WiiWare Reviews

Blast from the 'Cast

Undeserving of such a short lifespan, Dreamcast has continued to play home to the occasional independent development. One such game is Senile Team's Rush Rush Rally Racing (R4). Originally created as an entry for a Dreamcast programming contest back in 2009, the team adapted its work so that it was fit for release on WiiWare...

Less Diamond, more rough

Here it is, the thrilling conclusion to yet another series of episodic games that failed to impress from the get-go. That’s not to say that the Carmen Sandiego Adventures in Math series was a complete let-down, but a few crucial flaws detracted from the package as a whole and really held the entire series back. What...

Gnome mercy

WiiWare first met the Gnomz four months ago with the release of the appropriately named Gnomz. This time they're back with a mission to rescue a princess — and bring back lots of socks. The game opens with the king blisteringly commanding you to do these seemingly disparate things, and it's a riot. The visuals and the soundtrack come...

Severely undercooked

While never really regarded as a smash hit in arcades, the original BurgerTime has always been an entertaining little game. We recently got what is arguably the best older version, BurgerTime Deluxe, on the 3DS eShop, and now we finally have a completely new title that other platforms received a couple of months ago. But is it...

Not so great

Last time we checked in on her, Carmen Sandiego had sent her minions out to steal St. Basil’s cathedral in Russia. This week, Sandiego has made her way over to India in Carmen Sandiego Adventures in Math: The Great Gateway Grab. With her eyes set on the Gateway of India, it’s up to you as an agent of ACME to solve the mystery and stop Sandiego’s V.I.L.E. minions before it’s..

Keep on truckin'

It’s not about the winning, it’s about the taking part. Though it’s technically of the racing genre, TNT Racers often encourages you to do all but grab the chequered flag first. Far more important is the ability to unleash timely havoc upon competitors to send them sputtering off-screen; consider it the driver’s guide to...

An experiment to be ab-horde

We're going to say this up front because there won't be much room to say nice things later on in the review: Newton Vs The Horde has an utterly fantastic concept. The idea is to destroy approaching zombie-like creatures by using physics puzzles either found in your environment or created by you. That's an interesting twist on a classic formula; instead of mowing down..

In Russia, game disappoints you

If you’re wondering where in the world Carmen Sandiego is this week, or what in the world she’s up to, look no further than Moscow, capital city of Russia. As is generally the case, Sandiego is busy using one of her goons from the criminal organization V.I.L.E. to abscond with with a precious landmark. This time, St. Basil’s Cathedral has been turned to sand,..

Rock-solid or balderdash?

Stonekeep: Bones of the Ancestors, a remake of Interplay's mid-90's first-person dungeon crawler, sounds pretty good on paper. The Wii is a bit short on quality RPGs — especially on WiiWare — and Stonekeep was a decent-looking, competent RPG back in its day. But pre-rendered 2D environments and FMV characters are no longer the norm, and the resulting polygonal..

iinsufferable

Zombii Attack is a very silly game. Its main mechanic — firing zombies out of a giant slingshot — is strange enough, but even more preposterous is the fact that this game actually got published on WiiWare. The game is so horrendous that the campy feel and OK music don't even come close to saving it from its abominable controls and...

Big Ben brain buster

Episodic gaming is becoming a regular occurrence on the Wii and DSiWare services, and whether that’s a good or bad thing is completely up to the individual. It is true, however, that if the first episode in a series isn’t very good, then there’s a chance that it won’t get much better moving forward. Carmen Sandiego Adventures in Math: The Big Ben Burglary is a perfect..

Shoots too narrow

On the Wii Shop Channel, EnjoyUp! Games describes Soccer Up! as being "a funny soccer game." We're willing to bet you and EnjoyUp! Games have different senses of humour. But we're also willing to bet you have different definitions of "total control," "inertia" and "soccer." Indeed, much of Soccer Up!'s promises and intentions appear to be..

Where in the world is the rest of the game?

Remember Carmen Sandiego? That mysterious woman in red who would steal precious and historical items from throughout the world all while teaching kids about history and geography? Well, she’s finally back and up to her old tricks. Except this time, rather than geography, it’s going to take all of your best math skills to stop her crimes in Carmen..

Not the worst game ever

At the back of every game shelf, at the bottom of every YouTube favourites list, in the dark recesses of every gamer's heart, they live. Games with which we are far too familiar, games that some of us have taken a near-masochistic pride in seeking out. Superman. E.T. Super Noah's Ark 3D. These are some of the worst games ever made. And now comes Paper Wars: Cannon Fodder,..

X-cceptable

Less than a month ago, EnjoyUp Games released Pinocchio’s Puzzle, a jigsaw puzzle game that proved to be good fun for the whole family. Now, just in time for the holidays, EnjoyUp’s second jigsaw puzzle videogame emerges as Xmas Puzzle. But is this puzzle worth finishing and framing, or is it just a cheap Christmas cash cow? If you played Pinocchio’s Puzzle, then the first thing..

Cast from the past

Just six months back, Big John Games released Big Bass Arcade on DSiWare, offering up pick-up-and-play fishing action on the go. While the game certainly did what it said on the box, the overly simplistic design left us wanting a bit more content-wise. Enter Big Bass Arcade on WiiWare, a revamped port of that game offering updated...

Pinocchio goes to pieces

Chances are, when you're deciding to pick up a puzzle game for your console of choice, you don't think of actual jigsaw puzzles. They just don't fit easily into the genre's landscape. Popular puzzlers like Tetris and Angry Birds have an immediacy to them that encourages quick play and gratification, while a real jigsaw puzzle is more something you work at. Pinocchio's..

Don't step to this

The Wii is a great console for combining a love for gaming and fitness. Casual workout titles like Wii Fit offer laid back activities like yoga and jogging, while third-party titles like EA Sports Active offer up more rigorous cardiovascular routines. But what about WiiWare? Sure, retail offerings are great, but Nintendo's download service hasn't really had many options in the..

Fun with a capital Z?

When we first started playing Gnomz, we were excited: here's a game that's joyously silly, bizarre and simple enough that anyone willing to pick up the controller could play it and have an absolute blast. The graphics are colourful. The soundtrack has a giddy urgency to it. It's got a good sense of humour. WiiWare's Angry...