A recent arrival for North American home video, Professor Layton’s movie debut is that rarest of creations: a genuinely good game-based movie that completely captures the charm and appeal of its source material. If you’ve ever played a Layton game and wondered how the story would hold up without the hands-on puzzle gameplay, the answer is: extremely well. These sharply-written characte...
The eShop’s climb to excellence continues; Zen Pinball is amazingly good, combining great gameplay with a lifelike presentation only 3DS can deliver. Many of today’s gamers have never played a real, hand-built pinball machine, but I grew up near a terrific pinball arcade where gaming nights involved staring down through glass cabinet tops (marred by old cigarette ashes and drinking gla...
Nintendo’s software winning streak continues with Pushmo, another brilliant eShop title. In this odd, ingenious puzzle/platformer, you play a roly-poly little guy named Mallo on a mission to save children who’ve gotten trapped on Pushmo climbing walls, created by a loveable old carpenter who’s made it his life’s mission to build incredibly dangerous playground equipment. Th...
When Nintendo sets out to make a Zelda title, there are always high expectations even before a single line of code is written. There are few games that have the legacy of the Zelda franchise, and even fewer still outside of Nintendo. Because of this, The Legend of Zelda is always in the limelight and is always held to a higher standard than any other video game around. With the release of Skyward ...
Before playing Mario Kart 7 for the first time, keep your expectations realistic. This game doesn’t blow away Mario Kart DS or Mario Kart Wii, but instead stands confidently beside them as another great, vastly entertaining installment. It looks and sounds amazing, plays perfectly, and pulls some terrific tricks out of its sleeve, but in the end it’s 100% good old Mario Kart. It brings...
Rayman Origins is by far and away one of the most pleasant surprises of 2011. Who knew that the franchise that went from a side-scrolling platformer in 1995, to a mini-game collection in 2006 would come back full circle to deliver one of the finest platformering games in existence. Coming from a Nintendo fan who grew up with Mario titles such as Super Mario 3 and Super Mario World, this pra...
What a relief! After months of waiting, Mario’s arrived on 3DS with all cylinders firing. Super Mario 3D Land isn’t just a good portable Mario game; it’s one of the very best Mario adventures, topped only (for me, anyway) by SMB3 and Galaxy 2. Sharp, ingenious, and fun beyond belief, this game’s a feast for Mario fans as it pays tribute to characters and locales from the fr...
Freakyforms is one of the most enjoyable games I’ve ever played. That recommendation comes with a warning, however, for my tastes often veer far from mainstream gaming. This is a plotless, easygoing game that’s all about creating and collecting. It’s got a relaxed, happy Animal Crossing vibe and your time with Freakyforms will be evenly split between the amazing creation tools an...
This puzzle adventure had some pretty big shoes to fill, yet I’d hoped Professor Layton and the Last Specter would somehow top the excellence of last year’s Layton game, Unwound Future. That didn’t happen. What I experienced was 15 hours of great puzzles (with more content available for extended play), charming atmosphere and top-notch production values. The only thing missing wa...
Funny thing: right in the middle of all the current doom-and-gloom discussions, Nintendo’s just released one hell of a great game. Want a break from all the weird recent Nintendo announcements? Care to remember how fantastic this company’s games can be? Buy Starfox 64 3D; it’s a spectacular, funny, smooth-as-silk, super-replayable, nonstop thrill ride. I agree with Infendo Radio&...
There are two ways to approach a review of Let’s Golf 3D: 1) One could say, “Hey, the eShop just got its first third-party 3D game, and it’s a great one! What an awesome addition to the fledgling handheld’s lineup!” 2) Or, one could grumble, “The eShop’s first third-pary 3D game is a port of a year-old iPhone title! Nintendo is doooooooooomed!” Truth...
The eShop added a few new titles to its line-up this week, including Gameboy Tennis and a truly strange and funny little DSi platformer from Aksys Games Pro Jumper! Chimaki’s Hot Spring Tour! Guilty Gear Tangent!? puts you in the role of Chimaki the living rice cake. At the beginning of each level, Chimaki staggers home (presumably from his job as a minor sight-gag in the Guilty Gear games) ...