Genres

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.

Nintendo isn't known for branching out and trying new things. They milk their franchises, and not in a bad way. While many companies tend to produce shovelware, where the brand sells the game rather than the gameplay itself, Nintendo almost always brings AAA experiences to the table. With Hyrule Warriors, however, Nintendo has done something unprecedented for the company: they handed one of their most important franchises to another company to use. While my skepticism of this title was off the charts, I was intrigued during an E3 event in Toronto and was sold ...

One of the most successful game franchises of all time, The Sims, offers players the opportunity to build their own worlds filled with people of their creation whose lives and happiness rest in the palm of their hand. Whether you are creating massive family lineages, successfully raising your “Sim” through the ranks of a selected career, or watching your beloved Sim graduate college, you are in control of their every move and you have the power to give the best (or worst) life possible.

The Wii U gamepad is severely underutilized on the system, and very few game creators outside of Nintendo are trying to use it as more than just an away-from-TV screen. Developer Nnooo, however, has attempted to do so with their latest release, Cubemen 2. I reviewed Cubemen 2 on the Wii U, but after playing just one match on the PC once I was done with the Wii U version, I knew I was playing the wrong version.

Last year, Telltale elevated point and click games to a new level with their first season of the award-winning The Walking Dead. Creating a follow-up to that fantastic set of titles was a difficult task for Telltale, and they mostly succeeded. While there are moments of brilliance, season two doesn’t reach the level of excellence that season one was able to achieve.

Metro Redux is one in a long line of remasters released for new generation consoles, and it certainly won't be the last. While that might sound like a negative to those desperate for brand new experiences, Redux makes an effort to go above and beyond what other re-releases have done, offering new content and improved visuals on not one, but two already well-received games at a price that's difficult to ignore.

Infamous First Light puts you in the shoes of Abigail Walker, aka Fetch, one of, if not the most interesting characters from InFamous Second Son. It takes you through the events that led up to Fetch's role in the third game of the franchise, something largely unexplored in the base game's plot.

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.

There was a time when platformers were about the only type of game hitting the market. Spyro and Crash seemed to be the most talked about characters, and Mario 64 was a contender for the greatest game ever made. The genre peaked and, mixed with the dropping quality of long-time franchises, disappeared to almost nothing. The Last Tinker seems to try to recapture those glory days, but misses exactly what made the greats so noteworthy in the first place.

If you want to be a huge hit in the indie world, your best bet is to move to Sweden. At least it feels like that is where all the good games are coming from right now. This week will be no different, as SteamWorld Dig, already available on multiple platforms including the 3DS, will receive an additional release on Nintendo's Wii U console.All I need to tell you is that it is worth it.