December2021
WinBack, baby WinBack, that's where it's at
It’d be easy to dismiss Winback without a second thought. Developed by Omega Force — nowadays famous for the long-running Dynasty Warriors series and associated Musou spin-offs/crossovers — and released for N64 back in 1999, it’s probably the least well-known of the Switch Online service’s...
October2014
Review Nobunaga's Ambition (Wii U eShop / SNES)
Feud of dreams
Nobunaga’s Ambition, long one of publisher Koei’s flagship series, deserves its rightful place in the history of strategy titles. This SNES iteration, like many of its brethren, has an engaging setup that rewards careful planning and execution once the learning curve is cleared. Actually, “curve” might be too gentle a term...
November2013
Review Uncharted Waters: New Horizons (Wii U eShop / SNES)
As deep as the ocean
Koei released quite an arsenal of strategy titles during the 16-bit era, many of them on the Super Nintendo console. While the original Uncharted Waters laid the foundation, its sequel New Horizons picked up right where it left off and managed to add quite a few new game play ideas to the mix to form one of the most in-depth and...
August2013
Review Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV (Wii U eShop / SNES)
Depth incarnate
If there's one thing that you could pretty much be assured of when it came to a Koei game back in the day, it was getting a lot of depth to your gameplay experience. Not only were you generally treated to a very high production value visual experience, but the attention to detail and historical accuracy was always of high quality...
June2010
Review Samurai Warriors 3 (Wii)
Learn some history and have some fun with real-life Japanese super-heroes
Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Tokugawa Ieyasu: these are the names of some of the greatest figures of the Sengoku, or "Warring States," period in Japanese history, a time of civil war in which rival daimyo struggled for positions of dominance as they attempted to...
September2009
Stranger in a strange land...
Would you like to hear a story? Good! This is a story about Opoona and his family: his daddy is a famous Cosmo Guard -- that's right, Opoona and his family are from the planet Tizia. In fact, Opoona's daddy is one of the most famous Cosmo Guards ever! He was recently awarded the title of Startizian -- a rank only a...
July2009
Review Mahjong Taikai Wii (Wii)
A solid straight-up Mahjong game for fans of the real deal.
This is the latest in a series of Mahjong Tournament games which have appeared on previous consoles and handhelds. These are single player games (as with card games Mahjong player have hidden hands, so multiplayer with one screen wouldn't work too well) with virtual opponents; online play...
June2009
Demons make work for idle thumbs.
For those unaware, Disgaea DS is a remake of a PS2 turn-based tactical RPG that's gained cult classic status over the years. It follows the story of youthful demon, Laharl – the son of the late overlord – on his quest for dominance in the Netherworld. Held in high regard by many PS2 owners, Disgaea has finally...
May2009
Review Nobunaga's Ambition (Wii Virtual Console / Super Nintendo)
An ambitious strategy game from a nobler time.
It is hard to imagine now, but there was once a time when strategy games were the primary style of play on home computers. Japanese game developer Koei made it their mission to bring this style of game to consoles. And by appearances, they were successful given the sheer volume of games they were able...
April2009
Review Uncharted Waters: New Horizons (Wii Virtual Console / Super Nintendo)
Look forward to new horizons
Koei released quite an arsenal of strategy titles during the 16-bit era, many of them on the Super Nintendo console. While the original Uncharted Waters laid the foundation, its sequel New Horizons picked up right where it left off and managed to add quite a few new game play ideas to the mix to form one of the most...
March2007
Review Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV (Wii Virtual Console / Super Nintendo)
Taxing the old grey matter
First things first - this fourth edition of Koei's long running 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms' series is not going to be for everyone. The franchise, based on actual events in China's history, has evolved and developed considerably over the past few years and it's encouraging that VC users are getting one of the better...