May2021
Mini Review Magical Drop II (SNES) - Fun And Colourful Puzzle Action
Grab, toss, and match three
With five new additions to Nintendo Switch Online's catalogue of NES and SNES games arriving today, we decided to review these new/old releases to help you decide which to play first. Enjoy! Magical Drop is Data East's take on the competitive puzzle game, but with a major twist - instead of fallin
Mini Review Joe & Mac (SNES) - A Comical But Flawed Prehistoric Platformer
No third character called Cheese, amazingly
With five new additions to Nintendo Switch Online's catalogue of NES and SNES games arriving today, we decided to review these new/old releases to help you decide which to play first. Enjoy! There was a period in the early 1990s when the video game industry was in love with caveman characters - after...
July2018
Review Johnny Turbo's Arcade: Two Crude Dudes (Switch eShop)
Are you a crude enough dude to rescue New York?
The bombs fell in New York back in 2010 and turned the once prosperous metropolis into a nightmarish radioactive junkyard. It is now the year 2030 and the U.S government has decided to take back the city from the criminal ‘Big Valley’ gang of freakish mutants. But with the Bad Dudes now well into...
March2018
Review Magical Drop III (Switch eShop / Neo Geo)
Simple, frantic fun with balloons
The lineup of retro offerings on Switch may largely be comprised of fighting games and shmups, but other genres feature too, such as platformers, sports titles and - in the case of Magical Drop III - a highly enjoyable puzzle games. With the second game in the series already receiving the ACA Neo Geo treatment,...
November2017
Review Karnov's Revenge (Switch eShop / Neo Geo)
Yes it's another Neo Geo one-on-one fighter...
Hamster has done a good job of providing a variety of genres with its ACA Neo Geo series, but SNK's machine had a lot of one-on-one brawlers and consequently Switch owners are not exactly short of options when browsing the eShop. Here's another one, this time from the Fighter's History series...
Review Street Hoop (Switch eShop / Neo Geo)
Short on options, big on fun
While some of the games have not been strictly necessary (being outclassed by later updates/instalments in their series) and there’s been the odd dud, but HAMSTER’s ACA Neo Geo series has been a continued source of classic arcade thrills on the Switch, almost making up for the lack of a Virtual Console on the system...
September2017
Review Spin Master (Switch eShop / Neo Geo)
Short but sweet arcade action
The fiendish Dr. De Playne has taken Johnny’s treasure map and his girlfriend Mary. A globe-trotting adventure follows as you attempt to get both back, either by yourself or with the help of a friend who is given control of the identically handling Tom. Despite featuring different characters and a more modern...
June2017
Review Magical Drop II (Switch eShop / Neo Geo)
Just Magical
Although SNK’s Neo Geo is perhaps best known for its dreamy array of one-on-one fighters, beat-‘em-ups, and shooters, the arcade marvel also played host to an impressive parade of puzzle games, from classics like Puzzle Bobble to deep cuts like the oddly addicting currency-converter Money Idol Exchanger. If there’s a series that...
June2012
Review Tumble Pop (3DS eShop / GB)
Tumble Pop and lock
In the future, nests of hornets will be the least of pest control's worries. Tumble Pop is filled with strange beasts, from living skeletons to little grey aliens, manic clowns and Sweetums from The Muppets. In this arcade platformer, it's your job to clean them up with nothing more than a trusty – and presumably engine-powered...
December2011
Review Lock 'N Chase (3DS eShop / GB)
Puzzle Pac-Man
Data East had quite a few relatively unknown Game Boy games back in the day. Much BurgerTime Deluxe, released a few weeks ago, Lock 'N Chase is essentially a "sequel" to the original arcade game, with the same general gameplay but with many more levels and even a few new gameplay mechanics. If you've played the arcade game,...
November2011
Review BurgerTime Deluxe (3DS eShop / GB)
A tasty treat
When people think of Data East's games, they tend to think of Joe & Mac and Karnov, but one title that's just as much of a classic but never seems to get mentioned that often is BurgerTime. Originally debuting in arcades and being ported to many platforms, it was an endlessly looping, fast-paced game with six levels that required...
October2011
Review Side Pocket (3DS eShop / GB)
Dead ball
The great thing about the Virtual Console is that it allows people to experience games that they somehow missed out on the first go around and encourages discovery of forgotten and overlooked gems. The flip side is that not everything dug up has aged particularly well, like Data East's portable version of once-esteemed billiards game Side...
December2010
Review Magical Drop III (Virtual Console / Neo Geo)
The pinnacle of the series
With the recent release of Magical Drop II on the Virtual Console, Wii owners got the chance to experience one of the more enjoyable puzzlers available for the Neo Geo system and a game that's become quite popular among fans of the console over the years. Now SNK-Playmore has decided to up the ante and release the game's...
Review Karnov's Revenge (Virtual Console / Neo Geo)
Karnov should stick to side-scrollers
To say that there were a wealth of Street Fighter 2 clones during its reign of popularity in arcades would be an understatement, but none were quite as blatant as Data East's Karnov's Revenge. In fact, the game was so similar in many respects that it drew the ire of Capcom, not to mention a failed lawsuit...
Review Magical Drop II (Virtual Console / Neo Geo)
As intense as it is addictive
We've seen a wealth of "falling object" puzzlers since Tetris hit the scene in the 80's, some better than others. Data East's Magical Drop introduced a few new tricks to introduce a fun puzzler experience into arcades that turned quite a few heads during the time. As a follow-up, the company created two...
November2010
Review Spin Master (Virtual Console / Neo Geo)
Not masterful, but still pretty good
With probably about half of the Neo Geo's library of games consisting of fighting games, it's always nice to see another platformer for the system released on VC. In Spin Master, you take control of either Johnny or Tom as you try to recover five pieces of a lost treasure map and rescue Johnny's girlfriend. It's...
October2010
Review Street Hoop (Virtual Console / Neo Geo)
Slam dunk or flagrant foul?
While many of the other consoles of the time were receiving a good variety of basketball offerings, the Neo Geo system was relegated to just one. Data East's Street Hoop passed over the traditional basketball experience in favour of a more playground-esque 3-on-3 style, complete with backboard shaking dunks and a wealth...
August2009
Review Shadowrun (Super Nintendo)
Computers and magic meet in this overlooked gem of an RPG
Waking up in a morgue with amnesia it’s clear that your character, Jake Armitage, is having a bad day. Set in Seattle in the year 2050, Shadowrun is a cyberpunk RPG based on the pen and paper game of the same name. Having been gunned down in the streets you must uncover exactly what’s...
July2009
Is this monster mash worth all your quarters?
Today people might look at Midway as the financial disaster that they are and chuckle. In the better days of arcades, however, Midway developed a number of hit arcade games including their hit Mortal Kombat series of fighters. While MK is likely their most famous effort, they also had some respectable...
July2007
Review Drop Off (Virtual Console / TurboGrafx-16)
Brave five rounds of haunting, nightmarish dreams
Drop Off is a paddle and ball game like Atari’s classic, Breakout. There is nothing bad about making a game like Breakout, games like Arkanoid did an excellent job of just that. The innovations in that game made for an addictive game experience. It’s a shame that the same cannot be said of Drop...
Review Silent Debuggers (Virtual Console / TurboGrafx-16)
Oh bugger
'Silent Debuggers' has to rank as one of the greatest names ever for a videogame. The first few minutes might convince you that this is a great game too. The funky intro music really sets the scene with style along with some nicely drawn anime style scenes. Welcome to the world of the debuggers, a duo of fearless bounty hunters tasked...
June2007
Review Bloody Wolf (Virtual Console / TurboGrafx-16)
Rambo on the TG16
Anyone familiar with Ikari Warriors, Mercs or Capcom's Commando will instantly recognise this style of run n' gun action. Yes it's another Rambo clone! That's not such a bad thing - guns, explosions and death is what we all want from our retro games right? The action is viewed from a pseudo overhead / side-on perspective which...
