Author Profile
- Username
- Philip_J_Reed
- Articles
- 264 (214 reviews)
- First Article
- Tue 10th, March 2009
- Avg. Review Score
- 5.5
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Review Aero Porter (3DS eShop)
A game with a lot of baggage
We at Nintendo Life absolutely loved Airport Mania: First Flight. Its appeal was rooted largely in the simplicity of its tasks, and the larger effects they all seemed to have. Airport Mania took the entire, massive scope of airport management and narrowed it to a tiny focus: directing and maintaining planes. There was,...
Review 3D MahJongg (3DS eShop)
The ancient art of matchmaking
MahJongg is one of the most classic games on the planet, dating back — by some estimations — to around 500 BC. The fact that it's still popular today says a lot about its addictiveness, and its myriad variants range from social group games — think poker — to solitary, puzzle-like experiences. It's the latter...
Review Spirit Hunters Inc. Shadow/Light (DSiWare)
Bustin' makes us feel bored
Announced way back in May 2010, Nnooo's Spirit Hunters Inc. — available now in both Light and Shadow flavours — promised, in Nnooo's own words, "a Role Playing Game set in the real world." That's both a tall order and an idea with enormous potential, which is why it's a shame that the finished product mistakes "role...
Truth in advertising
Are you a fan of the Trash Pack toyline? Your answer to that question dictates whether or not you'll find anything of value in The Trash Pack for 3DS, as there's nothing noteworthy about this release apart from its connection to that franchise. The Trash Pack forgoes story altogether and presents you, simply, with a menu. From...
Review Johnny Hotshot (3DS eShop)
A total misfire
From the studio that brought us such eShop disappointments as Zombie Slayer Diox, Samurai G and clear game of the year contender Chuck E. Cheese's Arcade Room, we now get a Western-themed mess called Johnny Hotshot. And it manages to feel almost consciously terrible. The story of this game is irrelevant, but since the developer saw...
Thundercats, noooo!
Perhaps we were foolish to get our hopes up about Thundercats. It is a licensed game, after all, and while that's not a universally bad thing, it should by this point at least make us think twice. Then again, it's Thundercats! The original cartoon is an enduring classic, the recent reboot was surprisingly good, and the...
Unjust desserts
Almost one year ago, the DSiWare service was graced with the appearance of Cake Ninja, an unrepentant clone of mobile craze Fruit Ninja. However, its lifeless approach to the formula, lack of addictiveness and total dearth of variety doomed it to receive a mere 2/10 in our review. Now we have Cake Ninja 2, which seeks to atone for...
Review Ghosts 'n Goblins (3DS eShop / NES)
A Halloween greeting from Satan himself
Capcom couldn't have picked a better time to release Ghosts 'n Goblins onto the 3DS Virtual Console. It's Halloween, after all, and this is one of the most classic spooky games there is. The real question is how well it holds up today, and that's one we're happy to answer: quite well, actually. Despite the...
Feature The Nintendo Life Crypt of Downloadable Horrors
Great for scares
It's Halloween: a time for ghosts and goblins, a time for tricks and treats, and a time for monsters and mashing. But mainly it's a time for good, solid scares. Horror movies run on every channel, children dress as demons and beasts, and macabre decorations taunt us with our own mortality. We get chills just thinking about it. But...
First Impressions Little Inferno
Let us be your little Virgil
2D Boy released what is still arguably the best game on the WiiWare service, World of Goo. But since the release of that game four years ago the developer has been rather quiet. The game never got a sequel and lips were sealed tight on future projects, but we knew that whatever this immensely talented — and...
A perfect circle
Three years ago, Nicalis announced a game called NightSky for release on WiiWare. Needless to say that never happened, but the project was far from dead. Last year our excitement was renewed by the news that NightSky would instead be released for the 3DS eShop, and now, at long last, it's finally here. The question everyone should...
Review Mario Golf (3DS eShop / GBC)
A beautiful day on the links
Released in 1999 to dovetail with the N64 game of the same name, the Game Boy Color version of Mario Golf is more than just a scaled-back, portable edition. In fact, it stands well enough on its own merits, and it's almost unfortunate that it shares a name with its console counterpart; it really does have an identity all...
Review Disney Princess: My Fairytale Adventure (3DS)
A royal pain
Disney has a long history of using video games to place its familiar characters into unfamiliar contexts, often mixing several disparate worlds together for the sake of effect. The best part? It quite often works. From Mickey Mouscapade to the Kingdom Hearts series to the upcoming Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion, it's usually great fun...
Review Hotel Transylvania (3DS)
Stab it with your steely knives
Released as an obvious tie-in with the movie of the same name, Hotel Transylvania aims to provide an experience evocative of some classic Castlevania titles, particularly the DS games and that influential masterpiece Symphony of the Night. That's the good news. The bad news is that, as with many movie tie-ins, Hotel...
Review Quarth (3DS eShop / GB)
Break it down
Originally released for the Game Boy in 1990, Konami's Quarth takes the presentation of a Space Invaders-type shooter, and instead gives us a puzzle game. As tempting as it might be to enter these stages with guns blazing, what Quarth actually requires is a healthy amount of foresight and on-the-fly problem solving. It's not without...
Review The Denpa Men: They Came By Wave (3DS eShop)
Radioheads
When we first started hearing the news about Denpa Ningen no RPG coming to the West, we didn't know what to expect. Its visual debt to Nintendo's Miis and Pikmin intrigued us, and the fact that the brains behind this game had their fingers in Pokémon Colosseum and great series such as Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy and Ogre Battle meant...
Guide A Beginner's Guide to The Denpa Men: They Came By Wave
Five tips to keep your Men alive!
Ready to plunge into The Denpa Men: They Came By Wave? Well, don't be fooled by its cuddly exterior,as this game offers some absolutely devious challenge! Of course you could learn the ins and outs of the quest through trial and error, but that's liable to leave your conscience strewn with avoidable — and adorable...
Through the Past, Darkly
Before Retro Pocket, Game & Watch fans were poorly served. If they wanted to enjoy those early Nintendo forays into gaming, they were out of luck. There was no way for gamers to get their hands on recreations of those originals, short of picking up the Game & Watch Collection, of course. Or its sequel. But apart...
Review Rising Board 3D (3DS eShop)
All that glitters is not gold
The endless runner craze isn't about to end any time soon, and that's understandable. The genre offers an experience that is both suited to quick play sessions and unique every time you boot it up. The DSiWare service even received a rough equivalent in I Must Run!, and now the eShop has Rising Board 3D, an endless...
Review VectorRacing (3DS eShop)
Lines and lines and lines and lines and lines!
There's an episode of Family Guy in which Peter Griffin attends a production of Uncle Vanya. Partway through the play he stands up, bored out of his mind, and shouts, "for crying out loud, somebody throw a pie!" That's more or less how we felt playing VectorRacing. VectorRacing is the epic tale...
Review Crazy Chicken Pirates 3D (3DS eShop)
This poultry is paltry
There's a story in Crazy Chicken Pirates 3D, but believe us, you won't need one. The game — whose title reads about as gracefully as magnetic poetry — sees you gunning down chickens for 90 seconds. Then, we guess, you can do it again. If you'd like to. You may not, but the option to play again is about the only option the...
Review Touch Battle Tank 3D (3DS eShop)
Bad touch
Good intentions most certainly pave the road to disappointment in Touch Battle Tank 3D. While it's clear that the 70 levels of non-stop blasting are meant to feel like frantic, satisfying plunges into arcade-style madness, it's also clear that the components simply don't come together the way they need to. Touch Battle Tank 3D simply feels...
News Meet Founder of WayForward at Free Event on 18th August
Voldi Way returns for 4th Annual Gathering of Video Game Legends
We reported on this excellent event last year, and wouldn't you believe the 4th Annual Gathering of Video Game Legends at Westwood College in Anaheim, CA is almost upon us — which makes this a ripe time to bring it to your attention once again. The event will take place on Saturday,...
Review Decathlon 2012 (DSiWare)
Torch it
Well, the London 2012 Olympic games are officially underway, and the eShop now has its equivalent of those ubiquitous bootlegged t-shirts in the form of Decathlon 2012, a digital souvenir that hopes to coast on the excitement of the Olympics without shelling out for the rights to refer to them by name. Already we're off to a great start,...
