Mario and Luigi consolidate their practice and invent a cure all drug that’ll lure you out of your money like a bulk supply of “baby aspirin”. Is the $9 for another iteration of the Dr. Mario franchise a tough pill to swallow? Puns aside, it’s a slightly refreshing take on Dr. Mario:Miracle Cure.
Lord of Magna: Maiden Heaven will have you scratching your head in bewilderment on numerous occasions during this short - for Japanese Role Playing Game standards - but dynamic title. To be fair, it is a wonder this game ever made it to retail, since one of the studios involved with this title, and Rune Factory, shut down suddenly. Fortunately, Marvelous picked up the pieces and presented us with this ...
There is definitely a learning curve that takes a little while to master, but once you do, the Puzzle and Dragons Z portion of the game can be quickly finished. I found very little challenge awaited me. That is why it is ironic that the game pushes you towards the easier, more user friendly Super Mario Bros. portion; of the two games, I think the Mario Bros. part was more difficult in the long run, and more enjoyable.
Xenoblade Chronicles on the Wii was an underappreciated late-comer to the console. Very few people played it, yet those that did were very vocal about it: the looks of the game, how big it was, and how mainstream it could be, despite falling into the JRPG category. When Monolith Soft announced a remake of this beloved title on the New 3DS - first exclusive to the New handheld - fans began to get excited, and ...
Being in media, it is my job to know whats going on with Nintendo. So obviously, I felt a little out-of-the-loop when a review code for Fossil Fighters: Frontiers for 3DS come across my desk. Fossil Fighters is one of those tricky games to review, if only because it's not meant for adults. Fortunately, I had a younger opinion on this title.
What you find in Code Name S.T.E.A.M*. is not your usual London. Instead, you'll find a London powered by steam, full of aliens and...Abraham Lincoln? Yup, this iconic America hero, as well as many other real and fictional characters, all team up to rid London of the nasty alien pests; while this sounds completely wacky - which it is - it also works really well, making it one of the best turn based games I've ...
NES Remix has made the jump to the 3DS. It's not a perfect 1:1 portable version of Wii U NES Remix and NES Remix II whereas "ultimate" is used more to describe it as a best of collection with some tweaks here and there. Ultimate NES Remix takes from both Wii U NES Remix games and fuses them together with the addition a more robust online leaderboard system.
People have attempted to clone the Legend of Zelda franchise for years. Some have had success doing so, while most have not. The developers behind Adventure Time: The Secret of the Nameless Kingdom have done an excellent job cloning the classic franchise, and although it has its own issues, its still an adequate top down adventure title that is worth your time.
Majora's Mask was one of the best games made for the N64. Now it's on 3DS, and the wait was more than worth it.
Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire are finally here, and having a reaction of these franchise gems - pun intended - is great. Despire issues that have plague every game in this franchise, the update to these games and the nostalgic feeling you get while playing, makes this trip back to the Hoenn region 100% worth it!
Fantasy Life really is a fantasy. But it's a good fantasy, and one that will take up a lot of your time. It's not everyday you get to swap between 12 different occupations, ranging from fighting to crafting to gathering, but in this charming and addictive title from Level-5, you can. Although the game struggles with some pacing issues throughout, the overall charm and depth of the game makes the smaller issues ...
Super Smash Bros has been one of Nintendo's biggest franchises, and although it may not have the following that Mario Kart does, there are still millions of people around the world who long for the generational Smash Bros games. While we all anticipate the Wii U launch in November, Nintendo is treating us to the first handheld edition of the game, Super Smash Bros 3DS.
Titles that fuse together two unique play styles and characters often suffer in the end from attempting to please both fan bases, inevitably pleasing neither. Fortunately, this is not the case in Level-5 and Capcom's latest release, Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney. Although the title is not without its shortcomings, the overall product is a must have for fans of either series.
A few years back, PopCap released their mega hit title Plants vs Zombies. It definitely wasn't the first in its genre, but it was one of the best. People have tried to replicate this formula to varying degrees of success. One company, Circle Entertainment, has done an admirable job with their latest title, Demon King Box for 3DS.
When Nintendo releases a game, it is generally a normal experience. At the worst, it's perhaps a Mario game with a twist, ala Mario Galaxy. However, Nintendo's latest release - yes, this game has been available in Japan for over a year - is completely off the wall. For a title that does so little, Tomodachi Life is insanely addicting, witty, and often downright strange. It does, however, deserve your attention!
Nintendo is a financial powerhouse in the console and software business, regardless of how poor they have done lately. This is built off the backs of strong franchises such as Mario and Zelda. However, Nintendo does experiment with other intellectual properties, whether in a direct development role, or in a lesser role as a producer.
If you've never heard of Candy Crush Saga then you might live under a rock. Match 3 games are insanely popular, and have for the most part taken over Facebook and mobile. So, why shouldn't Nintendo attempt to profit from the craze? They did, and paired it with one of their most popular franchises, Pokemon.
To say that Nintendo has released more of something is nothing new. More Mario Kart, more Yoshi's Island, and now more Kirby. I use these three specific examples for a reason. More Mario Kart has always been a good thing, while more Yoshi's Island wasn't. Another game in the Kirby franchise is not like another Mario Kart game, but is leaps and bounds ahead of Yoshi's Island.
Mario and friends have been absent from the golf course since 2004. 10 years later, however, the gang is back at it. This time, your Mii is invited! Mario Golf World Tour takes everything that is good about the Mario Golf franchise and takes it to a new level.
Yoshi has appeared sporadically throughout the Mario universe, playing major roles in numerous games, and providing cameos in others. In 1995, Yoshi was deemed important enough to be given his own game, and little has changed in the spin-offs and sequels since. Yoshi's New Island, available now for the 3DS, is a familiar platform adventure on a new handheld. Although the core of the game is the same, a few new ...
If you have ever played a game with a guy in a green costume, who is generally always sleeping at the beginning of his adventure, then you've probably played a Legend of Zelda game at some point. Nintendo's latest Zelda release for the 3DS has received much attention since being released, including a number of Game of the Year nominations from multiple prominent media outlets. So what makes yet another Zelda ...
The Wii U version of Sonic Lost World was a little bit weird. It blended, with varying degrees of success, the main staples of Sonic with a more exploratory, slower paced level design. It has been met with mixed reaction by fans. The 3DS version is much of the same, although the little changes that have been made make this the superior outing for the Blue Blur.
2013 has been a big year full of big releases. We've had the open-world Goliath that is Grand Theft Auto V. We've received The Last of Us from Sony's wunderkind Naughty Dog. We'll soon be graced with the presence of next-gen gaming from the titans Microsoft and Sony. And now, Nintendo has sent forth their king of handheld games – ladies and gentlemen, the next generation is here. The next Pokemon generation, of ...
I've always been fond of games that can take a seemingly dull aspect of life and make it interesting. During the Summer, Lucas Pope managed to make stamping documents thrilling in Papers, Please (one of my favorites this year), but in 2012 the hectic job of sorting luggage at an airport was turned into addicting entertainment with Aero Porter on the 3DS.
Goichi Suda (or Suda51, as he's most commonly known) has to be one of the oddest developers in the industry. His games, like Killer7 and No More Heroes, are filled with unique ideas, subversive and absurd writing, and gameplay that isn't exactly the easiest to grasp. Even when he takes a straight-forward approach there's always a little something off, which is exactly the case with his contribution to Level-5's ...
In the gaming days of yore, things like tutorials, objective markers, and pop-up hints were very uncommon. For some, these forms of guidance take away exploration, self-discovery, and challenge, and they yearn for more titles to be like those of old. The developer duo Kazuya Asano and Takemaru Abiko apparently agree, because that's the basis for Starship Damrey, their entry in Level-5's Guild02 compilation.
Remember what it was like being a kid? Playing outside, making up weird games with friends, being confused by everything that grown ups do, and having an overactive imagination? If so, good, because that's exactly the nostalgia Japanese developer Millennium Kitchen taps into in Attack of the Friday Monsters! A Tokyo Tale.
Level-5's Guild series is an interesting concept. Released in physical format for the Nintendo 3DS in Japan, both Guild01 and Guild02 contain games developed by famous Japanese developers. Strangely, none of the games go together, and each offers a completely different experience. It's an eclectic assortment of titles, to be sure, and thankfully most are available in the West via the 3DS eShop. All are worth ...
Platform games are having something of a return to popularity, and it's about time. While Mario and Sonic remained regular parts of the gaming community, the likes of Rayman disappeared completely for a while. Even Donkey Kong - one of Nintendo's most recognisable characters- was resigned to guest appearances, mini-games, bongo playing and Super Smash Brothers.
Ridge Racer 3D - now over a couple of years old - is staunch reminder of two things. First, arcade racers are awesome. More titles should drop the realism and rap music of recent racing titles and should instead employ someone to shout down the speakers at you.
