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Review by Clark A.

Mega Man’s first outing is surprisingly overlooked for a mascot-spawning title. Its relevance may be called into question given the widespread opinion that its sequels all offer finer experiences, but the blue bomber’s lightened release schedule these days and his inclusion in the upcoming Smash Bros. may well end up drawing a few extra curious eyes to his debut.

Review by Clark A.
As much as I enjoy Sonic’s 2D platforming outings, they all share a particular similitude. If Tails Adventure (and please note, this isn't a grammar fail on our part, the game really isn't called "Tales' Adventure" like it should be - ed) is any indicator, though, that sameness may be a lynchpin upholding their general level of quality. Tails Adventure tosses many Sonic clichés and design choices to the wolves seemingly to be more alluring to fans of more methodical exploration.

Unconventional or not though, its take on the 2D platformer falls flat enough that fans of either gameplay style won’t find much left to appreciate.

Opinion by Matt S. 

Michael Pachter has riled up the most dedicated Nintendo fan base once again.

The cause for contention was this time over some rather frank and biting comments from Pachter that were reported on gamesindustry.biz, along with the idea that Nintendo should be releasing games on iOS (and Android, but for convenience this piece will just talk about iOS) platforms. After the story was published, my Twitter feed has been inundated with the usual retorts of "Pachter knows nothing" (because apparently not knowing stuff is how analysts keep their jobs at highly respected analyst firms) and "Nintendo should NEVER do iOS." And why should Nintendo NEVER do iOS? Because, obviously, iOS platforms lack buttons and as such it's inconceivable that they would actually play well.

Review by Matt S. 

Super Mario 3D Land was one of the few games on the 3DS where I would argue the 3D slider was an essential part of the experience. The game was built from the very ground to take advantage of 3D, and in fact as I was playing it I would struggle to properly gauge jumps and navigate around the world with the slider down.

So bringing a new "3D" game to a console that can't display 3D graphics struck me as a somewhat odd move by Nintendo. That initial impression didn't go away when I started to play the game. I did indeed lose a couple of lives early on from poorly-judged jumps and without Fire Mario at first I found it easier to simply avoid enemies than try to jump on them. That impression stayed with me for the first couple of levels, but I started to understand the physics and environments better, I was able to kick back and simply enjoy the supreme quality of level design that Mario's latest outing offers.

Review by Matt S. 

Story time, folks! Back when I was a young journalist money was tight to come by. Because young journalists don't earn much money, see. Then one day I got an abscess in the mouth. Because dentists are expensive and because I was young and stupid I ignored it. And of course it burst. 

The 3DS finally has an app that allows people to watch YouTube videos. The good news is that it works. The bad news is that it doesn't work that well.

Review by Chris I. 

The Crazy Chicken franchise has been a runaway success for developer Teyon on mobile platforms and understandably so: its simple pick-up and play nature is perfectly fitting for gaming on the go. Yet, this whimsical series has flapped its way onto Nintendo’s 3DS eShop and DSiWare services before and its set its scenes back in action once again with Crazy Chicken: Director’s Cut 3D.

Review by Matt S. 

Until I had started playing The Legend Of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, I had no interest in the game. Despite being obsessed with Zelda games as a child, the series has left me largely cold following the heights of Ocarina of Time.

Why has my relationship with the franchise waned in recent years? It's been a combination of things, really; the love affair that the recent games have developed for unnecessary features like trains, boats, touch screen and motion control gimmicks are just the start. These features were supported by a formula that had become so familiar that I knew what was going to happen next in the game from the opening cut scene. Nintendo is a conservative company at the best of times but it seemed so uncomfortable with making even the slightest changes to the formula so perfectly defined by Ocarina of Time that the developers had clearly forgotten that a new game should offer something genuinely new.

Review by Chris I. 

One of the joys of writing game reviews is that sometimes it’s the least expected games that surprises you. When Big John Games’ Ohno Odyssey came across my desk, the thought that came to mind was: “Oh no!” Yet, this charming little alien filled physics-based puzzle game proved my initial reactions wrong and put a smile on my face each and every time one of the little aliens cried “Oh no!”, as they approached their inevitable demise.

Review by Matt S.

With each new release, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic (or Winter Olympic) Games takes one more step towards becoming a generic and soulless minigame compilation. There's still fun to be had from these games, but it's easy to tell that budgets are getting smaller and ideas are running thin.

I still remember the Mario & Sonic at the Winter Olympic Games on the DS from the last Games. That one was a lot of fun with minigames that had a measure of depth to them. But then the last Summer Olympics game on the 3DS featured very few games that were worth playing more than once. Having not played one of these games on the home console before I'm happy to say the Wii U game is better than the 3DS Summer Olympics release, but can't match that DS game that I enjoyed so much as a single player experience.

But that being said the great difference between the handheld versions of these games, and the console versions, is that the console versions are that much better for multiplayer, and that makes all the difference.

Review by Clark A.

Word games and video games were two of my favourite pastimes growing up but the two largely remained segregated affairs. Back in the day, the simplicity of handhelds condemned crosswords and the like to the realm of pencil and paper. It’s somewhat disheartening, then, that Word Wizard 3D arrives years after Nintendo established workable pricing schemes, visuals, and controls yet isn’t able to outclass the standard dollar store activity book.

Interview by Matt S. 

Of all the third party developers working on the Nintendo Wii U, there is one that stands out as going out of its way to take the unique features of the console; the Australian porting house, Straight Right.

When the Wii U launched Straight Right gave us the best version of the brilliant Mass Effect 3, that really showed the way a game can provide players with information on the bottom screen in a way that enhances the overall experience. Then Straight Right was responsible for the excellent remake of Deus Ex: Human Revolution. The Director's Cut was initially meant to be a Wii U exclusive and use the Wii U Game Pad in a way that is integral to the game's experience. And it worked. After playing The Director's Cut I can't imagine playing Deus Ex without that excellent second screen enhancing the play.

Unfortunately for Straight Right both of its games have been mired by controversy that has meant the players have overlooked the games for superficial reasons. At the same time that Mass Effect 3 launched with the Wii U, players felt hard done by because EA also released the Mass Effect Collection (1, 2 and 3) for the same price on the other consoles. It didn't matter that the PS3 and Xbox 360 games in the collection had no work done to them, while the Wii U Mass Effect 3 was almost a remake, it was so extensively reworked for the Wii U; apparently players want quantity rather than quality.

And then the Deus Ex port was hampered by the fact it was also released (complete with second screen experience) for the PS3 and Xbox 360 at a slightly less price.

It's disappointing that the gaming community is more interested in complaining about what they're not getting than appreciating that they have the best version of two great games, but Straight Right Managing Director, Tom Crago, still wants to work on the console. Straight Right's sister company, Tantalus, is working on a sequel to the excellent casual farming sim Funky Barn, and even with two new consoles now on the market, Crago says his team has ideas for even more games.

We sat down to have a chat with Crago about Deus Ex, his hopes for the Wii U and other opportunities he sees in the market.

Opinion by Matt S. 

Recently, Gamesindustry.biz published an opinion piece that looked at the state of Nintendo and frankly, it was terrible. The crux of the argument was "Nintendo was once the bee's knees of the games industry, and even though it doesn't sell as much stuff now as it once did, it's still making fun games and it's going to be fine doing what it's doing."

If it was some random blog that published that, then it would have been easy enough to ignore; clickbait opinion is a common enough feature of enthusiast games press. But Gamesindustry is meant to be an industry publication and the writers over there are meant to be more interested in reporting business-orientated analysis and guidance rather than stroking fan's egos or engaging in schoolyard rhetoric.

So, since the supposed trade press don't want to discuss this issue properly, I might as well pick up the baton; the reality is that Nintendo is in desperate need of change (if it isn't already too late to do so). While we all want to see the company thrive because, like Disney, our childhoods are wrapped up in growing up with the products Nintendo provided, crossing fingers and praying for the best doesn't save corporations in the really real world.

Review by Nick H. 

I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the recently released Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures on the PlayStation 3. It offered some neat throwbacks to Sonic or Mario in there with its 3D platforming and power-ups. Namco Bandai made a game with the same name for the Nintendo 3DS as well, and it is a game with some similarities to the non-handheld versions, but many notable differences as well.