MERCH!
Giant Bomb - a website about video games and the people that make them

drrandle (Premium member)'s Reviews

20 public reviews

The views here are this user’s only and are not representative of Giant Bomb's thoughts and opinions on the discussed video game. GB's official reviews reside at giantbomb.com/reviews.

Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box2007

5 out of 5 stars

MYSTERIOUS! Professor Layton is a gentleman's man. He's a modern day Sherlock Holmes (no wait, they just did that...) He's like a modern day Sherlock Holmes with less explosions and crazy. Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box , like the titular character, exudes charm as it matches wits with you in the form of brainteasers and riddles. It may be more of the same, but the way the Layton series operates, that's…

Read the full review Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories2009

5 out of 5 stars

"She's 7, short black hair." Silent Hill has lost a lot of favor with most fans in recent years. Silent Hill 4 divided the fan base up, with people liking it taking a vast minority. Silent Hill 0rigins w as released with little fanfare, despite being a perfectly sound title. Homecoming was a damned train wreck of a game that didn't have a single original thought in it's head. (Not that I'm making my feelings on…

Read the full review Silent Hill: Shattered Memories

Kirby: Squeak Squad2006

4 out of 5 stars

The Squeaks The Kirby franchise has always been full of easy-as-hell games, but it's always maintained a high level of enjoyability and replayability. A large part of that success comes from the charm of the presentation. There's something simple and enjoyable about being an adorable pink puffball inhaling your enemies and taking their powers for your own. Kirby: Squeak Squad forgoes the revolutionary gameplay of…

Read the full review Kirby: Squeak Squad

Plants vs. Zombies2009

5 out of 5 stars

My review may very well be a little skewed. I've never really played any tower defense style games, so if you're coming to this review wondering if it's that "one more time" tower defense game, I can't really help you. What I can do is assure you that, one way or another, PopCap's latest Plants vs. Zombies is an unmistakably brilliant game, crammed with a surprising amount of charm and content. The premise behind…

Read the full review Plants vs. Zombies

Bird & Beans2009

4 out of 5 stars

I'll say it now, this is what a DSi game in the $2 range should be. Bird and Beans , or Pyoro for those who are as obsessed with the WarioWare franchise as I am, is an addictive, yet simplistic arcade style game. You play as a little red bird with a long tongue and a never ending appetite for beans. You hop along the ground on the bottom while shooting said tongue up at a 45 degree angle to snag the falling beans…

Read the full review Bird & Beans

Mixed Messages2009

3 out of 5 stars

With the 2nd wave of DSiWare comes Mixed Messages from Activision . The game is essentially a refined version of the traditional Telephone game you might have played when you were younger. The first player is either given a phrase, or makes one up (depending on the number of players) and then must hand the DS over to a second player. That player then draws the subject from that description. Once that's done, you…

Read the full review Mixed Messages

Dr. Mario Express2008

3 out of 5 stars

Not mine, but certainly funny. I'm a huge fan of Dr. Mario games, I'll throw that out there right now. Take one quick look at my handle, if you want some evidence. I've played just about every version of the game that's come out, and I have to say, Dr. Mario Express does not stack up as one of the best of them, but it's so damn convenient. For those who've never had an appointment with the Doctor , let me help you…

Read the full review Dr. Mario Express

Zenses: Rainforest2008

3 out of 5 stars

If you're looking for an interesting set of puzzle games, Rainforest is a great place. There's 6 in total, with varying degrees of difficulty and a few minor " achievement " style challenges to complete for each game. All and all, it's more complete than some puzzle game packages, and each one of the games is actually more unique than I thought there would be. There's not a Bejeweled clone to be found. Plus the This…

Read the full review Zenses: Rainforest

Mirror's Edge2008

3 out of 5 stars

A competent first-person platformer with some promising ideas, Mirror's Edge eventually nose-dives off of a building and crashes into the pavement... if it's not gunned down by SWAT members, first. I appreciate it when a game takes a gamble. I always enjoy a new intelligent property, or a complete overhaul to an old property. Mirror's Edge was another of EA 's attempts at throwing something new into the mix,…

Read the full review Mirror's Edge

Fable II2008

5 out of 5 stars

I'll be honest, I never got around to playing the first Fable so I was very quick to find a disconnect when playing Fable II . There was a lot of talk about old guilds and lands that I had no real idea of, and I mention that only because I'm saying that I have no prior Fable experience to base this on. That in mind... Wow. I wasn't sure what to expect, and was less sure when a bird craps on my character in the…

Read the full review Fable II

Silent Hill: Homecoming2008

3 out of 5 stars

Silent Hill has a history of two things: somewhat confusing, albeit meaningful stories and scarring you for life. The games have always managed to evoke deep levels of emotion and fear, even when the gameplay itself was a little less than stellar. Let's be honest, the first couple games were only playable in the sense that they got your character from beginning to end. Silent Hill: Homecoming almost ended up…

Read the full review Silent Hill: Homecoming

Soulcalibur IV2008

4 out of 5 stars

Imagine that $60 dollars was all it took to buy yourself a super model. She’d be available whenever you want and all you have to do is turn on your Xbox 360. That’s about what you get when you buy Soul Calibur IV : something that looks and plays great, but is about as deep as the disc is thick. Dueling in one of Soul Calibur IV's lush environments. The nuts and bolts of Soul Calibur IV haven’t really changed; you…

Read the full review Soulcalibur IV

Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness - Episode Two2008

5 out of 5 stars

If you find the humor of popular web comic Penny Arcade to be distasteful, too twisted, or not to your liking, than you are in the wrong place. I won’t be able to convince you of Penny Arcade: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode Two’ s strongest point: the writing. If you didn’t like Episode One for any reason, again, there’s not really anything I can do for you. The game has improved but it is still…

Read the full review Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness - Episode Two

Dead Space2008

5 out of 5 stars

Dead Space manages to borrow from genre specific games and movies, mix in an original storyline, and a chilling Cover of a Dead Space comic bookatmosphere to make one of the most compelling titles on the X-Box 360. It’s one part Resident Evil 4 , one-part Aliens , and a whole lot of awesome. The story of Dead Space starts long before Isaac ever sets foot on the Ishimura in a series of comics, a prequel movie, and an…

Read the full review Dead Space

Castle Crashers2008

5 out of 5 stars

If you've ever played any given side-scrolling beat-em-up, you'll feel right at home. If you remember Donatello yelling "Ohhh, shell shock!," or Haggar 's big, burly self beating up the same pallet-swapped baddies for hours on end, or even if you've had a good round of Battletoads , you know the drill. But that's not to say it's resurrected business as usual, far from it. The Behemoth has breathed fresh life into…

Read the full review Castle Crashers

Kirby: Super Star Ultra2008

4 out of 5 stars

Kirby Super Star Ultra - US boxart (Look, he's not angry like most US Kirby boxes!) Yes, this is a remake of the SNES classic Kirby’s Super Star , a collection of games all tied together into one homogeneous piece. I would rate Super Star as one of my favorite games of the 16 bit era, so it’s not hard to see I come to this version with a bit of a plus-side mentality. The fact is this is more than just a port that…

Read the full review Kirby: Super Star Ultra

Wario Land: Shake It!2008

5 out of 5 stars

Wario has come a long way from being a main Mario villain on the Game Boy. The Wario Land series had a slow start, as the first couple were just sluggish, enemy-tossing versions of the classic Mario Formula. It wasn't until Wario Land 4 on the Game Boy Advance that the series really found itself, both in personality and in play. The attitude that became the bizarre micro-game fest that is the Wario Ware Inc. series…

Read the full review Wario Land: Shake It!

Too Human2008

3 out of 5 stars

I don't have a problem with Norse Mythology. I don't have a problem with awesome art design. I don't have a problem with epic soundtracks. And I don't have a problem with Crispin Freeman . So why do I have such a problem with Too Human ? In the end: It's worst than the sum of it's parts. Don't take that to mean it's bad, it's just not as good as the expectation set by those combined elements. In Too Human , you play…

Read the full review Too Human

Condemned: Criminal Origins2005

4 out of 5 stars

One part CSI, One part first-person/survival horror, Condemned is a game that relishes in it's visceral delight and dense atmosphere, while trying to tell an interesting mystery teetering on reality and insanity. You play as Ethan Thomas, FBI crime scene investigator who is following The Matchmaker serial killer. You arrive at the newest crime scene and begin the first of what will be many somewhat useless crime…

Read the full review Condemned: Criminal Origins

Space Invaders Extreme2008

5 out of 5 stars

Anybody who has the tiniest inkling of video game knowledge more than likely is aware of Space Invaders. It predates even Mario, back when a time when games were simpler. Well that was then and this is now, and people tend to demand a little more bang for their buck out of video games. The Invaders are back for the second time on DS, and to say Taito has kicked things up to a whole new level would be an…

Read the full review Space Invaders Extreme