Author Profile
- Username
- JonWahlgren
- Articles
- 591 (178 reviews)
- First Article
- Mon 4th, May 2009
- Avg. Review Score
- 6.3
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Feature Predicting Super Bowl LIII with Super Smash. Bros Ultimate
Madden, schmadden
Super Bowl LIII is upon us all! This Sunday, the New England Patriots square off against the LA Rams for NFL supremacy. (As a Seahawks fan, barf.) It’s anyone’s guess who will take it all, but in the meantime, we can read the digital tea leaves with video game simulations. Ain’t the future grand? While, yes, EA Sports’s...
A game of cat and meow-se
The indie boom of recent years has opened the doors for smaller studios to swoop in to the weird and wonderful spaces once occupied by the vibrant but now tragically dormant gems that larger studios were willing to take creative gambles on. Farewell Advance Wars, and hello WarGroove. Sayonara WipeOut, and Konichiwa, FAST...
Review Crossing Souls (Switch eShop)
Stranger things are afoot
The 1980s! It’s been 29 years since they ended and we still cannot escape them. The pop-culture power of this weird decade is such that even today we mine its essence for influence and storytelling. Honestly, this humble writer is just about to tap out on this flavour of nostalgia. The next 'Simon' toy we see is going...
Guide Super Mario Run Tips And Tricks
Helping you to take the money and run
Hold the phone! The most super of all video game plumbers makes his debut on (gasp) iOS this week with the rather lovely Super Mario Run (check out our full thoughts on the game in our full review). Since we've played a boatload of it already, we thought it'd be swell to key you in early on how to make the most...
Review Rhythm Heaven Megamix (3DS)
One, two!
Things get pretty wacky in Nintendo's Rhythm Heaven series of music games, a proud tradition carried on with splendor in Rhythm Heaven Megamix. You've got lumberjack cats chopping wood, seals rolling around in lovely synchronicity, and an onion in need of facial hair grooming, to name but a few bizarre scenarios served up and played out...
Review Disney Art Academy (3DS)
Whistle while you work
If you're an artistic soul, there's a good chance the Art Academy series has something to offer. These titles have been a great resource for learning artistic techniques and offer a digital atelier for you to explore your creativity. Years of entries have allowed the series to hone an already strong foundation upon which to...
Feature Tom Happ on Axiom Verge Coming to Its 'Home Turf' on Wii U
We still can't believe this game is the work of just one guy
It boggles the mind how Axiom Verge is the work of one man. It took five years for creator Tom Happ to produce the game on his own, putting together this game that deftly incorporates elements of Metroid, Contra, and other retro classics. With a list of influences like that, it's tough...
Feature Thunder Lotus Games Dives Into Norse Mythology With Jotun: Valhalla Edition
Ragnarok and roll
Unveiled earlier this year for the Wii U eShop, Jotun: Valhalla Edition is certainly an eye catching game. Thunder Lotus Games dives into Norse mythology, putting the player into the shoes of Thora, a Viking Warrior that must prove herself to earn a place in Valhalla. Those are big stakes for an action-exploration game. A hit on...
Feature We Chat to Drinkbox Studios About SEVERED for Wii U and 3DS
Swiping answers from producer Graham Smith on the touch-based dungeon crawl
Drinkbox Studios is perhaps best known for its beloved, rather cheeky lucha-themed exploration platformer, Guacamelee: Super Turbo Championship Edition, which hit the Wii U eShop in July 2014. We rather dug it in our review, but it's been two years now and we're itching for...
Feature 13AM Games Tells Us About Runbow Pocket, the New Nintendo 3DS Exclusive
Let's get ready to Runbowwwwwwwwwwwww
If you haven't gotten a big group of people together for a competitive game of Runbow then you haven't lived life in COLOURFUL CAPS LOCK yet. The competitive nine-player runner with a roster of original characters and borrowed favourites is a great way to make friends and alienate people. Thanks to the wonders...
Review Star Fox Guard (Wii U eShop)
En garde, robot scum!
Project Guard debuted at E3 2014 as part of an initiative from Nintendo to craft new experiences that could only be pulled off with the GamePad. What was then a small, weird, experimental game is now a small, weird, experimental game set in the Star Fox universe. Oh, and a pretty great — if distressing — proof of concept...
Preview Star Fox Guard Just May Be the Scariest Game of 2016
No, really
Star Fox Guard is a strange spinoff of a beloved franchise, taking on an entirely unorthodox gameplay loop for Fox and friends. You can glean as much from a quick peek at screenshots and videos. What you won't see in your fancy screenshots and schmancy videos is just how much Guard is secretly a horror game. Nintendo Life, we hear you...
Review Musicverse: Electronic Keyboard (3DS eShop)
Doot doot doot doot
We're not scientists, but we're pretty confident in our super-accurate theory on how most people use electronic keyboards in their waking life. Namely, the musician-at-heart walks up to one, switches it on, finds the kitschiest beat in its midi library - studies say it's "salsa" 100% of the time - bangs out some nonsensical...
DLC Review Fire Emblem Fates: Revelation
The gang's all here
Note: Mild spoilers ahead for Fire Emblem Fates Birthright and Conquest. You've been warned. No matter which path you initially took, Fire Emblem Fates' two campaigns left a number of open questions around what's really happening in the world. Where did all those shadow enemies come from? Who is Azura, really? Why didn't the...
Review Fire Emblem Fates (3DS)
Choose your destiny
Intelligent Systems got itself into a weird predicament after the stellar success of Fire Emblem Awakening a few years ago. Fire Emblem has long been known as one of Nintendo's most hardcore and unforgiving franchises – a turn-based RPG with plenty of variables to keep in mind on the battlefield, and where one wrong move might...
BASIC Beast
We've said it before, and we'll say it again: The general-purpose, relatively simple programming environments of the BASIC family are a great place to get started with coding. Developer SmileBoom first brought its own variant of BASIC to DSiWare in 2012 with the charming Petit Computer, and now is back and stronger than ever with...
Review Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival (Wii U)
The sigh heard 'round the wild world
Animal Crossing made its name as a quaint, cutesy, somewhat bizarre life simulator where something new to do, collect or modify is always around the corner. This year, two spin-off games hone in on separate areas of that Nintendo life: Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer on 3DS explores "work," and Animal...
Review Chibi-Robo!: Zip Lash (3DS)
Robots in plain sight
If you want to be all reductive about it, you can say there are two types of Nintendo mascot games: Biggies and Smallies. Everyone knows the Biggies because they're the company pillars, the keystones keeping Nintendo in the money: your Marios, Pokemons, and so forth. They're polished, beautiful, and ultimately a little safe...
Review Year Walk (Wii U eShop)
Into the woods
A year walk — or "Årsgång" — is an archaic form of divination in Swedish folklore, in which a person would deprive themselves of sleep and food in a dark room for 24 hours to then venture through the woods towards the local parish. Certain nights, such as New Year's Eve, were said to be better suited than others for a successful...
Interview Bringing Together the 3DS and Game Boy in BOXBOY!
Thinking outside of the box
HAL Laborary Inc has been busy of late, bringing Kirby into the HD era with Kirby and the Rainbow Curse but also, on a much smaller scale, developing BOXBOY! for the 3DS eShop. With a Game Boy style and retro approach to puzzle solving it's charmed plenty of portable gamers, and also showed that the house of Kirby is more...
Boxed in
BOXBOY! is Game Boy-era design and aesthetics reincarnated for Nintendo's latest handheld, picking up a few new ideas since the monochromatic minster's heyday. With plenty of polish and thoughtful puzzles to conquer, we were surprised to find ourselves so bored with it all. Just like the retro classics, BOXBOY! makes a simple request of...
Review Kirby and the Rainbow Curse (Wii U)
Clay achin'
Kirby and the Rainbow Curse is a sequel of sorts to 2005's Canvas Curse, which is considered to be among the top titles the pink puff has ever starred in. That's pretty high praise and a tough act to follow — but 10 years on, Nintendo and developer HAL Laboratory are giving it another whirl. The result is a video game equivalent to a...
First Impressions Taking To The Skies In Ace Combat Assault Horizon Legacy+
Danger zone
Ace Combat Assault Horizon Legacy was an enjoyable romp trough the skies in the early days of the 3DS, and its chunky dogfighting proved to be a delightful fit for auto-stereoscopic 3D. What better way to immerse yourself in a virtual world than to feel as if you're soaring over it, right? Bandai Namco is now offering the chance to do...
Hands On We Check Out The New Nintendo 3DS XL
North America's only New Nintendo 3DS, lest we forget
The New Nintendo 3DS XL is a sleek piece of kit that streamlines many of its predecessor's quirks. Be it changed button placement or new features altogether, it's evident that Nintendo has put a lot of thought into alleviating pain points both obvious and subtle. While we aren't fans of every...
