Review Archives (All Reviews)
You are currently looking through all reviews for DS games. Below, you will find reviews written by all eligible authors and sorted according to date of submission, with the newest content displaying first. As many as 20 results will display per page. If you would like to try a search with different parameters, specify them below and submit a new search.
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Final Fantasy IV review (DS)Reviewed on December 26, 2009So I was engaged in rare event: purchasing a new game that I might actually play. I looked upon the shelf, next to the sloppily produced Dragon Warrior Monsters (oh god, not another one of these) laid a lone copy of Final Fantasy IV (FF II on SNES). Filled with nostalgia from my childhood, I couldn’t let this opportunity to relive my past go. I had to buy it, no matter how bad it could possibly be. After all, gaming’s history is marred with inadequate remakes, taking one’s childhood memo... |
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Chronicles of Mystery: Curse of the Ancient Temple review (DS)Reviewed on December 07, 2009An undeveloped plot is this title's catastrophic failing. A casual game like this, without providing much challenge or variety in its gameplay, has to tell a compelling story. Curse of the Ancient Temple builds layers of intrigue and conspiracy, but then whimpers to an ambiguous ending. |
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Bleach: The 3rd Phantom review (DS)Reviewed on December 01, 2009The 3rd Phantom generates its joy by including a wide range of characters, showing them in positions you've never seen, and ultimately letting you focus solely on your favorites. In that regard, this otherwise mediocre game is a resounding success. |
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QuickSpot review (DS)Reviewed on November 24, 2009Nice try, Hideo. But your attempt to dampen my courageous heart will be foiled. |
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Underwater Attack review (DS)Reviewed on November 20, 2009As is usually the case when taking down entire world-conquering governments, the task falls to a single person piloting a prototype fighter who’s expected to defeat a globe-spanning military without a sniff of support. Underwater Attack‘s big gimmick is that, instead of the solitary fighter craft taking to the skies, you instead pilot a lonely submarine through the surprisingly un-murky depths. A submarine shaped like a cartoon shark. |
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7 Wonders II review (DS)Reviewed on November 14, 2009There’s enough going on to ensure that 7 Wonders 2 is more than just another gem-matching puzzle game, but it doesn’t really build upon its unique traits enough to truly distinguish itself from the crowded masses. There’s enough going on to drive you through the entire game, but, once this is done, there’s little to drive you back again. |
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Naruto: Ninja Destiny review (DS)Reviewed on November 09, 2009A quick character like Neji can blitz his light attacks, scraping his opponent off the ground by chaining together the same rudimentary combo over and over. However, a similar approach for Sakura results in weak, worthless slaps. Only by hammering her heavy punches can you beat down the AI with your eyes closed. |
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Big Bang Mini review (DS)Reviewed on November 05, 2009Writing about Big Bang Mini in five hundred words is a little like creating a football-playing octopus spliced with DNA from Beckham and Pele, dropping a sack of balls at its boot-clad tentacles then confining it to a four-foot cubed room. You need a certain depth, a certain room to breathe, to fully appreciate the unfolding insanity. Otherwise, all you get is muddy footprints on the wallpaper. |
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The Hardy Boys: Treasure on the Tracks review (DS)Reviewed on November 01, 2009Don't think the Hardy Boys are completely left out, though. They get to play the toe-tapping sequence later. Repetition is a theme of this entire graphic adventure; the same puzzles keep popping up over and over. What's clever the first time becomes busywork every time thereafter. |
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Naruto Shippuden: Ninja Destiny 2 review (DS)Reviewed on October 19, 2009There's a nice amount of variety and nuance for those who seek it out, and an accessible button-masher for everyone else. Ninja Destiny 2 does just enough to put it at the top of the Naruto DS mountain for now, though the franchise certainly has room for improvement. Expect it to do so, same time next year. |
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Rockin' Pretty review (DS)Reviewed on October 19, 2009Rhythm games are defined by their music and mechanics. Rockin' Pretty misses on the first count by featuring instrumental-only pop tunes. Without vocals, the whole experience should have been be very forgettable. That is, if RP hadn't nailed the second requirement. The gameplay here is ingenious. |
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Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story review (DS)Reviewed on October 10, 2009The king has been dethroned. Manipulated, betrayed, and forced out of his own castle. His military has been decimated; everyone has been either slaughtered or brainwashed into following the new regime. His few remaining supporters have gone into hiding. The common folk are falling prey to a disease spread by the invaders. And the worst part? All of the realm’s heroes are gone…and it’s the king’s fault. He ate them. The princess and her servants, too. Swallowed them whole, and left them to... |
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Scribblenauts review (DS)Reviewed on September 30, 2009The capability to create hundreds of entities isn't particularly impressive when 80% of the game can be mastered with less than a dozen. Developer 5th Cell must have forgotten that most gamers seek degenerate solutions and will keep using what works. Great games become more difficult and build on their own mechanics until you've accomplished far more than you originally expected. Scribblenauts works in reverse — the game becomes easier and less stimulating as it goes on. |
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Build-a-lot review (DS)Reviewed on September 23, 2009Build-a-lot is actually pretty easy once you get the hang of it – and also repetitive. |
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Scribblenauts review (DS)Reviewed on September 13, 2009There’s a cat stuck on the roof. It’s been there for hours, yowling its lungs out. It’s almost as annoying as its owner, a young girl who’s too lazy to get it herself. That’s why Maxwell is here; he‘s a problem solver, and it‘s your job to supply him with whatever he needs. It’s not really a question of if you’ll get little thing down, but how. You could always get a ladder and end it quickly. Perhaps you could tempt it down with some catnip. Or a mouse, for that matter. They’re obvious, ... |
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Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box review (DS)Reviewed on September 10, 2009Since the best puzzles are only interesting when you're engaged in solving them yourself, it's almost doing the game a disservice to rave about their simplistic excellence. A description like "skate across a pond while bumping against barriers" doesn't sound like much on paper, for instance, but actually doing it gets a person thinking. Likewise, talking about calculating distance between folds in a slip of paper or guessing the value of components within a set of weights could leave a person yawning... yet it's a great deal of fun when you're actually playing the game. |
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Shorts review (DS)Reviewed on September 07, 2009It's the jumps that make the game; they're spaced so you'll barely make it. The character will only just grab onto and dangle from the edge of the next platform. |
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Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars - The Director's Cut review (DS)Reviewed on August 30, 2009It’s all in Director’s Cut. But so are those trade offs. |
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Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box review (DS)Reviewed on August 27, 2009The Elysian Box is cursed. That’s what everyone thinks, anyway. It’s an evil container capable of killing anyone who opens it. Just imagine owning such a thing. You could spend hours gazing at its superb craftsmanship and ornate design, trying to figure out some inkling of its true nature. How can something so beautiful be so deadly? How did it get its powers? Where did it come from? It wouldn’t take long for your questions to consume you; curiosity is a powerful motivator, even if it leads to d... |
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My World, My Way review (DS)Reviewed on August 12, 2009 |
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