DS Reviews - Page 2

Rockin' robot or CPUke?

Innovative puzzle games are few and far between, and TINcan! Escape is up there with some of the more interesting concepts we've seen. While it rests on a quality foundation, however, some uneven spots and lacklustre presentation make this rolling robot wobble on its wheels. Two rival scientists compete to have their design become the next model in production, the more..

Half RTS, half adventure, halfway fun

2009 saw the release of LEGO Battles to complement the action orientation of the main series titles, with a second iteration now aiming once more to provide a light and accessible real time strategy experience within the LEGO world. Unfortunately, LEGO Battles: Ninjago tries to spread its shallow formula too far...

A pleasant, if stumpy, puzzler

Many puzzle games that originated on the PC have made a successful transition to the DS; following their lead is City Interactive's latest handheld release, a scaled down version of Chronicles of Mystery: The Tree of Life from 2009. Especially in the case of one that's as well-crafted as this, there's nothing wrong with introducing an old game to a new audience..

Not much of a sequel

A few years ago, MumboJumbo published the Hot Lava-developed 7 Wonders of the Ancient World, a very average Bejeweled clone. Since then, our standards for DS puzzle fare have gotten a little bit higher, and MumboJumbo has updated its previous release to hopefully meet these standards. Enter 7 Wonders II. The formula remains the same: switch adjacent symbols to make matches of..

A celestial pup worthy of your praise

Back in 2008, a two year old PS2 ‘game of the year’ was ported to the Wii amid much critical acclaim. Okami, an epic adventure boasting a glorious art style, was perfectly suited to the Wii’s capabilities, and Capcom has once again embraced a Nintendo console for a follow-up adventure on the DS. With such...

A little too familiar

For whatever reason, LEGO games on Nintendo handhelds are never as good as their home console counterparts. Rather than harness the handheld's unique strengths from the ground up, they too often opt for creating a more compact version of the larger adventure. LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars is no exception, providing an all-around fun experience but cutting back on..

Don't be fooled

There are many ways to play Bejeweled on the go, though when it comes to the DS catalogue, you're mostly looking at clones rather than the real deal. 7 Wonders of the Ancient World is one of those clones. It does more than just imitate the gold standard, however – it attempts to innovate as well. But what it adds to the mix takes away from the game's inherent symbol-swapping..

Third time the charm?

When the original PC title The Sims saw release, Maxis treated it as a spin-off of their popular SimCity franchise, the 3000 edition of which included a teaser for upcoming title SimMars. Before Will Wright could say "(insert Sim gibberish here)," though, it proved a sensational success both critically and...

Ready to score

Football (or soccer to our American readers) and role playing: it's not a combination that instantly springs to mind as the basis for a video game, but that's exactly what's on offer with Level 5's latest creation, Inazuma Eleven. Despite sounding like an odd mix that frankly should never be considered, the concept works incredibly well and Level 5 have created another RPG that..

Black and White and good all over

Last year’s Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver were just stopgap games to tide eager trainers over until the launch of Generation Five: Pokémon Black and White. Now the latest iterations in the series are here to eat up DS gamers’ spare time once again with a stack of new monsters and features. Set in the...

It's about slime!

It's certainly no secret that Nintendo made the right move in choosing to publish Dragon Quest IX outside of Japan as the game not only drew rave reviews from the gaming media, but also broke numerous sales records along the way as well. Now in an effort to keep the momentum rolling, it's decided to help Square-Enix resurrect one...

It's no gem but neither is it fool's gold

Puzzle games are ten a penny on the DS and when it's a match-three type like the popular Bejeweled series, you have to wonder about the relevance of yet another addition to the already plentiful stock of match-three titles on the DS. Jewels of the Tropical Lost Island is City Interactive's contribution to the genre. The basic premise involves a board that's..

Some bugs in the system

The DS is no stranger to the Kingdom Hearts series, having previously seen Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days back in 2009, which proved to be a rather enjoyable adventure. Now we have Kingdom Hearts Re:coded, a remake of Japan only mobile-phone title Kingdom Hearts Coded. Taking place after Kingdom Hearts 2, Jiminy finds a new, mysterious message inside his journal of their first..

A scene worth investigating

The DS has been a popular platform for graphic adventure games in its lifetime thanks to its touchscreen interface, seeing a number of great titles such as Hotel Dusk: Room 215 & Time Hollow. This time around we have Crime Lab: Body of Evidence, a new entry in the Art of Murder adventure series from City Interactive. Unlike other entries in the DS library though,..

Your days are numbered

Kingdom Hearts is a series which will need little introduction to many gamers. First seeing release in 2002 for the PS2, it centres around the adventures of Sora and his friends as they battle the Heartless across the different worlds. Highly noted for the crossover of Disney and Final Fantasy elements, mixed together into an...

Trick or treat?

When Shu Takumi broke away from the Ace Attorney series to create a new game for the Nintendo DS, there were many who wondered whether anything else could ever live up to a certain Phoenix Wright and his long succession of adventures. Fans of his work and point-and-click adventures have no need to worry as Ghost Trick is a...

Worth the climb

Few would argue that the DS lacks a robust library of puzzlers, and fewer still would suggest that in separating the wheat from the chaff, a PC port that retails for under 20 dollars and carried the label "Premium Casual Games" in its original incarnation would belong to the former. The unassuming Puzzle Expedition, however, proves naysayers wrong with its combination of a..

Forgettable game

Like its home console counterpart, Despicable Me: The Game – Minion Mayhem refreshingly constructs an original experience around elements from a film rather than rigidly attempting to follow the source material and fit it to a game framework for which it was never intended. Unfortunately, beyond that it shares the status of subpar...

Hint: The heart is beneath the floorboards

What we know about the death of Edgar Allan Poe is as cryptic and tragic as some of his written tales. After a more than imperfect romantic life, he was reunited with his love of long before, Elmira Royster Shelton, and the two were engaged to be married. On a trip that took place soon thereafter, Poe fell off the radar and re-emerged "in great..