Reviews by Benjamin Woodhouse, page 5

Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean review

When thinking about Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean, one mundane locale sticks in my head. It’s a simple airship port nestled on the side of a mountain. We view it from such a distance that the gnarled rock inhabits most of…

woodhouse · April 29, 2007

Reader DS Review of the Week

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice for All review

The 2005 release of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney captured hearts with sensational mysteries, humorous characters, and witty dialogue. In this second installment of the graphic adventure, subtitled Justice for All, Capcom’s most famous…

woodhouse · April 24, 2007

Reader DS Review of the Week

Ossu! Tatakae! Ouendan! review

Intelligent gamers around the globe imported Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan when it was released in 2005. I’m not that smart. Elite Beat Agents had to smash its quirky brilliance into my brain to make me realize that its Japanese predecessor could…

woodhouse · April 5, 2007

Reader PlayStation 2 Review of the Week

College Hoops 2K7 review

College Hoops 2K7 captures some of the wonderful media moments of NCAA basketball. In a dynasty, every season begins with Midnight Madness and a wild intrasquad practice. Shortly thereafter, facsimiles of talking heads Greg Gumbel and…

woodhouse · March 24, 2007

Reader DS Review of the Week

Elite Beat Agents review

Every time I close my eyes, a mesmerizing array of contracting circles invades the void. This afterimage effect isn't unique; it's a universal mark of any all-consuming game, rhythm or otherwise. But this title delivers more than the…

woodhouse · November 21, 2006

Reader DS

Touch Detective review

Personality. That’s what the heroine and her fellow members of Touch Detective lack. Despite living in a quirky world embroiled in fanciful mysteries, these inhabitants dribble through lifeless dialogue and muddle toward anticlimactic case…

woodhouse · November 11, 2006

Reader DS

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney review

Throw out every rule and procedure of the criminal justice system. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is a clever DS graphic adventure that forgoes the tedium of writs, motions, and the chain of evidence in favor of timely investigations and…

woodhouse · October 16, 2006

Reader PlayStation 2

NCAA Football 07 review

First impression: lost and intimidated. In NCAA Football 07, every control performs some kind of special juke, spin, or stiff arm. One button launches a player into a forward dive; another accelerates him to a sprint. There are so many…

woodhouse · September 28, 2006

Reader Arcade

Dead Connection review

Don Nerozzia knows the rules. When a man stands in your way, you bribe him, blackmail him, or influence those around him to neutralize the threat. If he’s unimpeachable, then maybe, just maybe, you reward him with a bullet to the back of…

woodhouse · July 6, 2006

Reader NES

Tecmo NBA Basketball review

Tecmo NBA Basketball hit stores not long after the 1991 smash debut of Tecmo Super Bowl, a game that succeeded because it stood as the most accurate NES representation of its sport. In terms of presentation and options, these releases…

woodhouse · July 4, 2006

Reader DS

Lunar: Dragon Song review

If an RPG strongly encourages a player to engage in twice as many battles as should be necessary, then it better possess an engaging fighting scheme. Lunar: Dragon Song does not. Its limited turn-based system might as well be on autopilot…

woodhouse · June 25, 2006

Reader DS

Trace Memory review

A young boy watches in horror as one man levels a pistol at another. Pop Cue a blood red fadeout. Over four decades later, a mother hustles her daughter into hiding. Peeking from the closet, the small girl with white hair sees only the…

woodhouse · June 9, 2006

Reader DS Review of the Week

Trauma Center: Under the Knife review

Cavity Sam has dedicated his entire existence to the medical field. Perpetually prone with gaping wounds, he’s given millions the chance to poke and prod in order to develop the steady hand necessary to save lives. But we feel his pain…

woodhouse · May 21, 2006

Reader PlayStation 2 Review of the Week

Top Spin review

Indisputably a revelation at its initial release, Top Spin spent its first two years of existence secluded in the land of Microsoft. But with the sequel tapped to expand the franchise fiefdom to Nintendo’s handhelds, Sony needed a piece of…

woodhouse · April 24, 2006

Reader PlayStation 2

MVP 06 NCAA Baseball review

After drawing the public’s ire for (allegedly) pushing employees to the grindstone and (definitely) monopolizing the NFL license, EA received a bit of comeuppance when Take-Two Interactive snagged the mostly exclusive rights to produce…

woodhouse · April 4, 2006

Reader Arcade

A.P.B. review

For a few short days, Officer Bob knew paradise. The trial for the vacant position on the police force had been surprisingly easy; all he had to do was drive around a parking lot and pretend to arrest some orange cones. Then he was on the…

woodhouse · March 22, 2006

Reader PC Review of the Week

Critical Point review

Old-skool otaku may wet themselves at the mention of the name Kenichi Matsuzaki. At least, Peach Princess hopes that's the case, as they proudly tout his writing contribution to classic mecha series like Mobile Suit Gundam and Macross. And…

woodhouse · August 9, 2005

Reader Game Boy Advance

Yu Yu Hakusho: Ghost Files - Tournament Tactics review

Yu Yu Hakusho is an anime about action. Knock-down, drag-out, ball-punching, head-crunching, back-breaking action. So how is that raw fighting spirit translated into this video game? Why, by molding it into a tactical RPG lite of course…

woodhouse · July 16, 2005

Reader Arcade

Atari R.B.I. Baseball review

Any seasoned gamer worth his salt knows the essence of R.B.I. Baseball for the NES. It's one of the greatest yet simplest sports games ever made, maintaining a following even decades after its release. Much of this popularity came from the…

woodhouse · June 12, 2005

Reader NES

Stealth ATF review

Stealth ATF certainly seemed to be on the cutting edge of world events. Dropped on the public shortly before the first American conflict with Iraq, the game’s opening level occurs over the parched landscape of the Middle East. Quickly…

woodhouse · October 7, 2004