SolarJetman

The single game file isn't such a big problem — although more would be better.
However, the fact that it's permanent is absolutely unacceptable.

When my brother and I were kids, if a game had just one save file, one of us would play it until we eradicated it or were done with it, then the other would erase the data and play it. (Today we still do the same thing, although we live about 2 hours apart now.) Imagine if Zelda or FF3 had only one, permanent save file. My brother and I, when we were kids, would have had to purchase two cartridges for the same household!

I happen to enjoy unlockables — it's one of the few challenges contained in modern-day games — and I want to unlock them myself! And I'd never buy that Resident Evil game new, so I guess I'm never going to play it.

I honestly hope this was just a mistake by Capcom, and not a sinister plot to boost sales. If the latter is true, I'll never buy a Capcom game again (although I've purchased very few since the SNES-Genesis days).

Dr Suess was actually a brilliant author. The Lorax is sheer poetry.

Well wicked. Nanostray 2 is one of my favourite shooters in recent years.

This is probably the most linnear RPG on the SNES — and thus, the easiest — which takes CT down a notch, in my books. I prefer FF2 and 3.
That said, I enjoyed CT a lot, but I'd give it an 8 or a 9.

To quote my friends across the pond:

"Phwoooar!"

Tecmo World Wrestling on the NES is good too!

I love this game and would have scored it an 8 also.

Anyone who likes this should check out Burai Fighter, a similar NES game from Taxan that's longer, but lacks two-player mode.

@ Mike: Nintendo has the IP rights on the Mario Party games, so I think we'll still see them on VC.

Hudson is one of the few third parties who's had some kind of consistency when it comes to above-average quality and innovation. Sure there was some junk, like the Deca Sports games, but there have been many great games – some of which flew under the radar – like Kororinpa, Wing Island, Honeycomb Beat, and then of course there are the Bonk, Star Soldier, Bomberman and Adventure Island franchises.

I really liked their WiiWare stuff too, and was so looking forward to Brink of Extinction.

I would call that list underwhelming. I don't live in Europe, but the only launch title I'd get for sure would be Pilotwings. Maybe Monkey Ball or Ridge Racer. I'm interested in Lego Star Wars III, but I'd rather have the Wii version, so I can play it (affordably) with my 6-year-old son.

I'm surprised Kid Icarus isn't a launch title. That game looks like it could be one of Nintendo's classics for the ages.

@Dark Kirby

"I've even heard people complain that the story in games gets 'in the way' of the action, which is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard.'

I'm one of those people. It's not ridiculous. I just don't want to read too much when I play games, because I read all day at work. When I play games, I want to play; I like shmups, puzzle games, Mario games. I have little patience for stories in video games, and Metroid Other M, while it didn't make me read, irritated me with its long cutscenes. Besides, if I want a good story, a video game is the last place I'll look. These game developers are no Brian De Palma or Philip K. Dick.

That said, I still do enjoy RPGs, but only when I haven't been working much.

@the randomizer
I'm not suggesting that the titles be translated literally. In fact, that's probably part of the problem.

What I am suggesting is renaming the games completely to help market the games to a wider audience.

How about renaming them – appropriately – for North American audiences?

Some of these games have the most ridiculous, meaningless titles that will turn off anyone who isn't already a diehard RPG fan.
Examples include: Fullmetal Alchemist: Duel Sympathy (huh? sympathy for what? The money-losing NA publishers?); Lufia: Curse of the Sinistrals (two out of four words mean nothing to most people); Luminous Arc (something's glowing?); Nostalgia (that could be about anything!), and my two favourites, Radiant Historia and Shin Megami Tensei (que????).

And when I say 'meaningless' titles, I mean it in the sense that when looking at the game on the shelf. I realize that, eventually, when you get to a certain point in the game, the meaning becomes apparent. But a title should help sell the game; not confuse potential buyers.

Can we purchase already-released DSiWare using the 3DS?

To the headline writer: Since this is a review, that should have read S--- sandwich, as per the famously poor review of Spinal Tap's Shark Sandwich. Obviously, this game does not go up to 11.

Sounds like Lolo meets Smash TV. We want the funk! Gotta have that funk. I'm gonna hitch a ride on the Mothership and download this!

One of my favourite game series... bought this yesterday.

@DAaaMan64: Dude's baked man,

Aaaaanyway, this game was great. Awesome visuals, good controls, nicely focused on the action, but it was hard. Me and my bro could only make it to the third level, but then I remember being chased by something on fire, and I think it was harder because there were two of us. Perhaps it would have been easier in 1-player mode?

The SNES Legend of the Mystical Ninja is still my fave though, And what about the first N64 game? I thought it was excellent, and one of the best such games on the system, after Mario 64, the Zeldas, Jet Force Gemini, the Banjo-Kazooies and Body Harvest.

I totally disagree with this review. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the game has various difficulty settings, and in the harder modes, you don't retain all of your power-ups. Thus, the game doesn't have to be a cakewalk, especially if you don't use the 50-man code. Besides, the branching paths mean multiple playthroughs are in order.

Not to mention, this is one of the few shmups on SNES with 2-player co-op (Firepower 2000 is the only other one I can think of).

And don't forget, this was a SNES launch game, in North America anyway. I'd give Darius Twin a 7 or an 8.

That said, it's too bad the SNES was never able to host a 2-player co-op shmup that rivalled the experience of Life Force on the SNES.

I don't know about the reviewers comments on the ports. The NES version was awful...

Camera problems are a game-killer for me (cough Mega Man 64). I refuse to shell out retail price for the fruits of lazy programming, or perhaps, a product that was rushed to the shelves.

I'll save my cash for DKC returns, Kirby's Epic Yarn and Sonic Colours.

I still have my SNES and all three of those carts, so I'm not terribly excited, but what Squenix/Taito should do is a Darius "rebirth" for WiiWare, two-player of course. I'd download that in a heartbeat.

@oldgamesonly: Great games you mentioned, especially Kickmaster.

Geez, you guys at Nintendo Life are usually pretty good at providing details, but really, could you find no one to explain WHY the development costs may be so much higher?

It's like reading a story that says, "32 people died in a freak accident in Milwaukee today." And then the story ends.

I probably would have held off on running this story until some detail could be provided.

Kinda like Pokeymen, Raylax?
Needless to say, I love Tetris and have suffered the Tetris Effect. Ironically, one of the best Tetris-inspired puzzlers is Pokemon Puzzle League on the N64 (a.k.a. Tetris Attack on SNES).

My wife has PTSD and I can see Tetris "distracting" her enough to have beneficial effect.
That said, I find any good video game relaxes me. However, a poorly designed game, such as one with bad play control or a sloppy third-person camera, might do the opposite.

The transition from Metal Gear to Commando was seamless. Then, Jackal!

7/10 for me too. I played this game a lot. Yes, Fester moved slow, but Fester was a fat, old little man. That's why he has his gun with many awesome upgrades: to waste those annoying frogs.

This game reminded me of the overhead Blaster Master stages, with Zelda/Willow-style open-ended gameplay. The frustrating mazes were my biggest beef. This game was hard. I think I never got past the third or fourth boss. But that's the way in was back in them NES days!

I would have given this game an 8... it really is too short. Only 5 or 6 levels, if I can recall correctly. Also, I don't feel it's in the same class as some of Capcom's other NES games, like Bionic Commando, Strider, Willow, and the Mega Mans.

This is one of the few SNES games that I haven't played, but I'll have to correct that, because it looks great.

And I actually enjoyed Fester's Quest. Frustrating at times, but I got over it.

I've been playing and enjoying this game for a few days now, but as a high score fiend, I'm frustrated that the high scores on some stages have already reached 999,999,999. First, WTF? And second, even if I could get that score, that would be dumb, since no one person can actually get the lone high score.

Tomena Sanner, Gyrostarr, Toki Tori, Magnetica Twist...

... and ThruSpace, which I just downloaded and heartily recommend if you need a challenging puzzler.

Cubello, the Bit Trip games, Rotozoa, Final Fantasy After Years, Art of Balance, Maboshi's Arcade, Pearl Harbor Trilogy...

Well, if every Wii owner supported WiiWare like I do, and I imagine most of you do, no one would complain, regardless of the clumsy interface. Like zee mega-kuel Austrian dude said, WiiWare does have great games, just not a good marketing plan.

Here's a partial list of excellent WiiWare games I've downloaded: And Yet it Moves, Astrobugs, Excitebike, Blaster Master, Star Soldier R, Castlevania Rebirth, Mega Man 9 and 10, Orbient, TV Show King 2 (really!), Cave Story, That Art Style game where you race lines, Contra ReBirth, World of Goo, Sonic 4, Arkanoid, Bubble Bobble Plus, Space Invaders, Gradius Rebirth, that racing game like Super Sprint Konami made, Tetris Online, NYX QUEST, Rotohex, You, Me and the Cubes, Lost Winds 1 and 2, Mides.... I'm sure I'm missing at least a dozen...

And since SquareEnix/Taito has a solid presence, maybe they should create a new Darius game for WiiWare with 2- (or even 4-!) player robotic fish destruction.

Uh, what exactly is Pikachu doing in that photograph? He's pantless and seems very happy.

Nice avatar NewestBoom.... is that the box art from Lock n Chase or something?

Sounds like Bubble Bobble, but with elements of Arkanoid and Galaga... plus two-player co-op? I'm downloading it now...

Anyone know if we'll be able to download past DSi releases -- that is, DSiWare games put out over the last few years -- on the 3DS? I still have an original DS, but I want some of those downloadable games out now, like Dark Void Zero, so I'm wondering if I need to get a DSi, or just wait till 3DS.

The Pickfords are talented but underrated developers -- my avatar is a tribute to another one of their classic creations. There's also a feature in the latest Retro Gamer mag on the Wizards & Warriors NES games, the latter two which they developed. Another awesome Pickford game is Wetrix on N64 and Dreamcast: a totally creative and addictive puzzler.

@BJWanlund: Awesome stache. Anyway, if it only affected "backup" or pirates, I doubt Nintendo would even mention the bug. But I'm sure the next system update will include a fix; if it doesn't, I'll defecate in my boot and eat it.

Faxandu's one of my favourite NES games. Won't be downloading it though, since I still have the NES cart.

that should make the Ewoks happy...

This looks like fun, but regardless of whether or not it delivers, more games should be incorporating the balance board like this.

I prefer gibberish to voice acting; it makes me laugh, especially when it's done well, like in Banjo Kazooie. And 99 per cent of video game voice acting is terrible; I feel embarassed just listening to it.

Most importantly though, voice acting takes up valuable memory that can be used for things that actually enhance gameplay.

IMO, Star Fox Adventures is the worst in the series, by several light years.

When I first played this game, I was quite disappointed by the fact that all the stages were free-roaming... but after a couple of hours, I was hooked. Being able to use different characters -- and thus different ships -- is a great feature, with Slippy actually being quite useful due to the heavy damage his ship can cause (and take) in quite a short time.

Also, the stylus controls are great, especially for rolling. 9/10 for me.

Great review, but it is one of the very few games I'd rate a 10/10.

IMO, it's the pinnacle of the series, the best racing game ever and the best game on the Cube. And I absolutely love the tunes.

The only problem is, when will we see another F-Zero? Motion control on the Wii would be great, but a 3DS version could be killer too.

PS: I annihilated this game... played it for a few months exclusively, beating story mode and grand prix in all difficulties. Mastery of Black Bull was necessary. pats self on back

One of the major differences with Rare in the Nintendo days was that the Big N never rushed Rare. Their games were constantly delayed - much like Nintendo games sometimes are - in order to ensure the games were of highest quality. Gamers complained at the time, but I think we'd all agree the extra quality control was worth it at the end of the day. Companies like Microsoft and EA would rather rush a game to market than strive for perfection.

And Rare was definitely slipping near the end of their Nintendo tenure. Star Fox Adventures, while decent, paled in comparison with most of their N64 efforts. And, one of their last N64 games, Conker, was terrible. The gameplay was so limited and clunky... yes, it was amusing, but I generally don't turn to videogames when I want a laugh.

The fact that Rare doesn't have certain character licences shouldn't be an excuse. Their best games, IMO, are Jet Force Gemini, Blast Corps and Banjo, all which are original Rare properties.

Great pic of Mario. Please send him to my house. We're having a party, and I'd like some of what he's selling.

I certainly did enjoy the game eripmav. There's nothing more gratifying than downing a bogey with a missile, and the nunchuk controls are spot on. Love the sound effect when an aircraft carrier goes down. Being able to play as the Japanese is great, and so is the option of playing missions with different aricraft with different objectives.

@Toadhall: Keep trying to get behind those guys, and don't fly in a straight line for more than a few seconds. Practice using the missiles and you can make short work of them. Also, try helping your wingmen out so they can give you a hand. They have pretty good AI.

Having played through all but the last Japanese mission now, I would say the one improvement I'd like to see in the follow-ups is to see your number of "victories" at the end of each mission -- maybe separate numbers for bogeys and ground targets -- and shooting percentages for both weapons.

Also, I'd like to fly Lancaster bombers and Messerschmitts, but of course, they wouldn't be found in the Pacific theatre of operations...