Author Profile
- Username
- JakeShapiro
- Articles
- 113 (46 reviews)
- First Article
- Mon 24th, March 2014
- Avg. Review Score
- 6.0
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Review Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark (Wii U)
Less than meets the eye
Whether it's Batman, Gears of War or Zelda, it's always a gamble when a beloved series leaves the developer that created it in favour of a new one. In many of these cases it's because the publisher wants to churn out annual or semi-annual instalments in a profitable franchise, and one studio is not enough to carry this...
Review Cocoro Line Defender (3DS eShop)
Doing lines
If there's one thing French studio Moving Player knows how to do beautifully, it's presentation. Its new title Cocoro: Line Defender is inspired by Japanese watercolour-style art, with bright environments and striking dark outlines reminiscent of the 2006 classic Ōkami. Sporting a traditional flute-based soundtrack and characters with...
Review Color Zen Kids (3DS eShop)
Childlike innocence
If you read our review of Color Zen on 3DS earlier this month or Color Zen Kids on Wii U most recently, you're in for a familiar ride with the latter title on 3DS. The laid-back colour-matching puzzler with the sweeping electronic soundtrack is back, and this time your children can play it on the go. The objective of the...
Review Color Zen Kids (Wii U eShop)
Hopping into the kiddie pool
If you read our review of Color Zen last month, you'll know exactly what to expect from Color Zen Kids. The soothing, touch-based colour matching puzzler has gained a more kid-friendly coat of paint – the colours are all slightly brighter, the puzzles are a bit easier and shaped like cute animals, and the memorable...
GEOMdude used Rock Throw!
GEOM is another low-budget title on the Wii U eShop from a fresh studio — Andraconus — and brings to mind another relatively recent offering: RCMADIAX's Blok Drop U from earlier this year. Both are simple puzzle titles that don't really live up to expectations, but their price point being lower than the cost of a cup of...
Review How to Train Your Dragon 2 (3DS)
How to train your dragon 2 do what?!
Handheld versions of 3D console games are always a tricky task; most of the successful ones avoid straight-up ports that are inevitably inferior to their home console brethren, and instead build the portable iterations from the ground up with 2D handheld gaming in mind. Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate did this...
Review How to Train Your Dragon 2 (Wii U)
Needs a bit more training
How to Train Your Dragon 2, developed by Australian studio Torus Games and published by Little Orbit, is a throwback to movie tie-ins of yore. Most big action films these days opt for cheaper, often microtransaction-based game tie-ins on mobile devices, like Captain America: The Winter Soldier and
Review Van Helsing sniper Zx100 (3DS eShop)
No, Hugh Jackman's not in this one
Barcelona-based developer EnjoyUp Games got our hopes up for this – after the surprising success of its atmospheric Abyss on the Wii U eShop last month, the trailer for EnjoyUp's new 3DS-exclusive Van Helsing Sniper Zx100 demonstrated a first-person gallery shooter set in a neon sci-fi dystopian future London;...
Review Soccer (Wii U eShop / NES)
A well timed blast from the past
Just in time for the World Cup this week, Intelligent Systems' Soccer arrives on Wii U Virtual Console – but all is not well. One of the early titles in Nintendo's "Sports Series" on NES, Soccer seems to garner boatloads of hate from players compared to companions like Golf and Ice Hockey. These detractors are not...
Weirdness Conan O'Brien Plays Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
"So everyone at Nintendo is on acid?"
Late-night funnyman Conan O'Brien is not a gamer – a fact he'll tell you every chance he gets. As a result, the recent "Clueless Gamer" series on his show has become perhaps his most popular segment, as he plays through all sorts of big-name titles like Resident Evil 6 and Watch_Dogs with no regard for...
News Pac-Land and Pac-Man Collection Chomp Onto North American Wii U Virtual Console
Part of Nintendo's 30% off E3 eShop promotion
Hot off the heels of Pac-Man's announcement as a playable character in the new Super Smash Bros, two Pac-classics have popped up on the North American Wii U Virtual Console, and you can snag 'em for 30% off as they join
News Club Nintendo Rewards Updated for June, Led by Kirby Once Again
Electroplankton and Mario Party also available
A couple of days late, Club Nintendo has updated its rewards for June, and we've got a delicious slate of games to choose from in North America. If you missed out on 3D Classics: Kirby's Adventure on Club Nintendo last month you're in luck – take a gander: Electroplankton Rec-Rec – 150 coins...
Nirvana on the go
Last month we reviewed the Wii U version of Color Zen, a relaxing abstract puzzler in which you match geometric shapes with colours as a soothing electronica soundtrack plays in the background. This week the chilled-out title arrives on 3DS largely intact; it's essentially the same game, shrunk down to the small screen(s). It's the...
Review Pushmo World (Wii U eShop)
Mo Push Mo Problems
Intelligent Systems' Pushmo World (known as Pullblox World in Europe) is exactly what you'd expect it to be: a Wii U sequel to the popular 3DS eShop puzzle titles Pushmo (Pullblox) and Crashmo (Fallblox) that predictably adds shinier graphics, more modes, and way more puzzles. It's a very safe sequel that doesn't take
Feelin' chubby
Developed by two-man studio Dahku Creations, Chubbins is a minimalist platformer all about jumping. So much jumping, in fact, that you're never not jumping. As an adorable, rotund rabbit named Chubbins, you must reach the end of each level simply by steering your automatic jumps through obstacles and out of the way of enemies, with...
Review Ittle Dew (Wii U eShop)
A Link to the (Swedish) Past
Let's get this out of the way first: if you like The Legend of Zelda, you'll absolutely love Swedish studio Ludosity's new Wii U eShop adventure title Ittle Dew – it's a love letter to A Link to the Past with the cartoony art style of The Wind Waker. With a sweeping soundtrack and a charming, self-aware
Interview Console Wars Author Blake J. Harris Discusses Film Adaptations and the Struggles of Sega
Sega of America does what Sega of Japandon't.
Blake J. Harris presents the two contenders A couple weeks ago we reviewed Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle That Defined a Generation by New York City-based author Blake J. Harris, about the bitter rivalry between Sega and Nintendo in the early 1990s through the eyes of Sega of America head...
Review Alien On The Run (3DS eShop)
Out of this world
After a few weeks full of ports and disappointing original titles on the eShop, Japanese studio G-Style's 3DS-exclusive Alien on the Run is a breath of fresh air, a surprisingly addictive "comical escape game" that has arrived on the store at relatively short notice. You play as an alien named Delude who has been abudcted by a UFO,...
Review Street Fighter Alpha 2 (Wii U eShop / SNES)
Akuma Matata
Street Fighter II casts an indelibly long shadow over the rest of Capcom's fighting games from the 1990s. First launched in 1991, SFII in all its Super and Turbo varieties has become synonymous with the Street Fighter franchise, a cultural touchstone the series wasn't truly able to move past until the launch of the successful Street...
Review Turtle Tale (3DS eShop)
Turtle Recall
Do you love retro platformers but wish they featured more squirt guns? Not to be confused with the children's animated film A Turtle's Tale from a few years ago, Saturnine Games' Turtle Tale brings Super Soakin' platforming action to the eShop at a budget price, but don't let its colourful graphics fool you: Turtle Tale is a strict...
Review Adventures of Lolo (Wii U eShop / NES)
YOLO, Lolo
HAL Laboratory's 1989 puzzler Adventures of Lolo falls into the same category as titles like Mach Rider and Clu Clu Land: C-list NES classics that are often overlooked today but provide an arcade-like fun experience for those searching out Nintendo's "deep cuts" from the '80s. Adventures of Lolo is probably best remembered these days as...
Hands On Photos with Mario and AR Card Fun
Koopa Troopas invade your living room!
How long has it been since you thought about AR (augmented reality) gaming on your 3DS? If the stack of AR cards that came with your system is gathering dust in a corner somewhere, go dig 'em out, because Nintendo has finally released a new AR game; it doesn't even seem to want you to know about it. Photos with...
Review Color Zen (Wii U eShop)
Passes with flying colours
If you enjoyed Abyss earlier this month and you're thirsting for another relaxing, atmospheric Wii U eShop title with a smooth electronic soundtrack, Color Zen is exactly what you're looking for. It's a puzzle game with no time limit or scoring system: you simply match colours and unwind. The iOS/Android success-story has...
Book Review Console Wars - Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle That Defined a Generation
An insightful history with a bit too much Blast Processing
It's crystal clear from the first page of Blake J. Harris' Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle That Defined a Generation that the book is destined for the big screen. With not one, but two movies based on Console Wars already in production before it even hit bookstore shelves– a...
