A code worth cracking
For a while now, hack-and-slash has been significantly undermined as a legitimate genre in video gaming, but Code of Princess doesn't care about any of that. Code of Princess spits in the face of modern 3D gaming and says “I can do things better,” and then goes out and does it. Being touted as a spiritual successor to Sega...
Is history repeating itself?
In these risk-averse times, publishers are increasingly relying on sequels to existing IPs to ensure that they turn over a profit. The problem doesn’t stem so much from a dearth of creativity in the industry, but rather as consumers we have a horrible habit of sticking with what we know. Much like the video game...
A beautiful day on the links
Released in 1999 to dovetail with the N64 game of the same name, the Game Boy Color version of Mario Golf is more than just a scaled-back, portable edition. In fact, it stands well enough on its own merits, and it's almost unfortunate that it shares a name with its console counterpart; it really does have an identity all...
It's Layton, so you probably know the answer
While gamers in Japan are eagerly awaiting the final part of the Professor Layton prequel trilogy, those of us in the West are relieved to finally get our hands on what was a Japanese 3DS launch title, Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask — originally known as Professor Layton and the Mask of Miracle...
Robot Parade
The sequel to Teyon's first DSiWare release from back in 2009, Robot Rescue 2 charges players with leading a flock of oddly organic looking robots to safety across gridded stages. Rescuing these robots is made more complicated, and much more interesting, by the fact that their movement is synchronized. Press any direction on the D-pad...
A Ghost of the Past
Nintendo doesn’t have much of a history when it comes to publishing mature-rated games. In fact, they had never directly released an M-rated game before they published the critically acclaimed Eternal Darkness for the GameCube in 2002. So when it was announced that Nintendo was working closely with developer n-Space on Geist...
The "G" is for "garbage"
UFO Interactive's eShop releases seemed to be on a slow but steady progression towards quality, with Johnny Kung Fu almost breaking through this underwhelming barrier. But then along comes Samurai G to pee in everyone's cereal. Samurai G is like being presented with a spoon and a bowl full of live bees: just one look is...
Wahoo!
Starting life on the PlayStation in 1997, at a time when Super Mario 64 had just brought the gaming world triple-jumping headlong into the era of 3D platforming, Namco's Klonoa series has always done things differently. Klonoa's first outing, Klonoa: Door to Phantomile, was a pioneering foray into 2.5D, mixing polygonal backgrounds with...
Maiden voyage
A few months ago, Japan received the 3DS game Guild01, essentially a compilation of four specially developed games, each created by different well-known designers. Instead of simply releasing the collection in the west, Level 5 has chosen to instead publish the individual games as eShop titles — though it seems that only three of the...
A few cross words
The 3DS is no stranger to puzzle games, with Japanese developer Nikoli being responsible for most of the puzzle games on the market. While games like Sudoku, Hitori and Kakuro have provided us with enough numbers to last a lifetime, there’s a distinct lack of wordplay on Nintendo’s newest handheld. Enter Crosswords Plus, the...
Rockford reborn
Every system has little-known titles — packed with content and well-constructed gameplay — that fail to fly off shelves or, in some cases, even get into high street stores in the first place. If Boulder Dash-XL 3D suffers that fate it'll be a pity, because it takes its subject matter and goes beyond the basic requirements,...
Sweat baby, sweat
The video games industry is currently inundated with a plethora of fitness games promising to give you abs like Schwarzenegger - if you're willing to pay the price. But how many of these titles actually perform? While the Just Dance franchise might be categorised into the silly party genre, Just Dance 4 in fact provides a fun...
Chess, minus chess
Sometimes a game is so simple in concept that it’s difficult to find the right words to describe it. It’s also worth keeping in mind that simplicity is not always a bad thing, and it can often work in a game’s favor. With that being said, Academy: Chess Puzzles is the definitive simple pleasure. The first thing that needs...
One more class, Freddy
Successfully Learning English: Year 5 represents, probably, the end of an edutainment era. Across DSiWare and WiiWare, Freddy the Vampire has appeared in over 20 titles covering a few different subjects in relentless detail for young pupils, all with the same style, structure and bland presentation. The final part of the Wii's...
A royal pain
Disney has a long history of using video games to place its familiar characters into unfamiliar contexts, often mixing several disparate worlds together for the sake of effect. The best part? It quite often works. From Mickey Mouscapade to the Kingdom Hearts series to the upcoming Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion, it's usually great fun...
Falling with style
One of the coolest things video games can do is let us perform daring, stylish feats we might never attempt in the real world. Drifting around corners at 100mph, snowboarding off the edge of a mountain with reckless bravado, even plucking vegetables from the ground and hurling them at a pink dinosaur — all things we can...
Fowl play
Something of a cultural phenomenon by now, Rovio's Angry Birds franchise is one of the few in gaming to capture the general public's eye, time, wallet and wardrobe, becoming the poster child for "the future" of the industry. It has been called quite a few things in its meteoric rise: Herald of the death of dedicated gaming handhelds...
Dreams become reality
With the Pokémon series still a ways off from making its proper debut on Nintendo 3DS, fans who had purchased the stereoscopic handheld were in need of something to tide them over. Less a proper game and more a companion "app" to Pokémon Black and White 2, Pokémon Dream Radar uses the 3DS's AR capabilities to bring the...
Fair and balanced
Real Bout Fatal Fury 2: The Newcomers marks the seventh release in the series and the third and final release in the Real Bout sub-series. While there has always been a lot of debate about whether this game or Real Bout Fatal Fury Special is the better overall fighting game, it's nice to see SNK-Playmore giving Virtual Console fans...
Pokémon used Sequel! It’s super effective!
It's fitting that the franchise typically relied upon to sell Nintendo handhelds is also the swansong that bids farewell to the mighty Nintendo DS. The enormously popular Pokémon series graces the highest-selling handheld console of all time for one last hurrah and the result is nothing short of...
