Game Reviews scoring 5/10
Review 3D Twist & Match (DSiWare)
Not a perfect match
There are quite a few games on DSiWare which started off as part of another title but have been released seperately. However, there's also quite a few games that seem like they really should've been part of something else, and 3D Twist & Match undoubtedly falls into the latter category. The sole objective here is to rotate...
Review Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest (Wii)
“It is but a shadow and a thought that you love. I cannot give you what you seek.”
As a hack-'n-slash game based on the famous movie franchise, Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest enters a field that is already well-plowed by earlier releases. But with it's unusual twist on storytelling, is there something here worthwhile to nudge burned-out fans...
Review Samurai Warriors: Chronicles (3DS)
Shogun fun or just ho-hum?
Tecmo Koei's Warriors franchise is a bit of a strange beast. While many entries in the series have garnered little critical acclaim, the games have a dedicated fanbase and continue to support the series after countless entries. It's no wonder, then, that the company decided to bring its hack-and-slash franchise to the 3DS...
Review Bust-A-Move Universe (3DS)
Burst bubble
Bub and Bob may have started out capturing foes with their crazy dinosaur bubble breath by day and moonlighting as arcade puzzle game stars, but the latter of which we can only imagine to be the more lucrative field as it morphed into their full-time job. It's easy to see how this happened: Bust-A-Move/Puzzle Bobble is incredibly fun...
Review Madden NFL Football (3DS)
Down, set, fumble
It’s no secret that the NFL captivates millions of fans each year, and the Madden franchise has always been there at the forefront, leading the pack on the videogame side of the football world. Even though it’s currently in the off-season for the NFL, it’s not stopping EA from charging onto the 3DS scene and putting a new 3D...
Screeching fault
Gameloft’s racing series is something of a DS staple, with Asphalt: Urban GT launching with the original dual-screened console, a sequel, and then Asphalt 4 available on DSiWare. The French developer is certainly getting some mileage out of the Asphalt name, and now with the 3DS comes Asphalt 3D, a sadly middle-of-the-road affair...
Review Beauty Academy (DSiWare)
This could get ugly...
Recently, we at Nintendo Life reviewed Model Academy from developer Tivola. As a team with plenty of modelling experience between us, we felt well qualified to judge the merits of this title. Tivola have wasted no time releasing a follow-up title, Beauty Academy, and as regular patrons of beauty salons we once again take it on...
Review Monster Buster Club (DSiWare)
Will the kids win or get busted?
The gargantuan success of the DS and subsequently the DSi has meant that the little handheld has become a prime device for games based on children’s television and film. The latest in the list of games targeting this audience has arrived on DSiWare, Monster Buster Club. Does this collection of mini games bring...
Review Treasure Hunter X (DSiWare)
Between a rock and a hard place
We've seen a rash of games on the various download services take a page or two from the games of years gone by, some better than others. Treasure Hunter X attempts to capture a bit of the magic of some of the classic computer games like Boulder Dash and Lode Runner and build a unique gaming experience around it. But...
Review All-Star Air Hockey (DSiWare)
Floaty puck action for one
What's the most endearing aspect of Air Hockey? Is it the rapid pace? The frantic mix of offence and defence? The unique floatiness of the puck? The smell of Chuck-E-Cheese pizza baking in the background? No; like most pseudo-sports found in arcades and questionable bars, the magic of Air Hockey lies in the spirit of...
Review Ferryman Puzzle (DSiWare)
Is this ferry on choppy waters?
Ferryman Puzzle is the latest release from Engine Software, a developer that, aside from the Just Sing! games, has focused on DSiWare in the form of basic titles with a budget price point. The concept here will be familiar to those who have stumbled across it in Professor Layton games: you are a ferryman tasked with...
Review 1942 (Virtual Console / Virtual Console Arcade)
A relic best left forgotten
Capcom's 19XX series is quite fondly remembered, for offering some unique and very solid gameplay over the five installments it has had so far. At least, that mostly counts for the later four, but not so much for the first. Although not as bland as Exed Exes, 1942 does not really offer too many novelties other than its...
Review Oscar in Toyland 2 (DSiWare)
Oscar in Average Land 2: Mediocre Harder
In September 2009 we got Oscar in Toyland on DSiWare, and almost a year ago we saw its follow-up, Oscar in Movieland, come to the service. Both of them were secretly slightly redone ports of Amiga platformers, which, in a weird way, meant that there were actually some Virtual Console games available on the...
Review Despicable Me: The Game - Minion Mayhem (DS)
Forgettable game
Like its home console counterpart, Despicable Me: The Game – Minion Mayhem refreshingly constructs an original experience around elements from a film rather than rigidly attempting to follow the source material and fit it to a game framework for which it was never intended. Unfortunately, beyond that it shares the status of subpar...
Bustin' makes us feel meh
Ghost Mania is the WiiWare reincarnation of an iPhone game called Spooky Spirits: Puzzle Drop!! This new version of the game features updated graphics and sound in addition to redesigned levels and an additional multiplayer mode, but was it worth exhuming those old bones? Is there life in this one yet, or is it an...
Review Around the World (WiiWare)
Tourist trap
Modern education generally reduces geography to simple memorisation, divorcing the subject from a sense of physicality and instead having students label countries along political boundaries and identify their capitals. Around the World takes a step in an alternative direction by challenging players to locate different things on an...
Review Scooby-Doo! and the Spooky Swamp (DS)
Decent but a bit murky
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! premiered over 40 years ago, introducing television audiences to the lovable Mystery Inc. team and its unique line-up of distinct characters, each charming in their own way. It followed them as they took on spooky yet ridiculous case after case, and over time the show firmly embedded the phrase...
Does it measure up?
Cinemax releases have proven to be a rather mixed bag when it comes to DSiWare, from below average attempts such as Sokomania to the some of the best music applications available on the system, most notably Rytmik and Rytmik: Rock Edition. This time around, the company has provided a program for calculating biorhythms, which...
Review Paul's Monster Adventure (DSiWare)
Not quite The King of Carrot Flowers
Last month in Paul’s Shooting Adventure, Paul was an infant who could fly through the air, shoot energy blasts, and transform into various creatures. Things are a bit different these days in Paul’s Monster Adventure in which we see our protagonist as a young teenager who seems to lack any extraordinary...
Review Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp (DSiWare)
A trip back to the days of the LaserDisc
Few series divide players – including our own writers – as sharply as Dragon's Lair. Originally intended for the LaserDisc format, its titles are more interactive movies than traditional video games, tasking you with pressing the correct button quickly enough every few seconds. If our hero, Dirk, has to...
Review Family Feud Decades (Wii)
Middling child
Family Feud's been on the air since 1976, and it's especially unique from other trivia shows as it challenges contestants not to give the correct answer but what they believe others would guess is the correct answer, ranking the choices by how many out of a surveyed group picked them. Both this and its longevity make it uniquely...
Review Super Mario All-Stars 25th Anniversary Edition (Wii)
With exclusive bonus item: Dissatisfaction
Nintendo has a lot to be proud of. Its heritage and stature in the video game industry is unrivalled, and the firm has presided over some truly significant moments in the relatively short lifespan of the medium. It goes without saying that the video gaming landscape would be near-unrecognisable were it not...
Review Darius Twin (Virtual Console / Super Nintendo)
Double the monotony
The Darius series has long taken a backseat to some of the more prominent shoot 'em up series, despite featuring some absolutely amazing releases on the various 32-bit game consoles. Darius Twin still features much of the aquatic-themed shooter action of its brethren, but for some reason the game comes off feeling very...
Review Karnov's Revenge (Virtual Console / Neo Geo)
Karnov should stick to side-scrollers
To say that there were a wealth of Street Fighter 2 clones during its reign of popularity in arcades would be an understatement, but none were quite as blatant as Data East's Karnov's Revenge. In fact, the game was so similar in many respects that it drew the ire of Capcom, not to mention a failed lawsuit...
Reward this hound or send it to the pound?
For all of those gamers out there who are looking for a shallow, average dog racing simulator, Derby Dogs is the WiiWare game for you. Stripped down to the bare minimum, this game will allow you to train your dog to be the top racer, but that’s about all that’s offered here. Disguising itself as a pet...
Review Oops! Prank Party (Wii)
Is the joke on us?
We should all cherish the moments we have with our families. Life is short, and it can get so hectic that we can neglect spending time with the ones we love in favour of work or sleep. Not to mention that some of the greatest Nintendo games are only single player! Thank goodness for the party game craze, right? Problem solved...
Review Sleep Clock: Record and Analyse Your Sleep Patterns (DSiWare)
Barely awake
We've seen quite a few DSiWare applications from Nintendo, from stinkers such as Photo Clock to highly praised ones like Flipnote Studio. Now we have Sleep Clock, which works as both an alarm clock as well as a tool for recording your sleep patterns for analysis. Considering that the DSi already has a built-in alarm clock, is this...
Review Spot the Difference (DSiWare)
It's hard to spot the fun sometimes
Most of you will probably be familiar with the old game known as spot the difference. For those who aren't, it's generally meant for children and simply involves looking at two pictures side by side, an original image and an altered one, between which you have to find any differences. Now, Enjoy Gaming Ltd. has...
Review Sengoku BASARA Samurai Heroes (Wii)
So many bad guys, so little fun
It's easy to think all hack & slash games are mindless and repetative in nature, but it doesn't have to be that way, as fans of the genre will know. Unfortunately, "mindless" and "repetitive" are the very words that spring to mind when writing this review, not because it's a hack & slash...
Review Academy: Tic-Tac-Toe (DSiWare)
Tic-Tac-Tolerable
DSiWare is already host to numerous pen and paper games, but out of all of them, Tic-Tac-Toe has got to be most pointless thing imaginable to put into virtual form. Nobody should need an introduction to what Tic-Tac-Toe is. You have a grid of 3 by 3 squares, and you and your opponent take turns filling one square at a time with...
