October2013
Review GOLF (Wii U eShop / NES)
Sub-par
Before the hyper-realistic, face-deforming technology of modern Tiger Woods games was conceived in the deepest dreams of Electronic Arts (a company busy with Marble Madness at the time), there was Golf for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The game wears its no-nonsense attitude on its sleeve, focusing on simulating the time-honoured sport...
Review Tennis (Wii U eShop / NES)
Net-net, a loss
Tennis — the NES game, not the actual sport — hails from an age when the most rudimentary of virtual simulations could be entertaining and notable simply by existing, perhaps causing a passing family member to comment on how it looks just like the real thing. Although a genuine novelty in the 80s, this dull-as-toast recreation of...
Evolution or revolution?
Do you remember that first time you rushed home with the latest copy of Pokémon, gleefully slotting it into your handheld and dreaming of becoming the next Pokémon Master? Everything was new, fresh and exciting. Every time that pixelated grass flickered and you encountered another never-seen-before monster you held your...
September2013
Hat-trick hero?
The Inazuma Eleven football / soccer RPG franchise is a major success in Japan, so much so that spin-offs and new releases are — at a minimum — arriving on an annual basis. Localisation to Europe has been a slower burn, and unfortunately non-existent in North America, so the arrival of Inazuma Eleven 3, the third title in the...
Review The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD (Wii U)
Putting the wind back into the sails of The Legend of Zelda
From the moment Nintendo first announced The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD for Wii U, it has consistently reminded us that the project is about more than just bringing HD graphics to a classic game. In fact, this remake arguably serves a much greater purpose than any Legend of Zelda...
Review Pinball: Revenge of the 'Gator (3DS eShop / GB)
A snappy pinball title
HAL's Pinball: Revenge of the 'Gator is a game which really needs to be approached with context in mind; back when it launched in 1990, real pinball games were still popular in arcades and digital representations were only just starting to offer the same level of enjoyment. Naxat's seminal Crush series — which includes Alien...
Review Zelda II: The Adventure Of Link - Unforgiving But Underappreciated
Zelda II, have you any tough dungeons? Yes sir, yes sir...
Back in the early days of several franchises, the second game in a series tended to be radically different from the first, as developers had not quite pinned down what they wanted the series to become. Take a look at Castlevania II or the Western Super Mario Bros. 2, for example. Zelda II:...
Review Super Mario Bros. (Wii U eShop / NES)
Forever running to the right
Mario. Say it loud and there's music playing. Say it soft, and it's almost like praying. Super Mario Bros. was, is, and will always be one of gaming's great masterpieces, and its availability on any additional format is a good thing. It's come to the Wii and 3DS Virtual Consoles before, and now jumps onto the Wii U...
August2013
Review The Legend of Zelda (Wii U eShop / NES)
A Link from the past
When The Legend of Zelda was released in 1986, it was at least as much an eye-opening experience for gamers as Super Mario Bros. had been. Whereas that game expanded and solidified the left-to-right nature of platformers for generations to come, The Legend of Zelda opened sprawling worlds before us, and allowed us to go wherever...
Review Donkey Kong (3DS eShop / NES)
It's on like Donkey Kong
This year marked the 30th anniversary of the initial Japanese launch of the Nintendo Family Computer, more popularly known around the world as the Famicom. Among the landmark console’s launch titles was Donkey Kong, a port of the arcade hit that began Nintendo’s launch into video game history. Now, in the year of the...
Review Pokémon Rumble U (Wii U eShop)
Wind me up
Nintendo has never been afraid to spin one of its biggest money makers, Pokémon, off into various weird and wonderful directions in between the mainline RPGs that are the franchise's bread and Butterfree. There have been puzzle games, the delightful safari of Pokémon Snap and, perhaps strangest of all, a crossover with Nobunaga's...
Review Art Academy: SketchPad (Wii U eShop)
A masterpiece or sketchy at best?
One of the most fascinating things about Miiverse is how Nintendo is paying such close attention to it. Not just in the sense that it is regularly updating it, but rather the company is actually listening to what its consumers are saying on the platform. It's remarkably unusual for a company that until now had been...
July2013
Review Kid Icarus (Wii U eShop / NES)
A demonic angel
The popularity of Pit, even before his triumphant return in Kid Icarus: Uprising, was focused around nostalgia for his first two appearances on NES and Game Boy, with the home console original setting the tone with catchy music, quirky mythological enemies and lashings of creativity. This was impressive in the days of the early 8-bit...
Should you Pik(min) this up?
Nine years. That's how long it has been since a new Pikmin game has graced a Nintendo system. With the exception of two motion control-enhanced re-releases which proved how suited the franchise was to the Wii, a new entry in the series was conspicuously absent from the system's line-up. Nevertheless, Pikmin 3 is finally...
Review EarthBound (Wii U eShop / SNES)
An RPG experience unlike any other
EarthBound landed on the SNES in 1995 with a dull thud. While the game didn't exactly light up the sales charts in North America and failed to make it to Europe, it has certainly gone on to become one of the most sought-after games in the second-hand market, selling for upwards of $80 as nothing more than a loose...
Review Donkey Kong (Wii U eShop / NES)
Klassic Kong
This month marks the 30th anniversary of the initial Japanese launch of the Nintendo Family Computer, more popularly known around the world as the Famicom. Among the landmark console’s launch titles was Donkey Kong, a port of the arcade hit that began Nintendo’s launch into video game history. Now, just in time for the anniversary...
Review Super Mario Bros. 2 (3DS eShop / NES)
Sweet dreams are made of these
By now we all know the story of Super Mario Bros. 2: concerns about the Japanese sequel to the original Super Mario Bros. kept it from release in North America and Europe. Different reasons have been given over time, from the game being too difficult to it simply not demonstrating enough creativity to keep gamers...
Review Metroid (Wii U eShop / NES)
By Zebes, it’s Metroid on the Wii U
The NES section of the Wii U's Virtual Console expands by another notch with the addition of Metroid, regarded by many as one of the best entries that amazing series has to offer. The great news is that it's every bit as wonderful as you remember; the bad news is that it's no more interested in holding your hand...
Review Mario & Luigi: Dream Team (3DS)
A never-ending dream
If there was more justice in the world, Mario & Luigi: Dream Team — or Mario & Luigi: Dream Team Bros. as it's known in Europe — would enjoy the same level of hype and anticipation as some of its prestigious predecessors on the 3DS in 2013. And yet, rather like its snoozy subject matter, it drifts into view on a...
Review Pilotwings (Wii U eShop / SNES)
Empty skies
Most readers here will remember the launch titles of the 3DS quite well, and as such they're probably familiar with the existence of Pilotwings Resort. While we certainly enjoyed the title there was a great deal of talk about it essentially feeling like a retail tech demo, more of a proof of concept for the new hardware than a game in...
Review Vegas Stakes (Wii U eShop / SNES)
Jackpot winner or total craps?
Nothing says “SNES classic” like a high-stakes trip to a menagerie of Las Vegas casinos. You’re invited to bust open the bank account for a night of potentially irresponsible entertainment as you hop from game to gambling game with your crew of potentially irresponsible friends. Even if a 1993 rendition of...
June2013
Review Wrecking Crew (Wii U eShop / NES)
It's wrecking time!
Mario's claim to fame has often been jumping; a simple skill, but unfailingly entertaining. It can be tough to remember a time when he traded high-flying acrobatics for a hammer and an insatiable appetite for destruction, but that's exactly the case in Wrecking Crew. Smashing things to bits is the straightforward goal, but...
Review Mario Bros. (Wii U eShop / NES)
Definitely not super
If you've ever been curious about Mario and Luigi's actual credibility as plumbers, you'll want to look all the way back to 1983's Mario Bros., the game which established pipe-cleaning as their true vocation and served as something of a bridge between arcade sensation Donkey Kong and early platforming masterpiece Super Mario...
Review New Super Luigi U (Wii U eShop)
New Super DLC for U
So, what is New Super Luigi U? It's not straight-up DLC, nor is it sizable enough to justify a full price retail game, so Nintendo has opted for a best of both worlds approach; it's available as either pricey DLC for New Super Mario Bros. U or as an inexpensive standalone retail game to be released at a later date. What does it...
Wario party
Going back a few years, it was something of a tradition for Nintendo to launch a new platform with a WarioWare title in hot pursuit. Charming bundles of micro-games that packed as much personality and gameplay as possible into seconds-long chunks, and perfect for demonstrating the unique capabilities of new hardware, the WarioWare games...
