Wii U, 3DS, Wii, DS, DSi, WiiWare, DSiWare, Virtual Console Reviews - Page 34

Prime cut

You know the story. By now, everyone does. In 2002, a new Metroid game was released after nearly a decade of silence, and it was done by a little studio in Texas that no one had ever heard of. Oh, and it was 3D. And first person. It shouldn't have worked, but it did, and the ensuing trilogy would secure that little studio as one of the...

The end of an era?

Another week, another instalment in the venerable Successfully Learning series from Tivola. Successfully Learning German: Year 5 is on DSiWare so young German speakers have another opportunity to return to Freddy the Vampire’s classroom. It’s the final instalment in the series, so prepare to graduate and say goodbye. How does the series end, any exciting changes or variations..

A misfire

Most of us have played one of them before: one of those free online Flash games where your goal is to hit something by firing a projectile, after deciding what angle and what speed the object should be thrown or shot at. Of course, you'll also be familiar with this concept if you've played any Worms game. Artillery: Knights vs. Orcs takes this concept and turns it into a small-scale, two..

Save the fireworks

Stars. Stripes. Rockets' red glare and bombs bursting in air. Deer and antelope playing. America. The United States is a country with enough national pride to fuel a superhero, and that's exactly what Captain America is all about. Does his movie tie-in handheld outing Captain America: Super Soldier channel these well enough to...

You call that a farm? THIS is a farm

Ahh, life on the farm. The sweet taste of buffalo milk, sheep and crocodiles playing together... OK, perhaps My Australian Farm isn't the most realistic agricultural simulator, but at least it makes for a decent money-management time-waster. This, along with My Farm, My Exotic Farm and the upcoming My Asian Farm, all coexist in the 2009 retail release My Farm..

A game that'll rope you in

Step one: create a simple, fun and addictive activity. Step two: throw in an interesting twist. Step three: build on that foundation with something that adds variation and challenge while channelling the essence of what makes it fun. These are the steps to making a great puzzle game, and it's that first task at which many developers fail, making new, original ones appear..

Shinto to go

What do you get when you mix Mikoshi (portable Shinto shrines) and top-down shooters? Oddly enough, you come up with Gamebridge’s newest DSiWare release, GO Series: Portable Shrine Wars. But is this bizarre combination a match made in yomi, or is it just too weird to work? The goal in Portable Shrine Wars is to race your Mikoshi...

Pitch perfect?

Gameloft's Let's Golf! 3D may be the first third-party 3DSWare title to download, but it's not the company's first swing at portable pitching and putting: DSiWare has the original Let's Golf!, so this new outing has to bring more to the table. In some ways it delivers, but it doesn't quite hit the pin. For one thing, you're getting a...

Too little, too late

What do Arzest, ChunSoft, Good-Feel Co, Mitchell Corporation, Prope, Skip Ltd, Vanpool, NdCUBE and Nintendo have in common? They all worked as developers on Wii Play: Motion, which acts as a companion to the Wii Remote Plus. It also serves as a sequel to Wii Play, a compilation largely criticised for its mediocre mix of...

Erledigt

The final outing for the Successfully Learning German WiiWare series is now among us and it's business as usual for the Tivola-developed edutainment tool. As with earlier entries, Year 5 makes no attempts to actively teach participants anything new, instead providing interactive exercises for students of a particular level to practice the language skills they've gained in the classroom..

Around the world, around the world

Oscar's World Tour marks the fourth instalment of the series on DSiWare, and once again finds Oscar in the familiar situation of tracking down Baby Oscars and heading for the Pig Stop. While the game stays very close to its predecessors in terms of gameplay, the developer has tossed in a few new visual twists to give it a fresh new look. But are these cosmetic..

At last

Few titles have successfully combined the puzzler and adventure genres like Chip's Challenge and its ilk. Bobby Carrot Forever is one such derivative, removing the Sokoban-influenced box-pushing and building on a foundation of collectible items and manually-set traps. But is it good enough to make you hop or would Bobby have been better off as stew? Our hero has found himself in a dream..

Your own personal mixing board

Although the music/rhythm genre has fizzled a bit recently, we are still seeing a few releases here and there. And while Just JAM is nowhere nearly as deep or engaging as a Guitar Hero or Rock Band title, it does put quite a bit of musical direction in the palm of your hands via the Wii Remote and Nunchuk, but with a lack of recognisable tunes and far less freedom of..

Waka waka waka

Pac-Man and Galaga have provided 30 years worth of entertainment, coin shortages, hit songs and waka-wakas across the world, and to celebrate Namco has cooked up a number of presents for fans. One such present is Pac-Man & Galaga Dimensions, a six-layer cake iced with 3D. But instead of a tasty bakery delight, some dead bugs have...

Rock you like a Hurricane

While it may be difficult to achieve the recognition and greatness of Shantae: Risky’s Revenge or Cave Story, platform adventure games are still very welcome on DSiWare. Antipole, the newest title from Saturnine Games, might not be the most original genre entry in the universe, it is still a very gravitating game with a...

Shield your eyes...

There's been a fair amount of hyperbole thrown around for Captain America: Super Soldier in the gaming community, with many people making wild claims that SEGA has done for The First Avenger what Rocksteady did for The Dark Knight. While there are definite hints of Batman: Arkham Asylum in High Voltage's Wii outing for Cap', the title still falls far short of the title it..

Watch out for sharp edges

On paper, Jagged Alliance looks like a must-have for fans of tactical role-playing games. A mid 90s PC classic that was originally distributed as a DS retail release in 2009, now available at a significantly lower price of 500 Nintendo Points – it’s a win-win, right? Well, two areas that hit the mark are storyline and tactical depth. The original was highly regarded on..

Xevious goes 3D

When Xevious first hit arcades back in 1982, it became known for its odd visual style and unique sound effects. Now, after a number of releases on various platforms over the past 30 years, the game now makes an appearance on Nintendo's 3DS system via the eShop. While being able to take the game with you on the go for those quick...

Since you're climbing a waterfall, you're more of a Kung Fu Salmon

If there's one thing we can say about Kung Fu Dragon, it's that there's really not much to say about Kung Fu Dragon. It's a game that's content to limit itself in nearly every respect, and that's going to earn it its share of detractors, but it's also a game that makes surprisingly effective use of its simplicity. There will be..