Author Profile
- Username
- StephenKelly180
- Articles
- 22 (20 reviews)
- First Article
- Sun 7th, October 2012
- Avg. Review Score
- 5.5
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Review World Conqueror 3D (3DS eShop)
Tanks, but no tanks
Field Marshal Archibald Percival Wavell of the British Army once said that “war is a muddle” and, quite frankly, we couldn’t agree with him more. The conflict he described was that of World War II; that's the very same that World Conqueror 3D strives to simulate, with messy results. No more than an overcomplicated clone of...
Review 101 Penguin Pets 3D (3DS eShop)
These penguins might leave you cold
When was the last time you met someone who distinctly disliked nature’s own best-dressed Antarctic fowl, the penguin? The answer is probably “never”, and Teyon is here to capitalize on that fact with its newest virtual pet product — 101 Penguin Pets 3D. Aimed directly at unsuspecting children and designed...
Review GOLF (Wii U eShop / NES)
Sub-par
Before the hyper-realistic, face-deforming technology of modern Tiger Woods games was conceived in the deepest dreams of Electronic Arts (a company busy with Marble Madness at the time), there was Golf for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The game wears its no-nonsense attitude on its sleeve, focusing on simulating the time-honoured sport...
Review Tennis (Wii U eShop / NES)
Net-net, a loss
Tennis — the NES game, not the actual sport — hails from an age when the most rudimentary of virtual simulations could be entertaining and notable simply by existing, perhaps causing a passing family member to comment on how it looks just like the real thing. Although a genuine novelty in the 80s, this dull-as-toast recreation of...
Fun and repetition Picross paths
There’s a question you must ask yourself before proceeding: do you want to play Picross? There’s been ample time to give the pastime a try, what with all the previous games put out by Jupiter, and the next step in this journey is remarkably similar to the last one. Picross e3 is a finely crafted puzzle game worth...
Review Star Wars Pinball (3DS eShop)
Hard to see, the dual screen is
The Wii U version of Star Wars Pinball activated the hyperdrive of success and shot off into the stars, promising many more adventures to come — the table designs were impressive and fantastic production values sealed the deal. Unfortunately, downloading the same title onto your 3DS results in a poor compromise,...
Review Spot the Differences: Party! (Wii U eShop)
Spot a different party
Spot the Differences: Party! will hand you photo after photo, politely asking you to identify the inconsistencies between their lookalikes until you either pass out from unrelenting boredom or stare at each and every one of the 300+ pictures on display. Go it alone or rope a friend or three into the monotony, but unless...
Easy to learn, difficult to pronounce
What if the Rubik’s Cube only had one side? It seems this question has kept the ironically named developers at CIRCLE Entertainment up all night, and those sleepless hours have resulted in a quality puzzle game that relaxes and taxes simultaneously. Wakedas is a straightforward affair that slowly ramps up the...
Review Tangram Style (3DS eShop)
Lots of tangram, not much style
The game of tangram has made the long journey from ancient China to your 21st century 3DS, and despite roughly one thousand years of technological improvement it’s still pretty much the same thing. Seven pieces of varying sizes and shapes must be crammed into a crude silhouette that may resemble a bird, a sailboat,...
Review Star Wars Pinball (Wii U eShop)
Laugh it up, pinball
If the Disneyland Star Tours attraction was systematically dismantled and reassembled by brilliant maniacs who love tabletop arcade games a whole lot, it would surely be a perfect doppelganger to Star Wars Pinball. The creators of Zen Pinball and Pinball FX have somehow managed to stuff all the joy and adventure of Star Wars...
Review Vegas Stakes (Wii U eShop / SNES)
Jackpot winner or total craps?
Nothing says “SNES classic” like a high-stakes trip to a menagerie of Las Vegas casinos. You’re invited to bust open the bank account for a night of potentially irresponsible entertainment as you hop from game to gambling game with your crew of potentially irresponsible friends. Even if a 1993 rendition of...
Review Wrecking Crew (Wii U eShop / NES)
It's wrecking time!
Mario's claim to fame has often been jumping; a simple skill, but unfailingly entertaining. It can be tough to remember a time when he traded high-flying acrobatics for a hammer and an insatiable appetite for destruction, but that's exactly the case in Wrecking Crew. Smashing things to bits is the straightforward goal, but...
Review Kirby's Dream Land 3 (Wii U eShop / SNES)
Third time's the charming
Kirby’s Dream Land 3 is the epitome of a lovable gaming experience. Carefree and popping with irresistible charm, this SNES platformer builds off the two previous Game Boy entries in the series and fulfills the potential they introduced. That doesn’t mean the core mechanics have suddenly become nuanced or up to par with...
Review Kirby Super Star (Wii U eShop / SNES)
Dedede-lightful
Kirby Super Star is a smorgasbord of creativity, as if the developers at HAL Laboratory had a game jam for two weeks straight and came out on the other side with a beautifully disheveled collection of Kirby’s best. Nine sub-games, ranging from one-button tests of reflex to multi-hour adventures, are stuffed onto the SNES with no...
Review California Super Sports (DSiWare)
A bad sport
To understand what California Super Sports is, start with Wii Sports. Do you have the handful of mini-games fixed in your mind, complete with simple rules and bobble-headed athletes? Good; now trade in your Wii Remote for a DS stylus. Next, systemically break every intuitive gameplay system and control scheme in sight. Then sabotage the...
Review Balloon Fight (3DS eShop / NES)
Balloons don't float forever
In Balloon Fight you manipulate a little fellow who can flutter through the skies thanks to a pair of balloons strapped to his back and vigorous arm flapping. The world is a dangerous place for the intrepid defier of gravity, particularly when it comes to jealous birds — also illogically equipped with balloons — who...
Review Ice Climber (Wii U eShop / NES)
Slippery controls are on thin ice
Ice Climber, despite the self-explanatory title, is more complex than a cursory glance would suggest. Popo the parka-toting lad (and identical twin Nana in the multiplayer mode) must scale thirty-two vertically scrolling mountains to rescue a large number of delicious eggplants, using only wits and indestructible...
Review Crazy Construction (3DS eShop)
More like Crazy FUN-struction
On the surface, Crazy Construction sounds like the epitome of shovelware; a generic puzzle game that slaps together tired ideas and a dash of zany alliteration to garner enough sales to crank out the next one. Take a closer look, however, and you’ll discover a cleverly designed arcade-style title that boasts a fun,...
Review Working Dawgs: Rivet Retriever (DSiWare)
A dog's breakfast
Working Dawgs: Rivet Retriever is a platformer doomed to be forgotten. An uninspired follow-up to puzzle game Working Dawgs: A-maze-ing Pipes, every facet of this downloadable title succumbs to the dark side of video games, thoroughly beating down what simple enjoyment might be found in a side-scroller this basic. If the underlying...
Review Viewtiful Joe (GameCube)
A Viewtiful debut
Joe is nothing more than an average… well, Joe, as it were. The guy loves old movies and their cheesy melodrama, so when a malevolent hand drags him into a superhero flick, he’s absolutely pumped. This is a chance to do the impossible; to pull off his favorite actions scenes with high-flying kicks, slow-motion thrills, and...
Feature The New Dimensions of Pokémon
Snap and Dream Radar change the perspective
Trading cards and anime episodes aside, the Pokémon series is known for a long-lasting line of handheld RPGs. You've almost certainly played one or two of them — and we suspect that quite a few of you are already getting into Pokémon Black & White 2 — most likely followed by an obsessed state of...
Feature The Bizarre History of Pokémon Technology
Go Go Gadget Pokémon
Ever since the Game Boy link cable connected rival trainers together in Pokémon Red and Blue, the famed monster-catching franchise has been fascinated with novel technology. Pick an eccentric doodad at random from Nintendo's library of experiments and you're certain to find a guinea Tepig tagging along to make sure it's safe...