Wii U eShop Game Reviews
Review Breezeblox (Wii U eShop)
Breezy
One of a growing number of indie titles appearing on the Wii U eShop, Breezeblox is a block-rolling puzzle game from début developer Brennan Maddox that, on first glance, seems to owe more than a little to mobigame's cube-based classic EDGE. Beyond the minimalist aesthetic and Cartesian conceit, however, they're very different games, and...
A decent par
Atmosphere holds a lot of weight to a game's appeal. Case in point: for all the popularity of gritty military shooters and edgy, hyper-realistic open world games today, there seems to be a sizeable demographic of players wearied by the very thought of jumping into these genres. Beyond disinterest in their gameplay, their lack of...
Review Breath of Fire (Wii U eShop / SNES)
Dragon its heels behind the competition
The age of the 16-bit RPG is well-remembered, and many iconic titles from the time are still cherished by fans to this day. From Final Fantasy III to Chrono Trigger, the genre showed genuine growth through some shining examples of emotive storytelling mixed with addictive gameplay. Not one to miss out on all...
Review uWordsmith (Wii U eShop)
Limited lexicon
Word games are rather less common these days than in their most prolific period, but if you're going to build one the Wii U seems like prime real estate for doing so. uWordsmith takes advantage of the GamePad to create a simple yet snappy style of wordplay, but some setbacks make it less than letter perfect. Three modes exist in the...
Review Electronic Super Joy: Groove City (Wii U eShop)
Groove it or lose it
Electronic Super Joy: Groove City is a weird game. The plot involves a giant robot stripper that loses her laser nipples, and you're trying to get them back so she stops destroying Groove City in a resulting fit of rage. The story matters very little beyond setup purposes, as the majority of the dialogue is delivered through...
Review Street Fighter 2010: The Final Fight (Wii U eShop / NES)
Planet Hopper 1990
Capcom's Street Fighter 2010: The Final Fight is an interesting game, arriving on the NES after the release of the first Street Fighter, but before its sequel hit arcades and caused an explosion of interest in one-on-one brawlers. The game's story was changed for the western release to at least try and justify the use of the name...
Review Family Tennis SP (Wii U eShop)
Not without its faults
If there's one thing that Arc System Works - with this game published by Shin'en Multimedia - can't be accused of, it's of sticking to one genre. Over the years it has displayed a competent ability to develop quality beat 'em ups, side scrolling fighters and even racing games, such as Final Lap, a game that dates as far back...
Review Lucadian Chronicles (Wii U eShop)
A killer hand
Card games certainly have their place in Nintendo's history; any fan of Pokémon will know just how important the trading cards were to the series' success, especially upon its début in the '90s. While it may seem strange to turn a card game into a video game — after all, much of the appeal comes from the physical act of using cards...
Review Axelay (Wii U eShop / SNES)
Restoring some Life Force to the 2D shooter
When you run through the list of prolific Japanese software houses during the 8 and 16-bit eras, Konami's name is usually pretty close to the top. Like rivals Capcom and Namco, it benefited from the incredible global success of the Nintendo's NES and many of its classic franchises gained astonishing...
Review Cake Ninja 3: The Legend Continues (Wii U eShop)
Legendarily mundane
Apparently, ninjas hate cakes, and developer Cypronia has been struggling to produce a decent game based off this assumption since its first attempt on DSiWare back in 2011. With years of experience under its belt and a baked goods massacre to show for it, has the move to Wii U made for a more substantial title? Let's begin by...
Not too much dead-weight
The Wii U is certainly not short of platformer games, from first party titles such as New Super Mario Bros. U to indie epics like Shovel Knight, so an addition to the system's growing list needs a special something to stand out from the crowd. Canadian developer Frima Studio may feel it has the answer with Chariot; it's a...
Get lost
Sometimes the simplest concept can make for an utterly addictive and engaging virtual experience. From Wii Sports to Angry Birds, the original Mario Bros. to the Mario Party series, there have been plenty of games that have bridged the gap from casual to advanced players, and it all starts at how accessible and universal the concept at the...
Review Toon Tanks (Wii U eShop)
That's all, folks
Petite Games' Toon Tanks is a good example of a current issue present in the Wii U eShop in North America. There have been many games released that are finished and functional, but don't contain the degree of polish that we have come to expect. While Toon Tanks works just fine in what it sets out to do, the lack of scope or variety...
Review Dig Dug (Wii U eShop / NES)
A competent but unneeded version of a fun 80's classic
Originally hitting arcades in 1982, this NES conversion of Dig Dug followed a few years later (albeit only in Japan until arriving on the Wii's Virtual Console service in 2008). It's a classic Namco title that sees you digging your way around a single screen defeating (and sometimes fleeing)...
Review Mario Party Advance (Wii U eShop / GBA)
Party of One
Given the palm-rending popularity of the Mario Party series on Nintendo 64, it was only a matter of time before Nintendo brought the festivities to a handheld venue, and in 2005 Mario Party Advance arrived to fulfil the dreams of on-the-go party people everywhere. Developed by the busy bees at Hudson Soft - best known as the house of...
Review F-Zero: GP Legend (Wii U eShop / GBA)
Dare you to blink
The F-Zero series has often dished out a steep challenge to players, and in GP Legend the uninitiated will be given no quarter unless they dig in their heels and learn the ropes. Players will be expected to tame every brutal hairpin, memorize each risky shortcut and etch sweet boosting spots into their brain if they are to succeed...
Review Underground (Wii U eShop)
Overground, Wombling free
It's not often that games have a professional, legitimate use outside of entertainment, but in the case of Underground that's exactly what you get. Not only is it a puzzle game, but it is also designed to teach the skills required for laparoscopic surgery, more commonly known as keyhole surgery. Educational tools are all...
Review Spy Chameleon (Wii U eShop)
Incog-neato
Spanish developer EnjoyUp games has had a steady stream of titles arrive on Nintendo's digital platforms in recent times, including Darts Up, 99Moves and Rock Zombie, although arguably these games have yet to set the eShop alight. However, this port of Unfinished Pixel's PC game, Spy Chameleon
Review BLOK DROP X TWISTED FUSION (Wii U eShop)
A twist to a solid formula
Crossovers can sometimes make for odd bedfellows. In the case of BLOK DROP X TWISTED FUSION (BDXTF), the minimalist-styled puzzle formula of BLOK DROP U has received a few tinkerings and a fresh coat of paint from Twisted Fusion, a title that has not yet been released at the time of this review. It's hard to say many were...
Show me your 99Moves
Hot on the heels of October's 99Seconds comes a Wii U eShop version of 99Moves, which like its predecessor had origins as an EnjoyUp Games DSiWare title. For the most part, this is a simple port, but what changes there are offer mixed results — some of them are definitively positive, such as the improved resolution and frame...
Review Kuru Kuru Kururin (Wii U eShop / GBA)
Brill Brill Brilliant
Kururin's siblings have wandered off and got themselves lost, and now he must hop into his Helirin (a spinning blade with a cockpit stuck in the middle) to fly around a number of worlds to rescue them. There are tutorial levels available in Kuru Kuru Kururin, but the game is straightforward enough even if the gameplay is quite...
Review Shantae And The Pirate's Curse (Wii U eShop)
More like a blessing
While WayForward has been working away on the crowd-funded Shantae: Half-Genie Hero, which will be released on every platform under the sun, it hasn't forgotten its Nintendo roots. Shantae and the Pirate's Curse, the final game of the "original" series, wraps up the storyline started in the original Game Boy Color title and...
Review TOSS N GO (Wii U eShop)
Use as directed
Simplicity is never a bad thing in itself. An experience can be extremely easy in execution, yet still provide plenty of rewarding elements. Sometimes, however, something can be boiled down into such simple elements that it loses some of those satisfying quirks, and that's where RCMADIAX's TOSS N GO suffers. TOSS N GO is another in...
Review A World of Keflings (Wii U eShop)
What a wonderful world
Originally finding a home on Xbox Live Arcade, NinjaBee's A Kingdom for Keflings charmed players with its colourful worlds, fun simulation gameplay and creative use of Microsoft's then-new Live Avatars. Six years after that début, the gnome-like beings make their first appearance on a Nintendo platform with this re-release of...
Review Plenty of Fishies (Wii U eShop)
Plenty of fishies, not enough frames
There's a curious debate about resolution and framerate currently detonating across communities of "serious" gamers right now, one that this reviewer finds frankly ridiculous. There's no denying the higher aesthetic quality of games running at 1080p resolution and 60 frames per second — they look amazing —...
Review Duck Hunt (Wii U eShop / NES)
Old dog, same tricks
Despite Nintendo's refusal to acknowledge the Duck Hunt character in Super Smash Bros. until long after the 3DS version was released, we all knew that the duo – or trio – were in the game. What we didn't know at that time was that Duck Hunt was due to release on the Wii U's Virtual Console, and now it has. The question is...
Review Mega Man Zero (Wii U eShop / GBA)
A side character gets a great spotlight
The Classic Mega Man Series was popular enough to warrant its own spin-off series, Mega Man X. That, in turn, proved strong enough for a spin-off series of its own, and in 2002 it arrived in the form of Mega Man Zero The Zero series spans four titles — all released exclusively for the Game Boy Advance —...
Review DK: King of Swing (Wii U eShop / GBA)
Shouldering the effort
Between 1999's Donkey Kong 64 and 2010's Donkey Kong Country Returns, Nintendo's great ape served a cool-off period of sorts when it came to straight-up platforming adventures. He had no huge releases to his name, but that didn't mean he was on the backburner entirely. The 2000s were a time to utilise Donkey Kong as a...
Epic fail
Every so often, a small indie gem comes along that blows gamers out of the water with its surprising polish, addictive gameplay, wonderful sense of presentation and intelligent design. Ninja Pig Studios' Meme Run is not one of those games. In fact, Meme Run may be one of the worst releases on any gaming platform this year. A cynical and...
Review Lode Runner (Wii U eShop / NES)
Not quite endless runner
Broderbund's Lode Runner is a challenging puzzler that, unfortunately, hasn't aged particularly gracefully. Originally released in 1983 on computers like the Apple II and the Commodore 64, Lode Runner feels dated, even for an NES game. It's easy to see the reason Lode Runner was released on so many different platforms over...
