June2010

  • Review Yard Sale Hidden Treasures: Sunnyville (WiiWare)

    A good find

    Hidden object puzzles are big money these days, drawing in unsuspecting players with tales of relaxing but addictive gameplay. WiiWare has already seen the disappointing "Aha! I Found It!" Hidden Object Game but now Konami is here with a new challenger, Yard Sale Hidden Treasures: Sunnyville, and it's got a few tricks up its...

  • Review Ben 10 Alien Force: The Rise of Hex (WiiWare)

    Even Steven

    The idea of a boy capable of transforming into wildly different forms, each with special abilities, is ideal fodder for game design: Kid Chameleon did it nearly twenty years ago, but Ben 10 Alien Force: Rise of Hex revives the template with a few welcome tweaks. In case you're unfamiliar with the titular hero, Ben Tennyson possesses a...

May2010

  • Review Frogger Returns (DSiWare)

    Guess who's back... again

    He may not have gone anywhere in the hearts of classic gamers, but Frogger is apparently back again. This DSiWare edition of Frogger Returns is essentially the same game as on WiiWare, albeit without the underwhelming multiplayer of that version. The stages, modes, power-ups and graphics are largely all the same (although...

March2010

  • Review Tornado Outbreak (Wii)

    Do the "Katamari Twist"

    Tornado Outbreak is another example of a game being hung out to dry by a major publisher. Released at a budget price in the last quarter of 2009, it wouldn't be surprising if you had no clue it existed – despite being published by Konami – because it had little to no launch promotion and wasn't even stocked by major...

  • Review Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix (GameCube)

    No! Not the Music Keys!!

    Back in 2005, Konami and Nintendo surprised us all by announcing they were teaming up to release a new entry in the Dance Dance Revolution universe starring characters from Nintendo’s flagship series, Super Mario Bros. Most people will go into this not expecting the complete foot-burning DDR experience, and it’s these...

  • Review Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (Virtual Console / TurboGrafx-16)

    The PC Engine classic finally arrives on the Virtual Console

    The Castlevania titles have seen releases on a variety of game consoles over the years, but it's this PC Engine release that's garnered a lot of attention and focus among diehard game fans and collectors over the years. Since the game was only released in Japan, gamers who wanted to play...

January2010

  • Review Tomena Sanner (WiiWare)

    We don't know why...he's the greatest dancer...that we've ever seen!

    Tomena Sanner is the kind of WiiWare title that gamers expect to come from Japan. You control the destiny of a faceless salaryman named Mr. Susumu (Japanese for "forward" or "continue") using only a single button press to help him navigate obstacles as he runs...

December2009

  • Review Castlevania The Adventure ReBirth (WiiWare)

    Vampire killing with a nostalgic twist!

    We've already seen Konami resurrect two of their most popular gaming franchises with WiiWare’s Gradius and Contra ReBirth, so it comes as no real surprise to see them giving the same treatment to yet another much-loved classic series: Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth. Despite its title, this actually has...

  • Review Batman Returns (Super Nintendo)

    Merry Christmas, Mr. Wayne

    The release of Batman Returns was perfectly timed at the peak of Konami's SNES development and during a high point in Batman movie history. The festive feel of the game was slightly out of sync with its Spring '93 release date, but it was completely fitting in regard to the source material. Konami had already mastered a...

  • Review Space Manbow (Virtual Console / MSX)

    Old school shooting fun on the PC standard that wasn't.

    Don't feel bad if you've never heard of the MSX. It was an early-80s Microsoft-driven initiative to create a hardware standard for home computers to transform software development in the same way that the VHS standard transformed home video: by removing the need to develop for multiple hardware...

  • Review Sunset Riders (Super Nintendo)

    Bury me with my SNES

    Just for a moment, cast your thoughts towards Saturday matinee Western films and reel in all of their imagery of the Old West. Picture in your minds the characters deftly dodging stampeding cattle, guiding their trusty steed as it gallops alongside a runaway train, chasing down a stagecoach, gun fighting in uncouth taverns and...

  • Review Silent Hill: Shattered Memories (Wii)

    Hill hath frozen over

    Harry Mason is not having a good day. After crashing his car in a freak snowstorm, he wakes up to find his daughter missing with nary a trace. Determined to find her, Harry sets out into the night with a flashlight to explore the town of Silent Hill in this reimagining of the series’ original entry. Yes, reimagining, not...

November2009

  • Review Frogger Returns (WiiWare)

    The return of an arcade legend.

    It cannot be denied that Frogger is one of the original arcade hits. It was ported to pretty much every 8-bit console and computer system in the world, bootlegged numerous times and even immortalised in song on the seminal "Pac-Man Fever" LP by Buckner & Garcia. It's the only Konami arcade game from the...

October2009

September2009

  • Review Biker Mice From Mars (Super Nintendo)

    Time to rock 'n ride!

    If you want to know what Biker Mice from Mars is like, think of it this way. Take RC Pro-Am for the NES, change the cars into Harleys, and then throw a bunch of thug-like mice onto those bikes and there you have it. It's pretty much a carbon copy of the ideas and gameplay found in RC Pro-Am, with the over-the-top weirdness of...

  • Review Contra ReBirth (WiiWare)

    Still separating the men from the boys.

    The Contra series has always been one of gaming's greats: incredibly simple yet fun gameplay, top-notch design, and of course, what the games are most known for, a hard-as-nails difficulty level. After multiple failed attempts to create a good 3D Contra game, the DS recently got a brilliant new 2D entry that,...

August2009

  • Review Operation C (Game Boy)

    Does the diminutive adventure bring the big guns?

    Let's just get this out of the way now: if you like the NES games, you'll probably dig this entry. Operation C isn't an adaptation or a port (arguably); it is an old-school Contra game. It may lack in a few notable areas, but you'll largely enjoy it. Operation C does a pretty good job of sticking to...

  • Review Kid Dracula (Game Boy)

    Nobody parodies their own games quite like Konami!

    Konami had already enjoyed some success creating a parody of their Gradius series of shooters with their Parodius releases, so they must have felt like they were on to something when they decided to do the same with their popular Castlevania series back in the early '90s. Kid Dracula basically takes...

  • Review Hybrid Heaven (Nintendo 64)

    The N64's own Metal Gear Solid? If only.

    Back in 1998, Konami's Metal Gear Solid took the gaming world by storm. Its masterful combination of action-packed gameplay and cinematic storytelling was unlike anything ever before seen in a videogame. The only bad news was that unless you owned a PlayStation, you wouldn’t be playing it, as it was...

  • Review Driift Mania (WiiWare)

    Super Sprint and Super Off-Road had a baby and it's soooo cute!

    If you were a gamer in the mid-late 80s you'll probably remember a couple of arcade games called Super Sprint and Ivan "Ironman" Stewart's Super Off-Road, both of which gave 1-3 players the chance to compete in a series of races against human or computer-controlled opponents...

  • Review Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge (Game Boy)

    The second Game Boy Castlevania atones for the sins of its predecessor and ranks as one of the finest entries in the entire series

    Before we plough headlong into this review, a short history lesson is probably in order. As the title denotes, Castlevania II: Belmont’s Revenge isn’t the first instalment of Konami’s vampire-slaying franchise to...

July2009

  • Review Smash Table Tennis (Virtual Console / NES)

    Smash Table Tennis delivers a backhand to your wallet.

    Sometimes, you just have to wonder who at Nintendo is in charge of the Virtual Console game selection. Perhaps it's one of those people who, when unable to decide what to do, throws a dart at a dartboard with possible "options" on it in order to come to a decision. That almost has to...

  • Review Ant Nation (WiiWare)

    An antagonizingly good game.

    Konami returns to Wiiware with another semi-strategy game. This time instead of reactively fending off crabs, you’ll be proactively leading a nation of ants in a war of senseless aggression. Finally, those ladybugs will get what they deserve. But is this nation worthy of a leader such as you? Ant Nation is...

  • Review Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon (Nintendo 64)

    You know it makes sense!

    Save Japan from a group of stage performers by throwing coins and hitting robots with your trusty kiseru pipe. What do you get if you take a generous helping of Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, mix well with a portion of Mario 64, and add a heavy sprinkling of traditional Japanese culture? The answer, of course, is...

April2009

  • Review Time Hollow (DS)

    Time travel has never been so complicated

    Ever since the launch of the Nintendo DS console, the format has been heralded as a great way to bring out adventure games to make use of the stylus as a mouse substitute. In many ways this has borne fruit, with releases like Another Code, Hotel Dusk and the Phoenix Wright series all proving to be excellent...