Wii U eShop Game Reviews
Review Stone Shire (Wii U eShop)
As plain as a stone
In the absence of Minecraft on Nintendo platforms, many developers have opted to try to recapture the legendary game's magical gameplay in their own knockoff attempts. These have, by and large, fallen short of the high standard that's been set and failed to present any meaningful contributions to the popular formula. Stone Shire...
Review Nihilumbra (Wii U eShop)
Nothing and everything
Nihilumbra is an existentialist platforming-fan's dream, with plenty of puzzles and unsettling presentation to make players feel isolated and challenged by their environment. Though the title's arrival is a tad late on Wii U, it is nonetheless admirable how much life developer Beautifun Games has breathed into this adventure...
Review Shapes of Gray (Wii U eShop)
Murky depths
You see two objects in a circular gray field, as if looking in through an electron microscope. Move the left stick and you'll find out which object is you. Hit buttons until you reach the shoulders or triggers and find out you're not just a little blob, but a little blob with a sword. Strike the other geometric creature in sight and...
Review Swords & Soldiers II (Wii U eShop)
A tasty treat
In the Swords & Soldiers universe Vikings are obsessed with barbecue and spicy food, which is a curious spin on history if ever we've seen it. Such is the nature of this cartoonish and lighthearted franchise, which now receives its second entry as a Wii U eShop exclusive. Swords & Soldiers II is as complex a proposition as the...
Review New Super Mario Bros. (Wii U eShop / DS)
LittleBigKingdom
When New Super Mario Bros. released for the Nintendo DS back in 2006, it had been roughly 15 years since the portly plumber starred in a proper 2D platformer. Not only that, but side-scrollers in general had been largely ignored since 1996, when the Nintendo 64 hit the market and assured us that 3D gaming was the way of the future...
Review Mega Man Battle Network 3 Blue & White (Wii U eShop / GBA)
Gotta bust 'em all
The Mega Man Battle Network series was a brilliant idea from Capcom to offer a refreshing and unique departure from the classic action platformer, while still delivering a colourful and engaging gameplay experience. Though it wasn't the first time the Mega Man series flirted with becoming an RPG, it was by far the most...
Review Paper Mario (Wii U eShop / N64)
Historical document
Can we take a moment to appreciate just how gloriously wacky it is that a game like Paper Mario exists in the first place? This is an idea that followed in the footsteps of Super Mario RPG, the Square/Nintendo collaboration which in itself marked a big departure in genre for the Mario universe. Nintendo would continue down this...
Review High Strangeness (Wii U eShop)
The best bits of both worlds
High Strangeness borrows its name from the real-life term used by those who study UFO sightings to describe an inability to explain one's experience with an extraterrestrial. Fittingly, this bizarre title offers gameplay and visuals in both 16-bit and 8-bit styles, which the developers attempt to explain as a "12-bit...
Review Mega Man & Bass (Wii U eShop / GBA)
Here comes the bass
A brief bit of history on Mega Man & Bass. A few years after Mega Man 8 notoriously became a Playstation and Sega Saturn game, Keiji Inafune - the series' creator - felt that he still owed one more game to children that had not yet upgraded to next gen hardware and still owned only the Super Famicom. Technically a spin-off...
Review River City Ransom (Wii U eShop / NES)
Holding your funds for ransom
Originally released in Japan for Nintendo Famicom, classic beat 'em up 'Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari' was then heavily localised for its eventual release in the US; background artwork was amended to look more 'western' (for example, rooftop tiling designs and mailboxes were changed) plus all location names were updated...
Review My Style Studio: Notebook (Wii U eShop)
Out of style
Theoretically, the Wii U is a great platform for art applications and software. Art Academy: Sketchpad and its dedicated Miiverse community have created some wonderful works of art using the GamePad, with many wondering where the heavily delayed full Art Academy application is. Cypronia's My Style Studio: Notebook might be a tempting...
Review TABLETOP GALLERY (Wii U eShop)
No Dice
TABLETOP GALLERY serves as a compilation as of three eShop titles previously only released in the US - TOSS N GO, SHUT THE BOX and POKER DICE SOLITAIRE FUTURE. Each of these dice-rolling titles never made their way to European shores, prompting developer/publisher RCMADIAX to eventually re
Review Bubble Gum Popper (Wii U eShop)
Pop goes the bubble
Bubble Gum Popper is about as basic as a match-three puzzler can get, and unfortunately this doesn't work in the its favour. Puzzle games don't necessarily have to be groundbreaking to be worthwhile, but it certainly helps if they're at least engaging; this lacklustre effort is barely even worth the low price thanks to its...
Review Klonoa 2: Dream Champ Tournament (Wii U eShop / GBA)
Sweet dreams
Klonoa's never really gotten the recognition he deserves, has he? The floppy-eared hero's original adventure, released for PlayStation in 1997 and given a superb Wii remake in 2008, was an extraordinary 2.5D platformer that forced players to take a different perspective on the action. Following this, Klonoa got multiple releases on...
Review Guac' a Mole (Wii U eShop)
Worth dipping into
When the Wii U was unveiled back at E3 2011 much was shown off in the way of its special abilities and functions, especially when regarding the system's controller. Unfortunately, the GamePad's many perks (such as its impressive use of motion controls) have been relatively untapped in the years since, and use of its built in...
Review Yoshi's Island DS (Wii U eShop / DS)
Swap-a-bye baby
The challenge of having to follow up such a hot act as Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island is staying true to the original while simultaneously feeling fresh and exciting. The original Yoshi's Island was a pioneer in its design; that design can be straight-up copied again, sure, but the sense of surprise that the first possessed...
Review Word Search by POWGI (Wii U eShop)
Finding words, one letter at a time
Sometimes, a game's title tells you very little about its content. What do titles like "Bayonetta" scream to you when read? Meanwhile, a game with a title such as Word Search by POWGI pretty much tells you everything you need to know about this download. Within each of the 300+ levels you're given a grid filled...
Review Yoshi Touch & Go (Wii U eShop / DS)
Fleeting fun
Between the DS, 3DS and Wii U, Nintendo has delivered many touch screen gaming experiences throughout the years. While some are genuinely creative and/or mechanically deep, others have ended up feeling like little more than an experiment or a tech demo rather than a full-fledged game; Yoshi Touch & Go falls into that latter...
Review Tilelicious: Delicious Tiles (Wii U eShop)
A bittersweet treat
There has been much debate over Nintendo opening up the eShop to a wider array of developers and allowing what some would consider to be lesser experiences to be featured. The main argument being that consoles justify better, higher quality games than the relatively shallow offerings that can be found on smartphone markets, and...
Review psyscrolr (Wii U eShop)
Scroll right past this one
Critics are sometimes given a reputation for their occasional harshness. You might hear a critic accused of "wanting to hate something" or "looking for things to nitpick." While there are exceptions to every rule, it should be understood that most highly enjoy the medium they've chosen to review; as such, these complaints...
Review Donkey Kong 64 (Wii U eShop / N64)
He's finally back, but does he still kick some tail?
At the mere mention of Nintendo's first 64-bit console, many of us find it difficult not to get swept up by a wave of nostalgia. We drift through countless memories of flickering TV screens and eye-popping graphics, washing up on the shores of 3D gaming's first bold steps onto a Nintendo platform...
Review Mega Man Zero 3 (Wii U eShop / GBA)
(Mostly) Zero changes
After releasing the previous two Mega Man Zero titles and having them almost universally liked, it would've been crazy to end the series there; so, naturally, Capcom produced Mega Man Zero 3 for the Game Boy Advance. Just as before, the game follows the events of the previous instalments pretty directly. Picking up two months...
Review WarioWare Touched! (Wii U eShop / DS)
A Touch of Magic
Nintendo's initial Nintendo 64 and Nintendo DS Wii U Virtual Console titles certainly are an eclectic mix - with WarioWare Touched! perhaps being the most unexpected inclusion of the bunch. Having been initially released on the Nintendo DS in February 2005, WarioWare Touched! is one of the DS's earliest titles, coming from an era of...
Review Super Mario 64 (Wii U eShop / N64)
Platforming perfection
There are two types of gamer – those who have played Super Mario 64 and those who should. Regularly placing towards the high end of 'best game ever' lists, Super Mario 64 has become a standard name-drop in many a classic gaming debate. Since launching in 1996, there have been a number of successors and contenders for the...
Review Affordable Space Adventures (Wii U eShop)
Three players for the price of one
Affordable Space Adventures is one of relatively few Wii U eShop exclusives, and is unsurprisingly a particularly unique arrival on the store. A collaboration between KnapNok Games and Nifflas, it brings a fusion of the former's expertise in user interfaces and control mechanics, and the latter's surrealist visual...
Review Angry Video Game Nerd Adventures (Wii U eShop)
Better than a buffalo diarrhoea dump in your ear
Making a game that is in itself a callout to awful games has to be like preparing fugu: you definitely want to retain the essence people are paying for, but leaving the wrong parts in is going to be lethal. You have to be crappy without being crappy, and if anyone can pull this off with zen-like...
Review Mario Kart DS (Wii U eShop / DS)
Flawed perfection
The 2005 hit, Mario Kart DS, marked a new era for Nintendo and its long-running racing series. This particular iteration was released during a transitional phase for the company, with Nintendo beginning to rethink the conventions of gaming. Mario Kart on the DS mirrored this fresh approach, incorporating a portable online...
Review Dot Arcade (Wii U eShop)
Tripping the light fantastic
Judging games for review brings some challenges. How can a tiny indie game compare with a Nintendo-developed blockbuster? We thought about this a lot when playing James Montagna and Andrew Lim's Dot Arcade, a small, highly focused experience that keeps things simple in the name of fun and longevity. While there's not...
Review Super Destronaut (Wii U eShop)
Nice space ya got there…
Copies of other games are nothing new on the eShop - in more ways than one. If there is classic retro style or a suddenly popular gamefad, you can expect someone to throw their own version of it into the ring as well. Whether it comes off as a respected homage or a cheap cash-in is left to the developer, but Super...
Review PENTAPUZZLE (Wii U eShop)
PENT-UP PUZZLE
There's nothing inherently wrong with simplicity. When used well, a minimalist approach can be a refreshing way to get back to gaming basics; the recent 50 Pinch Barrage!!, which charmed us with its intuitive and straightforward approach to Pitfall-style platforming, stands as an excellent example of this. However, with the popularity...
