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 Avenging Spirit (3DS eShop / GB)
Like Kirby... if Kirby were SERIOUSLY TERRIFYING
It's a story as old as time itself: boy meets girl, boy takes girl out for a walk, boy is murdered by mobsters who kidnap girl, boy possesses vampires and kangaroos to get her back. Jaleco not only provides us with a bizarre and attention-grabbing backstory for the game, but they made sure to craft a...
Review Kung Fu Dragon (DSiWare)
Since you're climbing a waterfall, you're more of a Kung Fu Salmon
If there's one thing we can say about Kung Fu Dragon, it's that there's really not much to say about Kung Fu Dragon. It's a game that's content to limit itself in nearly every respect, and that's going to earn it its share of detractors, but it's also a game that makes surprisingly...
Review Game & Watch Gallery (3DS eShop / GB)
More than a fresh coat of paint
Most fans of the Game & Watch series likely enjoy it for its simplicity. The nature of the original devices meant that certain allowances had to be made for the primitive visuals, sounds and rigid controls. All three of these things are charming in their own right, but what really made people fall in love was the...
Review Baseball (3DS eShop / GB)
The Babe Ruth of bad games
Hey, kids! How would you like to revisit a game from the Game Boy's early years that wasn't very good to begin with and, in addition, has aged horribly? Sounds exciting, we know, but it gets better: the only marginally redeeming feature of the game – the ability to play it with your friends – has been disabled,...
Get your QIX fix, dudes and chix!
QIX is the story of... aw, forget it. The eShop download screen has more of a story than QIX does, but that's a good thing. It means that the game can be played over and over again without feeling even slightly repetitive. The gameplay isn't just pushed to the forefront in QIX... the gameplay is all there is. QIX...
Features 10 Life Lessons Learned From Mega Man
It's not just blasting, you know
Playing the Mega Man series is cathartic in many ways. You get to listen to great music, appreciate the impressively cartoony visuals Capcom wrung out of the NES hardware, and experiment with many unique and varied abilities. But overall, we tend to like it because it's mindless. It's a platformer with clear rules...
Review Stratego: Next Edition (DSiWare)
Stratego on the go
Ah, Stratego. A game with rules so simple you'll understand them fully the first time you play, and yet so open to strategy and cleverness that you'll never play the same game twice. With its fast setup and addictive play style, it's the kind of game you find yourself playing twenty rounds of when you only wanted to play one or...
Not quite worth its salt
It's a fact: the postal service in is at a crossroads. In many regions, it can't even stay afloat. Email has replaced letter writing, bills are paid online, and even physical packages are being trusted more and more frequently to privately-owned couriers. So how can the postal service become profitable again? By raising...
Iit's veery goood!
Announced as it was all the way back in 2008, gamers can be forgiven for suspecting that Liight might, like so much vapourware before it, never have graced our Wii consoles. But this week, the long-awaited and oft-discussed game finally got its chance to shine. The good news is that the extended development time actually seemed...
Review Arctic Escape (DSiWare)
Like Lemmings, but in formal wear
Arctic Escape revolves around guiding a group of adorable little critters past obstacles and away from fatal hazards, herding them in an orderly fashion through an exit so that the next stage can load and you can do it all over again. Sound familiar? It should: it's the gameplay formula that made the Lemmings series...
At least they're endangered
Hey, kids! If you like pandas, disorientation, horrible graphics, pressing buttons that only sometimes work, and games ported so lazily that they completely disregard the limitations of the console you're playing on, then Panda Craze is for you! Panda Craze finds you controlling Tik-Ling, a panda who must climb ladders...
Review Airport Mania: Non-Stop Flights (DSiWare)
Economy class
In November, Nintendo Life received an unexpected – and quite pleasant – shock from a little game called Airport Mania: First Flight. It was a release that flew in from totally off the radar, and immediately became one of our favorite games on the WiiWare service. It was a deceptively deep, engaging game of time- and...
Review Doc Clock: The Toasted Sandwich of Time (WiiWare)
Shark sandwich
In November of 2009, Stickmen Studios brought us Dragon Master Spell Caster, and we figured, at least, that its next game couldn't get any worse. In May of 2010, it released Kung Fu Funk for the sole purpose of proving us wrong. But that was the distant past. We're older now. Wiser. Could Doc Clock and the Toasted Sandwich of Time...
Steeeeeeerrrrrike three!
Say what you will about Hudson's Deca Sports series... it at least keeps trying to get things right. Each release makes at least some small attempt at forging the way forward, whether it's something as simple as a refined gaming experience or a complete reimagining on a totally different platform. We've had two prior...
Review EJ Puzzles: Hooked (DSiWare)
Crab your enthusiasm
When last we heard from Electron Jump games...erm...uhhh...well, you know where we're going with this. Suffice it to say we weren't quite thrilled about wading through such questionable waters a second time. But a strange and unexpected thing happened with their most recent release, EJ Puzzles: Hooked. It turned out to be a...
Bustin' makes us feel meh
Ghost Mania is the WiiWare reincarnation of an iPhone game called Spooky Spirits: Puzzle Drop!! This new version of the game features updated graphics and sound in addition to redesigned levels and an additional multiplayer mode, but was it worth exhuming those old bones? Is there life in this one yet, or is it an...
Review Fantasy Slots: Adventure Slots and Games (DSiWare)
500 Point bandit
Gambling is fun. It must be. Millions of grandmothers and potential homeless people can't be wrong. But what, exactly, is fun about it? Is it the glitz of the casino? The pulsing energy of the crowd around you? The free drinks? The wandering magicians and entertainers? The risk? The rush of joy that comes with winning a particularly...
Review Violin Paradise (WiiWare)
Oy vey Maria
Hey, kids! Have you ever dreamed of being a professional violinist? Of feeling the stagnant air of a concert hall in your hair as you perform selections from Swan Lake with a string quartet composed entirely of your closest friends? Of screeching your way thanklessly through Ave Maria before an audience of nearly a dozen, most of...
These tubes are fit to be tied
Tower defense games have enough in common that one pretty much knows how much he will or won't enjoy the game before he even plays it. The core concept is addictive and appealing to a certain subset of gamers, and a complete turnoff to others. This is not a bad thing; in fact, it saves both parties a lot of time...
Review Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem! (DS)
Little Mario, big fun
For fans of the Mario vs. Donkey Kong series, the good news is that Mini-Land Mayhem! is another truly stellar entry in the series. For those who are not yet fans, the good news is that Mini-Land Mayhem! is an excellent place to start. Mario's latest business venture (seriously, when does he ever find time to do any actual...
Meet Commander Video's less-confident little brother
There's a reason Gaijin Games, as young as it is as a developer, already has a strong and devoted following, having taken addictively throbbing beats and married them to some of the most intense gameplay we've ever seen. It takes periodic trips to a sunnier, much simpler era of gaming, and...
Toilet paper edition
A pen and a sheet of paper. Are there any two instruments on the face of the planet more conducive to unrestrained creativity? Think about it. Take a moment to consider all of the things you can do with either one. Think about the worlds that you can sketch out, or write about; think of the games you can play, think about...
Review SonSon (Virtual Console / Virtual Console Arcade)
A chimp off the old block
Looking for an arcade game that resembles a side-scrolling Ice Climber in which you control a monkey that hurls fireballs at angry dinner plates? Then look no further! Capcom has seen it fit to release 1984's SonSon from its trove of arcade treasures, and while this isn't likely to be the game anybody was particularly...
Review Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando (Virtual Console / Virtual Console Arcade)
Commandon't
General William T. Sherman is popularly credited with coining the phrase "War is Hell", but we don't think he ever got the chance to play Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando. If he had, he surely would have said, "War is kind of dull, and a little crappy." Originally released to arcades in 1985, Wolf of the Battlefield:...
