Wii U eShop Game Reviews
Review Tetrobot & Co (Wii U eShop)
Acute brain-bending pleasure
Many puzzle games – particularly on mobile devices – can be argued as being insultingly easy or too mind-numbingly obtuse to even be comprehended by human minds. Luckily *Tetrobot & Co. doesn’t fit into either of these categories. The story of this game revolves around an intelligent young lady who spends her...
Review Pier Solar and the Great Architects (Wii U eShop)
Build me up and tear me down
While playing Pier Solar and the Great Architects, it’s important to consider what a labour of love the title really is. With origins as a Sega CD homebrew project from the now-defunct Sega fansite Eidolon’s Inn, it was originally meant to star members of that website’s "Tavern" message board before evolving into a...
Review My Style Studio: Hair Salon (Wii U eShop)
Bad hair day
In the grand scheme of things, hairdressers can seem pretty insignificant, but deep down they hold the secret, terrible capacity to utterly ruin your entire week. You put your faith into them and trust that they know what they're doing, or else just one bad haircut will stick with you for a month. If a new generation of these stylistic...
Review Demon's Crest (Wii U eShop / SNES)
Fire-grand
Fans of the Ghosts 'n Goblins series should be familiar with the rather annoying little demon Firebrand; he would be the main reason Arthur would spend his time walking around the many levels of the games in his underwear. Capcom obviously thought enough of the guy to give him a series of his own, which began life on the Game Boy systems...
Review Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance (Wii U eShop / GBA)
A perfect harmony?
The Wii U eShop is becoming an embarrassment of riches, with a robust library of indie titles complemented by a growing lineup of strong Virtual Console games. Konami's Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance is the second of three Castlevania titles released on the Game Boy Advance, and while it controls and plays similarly to its...
Review Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (Wii U eShop / SNES)
The ape escape
Rare managed to do something incredible with Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong-Quest; it took the well refined gameplay and style of the first Donkey Kong Country game and made it even better. This second entry in the series features gameplay almost identical to its predecessor’s, but this time everything’s been streamlined...
Review Lone Survivor: The Director's Cut (Wii U eShop)
Where is your mind?
Lone Survivor:The Director's Cut seems to have arrived on the Wii U eShop as a sudden apparition; creeping unnaturally under the radar during a slew of indie title announcements that emerged from E3 this year. Now, Jasper Byrne's twisted horror is ready to infect your mind just in time for the Halloween season, and it will not go...
Review Stealth Inc 2: A Game of Clones (Wii U eShop)
A sneaky classic
Stealth Inc: A Clone in the Dark was — after a name change from its risqué PC début — a well-received puzzle platformer on various platforms. Its simple but cute aesthetic was matched by some lovely level design, making it a surprise when Stealth Inc 2: A Game of Clones was announced as a Wii U exclusive by Curve Studios,...
Review Cosmophony (Wii U eShop)
Off the beaten track
We can’t help but think that a parallel universe exists in which Cosmophony plays a central, cruel role in deciding a person’s fate. In this somewhat dystopian, yet oddly hip and cool universe where drum and bass is the norm, a technocratic regime (made up of original developer, Bento–Studio, and Wii U porting pros,...
Review Arrow Time U (Wii U eShop)
Let us point you in the direction of something more fun
Back in 1994, a company called Clickteam debuted Klik n Play, an amateur development program that allowed anyone to participate in the process of creating and sharing their own video games. One of the best parts of the software was its simplicity, which forewent complex coding in favor of a...
Review Castlevania: Circle of the Moon (Wii U eShop / GBA)
Over the moon
Konami's Castlevania has changed directions in recent years, with the Lords of Shadow titles polarizing fans of the long-running series. That's why fans of the "Metroidvania" outings should flock to the Wii U eShop and download the Game Boy Advance Castlevania titles, which feature the series' signature exploration-based, semi-linear...
Review Namco Museum (Wii U eShop / GBA)
Does it deserve to be exhibited on your Wii U?
Originally released for the Game Boy Advance in 2001, Namco Museum is part of a long-running series (which goes by the same name) that saw regular releases over a 15-year period all the way up until 2010. This game is a compilation, featuring five classic arcade games: Ms. PAC-MAN, Galaga, Galaxian,...
Review Ballpoint Universe: Infinite (Wii U eShop)
Scribbles and bits
Creatively, the world of Ballpoint Universe: Infinite possesses an enchantingly bizarre kind of beauty that sets it apart. It truly feels like a tribute to the underappreciated act of doodling, where both mind and pen wander to create wide, rolling swaths of who knows what. This is only the visual part of Ballpoint’s design,...
Review Donkey Kong Country (Wii U eShop / SNES)
Hasn't aged a day
Back in 1994, before 3D games had taken off, a little UK-based games developer called Rare decided that if it couldn’t have good looking 3D models in a game, it'd have to get creative. Donkey Kong Country used a pioneering new technique for the time that took images of pre-rendered three dimensional models and turned these...
Review Turtle Tale (Wii U eShop)
Half-shelled
Retro-styled platformers have become very common in the current generation of games, thanks to download platforms and readily available, inexpensive development tools. Some titles, such as the insanely difficult, finely crafted 1001 Spikes, show an immediate artistry and sense of game design. Others, unfortunately, are bare experiences...
Review 99Seconds (Wii U eShop)
A twitch in time saves 99
Time is a very valuable commodity. At least that’s what people say, but there always seems to be time for sneaking a quick little game of something between tasks. 99Seconds seeks to fill those blips in your life, and perhaps a few more, with a classic dodge ‘em style of gameplay. The Wii U version of 99seconds is...
Review Paper Monsters Recut (Wii U eShop)
The power of papercraft
In an increasingly busy eShop with titles that are wildly inconsistent in quality, download games have to make an immediate impression to get noticed. With a lovely visual style, Mobot Studios' Paper Monsters Recut instantly stands out among the crowd — an enhanced port of a mobile game, Paper Monsters Recut is a fun,...
Review Nobunaga's Ambition (Wii U eShop / SNES)
Feud of dreams
Nobunaga’s Ambition, long one of publisher Koei’s flagship series, deserves its rightful place in the history of strategy titles. This SNES iteration, like many of its brethren, has an engaging setup that rewards careful planning and execution once the learning curve is cleared. Actually, “curve” might be too gentle a term...
Review Mon Premier Karaoké (Wii U eShop)
Should you take a chanson this?
Rarely is it possible to describe a game in a single word, yet after mere minutes of playing Mon Premier Karaoké you can aptly sum it up as “niche”. After all, this is a game that’s aimed squarely at young, French-speaking children, and so to be able to use a word of French origin to describe it is...
Review Castlevania: Dracula X (Wii U eShop / SNES)
Tainted blood
When you think of the definitive side-scrolling Castlevania experience, we imagine for most people it’s imagery of Symphony of the Night or Super Castlevania IV that first creeps into the ol’ noggin. But while those might be the most popular of responses, there’s a slightly more obscure game in the franchise that many die-hards...
Review Red Riding Hood (Wii U eShop)
All the better to bore you with, my dear
Clearly aimed at children, Brave Rock Games' Red Riding Hood is a vaguely interactive storybook that, while certainly not a scam at the inexpensive asking price of $1 USD, will take users no more than 15 minutes to play through. With bare-bones presentation, narration that moves at a snail's pace and nearly...
Review Art of Balance (Wii U eShop)
The perfect balance
Art of Balance is a game that was first released on WiiWare, and was easily one of the best titles to grace the platform. Soon after a portable version was released on the 3DS, and now we get the biggest iteration yet on the Wii U eShop; as it's the third title you’d expect it to pull out all the stops, and Shin’en Multimedia...
Review Cubemen 2 (Wii U eShop)
Multi-sided gameplay
While Pure Chess became the first cross-platform multiplayer title on Nintendo eShop stores, Cubemen 2 arrives with a far more complex and potentially rewarding setup. Developer 3 Sprockets and publisher Nnooo have done an admirable job on a technical level, but importantly have also served up an entertaining real-time strategy...
Review KickBeat: Special Edition (Wii U eShop)
The first Wii U title to feature Papa Roach!
After reviewing the newest tables for its meticulously-detailed Zen Pinball 2, we were in for a totally different experience from Budapest-based Zen Studios when KickBeat: Special Edition hit the eShop. Rather than a realistic recreation of a real-life activity, KickBeat is a zany martial arts rhythm
Bully for you
Many reading this may be aware that this title was previously released on the 3DS as Darts Up 3D, and you might be expecting a more fleshed-out experience on the Wii U’s considerably more powerful hardware. As it stands, this version of the pub-game simulator is largely the same as the portable instalment. You aim with the...
Review Wild Guns (Wii U eShop / SNES)
True Bit
The Wild West is a fantastic setting for a video game. Rugged gunslingers, drunken shootouts, limited presence of the law and a surplus of criminals lend to a volatile and rowdy backdrop for a tense, controller-gripping time. In the case of Wild Guns it takes the Steampunk route, injecting hostile machinery and advanced weaponry into the...
Review Gargoyle's Quest II: The Demon Darkness (Wii U eShop / NES)
It's good to be bad
Although many people are familiar with the Red Arremers, the notoriously persistent enemies from the Ghosts 'n Goblins games, not many seem to be aware that one particular Arremer also starred in several games of his own. The first Gargoyle's Quest was released on the 3DS Virtual Console a while back, and now we've finally...
Review SPIKEY WALLS (Wii U eShop)
Feeling a bit Flappy
It's difficult to review RCMADIAX's new title SPIKEY WALLS in a rational fashion – without any context, one could easily write, "This is a Flappy Bird clone," and it would be exactly correct. SPIKEY WALLS accomplishes everything it sets out to do. You control a flappy bug by pressing the A button to navigate a never-ending...
Review Bayonetta (Wii U eShop)
Back to the start
With Bayonetta 2 around the corner as a Wii U exclusive, a reality that caused quite a stir when announced in 2012, it may be important for Nintendo-focused gamers to consider diving into the fresh port of the original Bayonetta, a title that skipped Wii when released in the last generation. Whether it's a worthwhile double-dip...
Review Chimpuzzle Pro (Wii U eShop)
Monkeying around
Chimpuzzle Pro is CW-Games’ first offering on the Nintendo Wii U eShop, building on the company’s previous Chimpuzzle (for PC/Mac/Linux) by adding five new levels. In Chimpuzzle Pro, the object is to save the auto-walking monkey Bobo from hazards by building up a partially completed obstacle course using Tetris-style block...
