3DS eShop Game Reviews
Review Tetris (3DS eShop / GB)
From Russia with fun
Saying that Tetris shifted a few Game Boys is like saying caffeine sold a few energy drinks. Already an established favourite by the time Nintendo's handheld hit the market in 1989, Tetris proved to be the perfect pick-up-and-play experience to go along with the fledgling portable system; while many people initially questioned...
Review F-Zero Maximum Velocity (3DS eShop / GBA)
Gotta go fast
F-Zero has always been Nintendo’s way of flaunting how on the cutting-edge of technology it can be when it so chooses. Like a bat out of Hell, the original F-Zero launched alongside the Super NES to draw a clear distinction between where 16-bit Nintendid and SEGagged. Later on N64, F-Zero X boasted 30 on-screen polygonal racers and...
Review Mario Kart Super Circuit (3DS eShop / GBA)
Short circuit
It’s hard to believe that the Mario Kart franchise has been around for nearly 20 years and appeared on eight different consoles. Mario Kart: Super Circuit may have been first released in 2001, but now it’s back for a whole new generation of players ten years after release through the 3DS Ambassador program. There are four cups to...
Review Mighty Switch Force! (3DSWare)
The mighty gets mightier
While Shantae will likely always be the series WayForward is best known for, its Mighty series has enjoyed a sizeable degree of success on Nintendo's DSiWare service. Now, the developer is looking to carry that success over to the 3DS eShop with the release of puzzle-platformer Mighty Switch Force. While the game is once...
Review Metroid Fusion (3DS eShop / GBA)
Like cold fusion, only cooler
Metroid Fusion slipped out of the airlock between two behemoths, simultaneously having to live up to the legacy of its predecessor Super Metroid, which is a big Power Suit to fill, and keep the advancing Metroid Prime at arm cannon's length. It would have been easy for Fusion to have become lost in the vacuum created by...
Review The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (3DS eShop / GBA)
Small but mighty
Those poor Hylians just can't have any fun, can they? Just when everything seems to be all well and good, some creep with bad skin comes along, unleashes a whirlwind of evil and shrouds the land in darkness. It's tough for us to feel too bad for them, though. Because as history has shown, bad news for Hyrule means great news for...
Mega blox
Intelligent Systems is mostly known for its work on the Advance Wars, Fire Emblem and WarioWare series, but occasionally, when it's not too busy, it develops some unique games: it's created titles like Cubivore on the GameCube and Eco Shooter Plant 530 on WiiWare. Now it's back with another original creation for the eShop, and it can quite...
Review Blaster Master: Enemy Below (3DS eShop / GBC)
Underground hit
When the original Blaster Master made its appearance on the NES in 1988, it was lauded for its unique gameplay style and vast environment. Sunsoft would follow up the game with releases on Sega's Genesis and Nintendo's Game Boy, but it wasn't until it decided to create a sequel for Nintendo's Game Boy Color that Nintendo fans really...
Review Lock 'N Chase (3DS eShop / GB)
Puzzle Pac-Man
Data East had quite a few relatively unknown Game Boy games back in the day. Much BurgerTime Deluxe, released a few weeks ago, Lock 'N Chase is essentially a "sequel" to the original arcade game, with the same general gameplay but with many more levels and even a few new gameplay mechanics. If you've played the arcade game,...
Review Zen Pinball 3D (3DSWare)
Flippin’ fun
As gaming arcades and old-fashioned pinball tables become increasingly rare in public spaces, pinball enthusiasts can now revert to digitised versions for their fix. It’s good news for these gamers as the 3DS eShop’s latest 3D offering is Zen Pinball 3D, a stereoscopic edition of the highly rated PlayStation Network release. We...
Review Metroid II: Return of Samus (3DS eShop / GB)
Exploring colourless lands
When Metroid was first released it was a unique game: with a lot of exploring to do across a giant map and with plenty of hidden items and paths, those willing to spend the time to find everything were well rewarded. The original title has aged fairly poorly though — the game lacks many things we take for granted...
Review 3D Classics: Kirby's Adventure (3DSWare)
A great game gets an underwhelming paint job
In 1993 the NES got a latter-day boon from a truly brilliant addition to its library: Kirby's Adventure. Still regarded today as one of the strongest titles on the console, it boasted an unforgettable soundtrack, stunningly creative visuals and gameplay innovations that became Kirby staples from there...
Review Freakyforms: Your Creations, Alive! (3DSWare)
It’s alive!
The touch screen in the DS family of consoles has often been the focus for artistic experiences. The mere act of holding the stylus should inspire artists, and it’s this instinct that forms the foundation for Freakyforms: Your Creations, Alive! on 3DS. It’s a strange name that doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, and is perfectly...
Review Balloon Kid (3DS eShop / GB)
Somewhat deflated
Balloon Kid is the Game Boy sequel to the NES original Balloon Fight. That game is remembered by some as a stone-cold classic of addictive action, and by others as a pointless, repetitive chore. In our Balloon Fight review we fell somewhere in the middle. And so it's quite fitting that we also find ourselves there for the sequel...
Review Adventure Island (3DS eShop / GB)
Master Higgins' first Game Boy adventure
There were a good number of NES franchises that ended up making appearances on the Game Boy system, some better than others. Hudson had already enjoyed some popularity on the NES console with their Adventure Island titles, so it was pretty much a no-brainer that they'd eventually bring the series to...
Review BurgerTime Deluxe (3DS eShop / GB)
A tasty treat
When people think of Data East's games, they tend to think of Joe & Mac and Karnov, but one title that's just as much of a classic but never seems to get mentioned that often is BurgerTime. Originally debuting in arcades and being ported to many platforms, it was an endlessly looping, fast-paced game with six levels that required...
An ancient relic
It may be early days for download content exclusive to the 3DS, but we can confidently say that it's been a slow start. In fact, if you disregard 3D Classics and a free Pokédex 3D produced by Nintendo, Pyramids is only the second game to utilise the capabilities of the 3D screen. This adds a certain level of expectation to this...
Review Catrap (3DS eShop / GB)
Definitely not a trap
Nintendo's been releasing 3DS Virtual Console games at a very nice pace so far. In just a few months, we've already had classics like Donkey Kong and Gargoyle's Quest. The newest release, Catrap, however, is probably the most obscure title yet. Originally released in Japan under the title Pitman, and based on a game earlier...
Review Side Pocket (3DS eShop / GB)
Dead ball
The great thing about the Virtual Console is that it allows people to experience games that they somehow missed out on the first go around and encourages discovery of forgotten and overlooked gems. The flip side is that not everything dug up has aged particularly well, like Data East's portable version of once-esteemed billiards game Side...
Review Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (3DS eShop / GB)
Monochrome Mario is back in style
Nintendo managed to squeeze quite a bit of the Super Mario experience into the original Super Mario Land, but many gamers felt like the game was a bit too scaled down to feel like a true adventure from the series. Nintendo obviously sensed this when they sat down to create Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, as this...
Review 3D Classics: TwinBee (3DSWare)
Bee very grateful for this one
Most of our readers could be forgiven for never having played TwinBee: after all, it began life in 1985 as an arcade game that never left Japan. It was later ported to the Famicom, and though some reports state that an NES localisation project was actually completed, for some reason it was never released. In fact,...
Review Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge (3DS eShop / GB)
Slightly less than mega
Back when the Mega Man franchise started with the release of the original NES game, Capcom never thought it would do well — the first game was expected to bomb horribly, as almost nobody at the famous developer thought people would like it. Fast forward to today, and Mega Man has become one of their best-known franchises...
Yep. It's golf.
Rare is the game that leaves us truly speechless, but the Game Boy version of Golf is certainly one of them. Of course that's just because there's not really much to talk about. Golf, as you might expect, is a golf game. Whatever comes to mind when you hear that, that's what you get. No less, and no more. It consists of two courses...
Review Gargoyle's Quest (3DS eShop / GB)
Firebrand is so hot right now
The Game Boy enjoyed one of the longest lifespans of any system to date, outlasting rivals and finding its way into the hearts of gamers the world over. Following a very basic logic, a system with a long lifespan will typically have a large amount of titles worth your time. In fact, games were being released for the...
Review 3D Classics: Urban Champion (3DSWare)
3D Classic, huh? Well, they're half right...
You really have to feel bad for the team assigned to updating Urban Champion. After all, it's not a game that's very fondly remembered; in fact, you're unlikely to find many positive reviews at all, even from when it was new. It's also a stretch to say that it set the framework for fighting games to...
Review Avenging Spirit (3DS eShop / GB)
Like Kirby... if Kirby were SERIOUSLY TERRIFYING
It's a story as old as time itself: boy meets girl, boy takes girl out for a walk, boy is murdered by mobsters who kidnap girl, boy possesses vampires and kangaroos to get her back. Jaleco not only provides us with a bizarre and attention-grabbing backstory for the game, but they made sure to craft a...
Review Pac-Man (3DS eShop / GB)
Pac's back to steal your money
Everybody knows Pac-Man. The game's been ported to just about every platform under the sun, including the NES version on the Wii Virtual Console. It's now being released yet again on the 3DS Virtual Console, but is it worth another investment? Of course, there is absolutely nothing different about the gameplay in this...
Review Let's Golf! 3D (3DSWare)
Pitch perfect?
Gameloft's Let's Golf! 3D may be the first third-party 3DSWare title to download, but it's not the company's first swing at portable pitching and putting: DSiWare has the original Let's Golf!, so this new outing has to bring more to the table. In some ways it delivers, but it doesn't quite hit the pin. For one thing, you're getting a...
Review 3D Classics: Xevious (3DSWare)
Xevious goes 3D
When Xevious first hit arcades back in 1982, it became known for its odd visual style and unique sound effects. Now, after a number of releases on various platforms over the past 30 years, the game now makes an appearance on Nintendo's 3DS system via the eShop. While being able to take the game with you on the go for those quick...
Review Game & Watch Gallery (3DS eShop / GB)
More than a fresh coat of paint
Most fans of the Game & Watch series likely enjoy it for its simplicity. The nature of the original devices meant that certain allowances had to be made for the primitive visuals, sounds and rigid controls. All three of these things are charming in their own right, but what really made people fall in love was the...
