August2010

  • Review BlayzBloo: Super Melee Action Battle Royale (DSiWare)

    A royale pain

    Arc System Works' BlazBlue fighting games, with their unique anime-style visuals and enjoyable fighting engines, have become quite popular among fans of the genre. Of course, this makes it all the more confusing to see them take such a high-quality series and dumb it down for their DSiWare spinoff release BlayzBloo: Super Melee Action...

  • Review Deer Captor (WiiWare)

    Oh deer

    Deer Captor is a blast from the past, a lazy rehash of a genre over two decades old that lets you blast stuff. The game doesn't look or feel particularly bad upfront - it has decent graphics, clean presentation and well functioning motion controls - but playing it is simply a bore, like you've been sold some watered-down version of those...

February2010

  • Review Family Go-Kart Racing (WiiWare)

    A pit stop on the road to hell

    The family that just can’t get enough of each other is back in their eighth outing on WiiWare. By now, Aksys has had plenty of time to figure out what works and what doesn’t in this series of games. And it was becoming pretty obvious that if these games have a fault (and they’re all pretty flawless) it’s that...

January2010

  • Review Jazzy Billiards (DSiWare)

    Every day I'm hustling

    Out of the entire spectrum of bar games to make the digital jump, billiards is second only to poker in delivering really fun interpretations, like Virtual Pool on PC. What makes that series great is a total understanding of why billiards is fun and how to translate that into mechanics that feel more like skill than luck. Arc...

November2009

  • Review Family Card Games (WiiWare)

    The family that plays drinking games together, stays together

    Worn out from extended sessions of Table Tennis, Mini Golf and Slot Car Racing? Feeling like if you have to look at Mommy, Daddy, Billy, or Sarah’s plastic smiling faces one more time you will throw your Wii Remote through the TV? Why not unwind with a few pleasant card games?...

September2009

  • Review Family Tennis (WiiWare)

    By downloading this game, you agree to get served

    One of the very first Wiiware games was also the first in Aksys’ “Family” series: Family Table Tennis. We gave it a fairly generous 5/10 score considering we labeled it “outclassed,” “hard to recommend” and even “un-loseable.” Well, it seems that someone at Aksys was paying...

August2009

  • Review Family Slot Car Racing (WiiWare)

    Slot car racing fun for the whole family...or is it?

    Arc System Works is clearly enjoying some success with the "Family" series of games because they just keep on putting them out. Considering what real life slot-car racing is all about a video game version could offer some improvements, so is it possible that this game is worthwhile?...

June2009

  • Review Family Mini Golf (WiiWare)

    A little golf for the whole family.

    The "Family" series of games has developed a reputation of being, well, a bit crap, really. They're bare-bones, budget versions of sports games you probably already have better versions of elsewhere, making you wonder why Arc System Works even bothers making them. This only serves to make the fact that...

May2009

  • Review Family Pirate Party (WiiWare)

    Does this new party title set sail for glory or is it forced to walk the plank?

    Although some would argue that it flies in the face of common sense, Aksys Games has decided to continue their "Family" franchise with the release of Family Pirate Party. Previous games in the series received unanimous criticism. Unfortunately, Family Pirate...

January2009

  • Review Family Glide Hockey (WiiWare)

    Does Family Glide Hockey capture the fun and excitement of a real air hockey game?

    Let's face it, there are some recreational games that lend themselves perfectly to the Wii Remote's motion controls. We've already seen such games as billiards, miniature golf, and even a table tennis release make use of these motion sensing capabilities with varying...

May2008

  • Review Family Table Tennis (WiiWare)

    Will table tennis fans rally behind this challenger to Wii Sports?

    Family Table Tennis is the first WiiWare game to directly compete with Wii Sports and Wii Play -- two games that almost every Wii owner already has. So, is it a waste of your hard earned Wii Points, or a fun, new experience that can be enjoyed alongside Wii Sports Tennis? Read on to...