Nintendo Game Reviews
Review The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (New 3DS / SNES)
A gem from the past
With A Link Between Worlds, 3D versions of the Nintendo 64 games and a number of other titles available via the Virtual Console and backwards compatibility, 3DS owners are not exactly short of main series Zelda games to play on their machine. For those with one of the New Nintendo 3DS models The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the...
Review Hyrule Warriors Legends (New 3DS / 3DS)
A Link in your pocket
The original Hyrule Warriors was a solid if slightly forgettable attempt at fusing the worlds Zelda and Koei Tecmo's Musou series, and despite its occasionally repetitive gameplay managed to alleviate fears that it would be little more than a shameless cash-in. Now, with the 3DS badly in need of top-drawer software as it...
Review Super Metroid (New 3DS / SNES)
Superb Metroid
Nintendo has certainly brought out the big guns for the opening salvo of SNES games on the New Nintendo 3DS, with classic game after classic game arriving on the portable. It won't last and there may even be mediocre spin-offs or complete dross in the future, but for now New 3DS owners should enjoy the brilliance that is Super...
Review Advance Wars: Dual Strike (Wii U eShop / DS)
War has twice before been this much fun
Intelligent Systems' long-running Famicom Wars series didn't arrive in the west until the release of Advance Wars on the Game Boy Advance, but the colourful turn-based tactical gameplay quickly acquired many fans. A GBA sequel arrived, followed by this DS entry. Like the two proceeding GBA instalments Advance...
Review Pokkén Tournament (Wii U)
Nintendo used Smash Hit. It's super effective!
Pokkén Tournament: it's not quite what a select few may have imagined when they dared to concoct a Pokémon / Tekken crossover game in the recesses of their wildest dreams, but few had even considered such a ludicrous idea until it actually came to fruition. Nevertheless, it's a real thing that...
Review Fire Emblem: Mystery Of The Emblem (SNES)
All Hail Prince Marth! (Yes, that Marth)
Ask any western gamer who Marth is and they will quickly reply something along the lines of "That cool sword-wielding guy from Super Smash Bros." - something that is understandable since the Fire Emblem series that began all the way back to 1990 on the Famicom only reached the West in 2003. But behind his...
Review EarthBound (New 3DS / SNES)
This game smells lovely
Well here's a treat for New Nintendo 3DS owners: EarthBound! Back on the SNES, this second instalment of Shigesato Itoi's much-loved Mother series only received a western release in North America (where it sold poorly). Buying a second-hand copy for silly money was most people's only option until the Wii U came to the rescue,...
Review Super Mario World (New 3DS / SNES)
Same great adventure, smaller screen
As everyone knows, the best use of your latest piece of gaming machinery is to play games from yesteryear. Should a Nintendo Direct mention a 'new old' system is joining the Virtual Console line-up there is much excitement, and so it was when it was revealed that SNES titles were going portable. Though limited to...
Review Pokémon Ranger (Wii U eShop / DS)
Gotta circle ‘em all!
Welcome to the Fiore region, a relaxed place where Pokémon are free from Poké Balls, able to roam around in the wild or stay as someone's pet if they've taken a liking to a particularly snug blanket. You are the newest recruit to the Rangers, a group of dedicated (but often dull) individuals who provide help to citizens or...
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 The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD (Wii U)
I have come to play!
It's been the generation of remakes for The Legend of Zelda. The main entries from the N64 and GameCube have now all been given the remaster treatment, though many will think of this title as a Wii game. A decade on from its original waggle-heavy release, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD gives a second chance to one of...
Review Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team (Wii U eShop / DS)
Pokécrawler: Blue
Many Pokémon are finding themselves in trouble and it's up to you and your rescue team to go and save them in this dungeon crawling spin-off from Chunsoft. Released for the DS in 2006, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team sees you fighting ill-tempered Pokémon as you search a randomly generated floor for the staircase that...
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 Super Mario 64 DS (Wii U eShop / DS)
D-Pad D-Bate
Super Mario 64 is undeniably one of the most influential games in the industry's history, so it's only natural that Nintendo would attempt to capitalise on its success with a re-release. What nobody expected at the time was for it to not only arrive on a portable console, but also feature Yoshi as the initial protagonist. Super Mario 64...
Review Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 (Wii U eShop / GBA)
It's a'me, Mario 3! (again)
We all know about Super Mario Bros. 3 for the NES. It was a fantastic game worthy of all the praise that it received, and that remains true to this day. So, this review won't discuss all the merits of the original game. Instead, it will focus on the unique features of Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, released...
Review The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (Wii U eShop / DS)
Choo-choo-choose the original format
No doubt partly driven by necessity as much as strategy, Nintendo's Virtual Console efforts on Wii U have been notable for including not only Game Boy Advance titles, but also various releases from the DS library. With the latter only possible courtesy of the Wii U GamePad questions of practicality are fairly...
Review Drill Dozer (Wii U eShop / GBA)
Not likely to make you doze off
Game Freak is a developer known for its work on titles such as Pokémon Red and Blue, Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire and Pokémon Black and White. It does occasionally put out games that don't feature the pocket monsters, however, and one of those is Drill Dozer, a Game Boy Advance action platformer set across six...
Review Super Mario RPG: Legend Of The Seven Stars (SNES)
The Mario RPG that started it all
There are very few areas of life the Mario franchise hasn't at some point explored. Mario himself has been a doctor, an amateur kart racer, and later on in his career was recognised as a professional athlete when he competed at the Olympic Games in the 100-metre dash against Sonic. Quite simply, he's a jack of all...
Review Game & Watch Gallery Advance (Wii U eShop / GBA)
Nintendo's Portable Hits: The Early Years
In the 1980's (before the Game Boy was released), Nintendo's series of Game & Watch handhelds provided people with portable gaming excitement. As LCD games they provided a stripped down gaming experience that Cranky Kong would approve of - basic sounds, none of those pointless fancy graphics and only a...
Review Polarium Advance (Wii U eShop / GBA)
Black + white = fun exercise for the old grey matter
Draw a line. OK, you'll have to give it a bit more thought than that as you won't be passing through all the squares on screen, but Polarium Advance is a simple game to play. Each puzzle consists of white and black tiles and once you've picked a start point you must draw a single line, moving...
Review Animal Crossing: Wild World (Wii U eShop / DS)
Why this world?
The very idea of a portable version of Animal Crossing filled this reviewer with glee when he first read about it back in the days of magazines and routers without wi-fi as standard. Animal Crossing: Wild World has always been a very special game to fans as it expanded upon the original GameCube title (for this region at least) but...
Review Kirby Mass Attack (Wii U eShop / DS)
Safety in numbers
Known in Japan as Atsumete! Kirby, Kirby Mass Attack is the final title in the long-running HAL Laboratory series for the Nintendo DS. Originally released in 2011, Mass Attack moves away from traditional platform game design in preference of a completely touch-driven experience. Thankfully, unlike the original 2005 entry for DS –...
Review Kirby: Power Paintbrush (Wii U eShop / DS)
Time has passed
Kirby: Power Paintbrush – also known as Canvas Curse in North America – was originally released on the Nintendo DS in 2005. Following the trend of many other franchises during this new generation of handheld gaming, the HAL Laboratory-developed title moved away from traditional platform game conventions by utilising the defining...
Review Pokémon Picross (3DS eShop)
Pika-p and play
During the Nintendo Direct in November one of the surprise announcements was Pokémon Picross. It seemed like a bizarre idea, but crossing over the Pokémon franchise with the quirky Picross series is precisely what the somewhat stagnant puzzle series needed, adding a considerable amount of replayability and strategy onto the...
Review The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (Wii U eShop / DS)
An epic sail
When thinking about the best games from the Legend of Zelda series, many automatically jump straight in at the deep end with the big, home console releases; games such as Ocarina of Time and The Wind Waker always seem to make it to the top of peoples' lists. Games often overlooked are those that have appeared on Nintendo's portable...
Review Xenoblade Chronicles X (Wii U)
A Mira-culous discovery
Monolith Soft has made plenty of bold claims about Xenoblade Chronicles X. It's talked up the size of the planet as being five times that of Xenoblade Chronicles, stated that any landscape you see is there to be explored, and promised that there are not only dozens of hours of legitimate gameplay, but hundreds. Often that...
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 Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival (Wii U)
The sigh heard 'round the wild world
Animal Crossing made its name as a quaint, cutesy, somewhat bizarre life simulator where something new to do, collect or modify is always around the corner. This year, two spin-off games hone in on separate areas of that Nintendo life: Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer on 3DS explores "work," and Animal...
