the ability to fire rainbows and have to use this skill to...
April2009
Review Crystal Defenders R1 (WiiWare)
Break out the safe box.
Trailing off the coattails of Final Fantasy Tactics comes Crystal Defenders, Square's take on the incredibly popular 'Tower Defense' genre. Instead of methodically leveling units, using items, and strategizing your way through battle, you’ll be tasked with defending a set of crystals by means of brute force. Some may be...
Review Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles (GameCube)
Change is good.
After first being officially announced on December 21 at the 2003 Jump Festa event in Japan, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles marked the dawn of a new era for Nintendo fans. After Square Enix packed their bags and left Nintendo’s consoles, the state of the role-playing genre on Nintendo’s consoles was questionable; developer...
Review Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time (DS)
The definitive version of Square Enix's latest FF outing.
Square Enix has made some outlandish choices in the past, but none as strange as their decision to port Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time to the Wii. While the home console version wasn't all that impressive, its portable partner is a much more enjoyable experience. With the...
Review Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time (Wii)
Can the Wii version echo the quality of the DS game it spawned from?
It’s not every day that you hear about a game being ported from console to handheld, let alone the other way around. That’s why when Square Enix announced their plans to do this with Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time many started scratching their heads. For...
Review Bubble Bobble Plus! (WiiWare)
Space Invaders Get Even proved that drastically changing a classic Taito franchise works very well. Bubble Bobble Plus, however, is more of a flat-out remake - is it a good one?
Bubble Bobble's one of the most well-known arcade games - If you so much as hum the theme song to someone it's very likely they'll recognize it. As such it's really a...
Another great RPG hits the DS in the form of Final Fantasy IV.
When Final Fantasy IV was originally released on the SNES in 1991, it quickly became a hit. Unlike many of the other RPGs at the time, it boasted a large cast of characters that were tied into a deep and intriguing plot, and this helped elevate it above the crowd. In 2005, Final Fantasy...
It's not quite as fun as it should be
Released simultaneously with another Taito revival, Space Invaders Extreme, Arkanoid DS is an attempt at trying to breathe life into an old arcade classic. When Arkanoid was originally released, it was essentially a clone of the Atari classic Breakout. Despite this shameless copying, Arkanoid became quite a hit...
The Super Famicom version of Star Ocean might feature a lot of flashy technology, but it's the game's epic storyline and unique combat system that's made it such a beloved classic among 16-bit RPG fans over the years.
The Super Nintendo is well known for sporting a rather large and outstanding library of RPGs, but there were several of these...
Review Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon (Wii)
A fun spin-off in the highly acclaimed Final Fantasy series
When you think of Wii, you may think of very vibrant family friendly games – games that are very easy to pick up and play, as well as those that have little or no challenge. In other words, games that appeal to non-gamers more so than the hardcore veterans. Though Wii holds host to some...
March2009
Review Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume (DS)
Strategy RPG fans rejoice - another gem has come to the DS
Never played a Valkyrie Profile game before? No problem! This is the first time a Valkyrie Profile game has been on a system outside one of Sony's and you need not know a thing about tri-Ace's successful franchise or its history to jump right into the DS's first installment of this 10-year...
Has it stood the test of time?
Without a shadow of a doubt, there will be two groups of people reading this: those who have played Chrono Trigger before, and those who never had the privilege. If you are of the former, then you’ll not find too many surprises waiting you in this remake: most of what you'll find was either included on the SNES...
Review Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen (SNES)
You must succeed in ousting the evil usurpers - your fate, and that of the entire population, depends on it.
The Ogre Battle series has long been a favorite among hardcore strategy fans and it won't take you long to see why that is once you begin playing any of them. This Super Nintendo release of Ogre Battle has become quite a coveted game...
November2008
Review Space Invaders Get Even (WiiWare)
Finally the roles are reversed and those fiendish Space Invaders can get their own back!
After the excellent Space Invaders Extreme, released to coincide with the 30th anniversary of original arcade game of Space Invaders in 1978, it seemed that Taito had finally brought the franchise back after a series of half hearted cash-ins and remakes over the...
October2008
Review Secret of Mana (Virtual Console / Super Nintendo)
Good and evil battle for a young warrior’s heart. There is one force in the universe that keeps good and evil in perfect balance.
As action rpgs started to gain in popularity during the 16-bit era, many game companies began cashing in on this new trend. Some were good, and some not so good. Enix had already created a hit with their action rpg Soul...
May2008
Review Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King (WiiWare)
Is this a game fit for a king or a pauper?
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King, is the first WiiWare game from SquareEnix and they obviously spared no expense in putting this title together. Instead of pitting you in the fighting role, as in most normal Final Fantasy titles, this game puts you in the role of King and allows you full...
March2008
Review King's Knight (Virtual Console / NES)
In the kingdom of Izander, the fair Princess Claire has been kidnapped by a foul and insidious dragon, and it is the mission of four brave fighters to save her.
Since the inception of the Virtual Console, fans have been waiting hopefully for many must-have titles; people usually have one game they’re especially fond of and would like to see given...
May2007
The 'lost' Final Fantasy is at last made available to the English-speaking world. Is it a glorious reinvention of a genre classic, or merely a pointless step back in time?
Given the stature of the Final Fantasy series, it’s somewhat surprising to think that only very recently has the entire franchise been made available to a worldwide audience. Up...
April2007
Review ActRaiser (Virtual Console / Super Nintendo)
Take control of the Master, a dethroned deity whose once-idyllic world has fallen under the control of the Evil One.
When I saw the review of this game in the Mean Machines gaming magazine as a youth I was quite literally heartbroken. My Megadrive was (technically, at least) no longer the most powerful console in the world. Nintendo's new machine...
