Game Reviews scoring 5/10
Review Spider-Man: Edge of Time (3DS)
It ain't easy being radioactive
Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions had a lot going for it last year with its snappy presentation of four incarnations of the webhead powered by a scrappy developer. While not quite in swinging distance of comic game king Batman: Arkham Asylum, Shattered Dimensions brought a massive jolt to a franchise on life support...
Wish you weren't here
Nintendo is a company that's world renowned for its varied cast of versatile characters and Wario is certainly no exception. Since his first playable appearance in Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3, Wario has starred in a plethora of 2D platforming adventures spanning the Game Boy right through to the DS, each one seeing...
Review Deca Sports Extreme (3DS)
Sixth time the charm?
When we first played Wii Sports back in 2006, it woke us up to the potential of sports compilations to provide simple yet rich entertainment. When it was at its best, it boiled down a game to its essence, then refined that to make something truly special. Since then, countless titles have attempted to reproduce the formula, and...
Look both ways before crossing this game
Why did the frog cross the road? We've still yet to receive an answer, but the little guy's been doing it for 30 years. Marking his birthday is Frogger 3D, begging the question: can yet another entry really bring anything new to the table? The answer is yes, as this title takes the little amphibian on a...
Review Thor: God of Thunder (3DS)
Does 3D Thor give 2D a hammering?
When SEGA decided to port Thor: God of Thunder to 3DS, there were two clear routes available: could build upon the DS game, a well-received pixel art 2D side-scrolling brawler by WayForward, or directly convert Red Fly Studio’s third person Wii hack-and-slash title. It chose the latter — after all Red Fly has...
Review Puzzler Mind Gym 3D (3DS)
Fair-ebellum
Brains – we've all got 'em, and up until 2006, many thought that video games would rot 'em. That's when a certain Dr. Kawashima came on the DS scene with his Brain Age training game and showed people, with the help of some (since called into question) science, that with simple math problems and puzzles intended to exercise different...
Review Driver: Renegade 3D (3DS)
Stuck in neutral
Driving and racing games have, so far, been relatively well represented on the 3DS in its early lifespan, with Ridge Racer 3D and Asphalt 3D competing for the affections of driving fans. Ubisoft has now joined in with Driver Renegade 3D, an exclusive title in the franchise for the handheld. Does it provide a high-octane adrenaline...
Great Britain, average game
Is it OK to be competent? Is it OK, not to excel, not to push the boundaries, but just to be totally fine? It's fair to say that we all want this medium to drive forward and provide us an experience you can't find elsewhere, but when a product doesn't claim to be groundbreaking should we really expect a revolution in game...
Over troubled water
It’s one of the simplest forms of entertainment: if all electronic entertainment is unavailable, when there is nothing else to do, a simple pack of playing cards can save the day. Card games can be simplistic or confusing and complex, with straightforward options often seeming suitable as cheap downloads on the DSi shop. More...
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 B Team - Episode 2: Ice & Venom (DSiWare)
New name, same game
May of 2011 saw the DSiWare release of B Team - Episode 1: Dust & Steel. Now, a short three months later, the gang is back in B Team - Episode 2: Ice & Venom. Anyone who played the first game (or read our Dust & Steel review) will know exactly what to expect here. As this game clearly shows, consistency is not always...
Review Artillery: Knights vs. Orcs (DSiWare)
A misfire
Most of us have played one of them before: one of those free online Flash games where your goal is to hit something by firing a projectile, after deciding what angle and what speed the object should be thrown or shot at. Of course, you'll also be familiar with this concept if you've played any Worms game. Artillery: Knights vs. Orcs takes...
Review Oscar's World Tour (DSiWare)
Around the world, around the world
Oscar's World Tour marks the fourth instalment of the series on DSiWare, and once again finds Oscar in the familiar situation of tracking down Baby Oscars and heading for the Pig Stop. While the game stays very close to its predecessors in terms of gameplay, the developer has tossed in a few new visual twists to...
As good as Bill Nye, or would it make him cry?
Pokémon and its ilk channel a sense of wonder as players explore new worlds to learn about their inhabitants. It seems that someone over at Abylight had the revelation that our own planet is filled with fantastic creatures as well – they're just too small to see. AfterZoom has you go about collecting...
Review Make Up & Style (DSiWare)
Shaky foundation
Looking good is hard work. For those who want to learn or just enjoy playing around with lipstick and powder comes Make Up & Style, attempting a fun and informative take on facial beautification. But is this title good enough to make you blush, or is it only the eye-shadow of a good game? While Beauty Academy went for a...
Don't catch it
Cast your mind back a few months to the launch of Ubongo on DSiWare. In that instance, Korner Entertainment took a popular board game and turned it into a mediocre puzzle/board game; here, Korner has removed the board game licence, the story and the gem-grabbing puzzle mode to reduce the package right down to its barebones. Is it...
Review Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters (3DS)
"Anything I see in my mind, I cannot create"
The premise behind the superhero powers of the Lantern Corps, in which a Green Lantern can use their willpower to create solid green light constructs based upon anything they imagine, is a near impossible ability to recreate in a video game. It would take a brave developer to truly innovate in a game...
Review Just Sing! 80s Collection (DSiWare)
Shoulder pads and mullets optional
DSiWare has seen some glorious titles since its launch, but for wannabe pop stars, there's been something missing. Stepping forward is DTP Entertainment, filling the void in the DSiWare catalogue with Just Sing! 80’s Collection. Time to get busy with the hairspray, dig out those old shoulder pads and return to...
Is it hip to be square?
The first generation of games for new hardware is a funny batch. Titles that may go overlooked once the software library is defined and rolling full-steam ahead get their chance to shine, partly because there isn't much else out yet and partly because people want to justify all that money just spent by not letting their new...
Review Naruto Shippuden 3D: The New Era (3DS)
Losing the way of the ninja
By publishing Tomy’s Naruto Shippuden 3D: The New Era, 505 Games is clearly counting on the popularity of the anime show outside of Japan. With over 200 episodes aired the show has accrued a loyal fan base, so it's hardly surprising that this 3DS entry has made it to European shores, with a US release later in the year...
Review Beach Party Craze (DSiWare)
Worth the day trip?
Though Diner Dash has yet to make an appearance on DSiWare, other publishers have stepped up to offer fans similar action on the platform. Alawar Entertainment is now bringing Beach Party Craze to the service, but is this PC port worth a download? The storyline in Beach Party Craze is simple, as you fill in for a friend as an...
Review B Team - Episode 1: Dust & Steel (DSiWare)
Run and gun and not so fun
Run-’n-gun shooters usually wind up one of three ways: either they’re totally crazy awesome with intense action, really really boring, or rock-solid efforts that do no real wrong but regardless fail to spark much of anything in players. B Team - Episode 1: Dust & Steel is the heart-breaking latter kind of game. It...
Review Successfully Learning English: Year 4 (DSiWare)
Can you spell re-pet-i-tive?
Tivola’s series of edutainment titles keeps rolling on, Successfully Learning English: Year 4 representing the third entry in this particular DSiWare series. In our review of Successfully Learning English: Year 3, we observed that the classroom was unchanged from Year 2; does graduation to Year 4 bring exciting change...
Review LEGO Battles: Ninjago (DS)
Half RTS, half adventure, halfway fun
2009 saw the release of LEGO Battles to complement the action orientation of the main series titles, with a second iteration now aiming once more to provide a light and accessible real time strategy experience within the LEGO world. Unfortunately, LEGO Battles: Ninjago tries to spread its shallow formula too far...
Review Anonymous Notes Chapter 2 - From The Abyss (DSiWare)
Second verse, same as the first
Anonymous Notes Chapter 1 - From the Abyss turned out to be a mechanically sound albeit slightly aimless dungeon crawler with a couple of interesting ideas up its sleeve. Save for a different main character, this is the exact same game as before. Not that we were expecting anything else — both games selectively pull...
Review Successfully Learning English: Year 3 (DSiWare)
Are these A, B, Cs as easy as 1, 2, 3?
It seems that Tivola’s campaign to bring educational entertainment, or edutainment, to Nintendo consoles is yet to run out of steam. Successfully Learning English: Year 3 is the second entry in this DSiWare series, and the sixth ‘Successfully Learning’ title overall. The first Successfully Learning...
Review Word Searcher Deluxe (WiiWare)
Word down
It's hard not to question the practicality of a game like Word Searcher Deluxe. Word search books are almost literally a dime a dozen these days, and even the cheap-o books are becoming a little unnecessary considering the number of free options there are on the Internet and mobile app stores. As if that wasn't enough, Digital Leisure...
Review Valet Parking 1989 (DSiWare)
A crash course in parking
The DSiWare service certainly has the ability to surprise with its diverse variety of genres and concepts. Developer Zordix AB is throwing its hat into the ring with Valet Parking 1989. The title is self explanatory, and the concept of valet parking has been envisioned as a time management puzzle game with a distinctly 80s...
It'll take more than a new lick of paint to save this franchise
When High Voltage Software first decided to enter the Wii first-person shooter space, competition wasn’t exactly something they really had to worry about. Sure, there had been a few half-hearted ports of popular franchises, but The Conduit was the first proper FPS developed...
Review Successfully Learning English: Year 2 (DSiWare)
Vocabu-scary or the definition of fun?
After four entries in the Successfully Learning Mathematics WiiWare series, Tivola is now turning its attentions to studying English, and this time Freddy the Vampire flies – at night, of course – over to DSiWare instead. It’s time to start a new class, but will this help young gamers learn their ABCs?...
