Reviews

3DS eShop Game Reviews

  • Review 3D Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master (3DS eShop)

    Much more than an Average Joe

    In many ways, Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master represents Sega at its very best. It boasts lush visuals, excellent music and a surprisingly versatile lead character, all wrapped up in a game which practically screams action and excitement. Launched at a time when the Mega Drive was really beginning to hit its...

  • Review 3D Ecco The Dolphin (3DS eShop)

    A bit grim beneath the surface

    Ecco the Dolphin has always been something of an oddity. At the time of release, the Mega Drive / Genesis platform was defined by its solid arcade ports and action-packed titles such as Golden Axe and Ghouls 'n' Ghosts, so when a dolphin-based adventure came along it was a totally original concept for players to take...

  • Review 3D Streets of Rage (3DS eShop)

    Street smart

    When Nintendo secured the domestic conversion of Capcom's Final Fight for its newly-launched SNES console way back at the dawn of the '90s, it left many Sega fans utterly distraught. Cody, Haggar and Guy's coin-op escapade was the hottest ticket in arcades at a time when the side-scrolling fighter was very much the genre of choice...

  • Review 3D Galaxy Force II (3DS eShop)

    A sense of Super Scale

    Galaxy Force II has something of a bad reputation with many players, purely because the domestic ports of the game which followed the arcade release way back in 1988 were, by and large, abysmal. Many fans base their opinion of this on-rails space shooter on the Mega Drive / Genesis version, which was downright unplayable...

  • Review Donkey Kong 3 (3DS eShop / NES)

    Third time's the swarm

    Nintendo has a bit of a tradition of mixing things up for game number three. Super Mario Bros. 3 added a world map and the famous Tanooki Suit, Super Mario Land 3 nonchalantly swapped Mario for his arch-rival Wario, and Starfy's third adventure saw him graciously sharing the spotlight with his little sister. It should come as...

  • Review Race to the Line (3DS eShop)

    Race to the eShop

    It seems like every day the 3DS eShop is graced by another interesting or quirky budget title that bolsters its entire catalogue of games. Enjoy Gaming’s Race to the Line is no exception to this rule, as the traditional-style racer manages to pack some solid gameplay and visuals into a small but endearing package. While Race to...

  • Review 3D Sonic The Hedgehog (3DS eShop)

    Sonic with a dash extra

    The modern gaming scene may still be regularly broken down to battles of hardware technology and game exclusives, but back in the early '90s it was also a battle of mascots. The original Sonic the Hedgehog was the catalyst for the famous Tokyo-based company in the early days of the 16-bit battle for supremacy, as it delivered...

  • Review 3D Altered Beast (3DS eShop)

    Please don't rise from your grave again

    Every video game veteran has a title in its back catalogue which for unknown reasons keeps being dredged up for modern audiences. With Nintendo, it's arguably Urban Champion — a game so lacklustre that it wasn't wanted even back in 1984 — while one-time rival Sega has Altered Beast. A shallow 2D brawler in...

  • Review Chevrolet Camaro Wild Ride 3D (3DS eShop)

    Car wreck

    Hey Enjoy Gaming! 1997 called and guess what? It wants its game back! That’s right — Chevrolet Camaro Wild Ride 3D has finally landed on the 3DS eShop, and not only does it look like a game that was ported directly from the PlayStation, but also it’s pretty terrible to play, too. In fact, it’s downright offensive to even think...

  • Review 3D Super Hang-On (3DS eShop)

    Definitely a Winning Run

    As Sega delivers its range of retro 3D reproductions to the 3DS eShop, it'll certainly be interesting to see how sizeable an audience warms to each release. For some, fond memories of iconic Sega arcades or home console ports will make purchases irresistible, but perhaps the greatest challenge facing these releases is...

  • Review Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom (3DS eShop / NES)

    A fitting farewell to the NES trilogy

    The three Ninja Gaiden games on the NES are remembered with great fondness, and for very good reason. They may never have reached the same heights of popularity as the original Super Mario Bros. games, or even the first three Mega Man games, but they stand to this day as a testament to the classic years of 8-bit...

  • Review Jewel Match 3 (3DS eShop)

    Not particularly valuable

    When it comes to puzzlers, a certain generation of gamers will remember when Tetris was the title that was endlessly cloned, reinterpreted and reinvented, with countless studios and developers trying desperately to recapture the cultural magic of what had to be the simplest idea in gaming yet: slotting shapes together...

  • Review 3D Space Harrier (3DS eShop)

    Welcome to the Fantasy Zone

    Sitting here in 2013, it's almost impossible to fully appreciate the kind of impact Space Harrier had when it hit arcades way back in 1985 — a year when many of today's active gamers weren't even alive. A showcase for Sega's "Super Scaler" technology and the company's skill at creating impressive hydraulically-driven...

  • Review Ohno Odyssey (3DS eShop)

    Ohno or Ohyes?

    Everyone loves to play an epic adventure, but there's also a place for lighthearted, bite-sized gaming — especially when it comes to portable titles. Despite its "epic" title, Ohno Odyssey, a physics puzzler from Big John Games, offers a bite-sized experience with addictive trial-and-error gameplay and a fair amount of charm. While...

  • Review Senran Kagura Burst (3DS eShop)

    Fit to Burst

    Fresh from the friendly fields of Rune Factory 4, XSEED returns with another, decidedly more deadly offering from the Land of the Rising Sun in Senran Kagura Burst. Taking its gameplay inspiration from classic side-scrolling beat-'em-ups, and its over-the-top, undergarment-filled style from anime and manga, this is a fun, frenzied...

  • Review Christmas Wonderland 3 (3DS eShop)

    Another name on the naughty list

    It was a cold night, and the gentle snow was just beginning to fall. All throughout Nintendo Life HQ there was evidence of good cheer. After all, Christmas was coming! Martin and Morgan were decorating the tree, newcomer Liam was introducing the team to his home-made eggnog, and Ron was entertaining the children by...

  • Review Jett Rocket II - The Wrath of Taikai (3DS eShop)

    A rocketing success?

    It’s crazy to think that it’s been three years since we last saw Jett Rocket. Three years may not seem like it was that long ago, but a lot has changed during this time. As a result, not only is the planetary inspector only just making his handheld début on 3DS, but his creators at Shin’en Multimedia no longer have to...

  • Review World Conqueror 3D (3DS eShop)

    Tanks, but no tanks

    Field Marshal Archibald Percival Wavell of the British Army once said that “war is a muddle” and, quite frankly, we couldn’t agree with him more. The conflict he described was that of World War II; that's the very same that World Conqueror 3D strives to simulate, with messy results. No more than an overcomplicated clone of...

  • Review Secret Mysteries in New York (3DS eShop)

    Find every object, for great justice

    There's a real puzzle afoot in Secret Mysteries in New York, and it has to do with the game's title itself. No, it's not our attempt to figure out whether or not the phrase "secret mysteries" qualifies as redundant; it's why the developers bothered to rename Secret Mysteries in London for its eShop release. The...

  • Review KORG M01D (3DS eShop)

    Blast from the past

    3DS has amassed a curiously robust library of music creation software for a chunk of hardware built to play video games. The KORG brand in particular has made itself comfy on Nintendo's handhelds in the past few years, starting with an emulation of the classic MS-10 synth in KORG DS-10, and now the M1 gets the software treatment...

  • Review Word Wizard 3D (3DS eShop)

    Dark wizard

    Word games can be fun, addictive brain teasers, but they can also be tedious, unintuitive and shallow. Word Wizard 3D unfortunately falls squarely into the latter category. Though there are plenty of game modes, and none are fundamentally broken, there's nothing in Word Wizard 3D that justifies its purchase over various alternatives that...

  • Review City Connection (3DS eShop / NES)

    Crash and burn

    Originally released as an arcade game, City Connection puts you in the shoes of a man who wants to travel all over the world in order to paint its roads white, thus proving that he's travelled across the globe. Sounds like vandalism to us, but that's the '80s for you! Of course, this would be rather difficult to accomplish on foot, so...

  • Review 4 Elements (3DS eShop)

    Not a perfect storm

    Engine Software's 4 Elements is a fun match-3 puzzler weighed down by unnecessary seek-and-find sequences and occasionally frustrating level design. Originally a PC game, 4 Elements' generic fantasy presentation hides an addictive game that will appeal to fans of Bejeweled and other "casual" puzzle titles. There's nothing wrong...

  • Review My Baby Pet Hotel 3D (3DS eShop)

    A pile of shih tzu

    We'll say this at the outset: pet sims are not for everybody. We know that much, and while the popularity of certain genres might baffle us at times, we'd never dream of holding a game's genre against it. While we may or may not get swept up in any particular enthusiasm ourselves, we'd like to think that we can distance ourselves...

  • Review Secret Agent Files: Miami (3DS eShop)

    Cold case

    Hidden object games are a relatively new genre descended from “point and click” classics like King’s Quest, Broken Sword and others. Secret Agent Files: Miami strives to combine hidden object gameplay with more traditional point/click puzzle solving and attempts to make good use of the 3DS’ features along the way; yet the end...

  • Review Crazy Chicken: Director's Cut 3D (3DS eShop)

    Straight to DVD

    Crazy Chicken: Director's Cut 3D is an odd title, in that it's unashamedly simplistic yet reliant on gamers that perhaps have a hint of obsessive compulsive behaviour or, alternatively, those that cherish retro games that do little more than give you the same task repeatedly and stick your name on a leaderboard. What this does do is...

  • Review Arcade Classics 3D (3DS eShop)

    Six terrible games for the price of one terrible game

    Mini-game collections have always run the quality gamut, but it's fair to say that the numbers are weighted much more heavily towards the negative end of the spectrum. For every Game & Watch Gallery there's a seemingly infinite number of Chuck E. Cheese's Arcade Rooms. So if we really wanted...

  • Review Angry Bunnies (3DS eShop)

    Rotten egg

    Whenever a new game, franchise or genre becomes mega-successful, countless similar titles and rip-offs are bound to emerge. Rovio's now-iconic Angry Birds series is one of the most successful mobile franchises of all time, and for good reason — the simple, physics-based gameplay is quick and addictive, the birds and pigs have...

  • Review Wario's Woods (3DS eShop / NES)

    It's back like you wooden believe

    Originally released in 1994, Wario's Woods holds the prestigious honour of being the last officially licensed game to release for the NES in North America; that's a remarkably long time after the console itself launched in the mid-eighties. Yet while it's impressive that the legendary system received a first-party...

  • Review Brunch Panic (3DS eShop)

    Piece of cake

    Brunch: a late-start, laid-back, Sunday morning meal where carbo-loading is king, and it's perfectly acceptable to pile as many waffles onto your plate as physically possible. Panic: a state of uncontrollable fear and anxiety; also an excellent Sega CD game. These are two worlds which don't often collide, perhaps — but they come...