December2012
Review BurgerTime (Wii Virtual Console / NES)
Burger building bonanza
When the coin-op release of BurgerTime hit arcades in 1982, it was praised for its quirky theme and wildly unique gameplay design. Given the game's popularity at the time, it garnered a port on just about every home game system and personal computer of the period. The NES release came a bit later, but it was a fairly accurate...
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...
September2010
Review GO Series: 10 Second Run (DSiWare)
More than ten seconds of fun
With the GO Series, Gamebridge is attempting to give once Japan-exclusive DSiWare a chance elsewhere in the world. Their first pick for release in Europe is 10 Second Run, a very simple little title which greatly resembles something one would expect to find online as Flash game. That's not a bad thing, though. The...
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...
