DSiWare Game Reviews
DSiWare's first must-have RPG
With RPGs being such a popular genre, it's surprising to see that, up until now, Legends of Exidia has been the only one available on the DSiWare service. Fortunately, for the poor RPG fans who have been feeling neglected, Gamevil has finally added a new title to the mix with their release of Zenonia. Despite both...
Review GO Series: Defence Wars (DSiWare)
Tower defence with a twist
Tower defence games aren’t really a new concept on DSiWare, and with already a few titles in the genre available, you might wonder whether this one has anything special to offer. It turns out that GO Series: Defence Wars gives a nice twist to tower defence that makes it a bit more interesting. In most tower defence...
Review Everyday Soccer (DSiWare)
Hardly in the Premier League
When it comes to soccer on the DSi, it really comes down to the Real Soccer franchise, and we're certainly not complaining. For a mere 800 Points you can get a portable, yet retail-quality version of the beautiful game with tons of content. Still, it's nice to see a game like EveryDay Soccer come along. Offering a more...
Review Nintendo Countdown Calendar (DSiWare)
Count it out
Have you ever wished for a calendar that counts down to the day of literally any event that you programme into it all by itself? Well, thanks to Nintendo's latest DSiWare application, the Nintendo Countdown Calendar, your dreams can now become a reality! This new application provides users with a calendar that has a separate list...
Everyone, take note
Nnooo has seen a fair amount of success with DSiWare. Originally starting off with Pop+ Solo, the developer really began to make its mark on the DSi with the myLifeCollected series, a set of applications for the DSi that started with myNotebook. Since then, Nnooo has moved onto other applications such as myPostcards and...
Review Castle Conqueror (DSiWare)
The beginner’s RTS
With its touch screen and stylus controls, the Nintendo DS seems like it was practically built for real-time strategy games. Sadly, entries in this genre have been few and far between. Publisher CIRCLE Entertainment comes out of the woodwork with Castle Conqueror, an all-new RTS for DSiWare. Referred to as a strategy game for...
Review Music On: Acoustic Guitar (DSiWare)
Good guitar or bad lyre?
Music On: Acoustic Guitar is like Charlie Brown's Christmas tree – its beauty is in the eye of the beholder. If you know your way around a fret board, you may see it as a fun tool to mess with when you can't lug your giant six-string around with you. Gamers with no prior guitar knowledge, however, will see it as a useless,...
Review Where's Wally? Travel Pack 3 (DSiWare)
Go find something else
Over the last two weeks, Ludia has brought their video game adaptation of the highly successful Where's Wally? book series to DSiWare in Europe, cutting down their game Where's Waldo? The Fantastic Journey into three episodes. We didn't exactly think too highly of Where's Wally? Travel Pack 1 and Travel Pack 2, and,...
Review My Exotic Farm (DSiWare)
Cleaning up animal excrement just got a whole lot more exotic
If My Exotic Farm teaches us anything, it's that picking up animal poop isn't any more fun in Africa than it is in America. And yet, it isn't any less fun either. So while it may simply be My Farm with a new lick of paint, My Exotic Farm still may be worth a look for those who missed out...
Review Where's Wally? Travel Pack 2 (DSiWare)
Not a stripe has changed
Last week, we saw Ludia’s attempt at bringing the highly popular Where’s Wally series to DSiWare with Where’s Wally? Travel Pack 1 in Europe, a version of the full DS title Where’s Waldo? The Fantastic Journey. While it proved to be fun at times, the game’s downloadable release has forced it to be cut down into...
Review GO Series: 10 Second Run (DSiWare)
More than ten seconds of fun
With the GO Series, Gamebridge is attempting to give once Japan-exclusive DSiWare a chance elsewhere in the world. Their first pick for release in Europe is 10 Second Run, a very simple little title which greatly resembles something one would expect to find online as Flash game. That's not a bad thing, though. The...
Perhaps a bit too old-school for some
Shoot 'em ups have evolved quite a bit since their humble beginning in arcades back in the early 80's, taking on a much more maniacal pacing and intensity in recent years. While we've already seen Metal Torrent offer a more modern shooting experience on the DSiWare service, Cosmos X2 takes a slightly different...
Review Music On: Learning Piano (DSiWare)
Ode to Joy or odious toy?
If Music On: Learning Piano was the last source of piano-playing knowledge on Earth, the art wouldn't be lost forever. That said, it doesn't offer instruction in the traditional sense like Art Academy does. The game includes no nutty professor or girl next door to teach you how to read sheet music or enlighten you with...
Review Where's Wally? Travel Pack 1 (DSiWare)
Find him at your own risk
Where's Wally, known in the United States as Where's Waldo, has quite a history. Originally released in 1987 as a seek-and-find activity book, it soon became an international hit, spawning many sequels, a comic strip, a TV series and a number of video games. Over a decade had passed between the last virtual excursion and...
Review G.G Series: Ninja Karakuri Den (DSiWare)
A good time that will leave you wanting more
After quite a few Japanese DSiWare downloads and a retail cartridge, the inexpensive G.G Series finally leaves Japan with the release of G.G Series: Ninja Karakuri Den. The complete lack of a storyline may make this adventure seem odd, but it is a fun play nonetheless; reminiscent of old releases such as...
Review Absolute Reversi (DSiWare)
A board game that won't make you a bored gamer
Handheld editions of classic board games are typically not anticipated with much excitement, in part because there's a certain coldness about playing them against a computer. Not all are completely contingent upon human interaction, but beating a faceless opponent is distinctly less satisfying than...
Prize poultry or pig's ear?
Life is a long road, and My Farm knows it. It began as a PC game called My Farm Around the World and was then ported to the Nintendo DS. The European release in November 2008 was largely unnoticed by the media, but generated respectable sales, and it made its way to North America in May 2009. Now a slice of the original...
Taking Mahjong to a whole new dimension
After countless versions on almost every gaming platform, the DSiWare service gets yet another reincarnation of the ancient Chinese tile matching game in 3D Mahjong. Fully equipped with a variety of play modes and 3D rendered game boards, this new title brings the classic game of Mahjong Solitaire to the...
Review Divergent Shift (DSiWare)
Deterrent or gift?
We've already seen Chronos Twins present the dual-screen platforming experience on DSiWare, but Intrinsic Games now looks to put a slightly different spin on the idea. While their title's mechanics are similar in some ways, Divergent Shift tends to put a bit more emphasis on the actual platforming aspects of the game and less on...
Review myNotebook: Carbon, Pearl and Tan (DSiWare)
Nnooo means yes
The popular myNotebook in Red, Green or Blue is a cheap and useful application that gives DSi owners another reason to carry the machine wherever they go. So how does the new myNotebook: Carbon, Pearl and Tan – reviewed here in Carbon – improve on the original? While the original versions had 32 pages, the new version has 128...
Review Absolute Chess (DSiWare)
Absolutely Chess, but with annoying extras
It’s hard to imagine that there’s a wrong was to make a video game based on a board game that has been around for thousands of years, but Tasuke manages to find some ways to mess with the classic formula. While Absolute Chess is simply a video game in which you play chess, it also contains with a few...
Review TURN: The Lost Artifact (DSiWare)
And twist, and twist
TURN: The Lost Artifact is a puzzle game in which you lead your characters through mazes by rotating the room 90 degrees. The heroes of the story are Kurt and Camilla, a treasure hunting duo whose latest mission is to find an ancient artifact of unspecified origin and powers. The setting is based on the legendary adventurers of...
Review Did It Myself ABC123 (DSiWare)
Baby boon
Toddlers: they're everywhere. Don't believe us? Next time you're on a busy street, just play a little game that we like to call "Spot the Toddler". Some estimate that about 130 million babies are born every year, making them more popular than iPods! But these trendy tots are more than just a fashion statement. They need food,...
Review Rhythm Core Alpha (DSiWare)
Catchy beat or sour note?
We've seen a wide variety of music creations applications released for computers over the years, ranging from simple point-and-click programs that anyone can use to high-end music creation tools for professional musicians. With the release of Rhythm Core Alpha, developer SoftEgg is aiming for somewhere in the middle of this...
Fun but forgettable
Since time immemorial, man has sought to sort his symbols by shape and colour. While we may take for granted our efficacy at this essential task, things would be a lot more disorganised without the work of scientists like the moustachioed Professor Lexis. Now, for the first time, Digital Leisure gives us an inside look at his...
Review BlayzBloo: Super Melee Action Battle Royale (DSiWare)
A royale pain
Arc System Works' BlazBlue fighting games, with their unique anime-style visuals and enjoyable fighting engines, have become quite popular among fans of the genre. Of course, this makes it all the more confusing to see them take such a high-quality series and dumb it down for their DSiWare spinoff release BlayzBloo: Super Melee Action...
Review Petz Dogz Family (DSiWare)
Ruff!
Dogs are widely considered to be a great friend of man – in fact, some would go so far as to call the species man's best friend. Known for their obedience and constant attention, they make a perfect model for a virtual pet. It's no coincidence then that Petz Dogz Family is the best of the DSiWare series. Like its feline and rodent...
Review Crystal Monsters (DSiWare)
You don't want these monsters in your pocket, but they're still fun to have around
It's usually clear within the first few minutes of playing a new Gameloft game which franchise it's been "inspired" by. Not breaking tradition, the same holds true here, with Gameloft's latest bearing a very strong resemblance to none other than the Pokémon...
Sigh borg
Playing Hints Hunter is a lot like browsing through a book of carpet samples: there may be a lot of them, but it won't take you very long before you've moved on from one to the next. Also, sometimes you come across a really difficult square right in the middle of some comparatively easy ones. Plus there are cartoon robots. Ok, maybe it's...
Review Puffins: Let's Race! (DSiWare)
Watch out for that treeeeeeeeeeeeee
Parsing the retail release Puffins: Island Adventure and putting the bits on DSiWare has proven to be a mixed bag so far. The first time around brought the underwhelming and frustratingly controlled Let's Roll!, and follow-up Let's Fish! turned out to be slightly better. So is the third time the charm? In short,...
