Tag: Previews - Page 13
First Impressions Monsteca Corral
Round 'em up, move 'em out
So far we haven't been told much about Onteca's upcoming WiiWare title Monsteca Corral, so when the developers offered us to see the game in action for ourselves we jumped at the chance. It's tough to describe Monsteca Corral in traditional genre terms, but it's perhaps closest to a real-time strategy game, although it...
First Impressions Rune Factory Frontier
Growing a beaut
US readers may scoff at the "First Impressions" title of this article as Rune Factory Frontier has been available in the Western hemisphere for nearly a year, but as always European gamers are left waiting for any Harvest Moon-related titles. However, farming fans need not fret much longer, as Rune Factory Frontier is due...
Dig Dug II: a new action film from Michael Bay
Tom Create are no strangers to the Nintendo download scene having released a WiiWare "card battle" game and three budget DSiWare games last year. Earth Saver was the last DSiWare game from them in 2009: a puzzle game with a play mechanic very much like Namco's Dig Dug II, but a setting like a...
First Impressions Chōkon Chicken Do Shindan
Test your "Chicken Bird Soul"
The DS has become massively popular in part due to the number of games on it which claim to test players cleverness in some way. These are typically referred to as "brain training" programs and they've clearly been embraced by a large audience of people that enjoy being tested on math skills and such. This...
First Impressions Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon
Tri-Crescendo's brooding adventure comes to life
You may have already heard some impressions about Fragile Dreams in our recent podcast, but there's still much to tell about Tri-Crescendo's upcoming post-apocalyptic adventure. The game begins with the death of your surrogate grandfather, the only human being you've ever had contact with. The world...
First Impressions Panel Renketsu 3 Minute Rocket
Pipe Mania plus Apollo Space Progam plus Sky TV?
Whilst Nintendo's Intelligent Systems development team might be better known for the Fire Emblem series, on the download front they seem to be cutting loose with a lightgun shooter on WiiWare and now a puzzle game for the DSi. At first glance it looks like the classic puzzler Pipe Mania, but that's...
First Impressions Pinball Attack!
Pinball and shooters: two tastes that go great together
ArtePiazza is better recognised for its work on RPGs like Enix's Dragon Quest series and more recently Koei's Wii RPG Opoona, so it's interesting that their freshman effort on DSiWare is a marriage of video pinball and shooter called Pinball Attack! There are currently no other pinball games on...
First Impressions Space Invaders Extreme Z
Space Invaders Extreme 2 comes to DSiWare
Space Invaders is a video game icon: even people who don't play video games are likely to recognise the bitmap images of the Invaders thanks to Taito's persistence in keeping the brand name alive via product licensing, video game sequels and home console ports. The celebration of the 30th anniversary of...
Hardware Review Yobo FC-16 Go Portable SNES
Attack of the clones
Those of you with especially keen memories will recall that we reviewed the RetroDuo console not so long ago. One of the growing number of unlicensed clones hitting the market at the moment, this neat machine is now joined by something a little more portable - namely the Yobo Gameware FC-16 Go. This is essentially a portable...
First Impressions Monster Hunter Tri
Nintendo let us get to grips with Capcom's monster offering
Yesterday we were cordially invited to a guest lecture at the Science Museum in London. The subject? Monster Hunter of course; in fact, it was the very first session of 'Monster Hunter University'. In a lecture led by long-time series producer Ryozo Tsujimoto, the assembled masses were...
Podcast Episode 12 - Fragile Dreams and Reviews Round-Up!
Plus first impressions and news too
Yes, it was but one month ago we all gathered around the soft glow of our audio devices to discover who won the Nintendo Life Game of the Year Awards. This month we look forward, with audio recaps of our recent previews of Art of Balance, Rage of the Gladiator and Calling, as well as a podcast exclusive preview as...
First Impressions Moyasu Puzzle Flametail
One-third of MaBoShi reborn on DSiWare
If you've played 3-in-1 WiiWare game MaBoShi, then you'll recognise Moyasu Puzzle Flametail as the "Square" game -- you know, the one that wasn't played with a single button press? The gameplay in Flametail is largely the same as MaBoShi's Square, but there have been some graphical enhancements and...
First Impressions Legends of Exidia
We get to grips with Gameloft's miniature epic
Earlier this week Nintendo Life was cordially invited to Gameloft's London office for a hands-on of their latest adventure for DSiWare, Legends of Exidia, which has now been released in the European shop. Gameloft is developing something of a reputation as the most ambitious developers in the download...
First Impressions Rage of the Gladiator
Unleash Hell!
Rage of the Gladiator may not be ready to step into the WiiWare ring just yet, but when Ghostfire Games invited us to a little sparring session with their first-person fighter we accepted immediately. We came away battered and bruised, but still very impressed with how Rage is shaping up. Each of the game’s three control methods...
One call you might want to take.
For those of you who love a good scare or just enjoy a playful romp through the latest survival horror title, Hudson's got just the game for you. In fact, they were even kind enough to send us over a preview build of their upcoming horror release Calling to check out and we have to say, this is easily one of the...
First Impressions Super Meat Boy - Part 2
We take the latest build for a spin.
As the agonizing wait continues for Team Meat's upcoming WiiWare release Super Meat Boy, we can't help but turn into a bunch of giddy schoolgirls each time we're fortunate enough to get our hands on a new preview build of the game. We had only just begun to wipe the grin off of our faces since the last preview...
First Impressions Art of Balance
We get to grips with this blocky beauty
Puzzle games are ten-a-penny on WiiWare, varying from the boring to the brilliant. Attempting to nestle nicely into this overcrowded genre comes Art of Balance, a physics-based block-stacker from the developers of DS shooter Nanostray. Having had chance to sit down with Art of Balance for a few hours it’s...
First Impressions Kentōshi Furi Furi Boxing
No robots, but plenty of rock-em, sock-em action!
You might remember a plastic toy called "Rock'em Sock'em Robots" ("Raving Bonkers Fighting Robots" in the UK) in which two robots were fixed on either side of a platform and pressing buttons caused them to punch each other senseless until one of their heads popped up, only to be...
Another great old-school shooter for WiiWare
Most of you will probably remember Phalanx as a SNES game, however that was just a port of a game that was developed for the Sharp X68000, a home computer sold exclusively in Japan from 1987-1993. The Sharp X68k (as it was commonly known) used hardware similar to arcade systems of the time; as a result it...
First Impressions Dementium II
Clean pants recommended
Renegade Kid are responsible for some of the more innovative and undeniably horrific first-person experiences on DS, having already given us Dementium: The Ward as well as the excellent Moon. Dementium II was recently announced for release in 2010, hitting North America on February 16th and reaching Europe a few weeks later...
First Impressions 530 Eco-Shooter
Recycling - with a vengeance!
Intelligent Systems has a reputation of being one of Nintendo's better first-party development teams, with an impressive resume including the Fire Emblem games, Tetris Attack, the Paper Mario series, the WarioWare games and Super Metroid. Seeing a WiiWare title from them naturally raised our curiosity, and that...
Impressions Max & the Magic Marker
We take the unique WiiWare title for a spin.
The kind folks over at Press Play were nice enough to send over a preview build of their upcoming WiiWare puzzle platformer Max & the Magic Marker for us to try out. Now that we've spent several hours playing through the game's 15 levels, we'll give you an idea of what you can expect from this rather...
First Impressions Super Meat Boy
We take Team Meat's upcoming platformer for a spin.
The guys over at Team Meat were kind enough to send over a preview build of their upcoming PC/WiiWare title Super Meat Boy yesterday and we've spent the past few hours putting it through its paces and snapping a few screenshots in the process. The guys at Team Meat did want us to make sure and...
First Impressions New Super Mario Bros. Wii
Plumbing new heights
Now we've had chance to play the final version of New Super Mario Bros. Wii, it's time to tell you the hard truth about Nintendo's latest plumbing escapades. Well, the hard truth is, it's a lot of fun and impossible to play without a smile on your face. Although a lot of emphasis has been put on the series-first multiplayer,...
First Impressions Shadow Walker (Japan)
Unconventional puzzling for the kiddies.
This game kind of came out of nowhere, but there does seem to be few WiiWare games concerning shadows on the horizon: Nicalis' Night Game and Hudson's Tower of Shadow being the ones that spring immediately to mind. Shadow Walker's story isn't completely clear seeing as it's relayed storybook-style with a lot...
First Impressions Bit.Trip VOID
Could the third time be yet another charm?
Gaijin Games has really earned a place in many a retro-gaming fan's heart with their old, old-school Bit.Trip series on WiiWare. It's one of the shining examples of how good download games can really be: updated Atari 8-bit graphics with jazzed-up special effects and a soundtrack that's enhanced by the...
First Impressions Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth
Worth getting your teeth into?
The Castlevania series of action platformers is widely regarded as containing some of the best games on the Famicom, and indeed home consoles full-stop, with top-notch instalments on Super Famicom, PC Engine, Playstation and handheld platforms to name a few. Needless to say the news that the first GameBoy game was...
First Impressions Need for Speed Nitro
Leader of the pack?
There are very few serious driving games of note on Wii - the machine is undoubtedly missing its Forza Motorsport, Gran Turismo or Race Driver: Grid - and EA's latest in the Need for Speed franchise does little to address this problem. Whilst 360 and PS3 owners can play the generally well-received NFS: Shift, Nintendo gamers are...
Another gaming revolution from Archer Maclean?
Wheelspin is an unashamedly old-school arcade racer, with exaggerated physics, rollercoaster-style tracks and an emphasis on enormous speed. Its influences are clear - F-Zero and San Francisco Rush 2049 are the strongest - but sadly Wheelspin never feels more than the sum of its parts. The single-player...
First Impressions Manic Monkey Mayhem
How do we like these bananas?
It's a well-known fact that monkeys like to fling things at each other, so it should come as no surprise that UK developers The Code Monkeys have taken this concept and applied it to their first title for the WiiWare and DSiWare services, in the form of does-what-it-says-on-the-tin Manic Monkey Mayhem. MMM is a...
First Impressions Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes
Might and magic and myths and... Meteos?!
The DS has loads of good puzzle games - Picross, Tetris, Meteos - and some fantastic strategy titles too - Fire Emblem and Advance Wars chief among them. But it could certainly do with more great puzzle strategy games; titles that blend the addictive action of matching coloured objects with the cerebral...
First Impressions C.O.P. The Recruit
Take the beat to the streets
C.O.P. The Recruit was announced back at E3 in June, and quickly marked itself out as one to watch by promising an open world experience unlike anything on DS. Now we've had chance to grab a few minutes with the title, does it live up to the hype or is it lagging behind Chinatown Wars? The first thing you'll notice on...
First Impressions Rabbids Go Home
Put this in your trolley!
There's only one possible conclusion to be drawn from Rabbids Go Home - it's mental. Anyone involved in its development should probably be sectioned under the Mental Health Act, such is the scale of the crazy acts featured in this first traditional adventure game for the Rabbids. Of course, if you've been following our...
News WiiWare & DSiWare London Event - DSiWare Coverage
We get to grips with the DSiWare games at Nintendo's media summit held in London, 16th September
Well, as if the landslide of WiiWare information from Wednesday’s media summit wasn’t enough, we now have summaries of the DSiWare titles on show. And while the selection on Nintendo's portable machine may not have been as high profile as its console...
First Impressions Derby Dog (WiiWare)
This breed needs a little more refinement.
Pet sims have been all the rage with the "yoof" for some time; especially on the Nintendo DS with scads of games having words ending with "Z" instead of the more grammatically correct "S." Derby Dog for the Japanese WiiWare service is clearly designed to cash-in on this trend,...
News WiiWare & DSiWare London Event - WiiWare Coverage
London, 16th September: Nintendo hold their WiiWare and DSiWare media summit, and we’re lucky enough to have been invited…
Well, those of you who scan our site on a regular basis will know that today - in London - Nintendo made a few announcements regarding the WiiWare and DSiWare service: first of all, they gave us the release schedule for a...
First Impressions Minna de Tobikome! Penguin Diving Hooper Looper
Jumping off a cliff can be fun!
"Everybody dive!" is part of the title of Agenda's newest WiiWare game to hit the Japanese Wii Shop, and that is what this game is all about: diving off cliffs – as penguins are known to do – for big points! Of course this isn't March of the Penguins, so the penguins in this game aren't dropping off...
First Impressions Discipline (WiiWare - Japan)
Art-house gaming comes to WiiWare.
Discipline is a WiiWare game long-rumoured and only recently revealed. As possibly the most unusual game to yet grace the service, it game centres around a prison called Discipline, wherein you control a character apparently posing as an inmate. It's difficult to tell what exactly is happening because text plays a...
First Impressions Simple Series Vol. 4 - The Misshitsu Kara no Dasshutsu (WiiWare - Japan)
Not quite Steve McQueen...
Well, Simple Series Vol. 4 - The Misshitsu Kara no Dasshutsu is quite a mouthful, so for the purpose of these impressions please forgive the re-titling of this game with the shorter, but still thematically correct name Room Escape. D3 Publisher is known as a publisher of budget games and has pushed out dozens of them for...
First Impressions Ninja Captains
We get our claws into Nordcurrent's latest
As much as it dents our hardcore gamer image to say it, we love a good minigame compilation here at Nintendo Life. When we're not blasting through Space Pirates or springing to the rescue of princesses for the thousandth time, you'll often catch us waggling away to a batch of minigames, so it was with great...
First Impressions Tomenasanner
Rock rock planet rock, don't stop. Rock rock planet rock - DON'T STOP!
What Tomenasanner means is anyone's guess (try guessing in the comments - better still, please advise if you know!). It's written in katakana so it's apparently a word of foreign origin (sure sounds it!), but the closest that Google Translate offered was "tomen" which...
We put the upcoming WiiWare puzzler through its paces!
The guys over at Yullaby were kind enough to send over a preview build of their upcoming WiiWare puzzler Magnetis for us to try out. I got to spend a few hours with the game today and I have to say, it's really surprised me. Now I expected it to be a good puzzler, but the game has a very unique...
First Impressions Japanese Nintendo Channel Update
Along with the 4.1J Wii system update, Japanese Wii owners have also received an updated Nintendo Channel!
The Nintendo Channel has long been a mixed bag: it provides Nintendo with a gateway into player's play habits (though you'd have thought this would be possible from the basic system given that the Wii has built-in networking capability) and...
First Impressions Water Warfare
We head to the playground to see if there's enough water in its soaker to keep gamers occupied
Earlier this month, Hudson took a gamble and decided to release a first-person shooter on WiiWare. Due to it being the first of its kind on the platform and a new IP, some thought that Hudson would regret making such a bold decision. In the end, though,...
First Impressions Escape Virus
A fun little mobile game for WiiWare
Escape Virus is the freshman effort from Peakvox - an iPhone and mobile game developer - with the focus being on pick-up-and-play arcade gaming and ascending to the top of the world ranking in each of five game modes. The menus throughout the game look like metal car number plates which drop onto a titled plane...
First Impressions Red Steel 2 Exclusive!
The game you've been waiting for.
When Red Steel launched way back in December 2006 it promised so much, with its mix of bullets and blades and intuitive motion controls, but was clearly rushed to meet the Wii's launch date and ended up a disappointment in many gamers' eyes. A few months after release, the development team sat down to create the...
First Impressions Muscle March
Namco delivers possibly the most bizarre game to come from Japan in years.
If you've gotten into the Japanese import scene at all you've probably discovered that there's games released in Japan that never see localisation outside of Japan. Japanese game developers have a knack for coming up with some pretty unusual game concepts and Japanese...
First Impressions Arkanoid Plus!
Taito plays it safe in bringing back a classic.
Whilst Atari's Breakout and Super Breakout pioneered the arcade block-breaking games that are well-worn cliches today, Taito's Arkanoid really took the idea to the next level and no one's improved upon it since. The game concept is pretty simple: a bar at the bottom of the screen is used to bounce a...
First Impressions Personal Trainer: Walking
We take Nintendo's new DS fitness title for a walk.
We recently got in the upcoming DS title Personal Trainer: Walking and we've had a chance to spend a little time with it and we think gamers who want to increase their fitness level are in for a treat with this interesting new DS game package. Inside the package you basically get the DS game, two...
Tap into a new game experience.
After the physical exertion of Virtua Tennis 2009, and with the shame of my first-round exit still hanging over me like a dark cloud, it was a pleasure to sit down for a bit with Let’s Tap. As a huge Yuji Naka fan I was dying to find out how his new studio Prope’s first game would play, and as soon as I got my...
