103 public reviews
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A young vampire prince is the hero in The Twisted Tales of Spike McFang, an action RPG sequel to the Japan-only PC-Engine platformer Makai Prince Dorabocchan (1990). In this game, the young vampire prince Spike McFang is joined by his friend Camelia to rescue their parents from Rudy's father, the evil Von Hessler, who threatens to take over the land of Vladamasco. Gameplay Like most action RPGs of the 16-bit era,…
Alundra 2 ditches the 2D visuals and dark subject matter of the original in favor of 3D graphics and a comical adventure story. However, the action RPG game play of the original is largely kept intact, including Alundra 's heavy focus on platforming. In this game, a pirate hunter named Flint becomes embroiled in a conspiracy masterminded by Baron Diaz, who is attempting to usurp the throne a neighboring kingdom and…
The Saturn wasn’t the most popular game console during the mid-to-late ’90s, overshadowed by the PlayStation and N64, but there were a number of great games made for it that I wanted to sink my teeth into. Imagine my surprise when during the first few minutes that I demoed the game I wasn’t all that impressed. The graphics looked fairly 16-bit (though clearly on the higher spectrum of 16-bit), the control was…
On the surface Alundra looks like a garden-variety Zelda clone, but at heart it shares more in common with Landstalker (SEGA Genesis), featuring challenging jumping puzzles not found in the Zelda franchise. That’s no surprise as many of Alundra’s development team came from Climax Entertainment, the company behind Landstalker and several other classic 16-bit RPGs. It’s known for its above-average difficulty and its…
CyberConnect’s Tail Concerto is a cute little 3D action platformer for the original PlayStation starring anthropomorphic dogs and cats designed by Nobuteru Yuki (probably most famous for his character designs in the television series Escaflowne ). It’s the first game in the company’s imaginative Little Tail Bronx series, set in a steampunk world of floating islands. Story & Game Play The Black Cats Gang is causing…
A hunted race of advanced A.I. beings leaves Earth in search of a new home in The Divide: Enemies Within. After your mothership releases probes on an alien world, the local wildlife goes berserk and you and your partner are attacked. After thawing from a deep freeze you awaken to find your partner is gone, and you set out in your Terragator mech to find what out what happened. Released almost 20 years ago, The…
Mole Mania is a clever and addictive puzzle game that was originally created for the black and white GameBoy. A wily farmer named Jinbe kidnaps Muddy Mole’s wife and seven children, so Muddy sets off to reclaim them through mazes filled with devious puzzle rooms. Considering Mole Mania was designed by legendary Nintendo game creator Shigeru Miyamoto it’s a rather obscure title, but one that’s been given a second…
The Wario Ware series turned a new leaf with Twisted!, featuring a built-in gyro sensor that detected the orientation of the cartridge. You play most of the included 200 micro games by tilting the GameBoy Advance, and in some cases you’ll have to fully rotate the system in your hands to win. The cartridge also comes with a rumble feature, which gives you satisfying tactile feedback for every degree you tilt the…
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia is the third and final installment in the Castlevania series on the Nintendo DS, following Dawn of Sorrow (2005) and Portrait of Ruin (2006). This time the secretive Order of Ecclesia, unconnected to the Belmont clan, is attempting to prevent Dracula’s centennial resurrection by collecting the fragments of his scattered soul. These glyphs can only be controlled by Shanoa, a raven…
Travis Touchdown returns to the seedy town of Santa Destroy after his friend, the owner of a local video store, is brutally murdered. Little did he know that there would be a laundry list of twisted assassins itching for a chance to match swords with him. When he left three years earlier Travis was the top-ranked assassin in the United Assassins Association (UAA), but in his absence dropped all the way down to #51.…
Fittingly, The Last Story is one of the last Wii titles to come out and one of the few role-playing games made for the console. Designed and directed by Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, it’s a fairly traditional role-playing game but features some progressive ideas. Story The majority of the game takes place on Lazulis Island, where Zael and his mercenary friends dream of moving up in society. They’re hired…
Capcom gets its fair share of criticism for milking its franchises to death, so when it takes a chance on something different it’s usually worth a look. Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective certainly qualifies: it’s a totally original IP that puts a unique spin on the adventure genre, which has sorely needed some innovative ideas. The player takes on the role of a ghost who’s spirit can interact with nearby objects, like…
Nintendo returns to the Legend of Zelda series once again with Skyward Sword, and like every second game in the series this one does away with the usual antagonist and setting. Nintendo has managed to create a fairly unique world for the game, with childhood friends Link and Zelda living in the floating island town called Skyloft. The game begins as Link is about to compete in an annual competition to see who will…
Mistwalker, led by Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, tried to bring something new to the action-RPG genre with Away: Shuffle Dungeon. A mysterious force known as the Away has been kidnapping the villagers for the past 100 years, and our hero must rescue them from the many portals that appear in town. The game’s primary gimmick uses both screens on the Nintendo DS to show two rooms, which alternately shuffle…
Kirby, Nintendo’s lovable pink puffball, stars in a game unlike any of his usual adventures in Kirby’s Epic Yarn. His trademarked ability to inhale enemies and steal their powers disappears when an evil magician transforms him into a string of yarn. It turns out this affliction isn’t without it’s perks, and Kirby is quick to take advantage during his stay in Patch Land. A second player can join Kirby for some…
( www.plasticpals.com ) Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift is another installment in Square-Enix’s turn-based strategy role-playing franchise. As expected it shares more in common with its GBA predecessor than the PlayStation game (now available on the PSP and iPhone). It’s one of the best examples of its genre, but each game in the series requires a big time commitment. Taking a page from The…
Read the full review Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift
SEGA has finally published an English version of Monster World IV, the final entry in the Wonder Boy series (originally released for the Genesis / Megadrive in 1994). In this game the titular hero Wonder Boy has been replaced by a gypsy girl named Asha (which explains why Wonder Boy isn’t in the title), but it otherwise retains the action-adventure flavor the series is known for. Game Play Similar in style to other…
SEGA has finally published an English version of Monster World IV, the final entry in the Wonder Boy series (originally released for the Genesis / Megadrive in 1994). In this game the titular hero Wonder Boy has been replaced by a gypsy girl named Asha (which explains why Wonder Boy isn’t in the title), but it otherwise retains the action-adventure flavor the series is known for. It is now available as a download…
On its surface Radiant Historia looks like a typical Japanese RPG: the world is in peril, rival kingdoms battle over remaining territory, and you’re stuck in the middle of the conflict. Looks can be deceiving though, and this (one of the last RPGs made for the Nintendo DS) has a number of pleasant surprises. There are no random monsters, strategy and planning play a major role in battle, and the story is less linear…
Professor Layton & The Last Specter is the fourth chapter in the series, and the final installment on the Nintendo DS. Like the previous installments players can solve around 150 puzzles, all while uncovering a central mystery. This time a monstrous phantom is attacking the town of Misthallery, and Layton is summoned by an old friend to get to the bottom of things. Story The far-fetched plot of The Last Specter…
Dawn of Mana is the last game in Squaresoft’s tree-hugging action-RPG franchise. It’s the most ambitious of four titles released under the World of Mana umbrella, an initiative intended to boost the franchise into mainstream popularity. Despite being universally panned by the press, it had quite a lot going for it. It made the transition from 2D to 3D for the first time, and introduced several new ideas to keep…
Nostalgia is a project dreamed up by Naoki Morita (the creator of the Sakura Taisen series) as early as 1996, but wasn’t realized until more than a decade later. It stars a young British boy named Edward who wants to become an adventurer like his father, who has recently gone missing. It takes place in an alternate 19th century Earth, and includes famous cities such as London, New York, Cairo, and Tokyo. In his…
GrimGrimoire is a real-time strategy game that takes place in a magic school. You play the role of Lillet Blan, a new student who arrives just five days before everyone is massacred. Saved by a mysterious power, Lillet is sent back in time and has to prevent the same course of events from playing out. With characters like the wise old wizard Gammel Dore and suspicious teachers, the general feel owes much to the…
Solatorobo (lit. Sky and Robot) is said to be a dream project for the developers, who had been fleshing out various aspects of the game’s world for many years. It is the spiritual sequel to their breakout title Tail Concerto (originally released in 1998 for the PlayStation). The series is known for its anthropomorphic animal people who pilot robots and airships between floating island cities. As a bounty hunter, Red…
I couldn't bring myself to finish Legendary Starfy. It was developed by TOSE, which had worked on the surprisingly competent Super Princess Peach , and it sort of reminded me of Kirby, so I thought it might be good. Despite several Starfy games on the GBA that never saw release outside of Japan, we finally got a remake on DS, but it seems this is one that was better left overseas. Presentation The graphics are nice…
Tokobot Plus: Mysteries of the Karakuri is an odd little puzzle-platform game where you play as Bolt, a young treasure master. You’ll explore ancient ruins in the search for rare treasure and adventure. You’re always accompanied by a throng of up to eight robot helpers (the Tokobots) which can link together in different formations to serve various functions. It’s a cute little game that offers something unique, but…
Read the full review Tokobot Plus: Mysteries of the Karakuri
Dragon Quest VIII: The Journey of the Cursed King follows the trail of an evil jester named Dhoulmagus who has cursed the inhabitants of the kingdom of Trodain. The hero is the only person in the castle who manages to resist the evil magic, so the king (who has been transformed into an imp) enlists his help. Together they’ll make many friends and some enemies on a grand old quest for king and country. It closely…
Read the full review Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King
Dragon Quest Swords is a spin-off of the popular role-playing franchise that simplifies the standard formula in favor of action-oriented battles. It gets its name from its primary gimmick: players swing the Wii remote like a sword during battle to slay monsters. It retains some of the standard design elements of more sophisticated role-playing games (such as character building and item management), but limits the…
Read the full review Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and The Tower Of Mirrors
Like the other games in the Crystal Chronicles line-up, The Crystal Bearers is an action-oriented spin-off to the popular Final Fantasy role-playing games. This one is a bit of a deviation from the previous chapters, because the story is given more attention, and it’s strictly single player. You play as a human Crystal Bearer, mutant outcasts that are generally untrusted because of their magical powers. The story…
Read the full review Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers
A Boy and his Blob: Trouble on Blobolonia is one of those classic puzzle platform games from the 8-bit era that was long overdue for a remake on modern consoles. An alien Blob from another planet crash lands on Earth, and befriends a young boy. It turns out the Blob loves jellybeans, and will transform into any number of different tools depending on what beans it consumes. The boy has to ration his jelly beans as he…
Lost in Shadow is one of the last hurrahs of veteran Japanese game developer Hudson Soft before being absorbed by Konami, and one of the company’s most original offerings. Hudson Soft had survived through the past decade by rehashing its classic game franchises like Bomberman , which probably didn’t help keep the company solvent. It’s a shame they didn’t make more games like Lost in Shadow, an original 2.5D…
Sands of Destruction looked like a great game, thanks in no small part to its list of supremely talented creators. Masato Kato (the director), Kunihiko Tanaka (the character designer), and Yasunori Mitsuda (the music composer), all played key roles in the making of the classic PlayStation RPG Xenogears . Their latest work looked to recapture some of the former’s magic, with 32-bit style presentation and combo-driven…
In what could be described as a re-imagining of the original 8-bit sensation, Nintendo returns to its roots with a traditional 2D side-scrolling Mario game. It has all the hallmarks of Mario’s first adventure in the Mushroom Kingdom, but ditches the frustrations with a more modern approach. It’s an ode to the oldschool game play that made the Italian plumber famous, but a game that can be beaten in a single sitting…
Electroplankton is undoubtedly one of the most original creations on the Nintendo DS. Designed by Toshio Iwai (the creator of the electronic step-sequencer called the Tenori-On), Electroplankton is more of a musical toy than a video game. Besides his love of video games and music, Iwai’s primary inspiration came from his childhood memories looking through a microscope. When playing, the top screen shows an enlarged…
Tingle, The Legend of Zelda ‘s most controversial character, stars in his own off-the-wall adventure in Freshy-Picked: Tingle’s Rosy Rupeeland. Tingle first appeared in Zelda: Majora’s Mask on the N64, and quickly garnered the hatred of many Zelda fans for sticking out like a sore thumb in the Zelda universe. The negative response to an online poll squashed the game’s chances of being released in North America. This…
Read the full review Freshly-Picked: Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland
The Mario franchise has spawned countless entries in the hop-n-bop platformer genre, but surprisingly Nintendo hasn’t made a game specifically starring the series’ archetypal damsel in distress until now. She most notably appeared as one of the four selectable characters in the 8-bit Super Mario Bros. 2 (1988), and regularly participates in various sports games, but you’d think Nintendo would have made a game like…
There’s a fun television show from Japan called Game Center CX , where a comedian named Shinya Arino tries his hand at popular video games. Fans can wax nostalgic as the host plays popular titles, particularly those from the original 8-bit Nintendo, which were usually pretty tough. In Retro Game Challenge, the tables are turned when Arino sends the player back to the ’80s to play a variety of games lovingly based on…
Camelot Software Planning’s role-playing roots stretch back to games like Shining Force , and their Golden Sun series carries that tradition forward. Beginning life on the GameBoy Advance in 2001 and followed by a direct sequel in 2003, the series has had a 7 year hiatus. It makes the transition to the Nintendo DS in the platform’s last remaining months, amidst a fairly crowded line-up of similar games. Can its…
Dragon Quest’s Zenithian Trilogy finally wraps up with the long-awaited release of Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation. It’s a remake of the beloved Japan-only Super Famicom role-playing game from 1995, and marks the first time it is available in English. The 16-bit original is now 16 years old, and like the remakes of its siblings Dragon Quest IV and V , the new version has been dusted off by updated graphics,…
Mario first jumped into the RPG genre with Squaresoft’s classic Super Mario RPG: Legend of the 7 Stars for the Super Nintendo. Many of the developers that worked on that title, including its director Yoshihiko Maekawa, formed the company AlphaDream , and they’ve retooled the general formula with Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. This was the first game to allow direct control of both Mario and Luigi simultaneously. It…
Home to three great games in the Castlevania series, the GameBoy Advance is the perfect cure for all that ails the oldschool gamer. While not quite the creamy center we all expected, Harmony of Dissonance is still a benchmark for the system and a valuable learning experience (which paid off in Aria of Sorrow ). It is without question much easier than Circle of the Moon , and more closely resembles the PlayStation…
Artdink is a small Japanese company that has made some of the strangest gaming experiences in the medium. From the relaxing scuba diving in Aquanaut’s Holiday , to programming interplanetary war machines in Carnage Heart , they’ve pushed the envelope of what games can be. Tail of the Sun, an unusual caveman simulation, is no exception. It was released during a wonderful period of innovation on the original…
Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light is a side-story that takes its inspiration from the earlier 8-bit and 16-bit installments; a time when games were genuinely challenging and couldn’t rely on flashy graphics to hold a player’s attention. Players can customize their characters with a variety of skills using the Crown System, which functions like the job system from Final Fantasy 3 , though it has some interesting…
Treasure Hunter G was developed by Sting and was the last game Squaresoft published on the Super Famicom. Like so many RPGs from that era, Treasure Hunter G was never released outside of Japan, which is a shame since this one is quite good. Luckily some hardworking fans have since translated it in full for all to enjoy. Like Sting’s newer offerings Riviera and Yggdra Union , strategy will be the key to victory in…
It’s not often that a system gets a launch title with as much clout as Castlevania, but the GameBoy Advance got lucky. In this adventure Nathan Graves fills the role of the vampire hunter when Camilla revives Count Dracula in 1830. It’s a race to the finish as Nathan’s mentor, Morris Baldwin, is being held somewhere inside the castle and will be sacrificed at the next full moon to restore the vampire to his full…
Metroid: Other M, developed by Nintendo and Tecmo’s Team Ninja (known for the Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive games) is the first in the series where the main heroine, Samus Aran, has a speaking role. Throughout the series’ 8 previous games, Samus Aran’s personality was little more than an outline tracing a fearless, silent galactic bounty hunter. Her personality was left to the player’s imagination, akin to Star…
Wario Ware Inc.: Mega Microgames (Mini Game Mania in Europe) capitalized on a game genre that arguably first appeared on the SEGA Saturn in 1998 ( Segata Sanshirō Shinken Yūgi ). Containing 200 microgames, two dozen full-fledged minigames, and one or two complete remakes, Wario Ware is all about testing your reflexes in a huge variety of strange challenges. It can be played for more than two hours or for less than…
Avalon Code is an Action-RPG in the vein of The Legend of Zelda , with a twist. At the outset, the player has the choice between a hero or heroine who is destined to change the world. They alone have the power to alter the Book of Prophecy – which eventually lists pretty much everything in existence. How you alter its contents effects change immediately, and will also determine what happens when the world is born…
