3DS eShop Game Reviews
Review The Phantom Thief Stina and 30 Jewels (3DS eShop)
Hidden gem or a kick in the jewels?
The Phantom Thief Stina and 30 Jewels is an arcade-like game that has you breaking into an assortment of stages, grabbing keycodes, deactivating security systems, and escaping into the night with shiny jewel in hand. As a concept, Phantom Thief is intriguing, but while it can be fun, it's ultimately let down by...
Review Johnny Kung Fu (3DS eShop)
Like a punch to the Wang
We're on to you, UFO Interactive. You've released these side-scrolling action games every few months now and, we'll admit, each one has had a fairly interesting premise — a samurai slicer with RPG elements and a zombie-flavored rhythm game? We can dig it. Now you roll out what seems like an ode to LCD handheld games...
Review Sparkle Snapshots 3D (3DS eShop)
Take a pretty picture
It’s easy to forget about all of this multi-functional nonsense and think of 3DS as an all-out gaming machine, but occasionally a new app appears to remind us that, actually, Nintendo intends for the system to offer much more. The arrival of Sparkle Snapshots 3D in the eShop is one such reminder, a camera app designed to...
Review The Sword of Hope II (3DS eShop / GB)
The great black and white hope
Poor Prince Theo. Not only is his first game still unavailable in the eShop, but his second adventure begins with all of his previous hard work being undone, an evil spirit being set free by would-be grave robbers, the Sword of Hope being stolen, and a young orphan accusing him of murdering his father. He really can't...
Review Kirby's Pinball Land (3DS eShop / GB)
Less than the sum of its parts
While primarily known as the star of a reliably charming series of platformers, Kirby has also starred in a fair share of spin-offs. One of those, Kirby's Block Ball, came to the eShop just a few months ago. It's a flawed but fun reimagining of Breakout. It plays to the strengths of both Breakout as a template and...
Review Family Tennis 3D (3DS eShop)
A good second service
Arc System Works, most fondly known for the Guilty Gear and BlazBlue series of 2D fighting games, also dabbles in the casual sports genre with its Family series for WiiWare. Those titles generally haven't been very well received, but the series' first entry into the eShop, Family Tennis 3D, is a happy reversal of that trend...
Review Akari by Nikoli (3DS eShop)
Spark in the dark
Hamster is now at the halfway point of chopping up upcoming retail release Sudoku + 7 other Complex Puzzles by Nikoli and selling each puzzle type individually through the eShop. With Sudoku and Kakuro out of the way, the far more interesting chunks have started to hit as evidenced by last month's Slitherlink and now Akari.
Review NES Open Tournament Golf (3DS eShop / NES)
Retro golf gaming at its finest
While the eShop already has Golf for the Game Boy available, anyone who purchased that game may now start to wish they had saved their money. NES Open Tournament Golf is a superior experience in every way. Perhaps not substantially so, but it's certainly a more rewarding way to spend a day on the links. NES Open...
Review Castlevania: The Adventure (3DS eShop / GB)
Belmont's first portable adventure
When the Game Boy hit store shelves in 1989 it didn’t take long for a vast swathe of third-party publishers – many of which had grown fat on the profits generated by Nintendo’s astonishingly popular NES – to sign up to produce software for the device. Konami was one of the first to pledge its allegiance to...
Review Marvel Pinball 3D (3DS eShop)
Dat Mahvel
Unlike video games based on movies or popular comics, licensed pinball tables have a reputation of being pretty great — The Twilight Zone, The Addams Family, Indiana Jones and Monster Bash are but a sampling of the rich properties that have yielded some of the most popular pins of the past 20 years. Marvel Comic's iconic characters are...
Review Bomb Monkey (3DS eShop)
Enough bang for your buck?
Welcome to Bomb Monkey, which does in fact feature both bombs and a monkey. Whew, that's a relief! Now that we no longer have to worry about false advertising, we can talk about the game itself. As any screenshot will suggest, Bomb Monkey is a colour-based puzzle game. You hold your 3DS book-style, and use either the...
Review Slitherlink by Nikoli (3DS eShop)
Voldemort's favourite puzzle
Hamster continues to roll out piecemeal the components of its forthcoming retail package Sudoku + 7 Other Complex Puzzles by Nikoli onto the eShop, now breaking out the brain-bender Slitherlink by Nikoli. Unlike past efforts Sudoku by Nikoli and Kakuro by Nikoli, Slitherlink offers a type of teaser seldom seen in digital...
Review Sonic Blast (3DS eShop / GG)
From the past, not a blast
Not to be confused with Sonic 3D Blast, Sonic Blast only really shares a fondness for rendered sprites with its 16-bit namesake, sticking to more mainline Sonic staples like running, spinning and grabbing Chaos Emeralds. The rendered sprites weren't particularly impressive back in 1996 and they don't stand up too well...
Finger-licking good
When it comes to real-world occupations that double as compelling experiences in gaming, the list is pretty short. Soldier, of course. Taxi driver. City planner. And, surprisingly enough, restaurant manager. Order Up!! isn't the first game to tap into that particular well of gainful employment, but it certainly is one of the...
Review Mad Dog McCree (3DS eShop)
Send it to the pound
Remember back when Laserdisc games were king and everyone loved them and we were all playing them at home? No? Well, that’s probably because it was never the case, and the really great news is that Laserdisc games quickly came and went before they could do any real lasting damage to the future of gaming. With that in mind,...
Review Tumble Pop (3DS eShop / GB)
Tumble Pop and lock
In the future, nests of hornets will be the least of pest control's worries. Tumble Pop is filled with strange beasts, from living skeletons to little grey aliens, manic clowns and Sweetums from The Muppets. In this arcade platformer, it's your job to clean them up with nothing more than a trusty – and presumably engine-powered...
Review Donkey Kong Jr. (3DS eShop / NES)
Defeat the villainous Mario!
Donkey Kong Jr. was the inevitable sequel to the massively popular arcade smash Donkey Kong. Surprisingly — and rewardingly — it inverted the formula, casting Mario as the villain to be defeated, and Donkey Kong's diaper-clad son as the avenging hero. Is there any wonder Nintendo released this one just in time for...
Review 3D Solitaire (3DS eShop)
The title says it all
Nintendo’s digital stores have given us plenty of titles based on old-fashioned games of cards, for those who no longer play with real decks or other people. The thing about solitaire, or course, is that it’s a card game for just one player, and anyone’s who owned a Windows PC in the last 15 years is likely to have played...
Review Kakuro by Nikoli (3DS eShop)
4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42
There's certainly no shortage of number puzzles lurking around the dark, damp corners of the eShop. Sudoku is a prime culprit, and we wouldn't be at all surprised if there was a degree of puzzle overlap between them all, however mathematically unlikely that may be. Kakuro, on the other hand, is much less of a bruised dead horse...
Review Sweet Memories Blackjack (3DS eShop)
Not fond memories
Sweet Memories Blackjack is a strange arrival on the 3DS eShop, with a Japanese concept and style that typically doesn’t make it outside of the Land of the Rising Sun. While card games are common on DSiWare, this 3DS exclusive follows a different approach that aims to bring a relationship dynamic to proceedings. This title may...
Review Rayman (3DS eShop / GBC)
Rayman, fighter of the Night Man
In 1995, the platformer Rayman was released to great critical acclaim on the PlayStation. It was the first entry in a hugely successful franchise that also spawned an entirely separate sub-franchise along the way. Rayman had charm, class and above all a tremendous sense of fun. Five years later, the game was still...
Review Art of Balance TOUCH! (3DS eShop)
Art of brilliance
WiiWare puzzler Art of Balance is one of the best games on the service: instinctive and addictive, it made the well-worn act of stacking shapes feel fresh again. Now on the 3DS eShop, Art of Balance TOUCH! keeps the winning formula going. The premise to Art of Balance is simple. In each stage you're given blocks of various shapes,...
Review Kirby's Dream Land 2 (3DS eShop / GB)
Dreamy
Dream Land's peaceful moniker is surely false advertising. There are constant problems with invasions and takeovers, the bad guys are apparently impossible to evict, based on how often they show up and the fact that some buffoon keeps dumping huge piles of those star blocks in everybody's way. It's an absolute nightmare. You wouldn't get that...
Review Sudoku by Nikoli (3DS eShop)
SuDDDoku
Given the volume of the genre found in the eShop, we expect a lot from new digital sudoku games. If someone is going to go ahead and plunk down some cash, a game really needs to bring the thunder compared to the free versions found online and on other devices, or even one of those end-all puzzle books down at the five and dime. Sudoku by...
Review Sonic Labyrinth (3DS eShop / GG)
Maze craze
Failed game pitches from the 1990s: Madden without the ball. Mario without the jumping. Sonic without the speed. Except someone at SEGA must have thought the last one was a good idea, and gave Minato Giken the go-ahead to develop Sonic Labyrinth for Game Gear. As the story goes, Dr. Robotnik has tricked Sonic into wearing special shoes...
Review Game & Watch Gallery 2 (3DS eShop / GBC)
Now in colour!
After successfully remaking and re-releasing four Game & Watch games with Mario characters in Game & Watch Gallery, it was only a matter of time before Nintendo selected another bunch to redo. With around 50 different Game & Watch games originally released, there certainly isn't a small pool to pick from, but here we have...
Review Bird Mania 3D (3DS eShop)
A first-class flight
3DS Download Software has been a bit of a mixed bag so far, with titles ranging from the glorious to the utterly forgettable. Similarly, developer Teyon has been responsible for both memorable, addictive fun and fuelling our screaming nightmares. For those reasons, we weren't sure what to expect of Bird Mania 3D. But now that...
Review Block Factory (3DS eShop)
Block party
If you've ever harboured the desire to create your own block-falling games, Block Factory might just be what you've been looking for. Through its editor you can build new games in the puzzle sub-genre with ease, but in doing so you'll have to look past the bland presentation, and it soon becomes clear that there's a reason there are only...
Review The Legend of Zelda (3DS eShop / NES)
Rough around the edges, but an unforgettable adventure
When The Legend of Zelda was released in 1986, it was at least as much an eye-opening experience for gamers as Super Mario Bros. had been. Whereas that game expanded and solidified the left-to-right nature of platformers for generations to come, The Legend of Zelda opened sprawling worlds before...
Color! us impressed
There’s something that needs to be said about applications on the 3DS, and that’s simply that there should be many more of them. Not only should there be more apps, but there should also be some really great apps that take a simple concept and turn it into something incredible using the 3DS’s technological capabilities...
