Kid_A

HYPE!

One of the all-time greats. Discovered it on the VC a few years ago and I fell in love with it immediately.

Great review. For me, this is still one of the most atmospheric, unique and engaging gaming experiences out there. I played it for the first time a few years ago and was just totally engrossed in it. But the slowdown really is just crippling at times, and as a result, the final boss is pretty much unplayable. If restore points and suspend saves are what it takes to get modern audiences to play through the game, though, I'm all for it!

@Oddy
First off, comparing films to games is pointless. Doesn't make any sense. Second of all, Citizen Kane IS that great
But that is ENTIRELY off topic! Carry on.

@Chicken_Brutus
This is just a wonderful review. Having it with me on the go, I'm starting to appreciate how truly endless it's replay value is. It's one of those rare games that's just always exciting, and after playing it for most of my life, I still haven't found all of its secrets. I was reminded of Roger Ebert's essay on Citizen Kane when I read this, and as I played the game immediately afterward. I'll switch around the movie terms with gaming terms, but the message is the same.

"Its surface is as much fun as any game ever made. Its depths surpass understanding. I have analyzed it a frame at a time with more than 30 groups, and together we have seen, I believe, pretty much everything that is there on the screen. The more clearly I can see its physical manifestation, the more I am stirred by its mystery."

@warioswoods
I hope you give it a shot someday. The game was largely inspired by Kojima's love of 60's b-movies, and I think you'd really appreciate the absurdist design choices (and uncommonly nuanced gameplay) if you sat down and played the retail version. It's a game that was never intended to be taken seriously. The demo really was garbage, but frankly the final cut is a 10 for me. Easily my favorite version of the game

Thankfully, it would appear that the annoying power moves from Mario Power Tennis are gone. Should be good.

I'm not surprised, honestly. I played the Vita the other day and I must say I didn't much like it. It's absolutely enormous, first of all. It's heavy and unwieldly and I frankly just couldn't see myself carrying it around. But the bigger problem is that Sony is once again putting themselves in a position where they're putting console games on handhelds. I played Uncharted: Golden Abyss and you know, it was kind of fun, but it was basically just like console Uncharted but not as good, and with all the loading screens. People buy handhelds to play handheld games. There's a reason why Ocarina of Time 3D didn't sell even remotely as well as Mario Kart 7--people want handheld games on their handheld gaming machines. I think the Vita has great tech behind it, but I'm just not sold on it so far--I need pick up and play games like Super Mario 3D Land, not Uncharted-lite. Nintendo is in a good position as far as attracting developers: they've finally got some real traction in the sales department at retail and in the download market, and the games that are really selling are the kinds of games that are cheap to make and have universal appeal. If Uncharted sells well on Vita, that tells developers that, crap, if they want to develop a top-selling game for Vita, it has to be a massive blockbuster with console-quality production values. That's a lot of resources for a relatively unproven system.

Does that mean Super Mario Bros. gets VC functions for ambassadors? That'd be nice.

Oof! Those visuals almost charmed me into buying it. But this sounds...oh it sounds bad. Very bad.

My only problem with the Circle Pad pro (well, my major problem with it) is that it kind of diminishes the portability of it. And I do like playing my 3DS on the go. If I want to play MGS3 at home, I'll play the HD version on my PS3, you know?

As the review noted, it just completely throws off the symmetry of the system. Frankly, I wish that developers would have just found clever ways to bypass the lack of a second analogue stick (touch screen, gyroscope, or just creating a decent camera system that doesn't require constant swiveling), rather than shoehorning in an awkward new peripheral. If it's a pack-in with Metal Gear Solid I'm sure I'll use it when I play it at home, but I can't see me taking this thing on the go. It's just too awkward and bulky. Honestly, I'll be very surprised if this thing catches on. Great review, Damien, very thorough

Great article. I was a bit lost on what exactly this technology was, but you've given us good reason to be excited about it, now

Calling it now: eShop exclusive.

Interdimentional?

I had never played one of these games before the Ambassador program. So I fired it up nonchalantly, expecting to turn it off five minutes later. Holy...wow. This game is incredible. One of the best RPGs I've played. And now I hear this is one of the series' weaker entries? Yo. I am on board with Fire Emblem. Very much on board.

Why does Nintendo of America hate Americans?

If it's a double game deal, I'll betcha one's for Wii U and the other is for 3DS. I'm thinking we're going to see a lot of connectivity details shown at E3.

@mariofanatic128
It definitely feels like that when you play it. There's a very '90's nicktoon vibe to this game, but...well not as good as actual '90's nicktoons.

One of my personal faves
Mixed feelings about the thought of new backgrounds. I always thought the solid black background of the vertical/dungeon levels gave the game a really distinct atmosphere.

@Drake
Agreed. It starts off seemingly impossible, but it quickly becomes a breeze. Which is brilliant, of course, because it makes you actually feel like you're an underdog growing stronger, overcoming the odds and eventually just obliterating everything in your path.

MGS3 has always had first person aiming, silly

@Chicken_Brutus
I was really hoping someone would pick up on it

@Julio
I hope you don't take it personally. I can only review a game based off my experience and judge it based on our criteria. And even if it's not a critical hit, it looks like you're building up a fan base!

@Ikki80
I actually did try all of the tips that everyone provided in the Soccer Up forum. Unfortunately they did not work. Those that did work worked inconsistently. I faced all of the problems that @edhe faced. The fact of the matter is, even if you enjoy the game, there are aspects of it that are fundamentally broken. I didn't even mention the plethora of glitches that I encountered during my time with the game. I have not played Sensible Soccer, but I have played a good many arcadey, old-school soccer games. I like those games. Soccer Up is simply poor. You seem to believe that I'm trying to fit this game into a "modern" structure, like FIFA or PES. I assure you that I'm not. We take reviews very seriously at Nintendo Life, and if there were glaring factual errors (I tried pressing A and B together to sprint as some suggested and 1) I couldn't find this anywhere in the game's manual, and 2) It didn't work consistently anyway) or if I approached the game from an unfair angle, we would not have published it. I go into every game genuinely wanting to like it and understand it, and Soccer Up is no different.

@Rebel81
I love classic RPGs and old-school soccer games. This one just happens to be broken.

@THENAMESNORM
Bless you, sir. I appreciate the positive feedback It's things like that that keep a reviewer from losing his mind.

Allllrighty. Let's get into this. First I'd like to say that I'm in no way biased against this sort of game. Cartoony, arcade sports games are my favorite type of sport games, after all. There are quite a few people here who don't agree with the review. But there are also those who do. This is okay. Just because I don't agree with your personal opinion doesn't mean my qualifications should be called into question. I think you'll find I argued my case pretty well.

Also, one should not have to play a 90's PC game to be able to appreciate a game in 2011. Even if Sensible Soccer is Soccer Up's main inspiration, the game should still be fun in its own right. You'll also find that even if you have nostalgia for those old footy games, they were never considered to be great.

After playing the game for hours and reading the (unhelpful and unreadable) instructions many times, the game felt like a broken mess. I played it with friends and they agreed. If you like this game, great. I didn't. And I can only speak of my experience.

God I am excited for this.

Real gamers know that Play with Birds was GOTY.

"Worse than half the reviews I've seen on X-Play"
James, bro, you just gonna sit there and take that?

Nah. That Link to the Past placement makes no sense.

@Link79
From our Skyward Sword review: "...no title on Kinect or PlayStation Move can hold a candle to the artistry of Skyward Sword."

You won't find any complaints about controls in our perfect 10 review. In fact you won't find any complaints at all. You will find some complaints in this Minish Cap review. Reading is the key here.

@uel and @whimsy
You guys seem to think that there can only be one "best," perfect 10 Zelda game. I think you'll find that we've given A Link to the Past, Link's Awakening, Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask and Skyward Sword all 10/10s. In our opinion, these games are the bar, and Minish Cap doesn't quite reach it. A 9/10 is still an incredibly good score, mind you, and it's well deserved: Minish Cap is an incredibly good game.

@whimsy
I don't think I understand what you're saying. It's all subjective. I think the "best" Zelda game is Wind Waker, but you'll see that we gave it a 9. I gave Link's Awakening a 10, but I wouldn't say it's the best game in the series. It all comes down to personal opinion and your individual idea of what makes a great Zelda game.

@blink83
Reviews are more than just buyers guides. They illuminate the games themselves and their perspective sparks conversation. We put it on the front page because hey, a lot of people are playing it right now. We're not trying to pass it off as new.

As for people saying it's a 10...here's how I feel:
The Zelda games, for me at least, are so legendary and consistently brilliant that they sort of exist outside of the normal spectrum of gaming and are at a point where they can only really be judged against themselves. Which is to say, Zelda's only competition in its field is Zelda. As a game, Minish Cap is darned near perfect. As a Zelda game, I think it could be better.

I hate games that make fun of bad games. "We'll be funny and make you do a bunch of stupid stuff!" Well it's not fun, so...

WARIO LAND 4
The greatest platformer ever created.

Why didn't that Rocky training montage make it into the game?

Omigod yes!
And now with the Wii U controller, we can have our map/inventory on a separate screen, while we swing away with our Wii Remotes

Wario Land 4 is perhaps my all-time favorite 2D platformer, and yet I've never really played the first 3. Here's hoping the rest of the world gets it soon!

I'm glad I'm in the minority when I say I'm actually have to disagree with this. For me, the 3D models have almost completely stripped the game of its charm. It looks so...so CHEAP now. The character models are lifeless and stagnant. And does anyone else think the game is just too dang dark now? Not thematically, just flat-out hard to see, even on the highest brightness setting. And the music...it sounds like it's trying too hard. It's too peppy, lacking that glaze of melancholia that the original exuded ; now there's this cheesy 90's Sonic vibe to the tunes that just sounds wrong. Of course the game is still fun, because the gameplay is thankfully untouched. So far though, I really wish I wouldn't have sunk $40 into this when I could play the best version of it for free.

I heard about this so I just copied my save file to another slot once this quest began. Problem solved.

Whoa...I just realized there's no mention of Twilight Princess or Wind Waker on this list. And yet when I was reading it, it struck me as perfectly balanced. This series is just too darn good.

@Lobster
Much appreciated

I've never played an Adventure Island game. Might pick this one up after I finish Metroid II and Kirby 3D Classic.

Always up for more Zelda

Great article. The day Nintendo starts trying to add "depth" to Mario's character is the day I stop playing Mario games.

I haven't played very much of the game, but so far I'm surprised at how much this game improved upon its predecessor's controls.

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS. The one Metroid game I've never played. I played through every other game in the series this year, so this'll be a nice way to cap off the year

@Birdman13
Don't worry, I was thinking the same thing

The best-written review of the game I've read. Fantastic work, James.
While I'm thinking about it, @James:
What do think is going on with GameSpot's review? They seem to say the exact opposite of most critics--claims of inconsistent, frustrating controls, having to constantly recallibrate. Baffling. Is there any outside factor that effects Wii Motion+ that we know of? That's the only thing I can think of.

It's a friggin' magical leaf that happens to give Mario tanooki powers. What does this have to do with harming animals? I demand an explanation!

This...is the greatest platformer I've ever played.

@DashDG
It's a somewhat tepid recommendation, but the game really does get more fun the more you play it. If you really payed 1000 points for it, I'd play a few games before completely dismissing it.