Feature A Further Investigation into LEGO City: Undercover
Building blocks
After months of building up our LEGO City sets, staring at trailers and dreaming about the video game adventures we'd soon be getting into, we recently got our hands on a near-final version of LEGO City: Undercover at developer TT Fusion's offices. We've already posted our first impressions of LEGO City: Undercover and an interview...
Review Travelling the World with Wii Street U
Quality streets
Wii U Panorama View remains one of the most impressive demonstrations of Wii U's potential: a collection of videos filmed with a special camera array so that you can look around 360 degrees and see the film from every possible angle by moving the GamePad. It's coming to the Wii U eShop at some point this year – at least in Japan...
News Splash or Crash Dropping Into 3DS eShop Soon
A stone's throw away
2013 might be the Year of Luigi, but that doesn't mean that the lanky plumber has a monopoly over the upcoming release schedule. Tucked among the bigger titles of today's Nintendo Direct was Poisoft's Splash or Crash (known as Kersploosh! in North America), a brand new 3DS eShop title that has you dropping stones down a well...
It's good to be bad
The film and television industry is traditionally content to boss over video games: movie adaptations of popular gaming franchises are more often than not sub-par, while other projects reference games lazily without any real understanding of the medium. Outside of documentaries like Indie Game: The Movie and more careful efforts...
Review Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth (Wii U)
Hulk smash
Let's face it – for the uninitiated, the fighting genre can be daunting. Millisecond-perfect timing and the memorisation of several-button-presses-long combos are often essential to win, and unfortunately not everybody has enough time to spend shining up their Shoryukens. Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth lowers the entry barrier to the...
Bad religion
God games are usually about protecting people, not condemning them. Babel Rising, however, tears a page or two out of the Book of Genesis and sees you, as the heavenly overseer himself, casting down any subjects that dare to defy. Hundreds of heretics are constructing a gigantic tower to reach the skies, but by smiting them and their...
News Take a Pikmin's Eye View with Pikmin 3's Camera Mode
Shutterbug
Just what does life look like from a Pikmin's perspective? You're not going to have to wait long to find out — Pikmin 3 will include a camera mode to let you get right down to sub-ankle height and see the world in a whole new way. We still don't have a solid release date for the third Pikmin game, but a new function of the strategy...
Developer Interview WayForward Technologies on the First Days of the Wii U eShop
High and Mighty
Californian developer WayForward Technologies is a long-time supporter of Nintendo and its hardware. Often noted for its proficiency with 2D, the company has worked on all manner of titles on several Nintendo platforms, from licenced games to its own original properties such as Shantae and the Mighty series. For the launch of the Wii...
Developer Interview Neko Entertainment on the First Days of the Wii U eShop
The cat meows
Neko Entertainment has been ever-present on Nintendo consoles since it was formed in 1999. Based near Paris, France, the developer has created both retail and digital download games for most major systems of the last decade, from Nintendo 64 right through to Wii U. In something of a coup for the outfit, Neko secured a place in Wii U...
Developer Interview Frozenbyte on the First Days of the Wii U eShop
A not-so frosty reception
Over the last few months, Nintendo has displayed a significant shift in its attitude towards digital distribution and online in general. On 3DS we've seen the addition of downloadable retail games, a more regular stream of demos and downloadable content for first party titles. Wii U looks set to extend this approach...
Review Disney Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion (3DS)
Mouse trapped
It takes a brave developer to tackle nostalgia head-on, even moreso when the original game was created by a completely different company and is considered one of the high points of an entire generation. For the first portable entry in the Disney Epic Mickey series, Dreamrift has peered back to the well-loved Mickey Mouse games of the...
News Trine 2: Director's Cut Is Getting An Update Next Week
Trine harder
Frozenbyte has told Nintendo Life that an update for its Wii U eShop title Trine 2: Director's Cut should be available sometime next week. The update will bring several extra features, such as in-game voice chat and Wii U Pro Controller support, plus some additional language support and visual improvements. The puzzle-platformer sees...
E - I - E - I - oh
If you're looking for the most happening place on Miiverse, look no further than the community for Funky Barn. Filled with sketches of animals in sunglasses and musical references, it's become a haven for memes and the friendliest trolling you've ever seen. When somebody posts about the game itself rather than its title, it's met...
Soak it up
Puddle was originally released on Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network earlier this year to decent reviews, and after looking at feedback from the previous versions Neko Entertainment has released what it claims to be the best edition of the game at Wii U launch. The Fluidity (Hydroventure)-like game isn't quite a super soaker, but...
Review Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward (3DS)
I want to play a game
You wake up in a sealed metal bunker, surrounded by strangers, an odd bracelet secured around your wrist. You're told that there's only one way to escape: earn a certain number of points by participating in a deadly game with and against your fellow prisoners. But who can you rely on? Can you pick out allies from enemies? Would...
Pix 'n' mix
Block puzzlers: the genre that keeps on giving. Just when you think all the possibilities of the humble square have been exhausted, along comes another game to prove just how wrong you are. PIX3D combines cuboids and pixel art in a retro love-in that's fun, despite a general lack of challenge in its main mode. PIX3D's concept is both...
Review Skylanders Giants (Wii)
Big friendly giant
Fe, fi, fo, fum, we smell the coins of dads and mums. Since its first release on consoles last year, Skylanders has exploded into a multi-million dollar franchise and a children's favourite. What would have been a fairly standard hack-and-slash game by itself was taken to new heights thanks to a clever reliance on collectable...
Drop 'em like they're blox
Meet Fallblox – a game so clever that its very title could be a brand new synonym for “mindboggling”. Predecessor Pullblox / Pushmo remains one of the best titles on the 3DS eShop, an extremely smart puzzler that's fantastic value for money. Fallblox, known in North America as Crashmo, is no lazy sequel: it takes...
Review Pokédex 3D Pro (3DS eShop)
It's evolution, baby
Admit it – if you were ever a fan of Pokémon, you probably wanted a Pokédex. The best-forgotten LCD-screened plastic versions aside, the 3DS eShop's Pokédex 3D was the first time you could hold the all-knowing electronic encyclopaedia in the palm of your hand – the catch was that it only contained the 150 Unova-region...
Review Monster Shooter (3DS eShop)
Monster mulch
Even gurning, gun-toting monsters have their softer sides. Just ask Dum Dum, the hero of Monster Shooter, who stamps through 60 alien-infested levels reducing anything in his way to viscera and goop after his beloved kitten is abducted. Though we're sure any answer you might get would involve more firearms than words. Monster Shooter...
News Penélope Cruz Has the Answer in Professor Layton Advert
Cruz control
Movie star, Oscar winner and one-time moustache-wearer Penélope Cruz has returned for another stint at Nintendo advertising, this time turning her considerable talents to Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask. During a break in filming, Ms Cruz and her sister Monica are playing the latest entry in Level 5's puzzle series. Penélope...
News Become a Superstar with WWE '13's Box Art Creator
You're a Superstar
Ever wondered what you'd look like on a video game box? Ponder no more; THQ has you covered with a custom box art creator to coincide with the release of wrassle-'em-up WWE '13. The "Be on the Cover" application on the WWE Games Facebook page lets you take a photo from your existing Facebook gallery or a webcam and save it as...
Dungeon crawler
18th Gate is not a game for the easily bored. It's a fairly basic strategy RPG that has you edging through – yes – 18 dungeons to the magical portal gates at the end, with the caveat that you only have a limited number of turns to escape from each maze. Each turn can be an attack, a spell or a single step to an adjacent hexagonal...
Interview Braxton Burks - Pokémon Reorchestrated: Kanto Symphony
Pokémon musical
Clearly we're not the only ones that love orchestrated game music, as Pokémon Reorchestrated: Kanto Symphony has just been released to a positive response. The fan project reinterprets the 8-bit music of Pokémon Red / Blue in full orchestral form and has been cleared by Nintendo through Joypad Records, a company that specialises...
