Jhomesjones

Well golly geez! I wonder if the games that were awesome are STILL awesome. 🙄. This is all so silly and ridiculous to me. These are Wii games, and yes they are outstanding, but they are still from like 4 generations ago! They don't need to be remastered, they were gorgeous to begin with. Actually, imo they are far more impressive in their original Wii release. It's mostly forgotten today, but Wii took quite a bashing at the time from haters saying how it wasnt capable of impressive graphics and shouldn't be considered a "real game console". Of course this was not true at all, and games like "Super Mario Galaxy" were examples of what the Wii could really do. "Metroid Prime 3: Corruption", "Sin and Punishment", "Xenoblade Chronicles", and the jaw dropping technical marvel "Red Steel 2" are just a few other examples. Instead of this remaster cash grab marathon...how about making "Super Mario Galaxy 3" as freaking pack in launch title for Switch 2. That is what should have happened, and what would have happened if Nintendo hadnt lost their minds.

It's pretty wild to see how far "Wobbly Tooth" has come and how the "Battle Miner" series has evolved. The first original Battleminer...it's impressive as a "proof of concept" and a technical standpoint for a 3ds attempt at infinite world map, but as a game...it honestly sucks. Then they release "BattleMinerZ" and it's clear that they have people working there that learn from mistakes, because it's SO MUCH better and is something i played A lot and STILL play occasionally to this day thanks to the Horde mode being so much fun. Then switch comes along and there's "BattleMiner Giants". Once again, they did great imo. They kept what worked and got rid of what didn't, then made sure the game felt unique and had a "hook", which it does. It's a nice looking game too imo. I really like Wobbly Tooth as an indie game developer studio. They have the "Ice Station Z" games as well, which don't have as much mass appeal, but I really love them. I liked the ultra simple, but clean visuals of the 3ds game and I love the Switch remake of Ice Station Z. I hope that these games can find a way to exist on the future and not be lost media like so many indie eshop games

Na...the 2015 "Triforce Heroes" shouldn't count as a full fledged top down entry in the LoZ series. The last LEGITIMATE classic top down LoZ was the excellent 2013 3ds "The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds". That game is one of the handful of 3ds titles that completely transcend the platform they are released on. It's not just "good for a 3ds game", it's a masterpiece. Other examples being "Kid Icarus: Uprising" which is the ultimate proof of concept for the two screen/touchscreen format for modern games. I'm really hoping the new Switch2 has that capability so we can finally get a port of it AND a new entry in the series. Then two other examples real quickly I wanna mention, 3ds "Metroid: Samus returns" remake of the classic GB Metroid 2, absolutely amazing game and it's success paved the way to make Samus a household name again FINALLY. A lot of ppl played the damn awesome "Metroid: Dread" first and are then quite surprised to see that it's gameplay mechanics, animations, and even visual style were tried and tested and taken directly from the 3ds "Metroid: Samus returns". Then lastly 3ds "Resident Evil: revelations", a title that kind of came out of nowhere and with the state of the series at that time...nobody had anything resembling high expectations for it. Then it arrived and was shockingly good. This was long before the revival and remake era and most ppl were fed up with how Capcom turned the horror series into generic action games. With RE revelations we got a new fresh location, isolated out at sea on a massive cruise ship, we got fresh new characters along with return to form with classic ones, we had creepy new monsters , but most importantly it was a survival horror game again. All of that would've been more than enough, but it also had impossibly good visuals that were never surpassed by any other game on 3ds. Capcom got their RE:5 engine to run on the comically underpowered 3ds handheld and the results were amazing. It was a Nintendo game on a dedicated handheld console that was SO GOOD that it was ported to PS3. That's NOT a thing that had ever happened before and never happened again. I kind of forgot what my point even was, but who cares.

@FatWormBlowsASparky that's the way to do it. That's what I just did and I'm having a great time so far. I'm even playing it on a Switch Lite and it runs well and looks impressive. Ever since playing Xenoblade Chronicles on my 3ds I will never get tired of seeing games of such scale running on what is some pretty underpowered portable hardware.

Great review! There are two games on the original Gameboy that I hold in such high praise above all others. Tied for first place as my favorite GB game. "LoZ Links Awakening" and Metroid 2: return of Samus ". Just as Links Awakening resembles the SNES links awakening, "Metroid 2: return of Samus " resembles SNES "Super Metroid" to a degree that is borderline unbelievable considering it came out 3 years prior to Super Metroid. Samus character sprite is impossibly detailed, the enemies look incredible, the world is massive and the items and suit upgrades that are standard now were brand new at the time. Lacking an in game map is the only flaw in an otherwise perfect game. Links Awakening however has no flaws whatsoever and is one of only a few games ever made that I would say is perfect 10/10. I could go on and on about this subject but I'll wrap it up now. With the discontinuation of the 3ds, I accept that the era of technical marvels being willed into existence on underpowered hardware is over. Never again will my jaw drop at seeing something like "Xenoblade chronicles" running on my 3ds. As we go fully into the era of asset flips and completely jank garbage being made with state of the art gaming engines, NEVER forget the greatness that once was.

I picked up a WiiU early last year and have been really enjoying this underrated console. From the (imo)best port of "Batman Arkham Origins" to "Legend of Zelda Windwaker HD" , "Super Mario 3d World", and excellent indie game "Silver Falls White Inside it's Umbra" that literally released just a cpl months before the eShop closed. It's been an absolute blast. Couple days ago I picked up "ZombiU" for only 7$ and I honestly expected it to be a generic mindless zombie blasting game. So needless to say I was quite pleased when it turned out to actually be a genuinely great game. It even uses the gamepad well which most games don't even bother. The WiiU is no graphical powerhouse, even when it was new, that's fine for stylized games and bright colorful Mario games but doing realism isn't it's strong suit but this actually looks decent. Coming off "walking dead Destinies" it's comical how much better this old WiiU title looks and plays in comparison to a PS5 game haha. Anyways...it's 2024 and ZombiU still holds up. I highly recommend, esp for the low price for a used copy.

Oh yeouch. They skewered it even more than I expected. I mean I already saw firsthand how badly it plays but still I expected a softer hand here for some reason. My take isn't much different than ALOT of the other comments I see here. Idk how this was botched so badly. Even the single player offline modes felt VERY off. To the degree that I had to power on my asthmatic old PS2 and pop in Battlefront 2 for a side by side comparison and yeah it's not a good comparison folks. However I still ended up having an absolute BLAST...playing the original PS2 version for the rest of the night. This remaster collection was completely unnecessary and not only doesn't improve upon the original but it doesn't even hold up as equal to it. Fire up your old consoles people and take a look at what games USED to be like. You know before the dark times...before game development became lazy and over dependent on the "we'll fix it in post with a patch" attitude completely wrecked it

One of the rare reviews I think is too high a score instead of too low. This is a cool game and it is fun. But def a 7/10 at most. It's just too short. Idr the name at the moment but there's a great turtles game on GB that plays like a little Metroidvania type game.

One of the best Wii games and one of my favorite games of all time. I remember taking chance and buying it on a whim the day before I was to have a serious back surgery...only to discover that my Wii could no longer read "duel layer game discs" of which Xenoblade was one of. The next morning I had to go to GameStop mere minutes before surgery and pick up a new Wii console. When I got out of my hospital stay and got home I finally started the game up for the first time and I immediately knew that I had made the right choice. A game of this quality, with a massive sprawling open map was so completely unheard of on the original Wii console. The music, art direction and visuals were gorgeous and I loved every second of the game from start to finish. I have since played it on multiple systems many times and I can't recommend this game enough. I thought nothing could top the amazement of seeing such a game run on an underpowered console like the Wii...and then it was released on "new" Nintendo 3ds models. The graphics were slightly down scaled and compressed but the entire game was successfully ported over fully intact. Seeing it run so well on a 3ds gave me a very similar feeling of disbelief that I got up on seeing it on Wii for the first time. 3ds just didnt have games like this and I thought it never would. Seeing Monster Hunter games on there was impressive enough, but Xenoblade felt like a digital miracle. Now of course the HD Switch version is the best, I don't even need to explain why, but I will say that the switch has A LOT of incredibly impressive games on that scale so while it is technically the best version, it doesn't illicit the same sense of awe. Anyways...no matter what version you choose you can't go wrong. Xenoblade is a genuine masterpiece.

@Jhomesjones hah, id forgotten I said this. Since then it actually did get a sequel on switch and it's pretty damn good. But there's a lot of competition on switch. On 3ds this was an oddity as there just wasn't anything else like it.

This is unfortunate. This game seems to be SO late to the party that it arrived in. Halloween costume for St Patrick's day. If this was released like 8-10 years ago and had an interesting Lego flavored "survival mode" (for lack of a better term) then this game would've been a hit. But showing up now...with a lackluster story mode and trying to make creation mode and online mode the key features just too little too late. The good thing about Legos though is they NEVER go out of style, they'll be back and hopefully surprise everyone with an awesome new game like they did with "Lego City Undercover". Imo that is still the reigning champ of Lego games and would be hard to dethrone it. Whether it's the switch version with a few improvements or the original WiiU release, it's just an awesome game that gets almost everything right and doesn't aim so high that it risks a complete miss like Lego Worlds.

Wow...I played the original on N64 upon it's release. I will NEVER forget just how mind blowing it was. There had never been anything like OoT. The "Z targeting", the weapons and tools, the insane HUGE game world with past AND future versions and all in a fully realized 3d world. It changed gaming forever and established countless game mechanics that are still heavily borrowed from today and will be borrowed from for all time. I could be justified in rambling on forever, it was THAT big of a deal. Heh and I'm not even going to start in on "Majoras Mask"...my god, is there a better definition of "ahead of its time" than "Majoras Mask"? Just absolutely amazing. I remember having preordered my copy and having my older brother drive me to Walmart at midnight to get it at the exact second it was released. I got home and played it all night and went to school the next day on NO SLEEP haha. In all my years since then, no other game releases hav had me more or even equally as excited.
.....wait what was this article about again? Oh yeah! I have both 3ds remasters. OoT and Majoras Mask. The latter being given a MUCH more noticeable visual overall. It's gorgeous! And seeing the "Hollow" link in 3d effect coming at you, or the "*happy mask salesman" having a manic episode strangling link one second and smiling the next second. It's amazing!
*Happy= deranged LUNAtic .....get it? Luna tic, as in the Luna the other name for the Moon...it's funny jhoke yes?
Rambling comment complete: have a nice day

@Mana_Knight I hope it's a hybrid as well. I really want it to be kind of a better version of the WiiU. Where you can play on TV or handheld mode....but also play it on TV while holding it in the handheld position. Allowing it to do all the cool stuff WiiU didn't do enough of. Basically like a console version of Nintendo DS/3ds. Oh and also I want it to come with TWO touch screens for some really interesting local multiplayer as well as making game designs that could utilize them in clever ways.

The "Switcheroo Two"!

@-wc- sure I'll bite. I've only played the Nintendo 3ds "Fantasy Life". The odd sounding title is due to its japanese roots. Think of the word "fantasy" as it is in "final fantasy" games. But I don't care for the title either and I did overlook the game for years because of that. I thought it would be a "tomadachi life" type game or something. But it wasn't. It was a simple but fun action RPG with paladin, mercenary, wizard, alchemist, hunter/ranger classes. But also had blacksmith, tailor, miner, and few other none combat focused classes. You can switch at any time. It had a decently large map to roam and was the most fun after the main story was completed. It had some interesting extra things to do that involved exploring and finding new areas and end game bosses. Don't get me wrong tho...final fantasy, or diablo...this was NOT. But it was a fun game on 3ds. Now here lies a problem though. On 3ds this was kind of a rarity. There just weren't a lot of games like that so it really stood out. But on Switch....this new one would really need to up it's game significantly because there's a ton of fantastic games in this genre on switch already. Same reason I LOVED the indie game series "Silver Falls" on 3ds. That genre was basically non existent so those games had immense appeal in the survival horror vacuum of the 3ds but if you take those to Switch...they don't seem impressive anymore and their flaws and short comings can no longer be as easily overlooked.
Anyways, Fantasy Life def deserves a look when it comes out.

It wasn't actually difficult, the reason so many ppl, myself included, initially got stuck there is due to ONE hookshot point being revealed after playing the song of time to move the blocks. It's like above your head and behind you, you have to ACTIVELY turn and just happen to look there to notice it. There is not even the slightest indication that it would be there so everyone misses it, wanders the dungeon forever and a reputation is born despite it actually not being that hard. If you play the OoT 3ds remaster it briefly steers the camera towards it when the blocks move and shows the hook shot point. It's funny how many ppl replayed it on 3ds and were like...wait a minute why was this dungeon so hard lol.

I understand games don't get rescored after patch updates, that's unfortunate but that's how it goes. There's an indie game on 3ds " silver falls 3 down stars" it's an over shoulder survival horror game about aliens and mutated animals in a small secluded mountain town. It's made by a low resource one man game studio "Sungrand". It plays like a RE4/silent hill. When it was launched and reviewed it was in version 1.0 or 1.1 and was horribly broken and glitchy. This was eventually fixed...and yet the score and bad reviews remain, that's just how it goes. The games he made are amazing and one of a kind experiences on 3ds, there's nothing like silver falls 3 down stars except for high budget RE revelations and RE mercs. An indie game of this scale should've been received far better but...life isn't fair haha. Anyways codename steam is a masterpiece imo.

@Pho there's so many great voice actors in this. Micheal Dorn as John Henry had me hooked long before Finn shows up as Tom Sawyer. Hearing Mr. Worf talk about running out of steam is just the greatest lol

Aw damn. For a truly wonderful micro second I was overjoyed and thought this was a remake of Gargoyles quest . Those games are some of the most unique and impressive games of that NES and Gameboy era imo.

I love the 3ds remake. Ppl talk about how the environment is "samey" but to me it feels like liminal spaces horror before backrooms was even a thing. There's a part on the walkway bridge where it's broken away and you can see almost endless floors of hospital windows it's so creepy. Def give this game a chance. If it does well they might do the sequel which never got done on 3ds but is a much bigger and better game. I think a remaster exists on steam but I want a REAL remaster. I have the original Dementium 2 cartridge and it's so expensive and rare that it's not practical for ppl to buy anymore. I got lucky and found it years ago before the price shot up. I hope they do a remaster for it next

@Compeau badly lol. In my experience even on highest sensitivity I had to wrestle with the c stick nub to the extent that it felt like I was gonna snap my 3ds in half. Use Face buttons as a C stick instead lol

I love seeing a Nintendo life review I agree with. Unfortunately it's not a common thing but this take on the game is spot on and you can tell the reviewer genuinely played the entire game. Alot of reviews claim that, but their reviews suggest otherwise, one example is complaining about a lack of "something or another" in the game only for it to actually be in the game past the halfway point. Or they negatively judge an older game based on comparing to modern ones that do it better. Anyways enough about that, this is a great review here. Super paper Mario is my favorite paper Mario game, although Thousand year door is just a hairs width away from it at second place.
The main reason Super paper Mario pulls out ahead is because it's an open Metroidvania-ish MARIO game. Two things I absolutely love rolled into one creative Wii title. I can understand some ppl being upset that it strayed so far from the original formula of paper Mario, but that's silly imo. Just play it and don't think of it as a paper Mario game. It's one of the best Wii games imo.

Why no review? I saw elsewhere ppl saying it's so similar to NES that it doesn't need it's own review but that's exactly what I expect from ppl with no sense of context to an era or a platform, being Gameboy. On Gameboy there are a few titles that attempt a 3d gameplay perspective and almost all of them fail miserably in some way, such as abysmal frame rates for example, I'm looking at you "Faceball". A game called "X" pulled it off extremely well with faux polygon graphics but it was never released outside of Japan unfortunately and things are of such minimal design that it's hard to tell what you are even looking at. And then there is GB Super Battletanks war in the gulf. It's done quite well, impressively well. The animations aren't great but they exist and the faux 3d looks outstanding, the changing sprites to represent movement and distance are viable and the sprites themselves are so incredibly detailed. The only real issue comes when you are VERY close to an enemy, then it gets a bit wonky. But otherwise it's damn impressive, esp when you consider more than HALF the screen is dedicated to tank HUD cockpit view. It's my only complaint. Yea it's impressive to have actual fuel gauges and stuff that you can see in real time. On GB that's borderline mind blowing, but that leaves only a small viewing area where the actual gameplay takes place...you would think reducing the already micro screen would make it unplayable but somehow no, it still manages all the impressive feats I mentioned. It's easily a 7/10 game imo. It could've been truly amazing if they went with a better screen Hudd layout and just flatout made it so enemies can't get close enough to cause the wonkyness that occurs. Also worth a mention is the fuel gauge. When traveling in tactical map view you use very little fuel, if you attempt the same trek in standard cockpit view your fuel runs out extremely quick. That's stupid and very annoying. The battle ground should've just been alot smaller and it would've been fine to leave fuel consumption the same on both travel methods. 7/10

I remember this obscure game, I really liked it and played thru multiple times. I recently revisited it after getting a wiiU and it still holds up pretty well in 2023. The bardo shadow realm effects and ghost/demon models still look excellent. I'd never looked up reviews until now and I'm surprised to see that both IGN and Nintendo Life scored it rather high. I usually get irritated with them but not this time. If anything I would say it's actually a bit too high lol, I'd always thought of it as a solid 7/10. There are a few issues that pull down the experience in significant ways. The ritual finishing moves are the main one. The motion controls will register but you really have to do some trial and error to get a grasp on what this game is asking you to do. That came back to me pretty quick around the mid point if the game, after traversing the first area with the invisible spikes that can only be seen when in the bardo shadow realm aiming mode. After that the enemies start getting alot meaner and the finish moves require 3 or more motion ritual movements and it gets overwhelming in some fights, esp with multiple enemies at once. I also despised the oxygen game mechanic, it should've been ONE single side quest to get ONE tank, that would've been good. Instead you have pretty much the latter 5th of the game constantly looking for more oxygen tanks, it wears on you and gets annoying quickly. And finally, my biggest complaint is the lack of variety in items, gear and weaponry. There are some genuinely fun weapons but the most fun ones don't show up until the latter half of the game. The only items you get other than keys or story items are incense to burn at shrines to restore health....that's it. It makes exploration kinda dull if you know there is not the possibility of finding anything useful or new. And new "gear" is pretty much non existent other than a few little things. Some hidden optional gear would've been cool to have hidden throughout the game. Also the hallucination mechanic isn't used nearly enough or effectively enough. Good game tho and highly recommend to anyone that loves that older RE4 type of game, esp if you liked RE4 on the Wii, as the aiming and projectile weapons function nearly the same way and are a joy to use.

Every once n awhile I come across a Nintendo Life review that I agree with. Opoona is such an obscure game. I'm not only glad to see it being covered at all but it's a thorough and fair review. I found this game loooong ago when first got my Wii. I recently got a wiiU to finally replace my old Wii that stopped reading discs. Anyways I've been revisiting my collection of Wii games and having such a blast and I came across opoona and dug into it for a bit and just...wow it's such a unique gem of a game and I'm glad to see that it has a nice place in the review ranks for all of eternity haha

It's as if they've forgotten how to do this. Ppl say there was a drop in quality from the absolutely amazing first two games and that prime 3 wasn't that good. I disagree...sort of. It's not as good but prime 3 is still damn awesome. It's hard to recapture the magic and prime 3 was the greatest thing ever at the time because of the outstanding Wii controls. It didn't match up as well against the first two once we got those in prime trilogy all with Wii controls but it's still well within the category of damn awesome. Skytown on Elysia is one of my favorite places of any game I've ever played. I still have faith prime 4 will be good. Even the worst prime game "DS prime hunters" is good. It will be very surprising if prime 4 doesn't turn out well

A Nintendo Life review I disagree with...what a shocker. I have a unique perspective on this game as it was the FIRST "Batman Arkham" game I played from the series. Could that be why my opinion of the game is VERY different? Well...yes it's definitely the reason why. And it shouldn't be. Esp when games are part of a series and some of them are on platforms of wildly different capabilities they need to be reviewed in their proper context and judged as a stand alone game first and foremost. That's not at all what I'm seeing in this review. I am seeing the reviewer judge the 3ds console instead of the game itself. As I said earlier, it was the first Arkham game I had played and while it's far from a perfect game, it's a great 3ds game and represents a genre that is a rarity on the system. I very much enjoyed this game and it made me want to play all the games in the series. The first full 3d console Arkham game I played next was "Batman Arkham Origins". I had no trouble stepping right back into batman's shoes and back into the same combat system. 3ds Arkham Blackgate does an amazing job mimicking the combat from the full 3d Arkham console games. In fact...many of the weapons and tools function practically the same way in Blackgate as they do in the full 3d console games. It makes me sad to read the comments here and so many ppl taking the word of this review and deciding not to play it based on it. That is a huge dis service. Arkham Blackgate is not perfect at all, but it's good and deserves a 7/10. The fact that I played 3ds Blackgate as my very first experience with the Arkham series before moving on to full 3d console ones should not be a relevant factor on my opinion of it. But this reviewer having played other console Arkham games before playing the 3ds Arkham Blackgate is clearly basing nearly the entire judgement on comparisons between the 3ds game and the console Arkham games. That isn't what a review should be. They should be reviewed as a stand alone game and judged as such in the context of it's platform and era it was released. After doing that it's then perfectly fine to make all the comparisons you want. They just shouldn't be affecting any sort of review score.
I wish I would've found this review earlier, I know this is an old review of an old game but it's still relevant to anyone that hasn't played it yet or might play it in the future. By now most ppl know better than to listen to reviews anyways

I recently got a wiiU and def want to play this star fox game. I don't mind weird controls, I loved the DS StarFox Command and its an odd duck as far as it's controls. I did hear that starfox zero has alternate control options that make it play much more like the classic starfox 64. I look forward to picking this one up soon.

I recently picked up a physical copy of the yellow GBC cartridge at a vintage game store and played it on the same Gameboy I've been using since I was a small child. It's crazy to think how old the cartridge is AND esp my original green screen Gameboy is...and it still works perfectly and the battery backup save files still work like new. I actually have some MUCH older games that I've had for ages and their battery saves are intact as well. It's amazing how well made older Nintendo stuff is. I've had 4 3ds models since that system launched and each one has different but significant wear and tear issues. An original launch model 3ds...cracked screen, original 3ds XL...hinge broke (I glued it permanently open and it still works fine), an original 2ds...been thru 3 battery packs and only stays charged for 20 min atm and pretty much needs to be plugged in to play it (durability wise it's BY FAR the most well made of them all, excellent design, in annoyed they take a diff battery pack that REALLY sucks). And my "NEW" 2dsXL...it has great battery life still after 3 years of daily play, has much better and well designed hinge, it did develop a circle pad drift but I was able to fix it but required removing the rubber cover but no big deal, the little C stick nub tho....that's the Achilles heel of this model. It wears down like a pencil eraser and eventually becomes flush with the casing and cannot be used. I replaced it once and then actuslly made a cover for it myself from a piece of guitar pick and it works great....for now. I gurantee these will not make it to the age of my Gameboy. I believe it will even outlive me and possibly mankind itself.

Reviews like this are still informative but unbalanced. Unless a game is a direct sequel it shouldn't be so heavily judged in comparison to others in the same series. Mentioning differences, good or bad, yeah, but not actually judged on anything but the game itself as a standalone game. Some reviewers GET that. Others clearly don't. They forget the entire point of what the job is supposed to be about. It must be judged on itself as a standalone title and in the proper context of the games platform and era it's from. For the most part that is done well here except the judging on the game as its own standalone experience. It's still a relevant review, just deserves a slightly higher score based on that. The actual criticisms and praises are mostly accurate here. Makes me happy to see these older reviews that hadnt yet completely lost sight of what matters. That's getting so rare in recent modern reviews.

I know I'm biased and I don't care haha. This is and will ALWAYS be 10/10 game. I my Gameboy was the first console that was MINE, the days of my older brothers schedule dictating when I could or couldn't play his NES was over when I got Gameboy at a very young age about 30 years ago or so. Anyways...I had "Tetris" of course, "Super Mario Land" and... "Kirby's Dream land". I loved all 3 games but I was hopeless in Tetris, and Super Mario Land was too hard and I rarely got by the submarine stage. But Kirby's Dream land was the FIRST game I ever played all the way through and beat it on my own without any help. I was a tiny child at this time and beating Kirby's Dream Land on my own felt as if I had conquered the entire world. It was a feeling and moment that I credit for locking in my lifetime of love for video games. I still have that old original model Gameboy, which still works perfectly and a nice collection of games including my previous Kirby's dream land.
Rambling nostalgia story aside....this is a freaking awesome game...how can it be ranked 7/10. Oh Nintendo life will we ever get along? Lol

Usually I disagree with Nintendo life and I am again. But the opposite this time...6/10 is too high. This was one of the worst games I've ever tried to play on Wii. On a console with remake of RE4 with awesome Wii controls, a weird combatless but emersive silent hill and the horribly underated "cursed mountain" which is excellent...alone in the dark might as well have been "escape from bug island" which was at least a playable and funny campy crap game

This is an odd game. I had never heard of this despite being old. I bought it on a whim because eShop is closing and I'd seen it in there many times and always wondered what it was. Well...i can definitely say it's not what I expected at all. First impression...I hated it...then when I figured out that first beast chase puzzle I completely switched my opinion....then picked up the gun....and then I hated it again lol. Why did it run out of ammo..then suddenly just decided to not do that ever again. Pretty sure it was the weird shock closet that recharged it? Idk. But common theme, I kept getting irritated with the nonsensical inconsistency and then the game would redeem itself with legitimately awesome moments. I've beaten it...and I still have mixed feelings on this. It's so close to being one of the coolest games ever, esp when considering it's age and era in proper context. But it's held back by nonsensical inconsistencies so yea good review which feels good to say for once. Usually I'm disagreeing and ranting about stupid Nintendo life being incompetent, but every now and then I agree. This game was like 6/10 for me but after revisiting a few times it grows on you and now Id say 8 or 9/10. It's a rare weirdo game that becomes better the more you play it. It's legit fun to see variance on how you can get thru certain parts. It's especially cool when you accidentally do something unintentional that isn't supposed to work ...but it does.

Idk if I commented already. But I just happened to revisit this disappointingly short little gem. I do wish they would've passed on the Cave Story weirdo remakes that were so unnecessary and instead finish this game. It's impossible to play Ikachan for more than 10 seconds without falling in love. Beautiful charming world and characters...esp Ikachan! The game has like 2 music tracks...and yet they are astoundingly great and I could (and have) turned the game on for ONLY the purpose listening to them. I've probly played thru this little game a dozen times or more....and Everytime I do...(I know I can't be Alone in this)...I find myself holding onto an IMPOSSIBLE hope that somehow...THIS time it won't end and will keep going past that first...and only boss fight...
If only.....😔

@Landanceo well... honestly my first instinct is to say no. But then when I think about all the little crappy games Ive bought, played thru once, beat and never touched again...and then think about the dozens of times I've enjoyed playing thru Dementium 2, plus how just completely awesome it really is to see a legit, console game like this on DS, it's not only a genuinely good survival horror, but the gunplay, weapons and esp the enemy variety and enemy AI completely blow away EVERY first person shooter on DS...a horror game that is a better "call of duty" than ANY actual DS call of duty game. There's even human enemies with guns, that hide and take cover...as opposed to the DS call of duty and goldeneye where they literally stand in the center of a hallway and just die. I cannot say that I wouldn't pay that for it. Imo it's in such a rare category of DS games, games that have qualities that just seem so completely ahead of every other game on the console. There's "Metroid Prime: hunters", "Super Mario 64 DS, "Okamiden", "Resident Evil: Deadly Silence" (which is a FULL authentic port of the first RE game and even has quality of life enhancements such as permanently equipped knife on the L trigger and it doesn't take up any inventory space)and then of course "Dementium 2". The DS library is so massive and spans decades so I'm sure there are more. But ALL the ones I mentioned are miles ahead of the majority of DS games in pretty much every way.
So....yes, if youve seen gameplay and you know that what you would be getting is gonna interest you for sure...then that steep price would be worth it imo. It's not AS extreme, but I paid 50$ for just the cartridge itself of DS "Resident Evil : (D)eadly (S)ilence" without a second of hesitation because I knew I would be getting tons of enjoyment from it. If you buy it, i hope ya enjoy Dementium 2 as much as I did.

@Ren Dementium 2 is COMPLETELY different than the first one. You aren't stuck in the darkest hospital in the universe, you can use flashlight and weapons at same time, much for variety of enemies, interesting bosses, much more comprehend able story, and locations change , from prison to a creepy AF village, a mortuary, a mine , plus there's a silent hill -ish dark world version of everywhere. It's one of the best DS of all time imo. It's a genuinely kick ass survival horror game. Also I wanna mention that there's a remastered/remade version of the first Dementium in the 3ds eShop and it not only looks damn good, but it fixed the goofy stupid ass problems of the DS original , save spots, no respawning enemies, a good map, option to use face buttons as a second joystick. The flashlight in the remake is esp cool looking and lighting effects completely change the textures when the light hits them. Very cool for a semi low budget studio on 3ds hardware.

I just now discovered this game in 2022, literally months away from the closing of the 3ds eShop...and this is still a good game. The sequel however...."thorium wars: attack of the skyfighters" is surprisingly just a mere shadow of this original first entry....a higher resolution shadow, but still quite lame in comparison.

Even in 2022 it's still a decent game, but like a few other DSiware games it feels a little sluggish in the frame rate. Thats the only real complaint though. It's a good game and viable Castlevania clone...In fact I enjoyed this significantly more than the FULL 3DS game "Castlevania Lords of Shadow: Mirror of Fate". I will say that this review bugged me by referring to the fire sword as a spear. I really have no idea how it could even be mistaken for a fire spear...but whatever

I love when I am playing a game I had overlooked and I'm enjoying it and then I decide to see what others think of it....and then I find that Nintendo life actually agrees with me. This is such a rare thing and I will savor it haha. Usually I'm doomed to rant in the comments and hold a silly grudge over a 10 year old review. Not this time....not this time. Great review Nintendo life !

Every once in awhile I agree with Nintendo life 3ds reviews....this is NOT one of those times. First off, imo Sonic Colors was the turning point when Sonic suddenly became great once again. It had solid controls, it had variety of gameplay with switching back and forth between full 3d and sidescroller, and most of all, it was FUN to play .Sonic Colors was BRILLIANT. Now here comes Sonic Lost world, is it as good as Sonic Colors? no it's not. Why? The story isn't as good, the themes aren't as cool for the world's, remember sonic colors had the interstellar theme park theme. So sonic lost world is bad? No it's fantastic, its not quite as good as Sonic colors but it has such a similar feel and quality....and it's FUN to play.
I dont understand these complaints against it. To be perfectly honest I believe this to be yet ANOTHER case of a reviewer disliking a 3ds game because they arent an avid fan of the 3ds. Meaning they aren't used to using the circle pad, which is a very different feel than a real C stick. They arent used to the 3ds screen and they aren't used to how the system itself feels in your hands, it's a very different thing than holding a controller. I'm a HUGE fan of 3ds, but also Wii, switch, PlayStations ECT. To me, the 3ds is so familiar to me that it's like an extension of my body. I'm VERY used to the way it feels to control vs what a real controller or Joycons feels like. I find these type of reviews to be extremely disappointing and harmful. I'm so tired of seeing inaccurate review scores of 3ds games. Bad scores, negative reviews, not because a game is bad, but because the reviewer isnt familiar enough with the system to actually play the games. THEY have trouble with certain aspects and they blame it on the game instead of their own incompetence and inexperience. I'm not trying to sound like a jerk but Im positive that I'm coming across like one. I can ABSOLUTELY understand a player getting frustrated, it's not an easy game. I had my share of deaths, but they didnt ever feel unfair or due to poor level design. There is no shame in not being familiar with 3ds or not being familiar with the gameplay elements enough to react on instinct. These are fast paced games, a brief hesitation WILL kill you. There is no shame in that, but it does mean you shouldn't be reviewing it

I had played the NES gargoyles quest 2 when I was VERY young, my older bro had borrowed it from a friend. I loved it but never got to beat it. I had thought about that game for years but never thought I'd find it again....as I didn't remember the games title. Then few weeks ago I stumbled upon a screen shot and instantly recognized it. I immediately bought it on 3ds eShop, then I got the Gameboy gargoyles quest and loved it even more than the NES one......but then...
I found 'demons crest" and.....WOW. it's freaking amazing. Terrific gameplay, and the visuals are just... impossibly good. It looks SO much like "Castlevania symphony of the night" in terms of style and presentation. This game series is brilliant and I'm honestly shocked it hasnt seen a reboot. A full 3d game with "firebrand" would have so much potential that it could literally destroy the world as we know it lol

So happy to see that I agree with this review and the review of the NeS gargoyles quest 2 as well. I played them as a young kid of 8 yrs old when my older bro had borrowed the NES one from a friend. I never got to beat it or even get far but it made huge impact. I recently rediscovered it and it's even better than I thought. I got both gargoyles quest games in 3ds eShop, Gameboy part one and NES part 2. They are excellent and I'm sure you can tell from my gushing rambling that I'm OVERJOYED to having found these again.

I had played this when I was like 8yrs old, my older brother had borrowed it from a friend and I remember sneaking around to play it every chance I got. Over the years...i remembered that cool game experience clearly ...but not what the games title was lol. I honestly thought I'd never find it or see it again. Now fast forward like ....yikes 30 yrs ....and I stumbled onto a single screenshot that INSTANTLY brought the memories back. I bought and downloaded in 3ds eShop and half expected my youthful judgement of this game to have been incorrect....but unfortunately it's even BETTER than I remember. It's incredibly good and imo both looks and feels more like an early SNES game than a NES game. Awesome unique gameplay format as well as the great controls. My god this is an exact definition of a hidden gem.
I also grabbed the original first entry of "gargoyles quest" on Gameboy and I'm equally shocked at how they got such a game to work so damn well on the Gameboy haha. It feels so similar, same tight controls and same satisfying unique gameplay with the rpg elements. And it even looks visually stunning on the Gameboy. It's up there with "MegaMan Xtreme" and "Metroid 2" in terms of graphical quality.

@Anti-Matter No no. I think you misunderstood what I meant. Its really not so much to do with what game it was. It could have been ANY 3ds game and I still would have had the same overall point. Actually...that is precisely what is so ridiculous about it. To that collector, the only thing that mattered was acquiring the game needed to complete the collection. It didnt make ANY difference at all if the game itself was a good game or a terrible game....because it was only purchased to complete a collection. It wasnt sought after and purchased for an insane amount of money because the collector wanted to play it....they just wanted to own it for sole purpose of completing a collection. That's the part of it that I cannot understand.
IF someone spent an absurd amount of money to buy an ultra rare Barbie or whatever 3ds game because it's a game they love and want to play....that is a COMPLETELY different thing.

Whahahaha. How ridiculous. The 3ds is a great console....it's actually my FAVORITE console of all time. I have a large collection of games...cartridges and digital across 3 diff 3ds models I have. An original 3dsXL, a 2ds and a "new" 2dsxl. I amassed my collection because they were ALL good games I wanted because I actually wanted to play them. What is the point of collecting garbageware games? I wouldn't pay 1$ for that game, I would honestly not even take it for free. Why would anyone...want it? I honestly cannot understand it lol. My true passion is electric guitar and I have quite a collection of these as well....but despite 2 of my guitars being quite rare vintage ones...I didn't acquire them because of that, I wanted them TO play because they are interesting and great quality guitars. But....you know...whatever right? To each their own. Maybe I should contact the buyer of that barbie game and see if they need a copy of the first production of 3ds "resident evil: Revelations" I have one of the mispelled misprint copies that says "revelaitons" . How about 2200$?

Oh wow...another Nintendo life review I agree with. Could it be...was I wrong about this site? I'm so glad that I'm seeing that some of the reviewers know what's what. This game is absolutely as good as they say. I already own the original version but considering the 3ds eShop nano assault EX is currently only 1.99....i got it as well and it looks even better somehow and has bit more content. The original is one of the games I would pull out to show ppl who claim that 3ds graphics suck...and RE Revelations is a good example as well. Nano assault is actually one of the only other games that can compete with RE revelations visual quality. Shinen truly knows what they are doing. Consistently making games that range from good to amazing...to my knowledge there's not a bad game In their entire portfolio. Even most BIG name studios can't say that.

Ok cool, a Nintendo Life review I actually agree with almost word for word agree with at that. This is a very rare occurrence haha. It's a seriously great time to pick up this game. With announcement of the 3ds eShops imminent closure there are games that are NEVER on sale....on sale for very low prices. This game is currently only 1.99 right now which is a very good deal for a decent quality game like this.

Well...here I am again. Massively disagreeing with a Nintendo life review. Does "game era context" not mean anything to these reviewers? This game is absolutely amazing. The bad translations are the only issue and it's honestly charming now. This was the first ever "Metroidvania" Castlevania. Towns to buy items, different whips, subweapon, and heal HP, talk to npcs. It had puzzles and exploration. It has a DAY and NIGHT cycle. It had some great precision platforming and even has a decent variety of enemy type. This game was FAR ahead of it's time. But you can't see that, instead you see flaws and faults that are only the result of your incompetence in playing a game that doesn't hold your hand and tell you what to do . It's funny how it's called "Nintendo life" but it really seems as if they don't care much for Nintendo Games at all and certainly don't understand what makes a game good or bad. You dying or missing jumps or getting lost while navigating isn't the fault of the game it's the player

🙄 So...there are no negative parts in your review, what made it lose 2 points? Or a better question...what game does deserve a 10/10? This is arguably the GREATEST NES game ever made and one of the BEST games of all time from any console. For a site called Nintendo Life, it really seems to not care for Nintendo games. The reviewers here seem to have absolutely NO IDEA what "game era context" is. This is the original LoZ...a game that shaped and influenced pretty much every game ever including modern day games. It created an entire freaking genre. It even has a "new game+) mode....before that was even a thing. It even holds up as a great solid game TODAY in 2022. It seems I'm constantly irritated by 90% of the reviews I read on this site. I wish I didn't have to make comments like this so often, I shouldn't have to. Countless times I've seen reviewers completely miss key elements of gameplay, misunderstand storylines, and complain about problems that were the result of their own incompetence. But arguably the worst offenders are ones like this. A shining review with no criticism that inexplicably has points taken off without any explanation. If this isn't a perfect 10/10 game then NOTHING is.

Finally! It's nice to find a Nintendo life review that I can actually agree with. This is one of those games that are infuriating to me, it's a game that COULD have been ok if just a few tiny changes had been made. First the gunplay is odd and feels so disconnected from the button input. The automatic submachine guns rate of fire is strange and slow. It is FAR more satisfying to just punch and stomp ppl to death....in fact it's one of the only things that I got any legitimate enjoyment from, fighting police and seeing how long I could go before getting arrested is also nearly mildly entertaining...but that's really it lol. Next the camera is TOO CLOSE, the game looks awful ...who would want it zoomed in so far? Yes you can hit L trigger to zoom out a little but it's still TOO CLOSE. This really irritated me ...when you get into a car the camera zooms out more to allow you to see when driving....why can't you just stay zoomed out that far? And what makes this extremely frustrating is that if you sell a car that you are driving it puts you back on foot with the same zoomed out camera from when you were in the car. So you get to see how much better the game looks and functions IF you could zoom it out that far normally....but you can't. Next the cars make no sense...they take off extremely slowly forward but for some reason they have crazy reverse acceleration. Wth SMH. Next game performance....I have a high tolerance for choppy frame rates that are consistently choppy. This game arbitrarily goes from smooth to choppy and back for seemingly no reason. Next there's a gun store you can go to in the city....so why is it accessible from start menu at any time? And lastly the missions are almost all victims of the annoyances I mentioned. Oh and this game EXTREMELY racist....and I don't throw that term out there very often, in fact I've never EVER said this about a game before, but this one....yikes it's bad.
It's very irritating to me how with only a few minor tweaks it could be a decent game. Thank GOD it's 2022 and we have retro city rampage and shakedown Hawaii.