February2024
Review Ufouria: The Saga 2 (Switch) - A Cheerful Throwback To Sunsoft's '90s Platformers
At your leisure
This is, for lack of a better descriptor, charming; a rekindling of an IP and a platforming vibe not seen rendered in such authentic fashion for some time. Ufouria: The Saga 2’s simplicity is to its credit, keeping it real to the source material and the vast catalogue of action platform games that informed much of the Nintendo...
July2023
Mini Review Gimmick! Special Edition (Switch) - A Rare And Wonderful 8-Bit Gem
Shoot for the stars
Gimmick! is one of the most valuable after-market titles for the Famicom, and even more so for the NES, where it only received a limited release in Scandinavia as Mr. Gimmick. Sunsoft, the publisher, was an unsung hero of the 8 and 16-bit gaming eras, with titles like Batman, Gremlins 2, Panorama Cotton, and Waku Waku 7 to its...
June2017
Review Galaxy Fight: Universal Warriors (Switch eShop / Neo Geo)
In space, no one can hear you yawn
When the one-on-one fighting game gold rush took place in the '90s it seemed that practically every developer or publisher had their own take on the genre, and as you might expect, not all of these efforts turned out to be classics. Sunsoft fared better than most - Waku Waku 7 remains one of the most unique...
March2017
Review Waku Waku 7 (Switch eShop / Neo Geo)
Seventh heaven
The Neo Geo was a system blessed with more than its fair share of one-on-one fighters, which is perhaps why Sunsoft felt it was necessary to take a slightly different approach with Waku Waku 7, the sequel to the rather more serious Galaxy Fight, which launched a year beforehand in 1995. This release not only allowed Sunsoft to create...
February2015
Review Blaster Master (Wii U eShop / NES)
Master your blast!
The latest eShop release of Sunsoft's 1988 NES classic, Blaster Master, marks the title's third Virtual Console appearance. With the game previously sighted on the Wii and more recently the 3DS, now it's the Wii U's turn to host this side-scrolling and top-down platform shooter that has since spawned an entire series. The western...
August2014
Review Ufouria: The Saga (Wii U eShop / NES)
A Ufouric experience
Retro-style indie platformers are all the rage these days, so you'd be forgiven for thinking Sunsoft's Ufouria: The Saga is simply another in the long line of 2D NES-inspired modern titles on the eShop like Shovel Knight, 1001 Spikes, and Insanity's Blade. Released in 19
January2013
Review Blaster Master (3DS eShop / NES)
Master of blasters
When it was originally released in Japan as Meta Fight, Blaster Master failed to make much of an impact. In the west, however, it was retooled slightly and given a new story about a boy and his pet frog, and became a cult classic that spawned multiple sequels - several of which ended up not even being released in Japan. On the...
January2012
Review Trip World (3DS eShop / GB)
Bad trip?
Sunsoft made a ton of great games for Nintendo systems back in the day. Everybody knows the likes of Blaster Master and the NES Batman game, but they also had a ton of equally great games which people simply didn't find out about. We've already had some, like Ufouria: The Saga and Lock 'N Chase, but thankfully it's continuing its support,...
December2011
Review Blaster Master: Enemy Below (3DS eShop / GBC)
Underground hit
When the original Blaster Master made its appearance on the NES in 1988, it was lauded for its unique gameplay style and vast environment. Sunsoft would follow up the game with releases on Sega's Genesis and Nintendo's Game Boy, but it wasn't until it decided to create a sequel for Nintendo's Game Boy Color that Nintendo fans really...
October2011
Fun to the third power?
Mahjong solitaire has appeared on just about every console since the dawn of video games, though their developers generally remain content with sticking to the basic formula. Mahjong CUB3D takes a different path in exactly the way the title suggests – by wrapping the puzzle around a 3D framework. But does the new take on...
October2010
What the macabre sixties sitcom were they thinking?
Uncle Fester of the Addams Family has to save the world from aliens in this cheap cash in on a beloved franchise. So, why is Fester's Quest so terrible? The reasons go on and on. This will remind you to go enjoy a nice day outside, play a board game or clean your kitchen. Any activity you could...
September2010
Sticking to the basics
Whilst many will think of 8-bit classics like Blaster Master when they hear the Sunsoft name, one of their biggest brands has been Shanghai, with new editions for every handheld and console over the past decade or so. Preceding Shanghai Wii by two years, the handheld and console titles have little in common beyond the same...
August2010
Review Aero the Acrobat 2 (Virtual Console / Super Nintendo)
Everything you could want out of a sequel
About the time mascot games began exploding on the Super Nintendo console, Sunsoft jumped on the bandwagon with the release of their original platformer Aero the Acrobat. While the game featured many of the classic platforming elements that were showing up in the games of the time period, it was criticized...
Review Batman: The Video Game (Game Boy)
Holy platforming joy!
Gotham City is not a safe place to live. Goons and robotic drones roam the streets shooting anything in sight, gun turrets fire on people and heavy objects randomly fall from the sky. If the citizens of Gotham somehow manage to survive all that, they have to contend with the fact that the city was designed and built by prats,...
July2010
Review Aero the Acrobat (Virtual Console / Super Nintendo)
Will you go aerobatty for Aero?
Everybody into gaming at the time remembers the "cool mascot" craze during the early 90's; Sega was heavily in on it with Sonic and a whole bunch of other companies tried to cash in on it as well. Sunsoft's attempt came in the form of Aero the Acrobat – a bat with attitude who works as an acrobat in the...
Review Ufouria: The Saga (Wii Virtual Console / NES)
Easy Mode Metroid
The original Metroid was a ground-breaking game for its time, but it feels incredibly dated to anyone playing it for the first time now. The lack of a map makes navigating the seemingly endless identical corridors way more annoying than it should be for newcomers, whereas those who know the game inside out can beat it within an...
February2010
Review Blaster Master: Overdrive (WiiWare)
A blast from the past gets a makeover
Over the years, Sunsoft's NES Blaster Master release has become a favourite among fans of the console. Not only has it gone on to become a true cult classic for the system, it's also been called one of the most innovative gameplay experiences of the 8-bit era. Now Sunsoft is back and after having recently...
December2009
Review Blaster Master (Wii Virtual Console / NES)
It's a blast!
We saw a lot of legendary titles come out of the 8-bit era of gaming, but probably none quite as ahead of its time as Blaster Master. The game combined so many different gameplay ideas into one amazing adventure that offered up more playability than probably any other title of its kind at that time. There was platforming, exploration,...
August2009
Review Final Fantasy Legend III (Game Boy)
Is the third time the charm for the Final Fantasy Legends series?
Like many of the other NES and Super NES marquee titles of the era, a Final Fantasy appearance on the Game Boy was almost a foregone conclusion. The series began life in Japan under the title of SaGa, but thankfully Squaresoft was kind enough to bring the three Japanese Game Boy...
July2009
Sunsoft brings the classic match-two game to Wii.
Shanghai is the name Activision gave to series of simple matching games featuring patterns of stacked mahjong tiles on the Apple Macintosh and later Wintel PCs (other companies have sold the same game with various other names; the game is generically known as "mahjong solitaire" or...
June2008
Review Super Fantasy Zone (Virtual Console / Sega Mega Drive)
Take on the role of Opa-Opa, who is on a mission to avenge the death of his father.
Given that the original Fantasy Zone achieved quite a cult status in arcades and on the various 8-bit consoles of the time period, it's certainly no surprise that the game spawned a few sequels and spin-offs. Super Fantasy Zone represents what many fans of the series...
