October2019
Review Beast Quest - Don't Be A Hero, Stick With The Books
Positively beastly
If you’re of a certain age, the Beast Quest books were likely a staple of your childhood. Having first launched in 2007 with Ferno the Fire Dragon, the series has been going strong for twelve years and shows no signs of slowing down. Including the first four books scheduled for publication next year, there are currently an...
November2015
Review Barbie and her Sisters Puppy Rescue (Wii U)
Pawfully Repetitive
If there's one thing truly great thing about rescuing puppies in Barbie and Her Sisters Puppy Rescue, it's not the satisfaction of doing a good deed, or the subsequent obedience training you can do to ensure well-behaved canine friends. No, it's the sweet bicycle ride Barbie has on her journey to puppy saving. Barbie and Her...
June2014
Review How to Train Your Dragon 2 (3DS)
How to train your dragon 2 do what?!
Handheld versions of 3D console games are always a tricky task; most of the successful ones avoid straight-up ports that are inevitably inferior to their home console brethren, and instead build the portable iterations from the ground up with 2D handheld gaming in mind. Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate did this...
Review How to Train Your Dragon 2 (Wii U)
Needs a bit more training
How to Train Your Dragon 2, developed by Australian studio Torus Games and published by Little Orbit, is a throwback to movie tie-ins of yore. Most big action films these days opt for cheaper, often microtransaction-based game tie-ins on mobile devices, like Captain America: The Winter Soldier and
February2014
Review Barbie Dreamhouse Party (Wii U)
Problems with plasticity
It's easy to dismiss licensed games like Barbie Dreamhouse Party as cheap cash-ins on popular franchises because, in all honesty, that's usually what they are. Creating a video game based on a classic line of dolls may seem like a step in the right direction towards our increasingly digital future, but it comes with the...
April2013
Review The Croods: Prehistoric Party! (Wii U)
Croodités
As a video game adaptation of Dreamworks' cave-dweller caper, The Croods: Prehistoric Party casts the film's characters in a Mario Party-style experience for up to four players. It borrows heavily from Nintendo's series, linking disparate mini-games together with a simple board game conceit. Like the movie's titular Neanderthal family...
February2013
Review Rise of The Guardians: The Video Game (3DS)
A bad game gets an even worse port
When it comes to a portable version of a recent console game, there are two approaches developers can take. The first is to create a brand new experience, independent from the original. The Sonic Colours team did this, and we're glad they did; instead of one great game we got two, and the portable version was...
Review Rise of The Guardians: The Video Game (Wii U)
A legendary failure
In Rise of the Guardians: The Video Game you take command of a small army of characters, each of whom is designed around a childhood legend. You have characters based on Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, the Sand Man, and Jack Frost. They are coming together to fight a common evil: the sinister Pitch, who wants the...
December2010
Review Scooby-Doo! and the Spooky Swamp (DS)
Decent but a bit murky
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! premiered over 40 years ago, introducing television audiences to the lovable Mystery Inc. team and its unique line-up of distinct characters, each charming in their own way. It followed them as they took on spooky yet ridiculous case after case, and over time the show firmly embedded the phrase...
Review Scooby-Doo! and the Spooky Swamp (Wii)
A Scooby Snack's worth of fun
The latest game based on the hit animated franchise now creeping into its fifth decade, Scooby-Doo! and the Spooky Swamp, is a platformer that should feel familiar to fans – as a licensed game, it taps into the huge built-in audience of the show that has, over the years, demonstrated a very high tolerance for...
