3DS Game Reviews
Review Moco Moco Friends (3DS)
It's so fluffy!
Whether it's the demonic menagerie of Shin Megami Tensei, the lovable pocketable monsters of Pokémon, or the goofy ghosts of Yo-Kai Watch, creature-collecting games have been a staple of the JRPG genre for years and show no signs of slowing down. One of the latest takes on this trend is Aksys' Moco Moco Friends, a whimsical,...
Review Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games (3DS)
Fails to make it on the podium
Much like the real life counterpart, Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games has a gargantuan of hurdles to overcome. Don't get us wrong, the problems in the 3DS version are much smaller and have less implications than dealing with politics, diseases and pollution. But being the fifth entry in such a popular...
Review Pokémon Red and Blue (3DS / GB)
Twenty years ahead of their time
When these games were released back in the late nineties, the air around younger Game Boy owners was one of excitement and rivalry. Nintendo is clearly trying to capitalise on the nostalgia factor for all of us who were within the target age group (and some who weren't) when these titles were originally released,...
Review Return to Popolocrois: A Story of Seasons Fairytale (3DS)
A heartwarming harvest
As a crossover between Yohsuke Tamori's PopoloCrois (an enduringly popular fantasy manga from 1978) and the evergreen Bokujō Monogatari series (formerly known as Harvest Moon and now Story of Seasons in the West), Return to PopoloCrois: A Story of Seasons Fairytale stands out, even in the 3DS' impressively varied RPG garden...
Review Mega Man Legacy Collection (3DS)
In the year 20XX...
In the year 20XX, the robot hero Mega Man is in a strange place. For whatever reason, Capcom seems to think of the storied series as something of a relic of the past - something that inspires nostalgia and reverence, sure, but not a franchise that could compete in today's world of gritty shooters and action titles. Mega Man...
Review Hello Kitty and the Apron of Magic: Rhythm Cooking (3DS)
Food, friends and funky tunes
Hello Kitty and the Apron of Magic: Rhythm Cooking, despite sounding like something that's come through the wrong side of an awful, online band name generator, is actually a rhythm action title which focuses on cooking various dishes in time to music. Unsurprisingly the game features the titular character alongside a...
Review Bravely Second: End Layer (3DS)
This’ll ring a bell
When JRPG giant Square Enix brought Bravely Default to the 3DS back in 2013, it took an old-is-new-again approach, bringing the feel of golden age Final Fantasies — four heroes, airships, crystals and castles included — to Nintendo's newest handheld. The result felt like a truly classic adventure with all mod cons, and it...
Review Fire Emblem Fates (3DS)
Choose your destiny
Intelligent Systems got itself into a weird predicament after the stellar success of Fire Emblem Awakening a few years ago. Fire Emblem has long been known as one of Nintendo's most hardcore and unforgiving franchises – a turn-based RPG with plenty of variables to keep in mind on the battlefield, and where one wrong move might...
Review Goosebumps: The Game (3DS)
Player beware, you're in for mediocrity
As one of the latest in a long line of recent nostalgia-driven reboots, the Goosebumps franchise has managed to drag itself out of the grave for another attempt at success. R.L Stine's series of horror novellas aimed primarily at children was a smash hit during the 1990s, quickly going on to spawn a television...
Super Smash Zone
It's difficult to know what to expect out of such a massive crossover like Project X Zone 2. When one game includes characters, places and references to dozens of franchises from across five different companies, one must wonder whether there will be balance to all of the different parts at play. Fortunately, Project X Zone 2 pulls...
Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube764k Watch on YouTube Review Final Fantasy Explorers (3DS)
The Imitation Game
Despite the gravitas which comes with the Final Fantasy name, it's impossible to approach Final Fantasy Explorers without comparing it to Capcom's phenomenally successful Monster Hunter series. The game is a blatant attempt to ape the same concept, offering team-based monster-slaying with plenty of crafting opportunities and many...
A downsized download
Originally released on PC back in 2011, Terraria could be described as a 2D sidescrolling Minecraft with graphics reminiscent of 16-bit games. Over the years it received many updates and eventually started getting ported to many other systems. Now it's finally Nintendo's turn to get the game, but does it still hold up or did too...
Review Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam Bros. (3DS)
This Mario mashup is a real jam
Though it came as a bit of a surprise, quietly tucked away into Nintendo's Digital Event during E3 earlier this year, fans of RPG silliness have been anticipating the crossover of a lifetime since the announcement of AlphaDream's latest adventure. Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam Bros. (known simply as Mario & Luigi:...
Review Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon (3DS)
Gotta recruit 'em all
Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon is very much a rollercoaster ride, frequently oscillating between highs and lows. Just when you think you can't bear the tedium any longer something interesting happens that pulls you right back in. On the other hand, just when things are starting to get good it levels off and you're forced to...
Review The Legend of Legacy (3DS)
SaGa All-Stars
A pedigreed project if ever there was one, The Legend of Legacy could easily have been named for its own lineage — this Furyu-developed RPG counts among its creators some of the legendary minds behind Chrono Trigger, the SaGa series and Final Fantasy XIII. As the latest in a long line of Atlus adventures for the 3DS, it's also...
Review Nintendo Presents: New Style Boutique 2 - Fashion Forward (3DS)
Back in style
Like high-waisted shorts or the reemergence of leg warmers, some things just come out of nowhere. Syn Sophia's New Style Boutique was a similarly surprising success when it hit the 3DS runways in 2012, giving the fashion sim genre a real gem. After a few seasons off it's back for another appearance (in Europe at least) with this...
Review Rodea the Sky Soldier (3DS)
Fasten your seatbelts
Rodea the Sky Soldier has had a pretty turbulent launch. The original concept for the game was conceived way back in 2010 by Yuji Naka, lead programmer and eventually producer on many Sonic the Hedgehog titles. The next year it was reported that the game was finished and ready to be published for the Wii, yet it never came...
Stellar
Though they've had a hand in games as diverse as Yoshi's New Island and Time and Eternity, the name 'imageepoch' will forever be linked with Luminous Arc, the studio's successful strategy RPG series that debuted on the DS back in 2007. As a spiritual successor to those titles, as well as imageepoch's last release following their bankruptcy...
Gotta friend 'em all
There's no point beating around the bush: Yo-Kai Watch is a lot like Pokémon. But instead of straight up emulating one of Nintendo's biggest franchises, developer Level-5 has aspired to create something a bit stranger and fresher than Pokémon has done in years. The result is a welcoming RPG that has some highs and some lows,...
Review Gravity Falls: Legend of the Gnome Gemulets (3DS)
Why you ackin' so cray cray?
Gravity Falls seems like the kind of show that would translate well into the realm of video games. From Zelda to Mario to Donkey Kong, the Disney cult hit has trotted out references to many of gaming's greatest franchises. In fact one of the best episodes of the series, "Fight Fighters", is about main character Dipper...
Review Adventure Time: Finn and Jake Investigations (3DS)
Ooo's clues too
If you want to play Adventure Time: Finn & Jake Investigations, the odds look really good for you. A version of the game is kicking around on just about all the current (and a few not-so-current) systems out there. If you ask nicely, they might even make a port for the N-Gage. The 3DS version of Finn & Jake Investigations is...
Review The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes (3DS)
Tri-al and error
The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes is a remarkably segmented and potentially divisive game from Nintendo. It attempts a similar trick to Four Swords Adventures but, with its totem mechanic and implementation, doesn't accommodate both solo and group players in canny ways; as a result this is a multiplayer game with single player...
Review Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butoden (3DS)
Not so extreme
Outside of Super Smash Bros., it feels like there's something of a gap in the 3DS library when it comes to fighters, so the overseas arrival of Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butoden is a welcome one. A 2D, sprite based brawler that features characters and storylines from the perpetually popular manga and anime property, it's a solid if...
Review Chibi-Robo!: Zip Lash (3DS)
Robots in plain sight
If you want to be all reductive about it, you can say there are two types of Nintendo mascot games: Biggies and Smallies. Everyone knows the Biggies because they're the company pillars, the keystones keeping Nintendo in the money: your Marios, Pokemons, and so forth. They're polished, beautiful, and ultimately a little safe...
Review Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer (3DS)
Home is where the art is
Animal Crossing, while being one of Nintendo's most beloved franchises of the past decade, has taken on a new level of fame thanks to its first 3DS outing, New Leaf. A massive seller all over the world, this quirky and charming life simulation has been instrumental in selling its host hardware to an entirely fresh sector of...
Review Hatsune Miku: Project MIRAI DX (3DS)
Chart-topper
To those who know her, she needs no introduction: Hatsune Miku is a star. To those who don't, she definitely requires some explanation: Hatsune Miku is a 'virtual idol' and the world's most popular Vocaloid, a personification of a software synthesizer given background, personality, and a constant stream of songs to sing by composers and...
Review SENRAN KAGURA 2: Deep Crimson (3DS)
Mediocre button mashing
Using sex appeal to sell games is nothing new in the industry, even to the point where the games can become questionable in their intention; SENRAN KAGURA 2: Deep Crimson falls into this category. Its predecessor was a solid enough fighting game with themes that, shall we say, appeal to a particular demographic. Can the...
Review LBX: Little Battlers eXperience (3DS)
Battle-ready or rusting in a corner?
If your first thought when looking at LBX: Little Battlers eXperience was that it's aimed for children you'd be right on the money. From top to toe this is clearly aimed at the older child/young teenager market with its colourful aesthetic, 'kid-friendly' violence and badass robots. The core of the game however...
Review Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold: The Fafnir Knight (3DS)
A Knight to Remember
Atlus' evergreen Etrian Odyssey series got its start on the DS with a trilogy of excellent map-making adventures, and it's found similar success on Nintendo's newest handheld, with Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan and spinoffs Etrian Mystery Dungeon and Persona Q all right at home on the 3DS. Thanks to 2013's
Review LEGO Jurassic World (3DS)
Don't go into the long grass
In case you've been living under a rock or have been crystallized in amber for millions of years, a new film in the Jurassic Park series has been unleashed into the world. As has been the case with so many film franchises before it, this release also brings along with it a LEGO video game adaptation. Welcome to the 3DS...
