3DS eShop Game Reviews
Review Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies (3DS eShop)
Say hello to Justice
It's time to warm up those CHORDS OF STEEL, locate your magic panties and don the blue suit — Ace Attorney is back and it's as wacky as ever. Introducing a new cast of zany characters, as well as your old favourites, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies is a welcome return to the franchise, complete with a fresh,...
Review Escape From Zombie City (3DS eShop)
Braaains over beauty
There's certainly no shortage of zombie-themed titles on the 3DS eShop, and it would be easy to lump Escape from Zombie City in with the seasonal shovelware shuffling onto the scene just in time for Halloween — but there's a little more to the story than that. The brainchild of developer Tom Create — responsible for the GO...
Review 101 Penguin Pets 3D (3DS eShop)
These penguins might leave you cold
When was the last time you met someone who distinctly disliked nature’s own best-dressed Antarctic fowl, the penguin? The answer is probably “never”, and Teyon is here to capitalize on that fact with its newest virtual pet product — 101 Penguin Pets 3D. Aimed directly at unsuspecting children and designed...
Review Snow Moto Racing 3D (3DS eShop)
Wet snow
Zordix's latest 3DS eShop title, Snow Moto Racing 3D, is a would-be fun racer marred by generic presentation, choppy frame rate, and unresponsive controls. The latest in the Moto Racing series – Aqua Moto Racing 3D was previously released – Snow Moto Racing 3D is a smartphone port that doesn't quite make the transition...
Review Halloween: Trick or Treat 2 (3DS eShop)
Another hidden-object game? Now that's scary!
Halloween: Trick or Treat 2 (the sequel to the abysmal Halloween: Trick or Treat on DSiware) is a collection of games that mostly revolve around hidden-object searches, with a continuous focus on spooky settings and creepy themes; it features pre-rendered, quasi-blurry images loaded with junk, where you...
Review Family Bowling 3D (3DS eShop)
Pins with kin
If you were fortunate enough to grow up near a bowling alley, you might have fond memories of family outings full of comically unappealing shoes, embarrassing bowling stances from certain members of your clan, and slipping spectacularly on finely polished floors at least once. You probably didn't get to throw a twelve-pound ball at a...
Review Happy Circus (3DS eShop)
When an Otter's happiness means a golden jacket
It's easy for older gamers to be miserable cynics when edutainment games come around, lazily categorising them as shovelware and stating with unsubstantiated confidence that no one buys these downloads. Except, someone is buying them, as the range of these titles is slowly growing on the 3DS; more...
Review Mystery Murders: The Sleeping Palace (3DS eShop)
Dead or just resting?
You won't have to look long to find quite a few hidden-object games on the 3DS eShop, but the Mystery Murders series stands out by attempting to inject a little soul into the I-Spy formual. Equal parts PC-style adventure game and Where's Waldo whodunit, they frame the item-finding with simple puzzles and spooky stories. The...
Fun and repetition Picross paths
There’s a question you must ask yourself before proceeding: do you want to play Picross? There’s been ample time to give the pastime a try, what with all the previous games put out by Jupiter, and the next step in this journey is remarkably similar to the last one. Picross e3 is a finely crafted puzzle game worth...
Review Family Table Tennis 3D (3DS eShop)
Family, friendly - fun?
After developing something of an unenviable reputation on WiiWare, Arc System Works' Family series of sports games has been reborn as a dependably decent option on the 3DS' eShop. Following on from Family Tennis 3D and Family Kart 3D, Family Table Tennis 3D is the latest in the line, and while it isn't quite up to the...
Review Milon's Secret Castle (3DS eShop / NES)
A secret best kept hidden
Hudson had many classics in its NES library - Adventure Island, Faxanadu and Bomberman are just a few of the great titles it gave us all back then. Milon's Secret Castle probably shouldn't be counted among those. As the title might reveal, you play as Milon, who has to make his way through a castle filled to the brim with...
Review AiRace Speed (3DS eShop)
Have you the need?
AiRace Tunnel was a neat little arcade flight obstacle course on DSiWare that felt as if it was a bonus mode ripped out of a larger racing game. A few months later, QubicGames dropped AiRace onto the service, which was that larger game, filled with actual race courses against opponents other than time. That same trajectory...
Review Secrets of the Titanic 1912-2012 (3DS eShop)
A boatload of dull
2012 marked the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, a maritime disaster that saw around 1500 people lose their lives. People sadly die as a result of tragic accidents every day, but the reason why the Titanic has such a poignant legacy is perhaps because it was the result of human arrogance — not to mention...
Review Rage Of The Gladiator (3DS eShop)
Are you not entertained?
The original WiiWare version of Rage of the Gladiator was a triumph in more ways than one; not only was it a hugely playable take on the classic Punch Out!! formula but it also managed to bring a considerable sense of gravitas to Wii's downloadable game service — a gravitas which was sorely lacking due to Nintendo's...
Review Star Wars Pinball (3DS eShop)
Hard to see, the dual screen is
The Wii U version of Star Wars Pinball activated the hyperdrive of success and shot off into the stars, promising many more adventures to come — the table designs were impressive and fantastic production values sealed the deal. Unfortunately, downloading the same title onto your 3DS results in a poor compromise,...
Review Tecmo Bowl (3DS eShop / NES)
Watch that 3DS hinge on the snap
Before video game football became just as complex as real-life football, there was Tecmo Bowl. There weren't hundreds of plays with varying formations or special spin moves to worry about, in fact you didn't actually have to know much about the game of football to enjoy and play it. It was this simplicity that made...
Review Pinball: Revenge of the 'Gator (3DS eShop / GB)
A snappy pinball title
HAL's Pinball: Revenge of the 'Gator is a game which really needs to be approached with context in mind; back when it launched in 1990, real pinball games were still popular in arcades and digital representations were only just starting to offer the same level of enjoyment. Naxat's seminal Crush series — which includes Alien...
Review Mahjong 3D - Essentials (3DS eShop)
Mahjong 3D Lite
A while ago, TREVA released Mahjong 3D: Warriors of the Emperor on the eShop, which surprisingly wasn't "just another" Mahjong game but, instead, a rather unique and fun take on the genre, featuring characters and a campaign mode. As is frequently the case with Mahjong games, the title might be a bit misleading — this is not the...
Review Darts Up 3D (3DS eShop)
Throwaway or bullseye?
EnjoyUp Games' latest eShop release moves the party into the pub with Darts Up 3D, a motion-controlled iteration of the classic tavern target-toss game. While not a deep or polished experience, it's a fun little game that will appeal to fans of darts and simple multiplayer games in equal measure. There are three modes to...
Bass On, Bass Off
The 3DS is no stranger to fishing games, and neither is Agetec — having made a few bass-heavy titles for the Playstation and Playstation 2 — but Fish On 3D marks the first time the Rabi Laby publisher has cast its line into the pool of eShop anglers. It's an all-bass, arcade-style tournament fishing game, with some solid if...
Review Carps & Dragons (3DS eShop)
Something smells fishy
Back in 2009, Abylight released Fish'em All! on WiiWare, an arcade title in which you jump around with giant nets attempting to catch the plethora of fish jumping out of the water. The concept was fine but the execution left something to be desired, as the developers decided it was a smart idea to require a swing of the Wii...
Review Deer Drive Legends (3DS eShop / 3DS)
Bang bang, he shot the Doe, bang bang...
When the 3DS was launched, it's perhaps unsurprising that a few developers decided it'd be the perfect platform for what would previously be considered "light gun" games. There's no gun with the portable, of course, but the stylus has been proven again and again as a more than useful alternative, affording...
Review Cut The Rope (3DS eShop)
Will it rope you in?
Cut the Rope has been a staggering success for Russian development studio ZeptoLab. Originally released on iOS back in 2010, the title has been downloaded over 100 million times and has spawned two popular sequels. With such impressive accolades tucked underneath its belt, it's not hard to understand why the franchise continues...
Review Funfair Party Games (3DS eShop)
No Fair
Taking classic arcade and carnival redemption games as its inspiration, Funfair Party Games combines two things 3DS owners are quite familiar with by now: a collection of mini-games and well-meaning but flawed motion controls. With eleven games of varying quality and some surprisingly solid multiplayer features, the result is a mixed bag -...
Review Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos (3DS eShop / NES)
Go Ninja, Go Ninja GO!
Chances are that even if you don’t know much about Ninja Gaiden, you’re at the very least aware that it’s a series synonymous with high difficulty. When the original hit the NES back in 1989, we have to imagine it lead to the demise of many controllers – we vividly recall rage-quitting on at least an occasion or two...
Review Solomon's Key (3DS eShop / NES)
You'll need the wisdom of Solomon for this one
In Solomon's Key – an action / puzzler from Tecmo – you take command of a wizard named Dana as he searches for a magical formula that's said to banish all evil from the world. It began life in arcades back in 1986, finding its way to NES a year later, and now it's resurfaced on the 3DS Virtual...
Review Jewel Quest 4 Heritage (3DS eShop)
Attack of the clones
The Jewel Quest series is fast becoming something of a recurring negative on Nintendo's handheld systems. Ignoring the fact that each entry has been generically dull, the alarming rate at which each new instalment is being released is certainly a cause for concern. Forget Call of Duty and Assassin's Creed with their yearly...
Review Summer Carnival '92 RECCA (3DS eShop / NES)
For shoot 'em up experts only
The release of this game on the 3DS eShop is a bit of a strange occurrence. Summer Carnival '92 Recca was, as you might guess from its odd name, created for a shoot 'em up game competition held in 1992, exclusively in Japan. It was only available from those competitions, so the supply was quite limited and, as a result,...
Review Heavy Fire: Black Arms 3D (3DS eShop)
War is garbage
If there’s one distinguishing feature that makes Teyon’s Heavy Fire series stand out from video gaming’s crowd of military shooters, it’s that it has no distinguishing features. Like, zero. It has features, sure, but nary an original idea nor even a whiff of one. Heavy Fire: Black Arms 3D continues the series’ tradition of...
Easy to learn, difficult to pronounce
What if the Rubik’s Cube only had one side? It seems this question has kept the ironically named developers at CIRCLE Entertainment up all night, and those sleepless hours have resulted in a quality puzzle game that relaxes and taxes simultaneously. Wakedas is a straightforward affair that slowly ramps up the...
