Reviews

3DS eShop Game Reviews

  • Review The Legend Of Zelda: Oracle Of Ages - An Engrossing Tale And True Series Classic

    A song for the ages

    This review originally went live in 2013, and we're updating and republishing it to mark the game's arrival in the Nintendo Switch Online Game Boy / Game Boy Color library. Ever since The Legend of Zelda released on the NES, Nintendo has played the franchise relatively close to its chest. Series creator Shigeru Miyamoto has had...

  • Review The Legend Of Zelda: Oracle Of Seasons - An Underappreciated Old-School Adventure

    Battle seasoned

    This review originally went live in 2013, and we're updating and republishing it to mark the game's arrival in the Nintendo Switch Online Game Boy / Game Boy Color library. The combat of The Legend of Zelda series has seen several iterations over the decades. The classic top-down gameplay of the original was morphed into a faster,...

  • Review SteamWorld Dig 2 (3DS eShop)

    Diggin’ up a treat

    Image & Form’s SteamWorld franchise has become somewhat of a household name among the Nintendo eShops as of late, with games spread across Switch, 3DS, and Wii U gathering almost nothing but praise from players and critics alike. SteamWorld Dig 2, which is perhaps unsurprisingly the sequel to the rather wonderful...

  • Review Pokémon Crystal (3DS eShop / GBC)

    Crystal clear

    Akin to Pokémon Yellow's existence to Pokémon Red and Blue, Pokémon Crystal is the next critter-catching adventure to round-off a generation of main series, handheld Pokémon games – that being Pokémon Gold and Silver. But what could Crysta

  • Review 80's Overdrive (3DS eShop)

    Hitting Top Gear to Out Run the competition

    Franchises like Gran Turismo and Forza may rule the roost these day but whisper the name Out Run or Top Gear into the ear of a seasoned player and they'll gladly forget all of those hyper-real visuals and authentic physics engines and reminisce instead about the good old days when blue skies and...

  • Review Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney (3DS eShop)

    Quality sustained!

    It's not entirely fair to say that the 3DS is on its last legs, but with the success of Switch and Nintendo's recent mobile push, it's no secret that the dedicated handheld is entering its twilight years. Rather than ignoring the 3DS and slowly pushing it out of the public eye and relevancy, Nintendo instead seems to be...

  • Review Pokémon Gold And Silver (3DS eShop / GBC)

    Golden oldies

    Pokémon Gold and Silver are the second generation instalments in the Pokémon series; released at the turn of the millennium, the games arrived just a few short years after their predecessors, Pokémon Red and Blue. Boasting a whole new world to explore, 100 new monsters (bringing the total to 251), and an entirely new cast of...

  • Review Chicken Wiggle (3DS eShop)

    A rival to Super Mario Maker?

    Jools Watsham's Atooi — formerly part of Renegade Kid — made quite a name for itself in the very early days of the 3DS eShop when it put out Mutant Mudds, a high-quality retro action platformer. It seems only fitting then that this splinter studio would put out a similar title here in the autumn of the life of the...

  • Review Kid Tripp (3DS eShop)

    Have a nice trip

    Originally available on iOS platforms, Kid Tripp has ran, jumped and smashed its way onto the Nintendo 3DS eShop. We’ve been following the progress of its port for a while now at Nintendo Life and can safely say that the tean behind this auto-runner have done an excellent job - giving us another reason to stop our 3DS consoles...

  • Review Kirby's Blowout Blast (3DS eShop)

    A Past from the Blast

    After 25 years, the Kirby universe has enough material to fill a Hyrule Historia-like compendium (hint, hint). Many games along the way have added little quirks and abilities to shake things up, but Kirby’s Blowout Blast takes a decidedly throwback approach by channelling the veteran hero’s first game. Blowout Blast strips...

  • Review Cursed Castilla EX (3DS eShop)

    A blessing, not a curse

    For a series which takes an almost sadistic delight in frustrating those who play it, Capcom's Ghosts 'n Goblins garners a surprising amount of adoration from gamers - but the company doesn't seem particularly interested in resurrecting Sir Arthur for any new adventures, so thank goodness we have games like Cursed Castilla EX...

  • Review BYE-BYE BOXBOY! (3DS eShop)

    A fond farewell

    Nintendo has been on something of a roll with surprise announcements lately, and one of them was the localisation of the third and final game in the BoxBoy trilogy, BYE-BYE BOXBOY! If you’ve already played the first two games, then this should come as no surprise — BYE-BYE BOXBOY is excellent. If you haven’t played another...

  • Review Urban Trial Freestyle 2 (3DS eShop)

    BMXcellent

    2D BMX games have been relatively popular since the turn of the century - take RedLynx's excellent Trials series, for instance. Urban Trial Freestyle, released on the 3DS eShop almost four years ago at this point, was clearly inspired by those games, but managed to bring some extra ideas of its own to the table to create a unique and fun...

  • Review Tank Troopers (3DS eShop)

    Destroy everything

    Where would video games be without Tanks? Strong and durable, able to blast incoming enemy threats into oblivion and completely flatten any landmark in sight. The sense of fearlessness a tank provides is arguably unrivalled; games about tanks have been prominent throughout the ages. Anyone who has ever played a video game will...

  • Review Go! Go! Kokopolo 3D (3DS eShop)

    Go go go

    Tanukii Studios' overlooked DSiWare gem, Go! Go! Kokopolo, came at the tail end of the DSi's time on the market, and as a result very few people played the unique action game. While a simple re-release on 3DS would have been acceptable, Tanukii Studios instead crafted a full sequel in Go! Go! Kokopolo 3D. The result is a jam-packed game...

  • Review Legna Tactica (3DS eShop)

    Tactica Generica

    Kemco has been steadily supplying gamers with a glut of RPGs through the 3DS eShop over the past few years, all ported from mobile and mostly middling in the truest sense of the word — decent but forgettable games that riff off of classics. As the company's latest release, Legna Tactica is a dependable continuation of that policy,...

  • Review Picross e7 (3DS eShop)

    The numbers are adding up

    We have once again been blessed by a new Picross e game, and you know what that means: new puzzles and, erm... some more new puzzles? By now you should honestly know what to expect with these titles, but here's a quick rundown again! Picross is a classic type of puzzle game that has featured on Nintendo systems since the...

  • Review Mercenaries Saga 3 (3DS eShop)

    Fun for hire

    The 3DS eShop is no stranger to strategy RPGs; aside from retail heavy hitters like Fire Emblem: Awakening and Fates and Stella Glow, it's also been blessed with smaller but still eminently enjoyable experiences like Ambition of the Slimes, and the surprisingly solid Mercenaries Saga 2. CIRCLE Entertainment was responsible for

  • Review Punch Club (3DS eShop)

    ​Get up, you son-of-a... 'cos Shiggy loves ya

    Ever wonder what it's like to be a fighter? If you'd like to experience the life, Punch Club thinks it's the game for you. Let's find out if this fighting strategy/simulation is worth lacing up the gloves for. Your life in Punch Club starts out with a brief cutscene showing your father, who was...

  • Review Shift DX (3DS eShop)

    As simple as black and white

    The Shift series has been around since 2008, when the first Shift title debuted as a Flash game. Four mainline games have released since then, with the first two receiving iOS ports as well. Shift DX collects all the levels from the first two games and introduces 100 more to the 3DS; we consider whether this is a treat...

  • Review Geki Yaba Runner Deluxe (3DS eShop)

    Run, run, Gnomey

    As smartphone gaming has become so popular, the runner genre has seemingly reached the popularity levels of the 2D platformer and first-person shooter before it. The latest title of the genre to grace the 3DS eShop is Geki Yaba Runner Deluxe. It's apparently titled Deluxe due to its presence as a mobile game on Android and iOS; on...

  • Review Unlucky Mage (3DS eShop)

    Ill-fated Illusionist

    From Dragon Quests and Shin Megami Tenseis to Pokémon and Fire Emblems, the 3DS is an RPG powerhouse. It's a testament to the eShop's offerings, however, that those famous names are flanked by a flurry of mid-tier RPGs of every persuasion, some of which are certainly worthy of your time. Kemco has been a prolific publisher in...

  • Review Ninja Usagimaru - The Mysterious Karakuri Castle (3DS eShop)

    Mysterious indeed

    Any American high school student who's owned a TI series calculator and endured hours of math classes has no doubt discovered Block Dude. The simple puzzle platformer was centered around escaping from rooms by moving around a limited number of blocks, and presented a wonderful escape from the dreariness of algebra. Evidently, the...

  • Review Dangerous Road (3DS eShop)

    Road worrier

    The history of video games where animals play in traffic is a very staggered one. Frogger hit the scene in 1981, then nary a croak was heard from any other property until 2014's Crossy Road gained mobile popularity. Dangerous Road on the 3DS eShop borrows a lot from its Crossy counterpart, but is unlikely to leave its splat on history...

  • Review Ice Station Z (3DS eShop)

    Not cool

    We really wanted to like Wobbly Tooth's Ice Station Z. An open world, multiplayer zombie survival game that takes place in a cold setting, Ice Station Z looked different than other 3DS eShop titles and we'd hoped for a challenging, solid survival experience. Unfortunately, it doesn't live up to its potential at all, instead offering a...

  • Review Fairune 2 (3DS eShop)

    This is a fair 'un

    Fairune was a fun - if not particularly ground-breaking - little game that came out of nowhere and charmed us with its simplistic yet addictive gameplay, mixing Ys-like bump combat with a Zelda-esque overworld filled with secrets. We thought the game's story felt pretty complete, so we were quite surprised that a sequel popped up,...

  • Review Pixel Hunter (3DS eShop / New 3DS)

    This game is not in season

    Any list of the greatest games of the 8-bit era is sure to include the likes Mega Man and Super Mario Bros., along with their fantastic sequels. Conversely, many lists of modern greats will include Minecraft. Pixel Hunter draws inspiration from all of these titles in obvious ways, but doesn't replicate the qualities that...

  • Review Ambition of the Slimes (3DS eShop)

    Slimes' Time

    One of our favourite trends in the eShop has been seeing titles that turn tried-and-true gaming experiences on their heads by putting the player in a new perspective. From Weapon Shop de Omasse's comedic take on the day-to-day drudgery of an RPG smithy to The Legend of Kusakari turning Zelda's grass-cutting mechanic into a laser-focused...

  • Review Gurumin 3D: A Monstrous Adventure (3DS eShop)

    Ceci n'est pas une drill

    An often overlooked strength of the 3DS eShop is the way it can serve as an unexpected harbour for under-the-radar gems. We likely never would have touched Yumi's Odd Odyssey without the eShop, nor seen a contemporary remake of Steel Empire. Add to these ranks Gurumin 3D: A Monstrous Adventure, which originally saw light on...

  • Review Chase: Cold Case Investigations - Distant Memories (3DS eShop)

    A short but solid sleuth ‘em up

    Kaisuke Tanasaki is not one of gaming's most well-known directors, but he oversaw some of the DS's most intriguing narrative-led titles in the form of Hotel Dusk: Room 215 and Another Code/Trace Memory. After developer Cing's closure in 2010, Tanasaki-san is back with some of the same team under Arc System Works to...