Category: Nintendo DS

Apollo Justice Ace Attorney (Or Ace Attorney Apollo Justice, whatever) Genre: Adventure Developer: Capcom Publisher: Capcom Release Date: 02/19/08 If anyone is experienced in the concept of “revamping a franchise” and the good and bad associated with this, it’s Capcom. They’ve done this thing a significantly large amount of times in the past, what, twenty…

Bubble Bobble: Double Shot Developer: Dreams Co. Ltd/Marvelous Publisher:Ignition Entertainment Genre: Puzzle Release Date: 03/03/08 The Bubble Bobble Franchise is very dear to my heart. The original Bubble Bobble theme song is my favorite in all of gaming and I have all sorts of remixes of it. Hell, the entire Kliq loved Bubble Bobble so…

Dungeon Explorer: Warriors of the Ancient Arts (NDS) Publisher: Konami Developer: Hudson Soft Genre: Action RPG Release Date: 2/15/2008 This was a series I was surprised to see revived. The original game was for the almighty Turbo-Grafx 16 and hadten playable characters types (two are unlocked via passwords) and five player co-op action. It was…

Miami Nights: Singles in the City Genre: Life simulation Developer: Gameloft Publisher: Ubisoft Release Date: 1/15/2008 Eight years ago, the original “The Sims” game debuted on the PC, featuring a very in-depth look at the idea of managing the life of a little imaginary version of yourself (or whoever). It was a simple game with…

Professor Layton and the Curious Village Developer: Level 5 Publisher: Nintendo Genre: Adventure Release Date 2/10/08 Professor Layton showed up to my house unexpected Friday evening, along with a giant foam top hat and a black leather note pad from Nintendo. Interesting swag, don’t you think? I wasn’t expecting to review this, as Chuck and…

Lifesigns: Surgical Unit Genre: Adventure/Puzzle Developer: Spike Publisher: Dreamcatcher Release Date: 11/06/07 One thing you can say about the Nintendo DS is that the adventure genre has been given a Lazarus-style style resurrection on the system, and it is (mostly) awesome. From the Ace Attorney franchise (we can’t call it “the Phoenix Wright” franchise anymore…

Puzzle de Harvest Moon Genre: Puzzle Game Developer: Platinum Egg Publisher: Natsume Release Date: 11/06/07 No, I have no idea what’s up with the Spanish in the title, either. Just ignore it. Harvest Moon, Natsume’s bread and butter franchise, is one of those confounding game franchises that there is NO POSSIBLE WAY someone could have…

Freshly-Picked Tingle’s Rosy Rupeeland Genre: Action-Adventure Developer: Vanpool Publisher: Nintendo Release Date: 09/14/2007 (Europe) I have searched the world high and low; I have read countless sites and forums in the hope of finding someone like me. Yet, it seems like I am the only fan of Tingle in North America. I don’t really see…

Dementium: The Ward Publisher: Gamecock Media Group Developer: Renegade Kid Genre: First Person Shooter/Survival Horror Release Date: 10/31/2007 Here’s the thing. We all know I’m not a fan of first person shooters. I generally find them to be boring in the same way I find platformers to be boring. Lots of running back and forth…

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass Genre: Action-Adventure Developer: Nintendo EAD Publisher: Nintendo Release Date: 10/01/2007 The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker effectively split the series’ fans in two factions. The first one thought that the new hand-drawn look was childish and that a joke was being made out of their favourite franchise. The…

Hoshigami: Running Blue Remix Publisher: Aksys Games Developer: Arc System Works Genre: Strategy RPG Release Date: 06/25/07 You know, i am still perplexed as to how anyone thought it was a good idea to remake and/or re-release Hoshigami. When Atlus brought it over to the States on the PSX, it sold poorly and it was…

Sim City DS Publisher: Electronic Arts Developer: Electronic Arts Genre: City Building Simulation Release Date 6/20/2007 Although Electronic Arts is best know for its Madden franchise, I’ve always found myself more interested in their older, (and in my opinion) beter franchises. Jordan vs Bird, Marble Madness. The Bard’s Tale. Mutant League Football. Even Where in…

Etrian Odyssey Publisher: Atlus Developer: Atlus Genre: First Person Turn Based RPG (AKA Dungeon Crawl) Release Date: 5/16/2007 Etrian Odyssey is a throwback to the oldest days of video game RPG’s. When games came on things called “floppy discs.” When the PC was the only way to play RPG’s. When Electronic Arts made actual quality…

Final Fantasy III Publisher: Square-Enix Developer: Matrix Software, Square-Enix Genre: RPG Release Date: 11/14/2006 Final Fantasy and Inside Pulse games really arenâ┚¬â”žÂ¢t known for a wonderful long term relationship. Instead, like a good chunk of a rapidly maturing generation of gamers, we are looking back and realizing that the well known RPG mega-series certainly has…

Yoshiâ┚¬â”žÂ¢s Island DS: Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Artoon Genre: Platformer Release Date: 11/13/2006 Without a doubt I love console gaming. Always have and always will. But my true allegiance lies in the realm of handheld systems, and if youâ┚¬â”žÂ¢re talking about handheldâ┚¬â”žÂ¢s letâ┚¬â”žÂ¢s be brutally honest: you are really only talking about Nintendo. With the war…

Elite Beat Agents Developer: iNiS Publisher: Nintendo Release Date: 11/7/06 System: Nintendo DS Elite Beat Agents is neither Elite or filled with Beats. Ok, thatâ┚¬â”žÂ¢s a total lie. I just really wanted to use that line if Elite Beat Agents ended up sucking. In fact, Elite Beat Agents is an excellent game that lives up…

Strawberry Shortcake: Strawberryland Games Genre: Platformer/Puzzle Developer: Gorilla Systems Publisher: The American Game Factory Release Date: 10/23/06 Strawberry Shortcake. She’s as synonymous with the 80’s as Transformers, GI Joe and Cabbage Patch Kids, and much like those franchises, she’s on the comeback trail. Along with her friends Blueberry Muffin, Orange Blossom and Peppermint Fizz, she’s…