Review Pokémon Rumble U (Wii U eShop)
Wind me up
Nintendo has never been afraid to spin one of its biggest money makers, Pokémon, off into various weird and wonderful directions in between the mainline RPGs that are the franchise's bread and Butterfree. There have been puzzle games, the delightful safari of Pokémon Snap and, perhaps strangest of all, a crossover with Nobunaga's...
Review Harvest Moon (Wii U eShop / SNES)
Barnstorming
Early wake ups, extensive hours, back-breaking labour and ever-vulnerable to unpredictable weather patterns – farming doesn't sound like the most tantalising profession on paper. Way back when, however, developer Natsume clearly caught a glimpse of the positive aspects of the job and was inspired to create one of gaming's most beloved...
Review Shantae (3DS eShop / GBC)
Whip ya hair
Just over 11 years since its original release in 2002, Shantae has finally made it onto the 3DS Virtual Console – and it's the first time that it's been available in Europe too. Despite the long wait, WayForward's tricky 2D platformer is sprinkled with enough genie-magic to keep it fresh and interesting for a modern audience. Shantae...
First Impressions Sonic Lost World
Super Sonic
After a line of games that it would be altogether generous to label a “rough patch”, poor old Sonic is back on his speedy feet. Thanks to the combo of Sonic Unleashed (well, its daytime stages), Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations, SEGA's mascot is finally leaning back towards the positive side of the quality spectrum, and it seems...
Hands On StreetPass Plaza's Downloadable Content
Play Coin guzzlers
A few days ago, Nintendo launched a surprise update to the 3DS's StreetPass Plaza in Europe and Japan. Previously home to Puzzle Swap and StreetPass Quest alone, users can now purchase a further four games to play with any Miis that they encounter when out and about. As with the other Plaza games, you can use the Mii of anybody...
Wario party
Going back a few years, it was something of a tradition for Nintendo to launch a new platform with a WarioWare title in hot pursuit. Charming bundles of micro-games that packed as much personality and gameplay as possible into seconds-long chunks, and perfect for demonstrating the unique capabilities of new hardware, the WarioWare games...
News Hideki Kamiya Still Wants to Work on Star Fox
Let him do that, Star Fox
Ever-tweeting Platinum Games director Hideki Kamiya has spoken about his desire to work on the Star Fox franchise in the past, and that hope apparently hasn't gone anywhere. During E3 2013, speaking to Nintendo World Report, Kamiya reiterated that he would be "pleased" if he was offered everybody's favourite space-animal...
News Sonic Team's Iizuka Recognises Sonic Lost World, Mario Galaxy Comparisons
Not quite Super Sonic Galaxy
In an interview with The Sonic Stadium, Sonic Team boss Takashi Iizuka has acknowledged that upcoming Wii U / 3DS exclusive Sonic Lost World shares similarities with Super Mario Galaxy — but argues that SEGA's new titles are still distinctly Sonic. Sonic Team has taken a different approach to three dim
News Nintendo to Launch First Free-To-Play Game By March 2014
What could it be?
At an analyst briefing during E3, Nintendo has confirmed that it plans to launch its first free-to-play title at some point during the current fiscal year — that's the end of March 2014. There's no confirmation of platform or title just yet, so we'll have to wait to find out if it's Wii U or 3DS that will be home to Nintendo's...
News Miyamoto Focuses on New Gameplay Experiences Before New IPs
Mechanics come first
Speaking to GamesIndustry International, Shigeru Miyamoto clarified Nintendo's position on new IPs versus re-using existing IPs, explaining that Nintendo prefers to create game mechanics first and decides upon the context later rather than purposely setting out to build new series. There are always requests to see Nintendo...
News Miyamoto: I Can Recommend Pikmin 3 To Anyone
Suitable for all ages
Speaking in a developer video, Shigeru Miyamoto has enthused about Pikmin 3, explaining that he became convinced that the upcoming Wii U title is a game that everybody can play after some neighbourhood children recognised his Pikmin characters. Nintendo's legendary game designer mentioned how pleased he is with how the game has...
News Retro Chose Donkey Kong Over Metroid as Its First Wii U Title
Metroid wasn't the prime choice
Are you happy about Retro's return to the Donkey Kong franchise with Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, or would you have preferred something different — a fresh IP or a new entry into the world of Metroid, perhaps? According to Retro Studios president and CEO Michael Kelbaugh, the developer chose to work on a...
News Eiji Aonuma Shares Wind Waker HD Thoughts
"More real" in HD
We saw the first footage of the gorgeous Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD during the E3 Nintendo Direct earlier, and now Nintendo has followed up its initial showing with a developer video from Zelda head honcho Eiji Aonuma. The manager and producer of the Zelda team shared some thoughts about the HD remake and some of the...
News The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD Sails Onto Wii U in October
Pieces of heart
Nintendo has finally confirmed that we'll be able to join Link on the high seas in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD in October 2013. As the remake of the GameCube classic will be displayed in glorious 1080p on Wii U, Toon Link should look sharper than ever. As well as the improved visuals, there's also some enhanced Miiverse...
News Discover A New Type in Pokémon X & Y
It's super effective!
Pokémon fans, the type chart is about to get a shake up. During its E3 Nintendo Direct presentation, Satoru Iwata announced that Pokémon X & Y will feature a brand new type of Pokémon: Fairy. Super effective against Dragons, several existing Pokémon have been reclassified under the type. Jigglypuff, Marill, Gardevoir...
Review Kung Fu Rabbit (Wii U eShop)
Hop to it
When Rabbit's dojo is raided by Ultimate Evil, it's time to buck up and get even. The hungry aliens kidnap all of the temple's disciples with a view to hold a great bunny banquet, but they make one huge mistake – they leave the master behind. Now our long-eared hero has to put all his martial arts training to the test to stop the...
Review LEGO City Undercover: The Chase Begins (3DS)
Bricking it
We all love a good origin story, right? It's an opportunity to delve further into the inner workings of a character, to learn what they're all about and how they became the hero that we know and love. LEGO City Undercover: The Chase Begins, however, is an oddly timed tale of this ilk: we only just got to know Chase McCain a month ago in...
Developer Interview Neko Entertainment on Kung Fu Rabbit's Wii U Debut
Bunny basher
Last week we were able to exclusively reveal Neko Entertainment's second Wii U eShop title, 2D platformer Kung Fu Rabbit. It's a big-screen conversion of an iOS / Android game that was released in 2012, and features the martial arts-trained bunny battling against Universal Evil in an attempt to rescue his colony of kidnapped disciples...
Review Harvest Moon (3DS eShop / GBC)
Under thresher
The Harvest Moon series has always promoted the ideals of hard work and patience over the instant gratification found by more recent prods at gaming agriculture like Farmville. This attitude is even more apparent in Harvest Moon on the Game Boy Color than other iterations, as the handheld game crops the series down to its very roots...
News Kung Fu Rabbit Comes Out Kicking on Wii U eShop
Enter the lapin
Neko Entertainment was an early supporter of the Wii U eShop with European launch title Puddle, and shortly after release it hinted that more titles would be on the way to the platform in the near future. We can now exclusively reveal Neko's second game on the download service: Kung Fu Rabbit will be coming to the Wii U eShop very...
Talking Point The Perils and Positives of a Packed Release Schedule
Room for no more
We're all more than a little familiar with video game droughts by now. Until a few years ago, it was tradition to suffer a lack of software in the summer, surviving only on the ever-faithful backlog and the revitalising elixir provided by E3 info dumps. It's common in the months following a console launch too: we're sure you...
You jelly?
Aside offerings such as I Must Run!, there haven't been a huge number of endless runner-style games on DSiWare. CIRCLE Entertainment's latest title, Goony, aims to fill that gap a little, while also proving that you don't necessarily need legs or a baffling amount of stamina to star in the genre – if you're a creature made of jelly, you...
Review LEGO City: Undercover (Wii U)
On the block rockin' beat
Between the lucrative high profile movie tie-ins and people begging for Zelda and Mega Man editions, it's sometimes easy to overlook the fact that The LEGO Group cut its teeth on its non-licensed playsets. From fantasy wonderlands to more ordinary examples, the building bricks were an ever-popular force with children and...
Review Splash or Crash (3DS eShop)
All's well that ends well
Simple though it might be, dropping things from a huge height is still pretty entertaining. There's the catharsis of just letting something go, the satisfying sound when gravity takes its hold and an object plummets to its final destination. The plop as a stone reaches the bottom of a well can be deeply gratifying, for...
