February2017

  • Review Gradius (Wii U eShop / TG-16)

    Arcade-style pew-pew

    Gradius will forever be considered a definitive game in the shoot 'em up genre, held up as a key example of what makes these kind of games truly special. It's a game familiar for its iconic NES version, of course, but the release of the TurboGrafx-16 iteration on the Wii U Virtual Console is a welcome one - after all, it was a...

November2016

  • Review Ninja Five-O (GBA)

    Not your average Joe

    It is not uncommon for a game's critical appeal to far outweigh its selling power. Throughout the history of gaming there have been many cult hits that now go for ridiculous prices on the second hand market, EarthBound and the original Shantae being a couple of notorious examples. However, few games can boast the extreme rarity...

October2016

September2016

May2016

  • Review Contra III: The Alien Wars (New 3DS / SNES)

    Portable blockbuster

    The year is 2636 and some aliens have popped over to earth for a visit. At first it seems they are putting on a fancy light show but then buildings start exploding and the alien wars begin! Contra III: The Alien Wars is a run and gun classic full of action as you "attack aggressively" in an attempt to defeat those pesky...

December2015

November2015

  • Review The Adventures of Bayou Billy (Wii U eShop / NES)

    Billy's swampland slog

    In 2014 Nintendo suddenly realised that it could recreate the experience of a light gun game by using the pointer controls of the Wii Remote. Duck Hunt arrived on the Wii U eShop that Christmas and a few other NES Zapper games have followed since. Now we have Konami's The Adventures of Bayou Billy, although it should be noted...

  • Review Stinger (Wii U eShop / NES)

    Cute, creative and cruel

    Most shmups ask you to shoot your way through hordes of enemy ships while dodging gunfire. Stinger asks you to do this while juggling. The cute, goofy exterior of the game hides just how challenging it can be, as while it may be hard to take smiling shoes, flying phones and whirling donuts seriously, they're all highly...

  • Review Konami Krazy Racers (Wii U eShop / GBA)

    Super Konami Kart

    Konami Krazy Racers (AKA Konami Wai Wai Racing Advance in Japan) is a largely forgotten Mario Kart clone that was also one of the original launch games for GBA. If you can imagine Mario Kart Super Circuit with Konami-themed characters and courses, you'll be on the right track with what to expect from this decent little kart racer...

January2015

  • Review Axelay (Wii U eShop / SNES)

    Restoring some Life Force to the 2D shooter

    When you run through the list of prolific Japanese software houses during the 8 and 16-bit eras, Konami's name is usually pretty close to the top. Like rivals Capcom and Namco, it benefited from the incredible global success of the Nintendo's NES and many of its classic franchises gained astonishing...

November2014

  • Review Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (Wii U eShop / GBA)

    The best for last?

    Konami's Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow is the third and final Castlevania title for the GBA, and arguably the strongest. A departure from the typical period drama involving the extended and ever-complicated Belmont clan, Aria of Sorrow introduces new characters and mythology into the series while also building on what has made...

October2014

August2014

  • Review Life Force (Wii U eShop / NES)

    Forcefully fun

    Konami's 1985 hit Gradius is one of the most influential scrolling shooters of all time, so it was pretty tough to follow up. Rather than make Gradius II right away, the company decided to create a spin-off; Life Force — originally known in Japan as Salamander — hit arcades in 1986 and the NES two years later. Space shooters were...

  • Review Cybernator (Wii U eShop / SNES)

    Run-n-gun in space

    Konami's Cybernator isn't as well-known as run-and-gun titles such as Contra, but this SNES game is a quality offering with plenty of challenge, personality and replay value. The Virtual Console exists to let gamers relive (and experience for the first time) classic games, and Cybernator will be a breath of fresh air for anyone...

  • Review Pop'n TwinBee: Rainbow Bell Adventures (Wii U eShop / SNES)

    Jump'n TwinBee

    Although the TwinBee series is mostly remembered as a shoot 'em up franchise, it might come as a surprise that there were actually a few games which took on different genres. Rainbow Bell Adventures — which is coincidentally also the last game released outside Japan — tries its hand at platforming, bringing its own unique little...

July2014

  • Review Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse (Wii U eShop / NES)

    Blood relative

    After the success of the original Castlevania title on the NES system, Konami decided to change things up quite a bit for Castlevania II: Simon's Quest. Gone was the straight-ahead platforming action of the original, replaced with a much more rpg-flavored approach that placed more emphasis on item collection and exploration. While...

  • Review Pop'n TwinBee (Wii U eShop / SNES)

    WinBee

    It's not particularly well known outside Japan, but for a while TwinBee was one of Konami's main shoot 'em up series. A lot more cutesy than Gradius and the like, its colourful graphics and characters were its biggest appeal. A while back the original TwinBee was remade as a 3D Classic, but now here we have Pop'n Twinbee, one of the few...

  • Review Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal World Duel Carnival (3DS)

    Is the first 3DS entry a Dark Hole or a Monster Reborn?

    Konami’s Yu-Gi-Oh series has a long and successful history in digital form, perhaps never more so than on Nintendo hardware – a relationship that stretches all the way back from the original monochrome Game Boy right up to Zexal World Duel Carnival, which is both the first 3DS Yu-Gi-Oh...

April2014

February2014

  • Review Super C (Wii U eShop / NES)

    Junco Partners

    Konami's massively popular Contra became synonymous with side-scrolling shoot-'em-up action when it was released for the NES in 1988 — so much so that when the sequel hit Nintendo's home console in 1990, Konami felt confident that a single, stylized 'C' would be enough to evoke the series' name in the hearts and minds of loyal fans...

January2014

  • Review Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (3DS eShop / NES)

    What a horrible night to play this game

    Sequels of the present day are almost an inevitability; a safe way for a developer to earn some extra revenue by expanding their previous game, slightly tweaking gameplay nuances and throwing in additional levels and enemies. However, in the late '80s, things were different – sequels could vary wildly from...

  • Review Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (Wii U eShop / NES)

    Should've put a stake in it

    With 1987's Castlevania on the NES, Konami created a classic. The vampire hunting action game was a whip-roaring success, kicking off one of gaming's most iconic series and introducing a generation of gamers to the adventures of Simon Belmont, the joy of whip-based combat, and the explosive properties of holy water. The...

  • Review Life Force (3DS eShop / NES)

    A force to be reckoned with

    The space shooter is a genre that has somewhat faded into obscurity in recent years, both due to advances in technology rendering their limited scope obsolete and their typically gruelling difficulty proving unpalatable to some gamers. The NES port of Life Force, (or Salamander, as it was originally known on Eastern...