Complete Poker Software Listings
Among informational sites about online poker, PokerListings.com holds a special position as being the most professional with a sensible mix of news, videos, strategy articles and more. In addition to great bonuses, it has some of the best poker reviews and complete poker software listings. This site is easy to recommend.
DS Previews
Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story
Back during the GBA era, Nintendo resurrected the Super Mario RPG. Although I personally think the Paper Mario series did a better job, Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga was a passable resurrection and created a large emphasis on timing and defense to involve the player in the turn based combat. There was also a large amount of exploration and puzzle solving; it was a complex game on a small system. The series had a previous DS ...NinjaTown Hands On
Everyone from about 18-30 knows that Ninjas are cool. The only real debate is whether they are as cool as pirates. That is best left to nonsensical forum debates that I want nothing to do with. Actually, there are a few people that are older that understand just how cool ninjas are too.
As cool and as deadly as ninjas are, the "cute" label usually isn't assciated with them. Just imagine deadly assassins viewed through ...
Mushroom Men: Hands On
Mushroom Men is a new franchise from Red Fly Studios. A solid platform game infused with the same odd sense of humor you would expect from games based on anthropomorphic fungi. When you throw a bunch of Les Claypool music into the mix, this game may make a rather large splash when it hits for the holidays. The story is divided into two games, The first part of the story is on the ...
Unsolved Crimes
Mimicking prime-time crime dramas hasn't really been a video game mainstay. Most of the police realted games have stayed true to the action formula, and very little time has been given to investigation and other police procedure. Of course ther have been licensed titles, and the Pheonix Wright series took it from another angle. Unsolved Crimes tries to incorporate the drama and urgency of crime shows, along with the stock characters and terse dialog. ...
Gauntlet DS
Gauntlet was one of the original dungeon crawling adventures. The franchise has grown quite large, expanding greatly upon the original arcade top down experience. There have been numerous sequels and offshoots, but now the Nintendo DS is getting a whole new entry in the franchise. Well, it could be considered a remake. Either way, if you crave that retro experience, Gauntlet DS could be for you.
The idea is simple - heroic character, dungeon ...
Monster Lab DS (Hands On)
Monster Lab is a very unique take on the whole "proxy monster" genre. Instead of the usual chasing of wild animals to press them into bondage, usually resulting in them being forced to fight other enslaved creatures, Monster Lab has you build you own monster. Using the Mad Scientist motif along with the slightly cartoon horror of the Addams Family or Edward Gorey, is an instant success. I love the look and feel of ...
Naruto: Path of the Ninja 2
Fans of the popular Naruto anime are in for a sequel to last year’s Path of the Ninja in the form of the appropriately named Naruto: Path of the Ninja 2, designed specifically for the DS (as opposed to the first game, which was ported from the GBA).
As far as the presentation goes, the game appears to be very similar to the first one, albeit with some subtle enhancements, like a camera that pans ...
Dragon Ball: Origin
Dragon Ball (Z) is one of the most prolific franchises in almost any media. With a shelf’s worth of Manga volumes, a TV series, movies, and more video games than some systems ever saw. Some of these games were of a questionable nature, but overall every game is of a passable quality.
Set before Goku became a galactic warrior, Dragon ball: Origins is taking the franchise away from the usual trappings of the Dragon Ball ...
What’s Cooking: With Jamie Oliver
The Cooking Mama series had given cooking games a face, but the series was still bound to arcade style action that was only loosely based around preparing food. Celebrity chefs have created a buzz around the actual cooking of food. Somehow, no one had tapped the combination for a video game before.
Chef Jamie Oliver is a huge star in Britain, and has made a splash over here on the Food Network (as well ...
Skate It – Hands On
For many years, Tony Hawk was the only way to play skating video games. EA sought to change that with the Skate franchise, introducing a system where players control the board rather than simply button mash. This feature ended up creeping into the next Tony Hawk game. Imitation is the highest form of flattery.
Skate had only been made for PS3 and 360 however this time around the ...
Shaun the Sheep Hands-On
Originally a supporting character in one of the Wallace and Gromit animated shorts, A Close Shave, Shaun the Sheep has since become the star of his own spin-off series by the same name, which has become popular in its own right. And now, thanks to D3 and developer Art, he’ll be starring in his own DS adventure as well.
Set up as a family-friendly adventure title, Shaun the Sheep has players going about the seemingly ...
Puzzle Quest: Galactrix (Hands-On)
Okay, so if you’ve been stuck under a rock for the last year or so, and you haven’t gotten yourself a copy of Puzzle Quest, you’ve been missing out. The game was essentially one of those “peanut butter + chocolate” kinda’ affairs that took a sub-standard RPG and paired it with a sub-standard puzzle game (that’s right, Bejewelled fans – your puzzle game sucks), resulting in a combination of the two that inexplicably rocked ...
Written on August 12, 2008 | Posted in DS Previews, PC Previews, Previews, Xbox 360 Previews | No Comment
Kirby Super Star Ultra
Considering the current wave of nostalgia titles, it isn't surprise that there are a few remakes that haunted E3 this year. Nintendo had an oldie remade for the DS with Kirby Super Star Ultra. While I haven't played Kirby games since when Kirby Super Star was new, it isn't a surprise that my interest was piqued by this remake.
Like the original Super Star Ultra is a mix of a platform game, and a ...
Prince of Persia: The Fallen King
The new Prince of Persia games for consoles and the Nintendo DS have a new hero, a new scenario and plenty of new tricks to work through. The total story for both games has the God of Darkness (Ahriman) and the god of Light (Ormazd) going up against each other, with corruption creeping throughout the land. This isn’t the kind of corruption that one might associate with policemen looking the other way in exchange ...
Away: Suffle Dungeon
Mystery Dungeon games have enjoyed quite a renaissance in the last year or so. Revitalized by titles like Pokemon Mystery Dungeon and the re-release of Baroque, these RPG's are the biggest trend since angsty guys with spiky hair became the de facto protagonist. So one could easily be forgiven for glazing over as soon as they hear that Away is another Mystery Dungeon game.
While I could easily win you over with the game play ...
Time Hollow Hands-On
The DS has already proven itself to be an ideal platform for adventure games, with games like Phoenix Wright and Hotel Dusk helping to revive what was once thought to be a dead genre. Now, Konami is joining the fray with a title that looks to bring something different to the genre – time manipulation.
To be fair, this idea isn’t entirely new. Konami themselves brought PS2 gamers a game by the name of Shadow ...
Bleach: Dark Souls Hands- On
The DS isn’t exactly known for its fighting games. Outside of a few decent ports of classic 2D fighters, Nintendo’s handheld hasn’t gotten very many great games in this genre. However, perhaps the sole exception to this was Bleach: The Blade of Fate, a Treasure-developed fighter that not only did justice to the popular anime it was based on, but actually made good use of the capabilities of the platform to push the genre ...
Robocalypse
It’s a bit surprising how few RTS titles the DS has received, even though its touchscreen seems like it would make for the ideal interface for the genre – more so than even the current genre staples of mouse and keyboard. Racking my brain, I can only come up with two or three actual RTS games on the system, and what few I can think of generally suck. Apparently, Tecmo sees this gap in ...
Monster Lab
Editor’s Note: Due to his expressed interest in the game, we’ve decided to turn over this preview to the esteemed Dr. Frank N. Stein, who has a PhD in Evil with a minor in Stupid Pun Names.
They said I was insane. They said it would never work! But who’s laughing now!? Muahahahahahaaaaa! Yessssss, those fools and their Pokemon and Digimon, whose idea of a monster is a little electric rat or a three foot ...
Tecmo Bowl
It’s amazing to think that there was a time when football videogames weren’t a genre dominated by Electronic Arts. Sure, these days there are occasional competitors in the form of titles from 2K Sports and the Blitz series, but mostly, EA has carved the market into something resembling a monopoly. Arguably, this started when EA bought exclusive rights to the NFL license, crippling the marketability of any other games in the genre. However, gamers ...
N+ (DS & PSP)
After getting a look at N+ for the Nintendo DS and Sony PlayStation Portable, I have to say that this may be one of the best titles for either handheld – this year and perhaps of all time. I know this is a strong declaration, and a lot can happen between now and when the game is finally released, but as it stands, from what I’ve seen, N+ is an amazing game that takes ...
Dragon Quest IV Hands On
Well I have come my point as a writer where I must reveal personal information. Don't worry this preview will not devolve into some sort of tired confessional about Dragon Quest IV and its effect on my life. No, in fact, I must reveal myself as a philistine. I have never played any of the Dragon Quest games beyond the first installment until the title was brought back to the United States in Dragon ...
Chrono Trigger Hands On
According to RPG fans, Chrono Trigger is one of the greatest titles of the 16-bit era, certainly the best that doesn't include the words Final and Fantasy in the title. That speaks volumes as most of the top RPG lists are full of games from the 16-bit systems.
When Square-Enix announced Chrono Trigger for the Nintendo DS just a few weeks ago, I didn't expect to find it playable at E3. However, it was there ...
Zoo Vet: Endangered Animals DS – First Look
The Vet franchise has become a mainstay of edutainment for a few years now. These games involve a pretty simple set up. You travel around the Zoo or other type of environment healing animals who are stricken with strange ailments. These games stand out from the other titles in the genre by spending more time involving players in the ailments and what causes them.
The gameplay is very reminiscent of the Trauma Center ...
Hands On: I Heart Geeks
I Heart Geeks is one of the most addictive and unique games I have played on the Nintendo DS. Think of this title as more of a brain teaser rather than a traditional puzzle game. Originally released in Europe under the title of Mr. Physics, players work their way through a series of problems that need to be solved by creating a variation of some Rube Goldberg style devices.
Coming to North America this October, ...
