July2021
Review Zombies Ate My Neighbors and Ghoul Patrol - A Classic That Deserves Better
Zombie. Zombie. Zombie. Compilation.
Well, this has been a long time coming. Lucasarts’ beloved top-down ghoul-‘em-up Zombies Ate My Neighbors has finally come to Switch, missing in action since its release on the Wii Virtual Console back in 2009. And this time it’s brought its follow-up, the somewhat-maligned Ghoul Patrol, in a...
July2013
Review Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike (GameCube)
Three's a crowd
Factor 5 struck gold when it released the sublime Star Wars: Rogue Squadron for the Nintendo 64 way back in 1998/1999. Then, in 2001/2002, the development studio topped this already impressive feat with the astounding Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader. So when it announced that it had a third Rogue Squadron game in the works...
June2013
Review Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader (GameCube)
A force to be reckoned with
In many ways, Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader is the definitive Star Wars game. That's not to say that it's the best game that's ever been based on the franchise, but rather, it's the best at capturing the pure essence and magic of it. Developed by Factor 5 in collaboration with LucasArts, it's a technical...
Review Star Wars Episode I: Battle for Naboo (Nintendo 64)
Tour de Force
While it wasn't quite the workhorse that Rare was during the Nintendo 64 era, Factor 5 developed a handful of third-party games that arguably matched Nintendo's own efforts in terms of technical quality. The studio had a knack for getting underneath the hood of the system and exploiting its raw power to create fascinating visual...
May2013
Review Star Wars Episode I: Racer (Nintendo 64)
Watto way to go
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace may have been panned by film critics and audiences alike when it released back in 1999, but not everything borne out of it was as big a disaster as Jar Jar Binks. One of these truly rare exceptions was Star Wars Episode I: Racer, a sci-fi racing game developed by by LucasArts. The game was a...
March2011
Review LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars (3DS)
A well-honed clone or a droid to avoid?
Back in 2005, if you would have told someone that six years down the road, LEGO Star Wars would still be one of the most bankable and consistently enjoyable franchises in gaming, you would have been laughed at. Many called the idea a shallow cash grab, yet here we are in 2011 with another instalment in the...
Review LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars (DS)
A little too familiar
For whatever reason, LEGO games on Nintendo handhelds are never as good as their home console counterparts. Rather than harness the handheld's unique strengths from the ground up, they too often opt for creating a more compact version of the larger adventure. LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars is no exception, providing an...
Review LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars (Wii)
Not just a clone
A long time ago in a development studio not terribly far away, the idea was hatched to combine a beloved children's toy with a paradigm-shifting film franchise to make one of the most innovative licensed games to date. Since then the LEGO train has kept chugging along, claiming series after series as it goes to which to add its...
March2010
Review Star Wars: Flight of the Falcon (Game Boy Advance)
Turds in space
We can only imagine what mind-numbingly stupid things people were thinking during the pitch for Star Wars: Flight of the Falcon. We suspect it started out with noble intentions: the Rogue Squadron games were well received, and crazier games had successfully made the leap to the Gameboy Advance. Why not put the Millennium Falcon at the...
January2010
Review Ghoul Patrol (Virtual Console / Super Nintendo)
Bustin' makes me feel alright, I suppose
When it came time to follow Zombies Ate My Neighbors, LucasArts decided to go with a third-party developer. Using basically the same gameplay engine as the one found in Zombies, the developer was able to successfully create a game that looked and played very similarly to the original release called Ghoul...
December2009
Review Star Wars: Rogue Squadron (Nintendo 64)
"I've lost Artoo!"
A long time ago (around 13 years to be precise) in a galaxy not so far away, and when Nintendo 64 hardware was still fresh off the factory production line, LucasArts released Shadows of the Empire. Unfortunately for Star Wars fans everywhere, it was a pretty average affair, with only the Battle of Hoth level proving to be truly...
Review Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire (Nintendo 64)
Lurking in the shadows lies a foreboding adventure
The anticipation surrounding the launch of a new console is among the most exciting moments in a gamer's calendar, and one of the most notable hardware changeovers was between Nintendo's SNES and N64. The significance of the N64 generation is not only the enhancements afforded by an extra 48-bits of...
November2009
Review Indiana Jones' Greatest Adventures (Virtual Console / Super Nintendo)
Another fantastic movie trilogy gets another fantastic game
By the end of 1994, Sculptured Software had already created two SNES games based on the Star Wars games, and were hard at work on a third. But of course movie fanatics noticed something - Star Wars already had a lot of representation, but where was everybody's favourite archaeologist?...
October2009
Review Zombies Ate My Neighbors (Wii Virtual Console / Super Nintendo)
B-Grade horror movie action comes to the Virtual Console.
Every once in a while a game is released that's so unique it garners a cult following and becomes more popular years later than when it was first released. Toe Jam & Earl for the Sega Genesis is one such game, but another prime example would be Konami's Zombies Ate My Neighbors. The game...
September2009
Review Super Return of the Jedi (Virtual Console / Super Nintendo)
The Emperor has been expecting you
The third and final game in the Super Star Wars series promises more of the same great experience offered as its two forerunners, but did LucasArts give us a conclusion worthy of the series or just a clichéd third act with some kid-friendly Ewoks thrown in? Like the previous two outings, Super Return of the Jedi...
August2009
Review Super Empire Strikes Back (Virtual Console / Super Nintendo)
Do or do not: there is no try.
Following up on the success of Super Star Wars, LucasArts released Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes back (a.k.a. Super Empire Strikes Back) to an audience already hyped and waiting. As we discussed in our previous review, the story barely paid lip service to the movies, and this release is little better. Even so,...
Review Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings (Wii)
You call this archaeology?
Filled with cut scenes and swashbuckling action sequences, The Staff of Kings has the feel of an actual Indiana Jones movie. There are a lot of concepts included here that, if fully realized, could have made for a spectacular movie-style game. Sadly, as it turns out the imagination of the game’s developers exceeded...
Review Super Star Wars (Virtual Console / Super Nintendo)
Is the force strong with this one?
When Super Star Wars was released in 1992, it was an instant success. Offering old-school platforming but set in the Star Wars universe and culminating in the destruction of the Death Star, the video game format fit the movies like Harrison Ford fits the role of a roguish scoundrel. At the time, video game critics...
July2008
Review LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures (Wii)
Dr Jones! Dr Jones!
Dr Jones cracks his whip and lands on Wii. LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures is the latest game to get the "LEGO" makeover coming from TT Games who last year released the acclaimed LEGO Star Wars. The Original Adventures is being released in parallel as the new movie, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and features...
October2006
Review LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (GameCube)
Is the force with this one?
New Gamcube titles doesn't grow on trees these days, in fact Nintendo's current generation console is almost completely abandoned, by both third party companies, and Nintendo them self. Therefore we're always glad when a new quality game launches for the Gamecube. The original game, Lego Star Wars, was a smashing success...
