CIRCLE Entertainment Game Reviews
Review Ace Mathician (DSiWare)
Smooth operators
Ace Mathician, from Flipper developer Goodbye Galaxy Games, is a unique puzzle-platformer that succeeds in combining the magic of both marsupials and maths. The basic idea is to help a friendly koala named Ace reach the fruit at the end of each single-screen stage by rearranging platforms using algebraic equations. Make no mistake:...
Review Devil Band - Rock the Underworld (DSiWare)
Ear piercing
If musicians really can save the world — Bob Geldof and Bono would both like you to believe they can — then it's a shame they couldn't do it in a game more interesting than Devil Band - Rock the Underworld. CIRCLE's latest essentially takes Plants vs. Zombies, robs it of its charm and adds in a lot more tapping. You control a metal...
Review Sweet Memories Blackjack (3DS eShop)
Not fond memories
Sweet Memories Blackjack is a strange arrival on the 3DS eShop, with a Japanese concept and style that typically doesn’t make it outside of the Land of the Rising Sun. While card games are common on DSiWare, this 3DS exclusive follows a different approach that aims to bring a relationship dynamic to proceedings. This title may...
Review Pirates Assault (DSiWare)
Stealing your money in more ways than one
CIRCLE Entertainment has carved out a fanbase for itself with the DSiWare crowd, due in large part to the consistently excellent Castle Conqueror series. It's had a few misfires along the way — see The Seller — but, by and large, gamers have been able to count on CIRCLE's releases to feature a hefty...
Review 3 Heroes - Crystal Soul (DSiWare)
Crystal meh
CIRCLE Entertainment has a whopping 11 releases on DSiWare, with 3 Heroes — Crystal Soul the latest arrival. And while the medieval theme the developer is obviously fond of is still prevalent throughout the experience, this time around it's more of a puzzler than the usual strategy title. At the start of your adventure, you'll find...
Review Castle Conqueror - Against (DSiWare)
Another day in paradise
Another Castle Conqueror game? If CIRCLE Entertainment keeps this up, this just might turn into a monthly tradition. It's worth reading our previous reviews of Castle Conqueror and Castle Conqueror — Revolution as the gameplay here is largely the same as its real-time predecessors. The basic concept remains untouched:...
Review Come On! Heroes (DSiWare)
Arrowsmith
Hot on the heels of the similarly named Castle Conqueror - Heroes comes CIRCLE Entertainment's Come On! Heroes. It's similar in title only, however, as the gameplay and presentation hearken most closely back to the first Castle Conqueror game. This isn't a bad thing but, unfortunately, a lack of variety really lets this release down...
Review Castle Conqueror - Heroes (DSiWare)
We can beat them, for ever and ever
About a year ago, Circle Entertainment released Castle Conqueror, a quirky and simple RTS that was also very addictive and fun. If we had any real complaints about it, it was that the charming simplicity somewhat prevented it from achieving any substantial depth. It was an excellent experience, but it felt as...
Review Castle Conqueror - Revolution (DSiWare)
It revolves, but it doesn't evolve
The first Castle Conqueror game was one that we definitely felt comfortable recommending. It mixed cutesy aesthetics with fast and addictive gameplay, and while seasoned RTS veterans no doubt found the game a little too simplified, the amount of fun it offered was difficult to resist. Its sequel, Castle Conqueror...
Review The Lost Town - The Dust (DSiWare)
Diamond in the Dust
Quite a few attempts have been made at producing a good DSiWare action RPG by now. Some of these games turned out to be top-notch, and others not so much. Thankfully, The Lost Town - The Dust falls into the category of games that are definitely worth their weight in Nintendo Points. This lengthily titled action RPG combines...
Sell it
Quick! What's the most convoluted and fun-deprived card game on the DSiWare service? Wrong: it's The Seller, an unnecessarily complicated and almost completely unstimulating card game that probably won't even keep you awake long enough to irritate the Hell out of you. Now, let's get one thing clear: The Seller isn't broken. It's (almost) a...
Review Peg Solitaire (DSiWare)
Does it hit the peg on the head?
Many Americans will probably recognise Peg Solitaire as a variation on what's more commonly as “that weird little game they have at all the tables at Cracker Barrel," but in Europe, Peg Solitaire is just, well, Solitaire (while that one-player card game we're familiar with is known as Patience). So if you feel...
Review Castle Conqueror (DSiWare)
The beginner’s RTS
With its touch screen and stylus controls, the Nintendo DS seems like it was practically built for real-time strategy games. Sadly, entries in this genre have been few and far between. Publisher CIRCLE Entertainment comes out of the woodwork with Castle Conqueror, an all-new RTS for DSiWare. Referred to as a strategy game for...
Sigh borg
Playing Hints Hunter is a lot like browsing through a book of carpet samples: there may be a lot of them, but it won't take you very long before you've moved on from one to the next. Also, sometimes you come across a really difficult square right in the middle of some comparatively easy ones. Plus there are cartoon robots. Ok, maybe it's...
Review Ancient Tribe (DSiWare)
Dino snore
Hot on the heels of T-Rex Rumble comes Ancient Tribe, another real-time strategy game in which you lead a prehistoric society as it grows, develops and fights the beasts with whom it shares the land. We at Nintendo Life try to judge a game for what it is instead of what it's not, but when two games that share the same basic concept hit...
Review Animal Puzzle Adventure (DSiWare)
Puppies and kittens and piglets, oh my
Aksys Games makes most of their living by translating and localising Japanese games for Western markets. Their choices for WiiWare offerings, at least, haven't been great so far, but they've now graced the DSi Shop with partner developer Arc System Works' Animal Puzzle Adventure
