Square Enix Game Reviews
Review Chrono Trigger (Virtual Console / Super Nintendo)
One of the truly greatest RPG experiences ever created
Soon after Chrono Trigger appeared on the Super Nintendo in 1995, it quickly became regarded as one of the most unique and impressive RPG releases to hit the system. Not only was it developed by a who's who of some of the greatest role-playing designers in the industry, the finished product...
Review Bust-A-Move Universe (3DS)
Burst bubble
Bub and Bob may have started out capturing foes with their crazy dinosaur bubble breath by day and moonlighting as arcade puzzle game stars, but the latter of which we can only imagine to be the more lucrative field as it morphed into their full-time job. It's easy to see how this happened: Bust-A-Move/Puzzle Bobble is incredibly fun...
Review Final Fantasy III (Virtual Console / Super Nintendo)
Still one of the best RPGs to come out of the 16-bit era
What can you say about the Final Fantasy series that hasn't already been said a thousand times before? The titles have become one of the best-selling video game series in history and have been largely responsible for making the RPG genre so popular with fans across the globe. After having...
Review Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation (DS)
It's about slime!
It's certainly no secret that Nintendo made the right move in choosing to publish Dragon Quest IX outside of Japan as the game not only drew rave reviews from the gaming media, but also broke numerous sales records along the way as well. Now in an effort to keep the momentum rolling, it's decided to help Square-Enix resurrect one...
Review Kingdom Hearts Re:coded (DS)
Some bugs in the system
The DS is no stranger to the Kingdom Hearts series, having previously seen Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days back in 2009, which proved to be a rather enjoyable adventure. Now we have Kingdom Hearts Re:coded, a remake of Japan only mobile-phone title Kingdom Hearts Coded. Taking place after Kingdom Hearts 2, Jiminy finds a new,...
Review Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (DS)
Your days are numbered
Kingdom Hearts is a series which will need little introduction to many gamers. First seeing release in 2002 for the PS2, it centres around the adventures of Sora and his friends as they battle the Heartless across the different worlds. Highly noted for the crossover of Disney and Final Fantasy elements, mixed together into an...
Square Enix mixes it up with Mario, but is it any good?
Mario is one of those annoying people who seems to be good at whatever he turns his hand to: not satisfied with merely being a tennis champion, golf champion, kart racing champion and constant saviour of the Mushroom Kingdom, Mario is trying out four new sports in Mario Sports Mix for Wii and...
Review Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light (DS)
As challenging as it is charming
Having already had success with its two previous Final Fantasy DS remakes, Matrix Software decided to take a fairly different approach for the brand new and completely original Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light. While some of the basic gameplay elements were carried over, the game received a fairly significant...
Review Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest (Virtual Console / Super Nintendo)
A simplified Final Fantasy experience
Back in 1992, role-playing games were still largely ignored outside of Japan, but Square tried to remedy this with the release of Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest. The game not only added a bit more action to the experience, it also greatly simplified the gameplay mechanics as well. While this certainly offered up a...
Review Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies (DS)
It's slime time!
You'd be hard-pressed to find a video game series more influential to the Japanese RPG genre than Dragon Quest. Although the constantly-evolving Final Fantasy titles have generally remained more popular over the years, the former has stayed a favourite among long-time fans for its uncanny ability to retain the old-school console RPG...
Review The Tales of Bearsworth Manor: Puzzling Pages (WiiWare)
A beary good game
We've already seen the first Tales of Bearsworth Mansion release make use of a tower defence-style gameplay mechanic, but now Square-Enix is mixing things up a bit with Tales of Bearsworth Manor: Puzzling Pages, the second game in the series and a game that uses the same bear-tossing element of the first release but takes things...
Review The Tales of Bearsworth Manor: Chaotic Conflicts (WiiWare)
A bear-knuckle ball
For anyone that's played video games for an extended span of time, the name Square-Enix has long been synonymous with epic role-playing adventures and in-depth strategy battles. So when you see the company release a rather offbeat spooky-themed storybook adventure on WiiWare, your first reaction is likely one of bewilderment. But...
Review The World Ends With You (DS)
Animazing
Tearing up many RPG conventions that its publisher Square Enix put into place, The World Ends With You is vibrant, energetic and an absolute blast to play. You play Neku Sakuraba, a young Japanese kid who wakes up with no recollection of who he is or how he got there. So far, so standard, right? It would be, except for the fact he wakes up...
Review Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber (Virtual Console / Nintendo 64)
One of the N64's only strategy titles, but also the best
Last year, the Virtual Console brought us Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen, the "fifth" title in the Ogre Battle series (although none of the first four chapters in the story actually exist.) An incredibly rare game, it was also one of the best strategy titles on the SNES, allowing...
Review Puzzle Bobble Galaxy (DS)
A worthy entry in the classic puzzle series
Known by the less-than-cool moniker of "Bust-a-Move" in North America, Puzzle Bobble has been a fixture of the puzzle genre for over a decade, appearing on every console and handheld since the NEO GEO and Gameboy Colour. Puzzle Bobble Galaxy isn't the first Puzzle Bobble game on the DS, but it is...
Review Final Fantasy II (Virtual Console / Super Nintendo)
Still a timeless RPG classic.
While the game was the second numbered Final Fantasy when it was released in North America back in 1991, it's actually the fourth entry in the series due to the second and third 8-bit releases remaining in Japan at the time. It marked the series debut on Nintendo's 16-bit console and added quite a few new gameplay...
Review Final Fantasy (Virtual Console / NES)
The game that kicked off the most popular RPG series in existence.
Role-playing games began their climb to popularity during the early 80's on the many personal computers of the time period. These turn-based titles brought a more strategic element to gaming for those looking to use their minds more than their reflexes. Square obviously saw the...
Review Dragon Quest Wars (DSiWare)
It might not be a typical Dragon Quest RPG, but there's still plenty of fun to be had
It goes without saying that the Dragon Quest series has enjoyed phenomenal success around the world as an RPG series over the years, so placing the name on any game is going to automatically heap certain expectations onto that game, no matter what type of game it...
Review Arkanoid Plus! (WiiWare)
Another breakthrough for Taito?
Taito's doing a fine job reviving its classic franchise on WiiWare - Space Invaders was revived with a completely different, fun gameplay style, while three games from the Bubble Bobble series all got decent to great remakes. This one's more like the Bubble Bobble games, in that it's a straight-up remake of the...
Review Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a Darklord (WiiWare)
Here's your chance to try out life as a Darklord!
As a launch title for the WiiWare service in all regions, the long-titled Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King was highly anticipated by fans of the famous series and city-building enthusiasts alike. Having received positive critical acclaim from the gaming world, which appeared to...
Review Puzzle Bobble Plus! (WiiWare)
The third Bubble Bobble series remake to hit WiiWare. Is it any good after the somewhat disappointing Rainbow Islands?
Puzzle Bobble - or Bust-A-Move as it's known in North America - is perhaps the most well-known game in the Bubble Bobble series. Almost everybody's played it in some way or form, with multiple versions and a ton of rip-offs over the...
Review Final Fantasy IV: The After Years (WiiWare)
Does this title retain the magic of the original 16-bit release?
We've already seen companies like Capcom and Konami resurrect classic franchises on the WiiWare service, many using the classic 8 and 16-bit visuals found in the original titles to give them even more retro appeal. So it should come as no surprise that Square Enix has also seen fit to...
Review Dragon Warrior Monsters (Game Boy)
Does this monster-hunting spin off live up to the Dragon Quest name?
It's always a risky proposition when you create a spin-off of an already established and popular franchise, so when Enix decided to take the theme of their hugely popular Dragon Quest series and build a monster-hunting title around it, some RPG fans were more than a little...
Review Crystal Defenders R2 (WiiWare)
Does this second Crystal Defenders release bring enough new material to the table to warrant a look?
Whereas the Xbox Live Arcade and iPhone releases of Crystal Defenders came in one package, Square-Enix has chosen to split the WiiWare release into two separate parts. We've already seen Crystal Defenders R1 released on the service and now we've...
Review Rainbow Islands: Towering Adventure! (WiiWare)
Is there a pot of gold at the end of this rainbow?
So there you are, transformed from a bubble-blowing dinosaur into human form again, ready to start your life afresh – maybe get a flat, a new car and settle into a good routine. But then, before you can say "9 to 5", you gain the ability to fire rainbows and have to use this skill to...
Review Crystal Defenders R1 (WiiWare)
Break out the safe box.
Trailing off the coattails of Final Fantasy Tactics comes Crystal Defenders, Square's take on the incredibly popular 'Tower Defense' genre. Instead of methodically leveling units, using items, and strategizing your way through battle, you’ll be tasked with defending a set of crystals by means of brute force. Some may be...
Review Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles (GameCube)
Change is good.
After first being officially announced on December 21 at the 2003 Jump Festa event in Japan, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles marked the dawn of a new era for Nintendo fans. After Square Enix packed their bags and left Nintendo’s consoles, the state of the role-playing genre on Nintendo’s consoles was questionable; developer...
Review Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time (DS)
The definitive version of Square Enix's latest FF outing.
Square Enix has made some outlandish choices in the past, but none as strange as their decision to port Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time to the Wii. While the home console version wasn't all that impressive, its portable partner is a much more enjoyable experience. With the...
Review Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time (Wii)
Can the Wii version echo the quality of the DS game it spawned from?
It’s not every day that you hear about a game being ported from console to handheld, let alone the other way around. That’s why when Square Enix announced their plans to do this with Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time many started scratching their heads. For...
Review Bubble Bobble Plus! (WiiWare)
Space Invaders Get Even proved that drastically changing a classic Taito franchise works very well. Bubble Bobble Plus, however, is more of a flat-out remake - is it a good one?
Bubble Bobble's one of the most well-known arcade games - If you so much as hum the theme song to someone it's very likely they'll recognize it. As such it's really a...
