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.

Available Reviews
	Lux-Pain review (DS) Reviewed on April 29, 2009 The game's primary failure is a very basic one: the story just isn't compelling. One important element for any visual novel is believable characters. Some of Atsuki's classmates manage to avoid standard stereotypes (the fortune-telling blonde is particularly refreshing) but several of the villains are simply outrageous. One early baddie — a bald man with evil pointy ears and creepy narrow stalker eyes — repeatedly professes his love for guns and hatred for schoolchildren.
	Rhythm Heaven review (DS) Reviewed on April 26, 2009 One note regarding Rhythm Heaven; it's not about music. At least, not in the way that Guitar Hero, Rock Band, or Elite Beat Agents are about music. Instead, this quirky game focuses on the click-clack of a factory assembly line. It draws you into the tick-tock of a ping pong match. Spawning from the minds behind WarioWare, this title delves into the world of mercurial minigames, just as long as they have a beat. The music takes a seat in the background.
	Blue Dragon Plus review (DS) Reviewed on April 26, 2009 What good is equipping your meat shield as a monster bait when your stupid healer won’t stop standing in front of him? The more numbers mean the greater chance for complete chaos, and it’s all too tempting to ignore the game’s wishes to break your forces into four small platoons to explore different corners of the map independently when you can redistribute characters to far-flung areas between battles without penalty.
	Pass Your Driving Theory Test: 2010 Edition review (DS) Reviewed on April 19, 2009 Gentlemen -- and ladies, if such a thing truly exists on the internet -- the times, they are a changin’. Somewhere along the line, someone decided that handheld consoles weren’t really meant as gaming machines anymore. And that someone was Nintendo.
	101-in-1 Explosive Megamix review (DS) Reviewed on April 17, 2009 The Explosive Megamix offers up a variety of minigames – sheer volume compels it. Shooting hoops and throwing darts are normal. Reuniting star-crossed lovers by way of catapult is not. If you can find a dozen gems in this electic compilation, then the title is worth its price. The odds are in your favor.
	Tokyo Beat Down review (DS) Reviewed on April 16, 2009 What Tokyo Beat Down does right is all in its script. Developer Success and localizer Atlus know they’re working in a genre filled with clichés and Lewis Cannon’s every word and interaction with NPCs reflects this. They go so far as to name the NPCs things like "Cop who is providing back story" and "guy who is about to get beat up.” There are even multiple endings, and it's to the writer's credit that I'm curious to see what they are and what plot elements they reveal. Unfortunately, you couldn't pay me to play through again.
	Challenge Me: Math Workout review (DS) Reviewed on April 11, 2009 If you’re one of those odd people who think these things are great, then here you’ll find a game simply not having enough options to place it above the hordes of other games that insist number crunching is a super way to pass your time.
	Space Invaders Extreme 2 review (DS) Reviewed on April 06, 2009 They’re back. They never really left, though. The Space Invaders still haven’t given up attempts to wipe out the human race. It’s been decades since the war started, and it was almost finished in Space Invaders Extreme. Not happy ending, but a bitter, brutal one. Those little bastards really upped the ante that time; they descended to Earth like a swarm of pixilated locusts, spewing laser death and bullet showers upon the helpless population. They were organized, efficient, and far deadli...
	Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure review (DS) Reviewed on April 05, 2009 Henry Hatsworth has been screwed over. Badly. It’s been released during one of the highest points in the DS’s history; with stuff like Pokemon Platinum, Valkyrie Profile, and several other amazing titles taking the gaming scene by storm, it’s been completely forgotten. Overshadowed, overlooked, and doomed to forever rot in obscurity on game store shelves. Such an undeserving fate isn’t just pathetic. As Henry himself would say, it is bollocks! Utter poppycock! This fe...
	Peggle: Dual Shot review (DS) Reviewed on March 31, 2009 Peggle: Dual Shot is a simple, casual activity that won't take much out of you, and is perfect for morning commute when your brain is still mush and doesn't want to heavily invest in anything.
	Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars review (DS) Reviewed on March 31, 2009 Nearly everything you use the stylus for in Chinatown Wars – rummaging through trash, diffusing bombs, assembling weapons – sounds like a gimmick on its own. It’s the collaboration of all of these individual elements that makes Chinatown Wars work. As you explore this retooled Liberty City, you’ll notice that Rockstar Leeds poured detail into every facet of the design, fleshing out areas that most developers would simply shrug off. Obtaining Molotov cocktails, for example, is no longer simply a matter of picking them up off a designated location on the streets. You’ve literally got to find a gas station and play a mini-game in which you must “aim” the nozzle in response to the fluctuating flow of the gasoline, so as to get as many cocktails for your money’s worth as possible. It’s a wonderful way to make the most of the DS hardware.
	SpongeBob vs. The Big One: Beach Party Cook-Off review (DS) Reviewed on March 30, 2009 Each of SpongeBob's techniques is linked to a specific touch screen mini-game. They're all routine stylus activities, even if the ingredients are a little weird. Trace a line to slice up some kelp. Tap quickly to pound out a Krabby Patty. Rotate frantically to mix up some seaweed pasta. Slingshot deep fried flotsam out of hot oil. Okay, maybe they're not all ordinary culinary arts...
	Ontamarama review (DS) Reviewed on March 29, 2009 With a look reminiscent of a kid's anime, Ontamarama sets the cuteness factor to high. Just check out the protagonists. Beat is an energetic boy with spiky blue cowlicks who perpetually wears inline skates. Rest is a thoughtful girl with red pigtails, and her footwear is of the goody-two-shoes variety. Both children are studying to become Ontamaestros in order to spread the beauty of music. To accomplish that goal, they need the help of the Ontama, magical spirits that look like joyf...
	Pass Your Driving Theory Test: 2010 Edition review (DS) Reviewed on March 27, 2009 Fact is, Pass your Driving Theory Test is never going to be the top of anyone’s wish list unless they actually want to pass their driving theory test, but, should this be the case, it’s a well-made and competent study guide that will vastly enhance your chances to pass a fiddly exam.
	Legacy of Ys: Books I & II review (DS) Reviewed on March 23, 2009 The back of the box says "this ultimate translation delivers the most substantial version of the famous story to date". It also refers to "new enemies and equipment". For North America, this is true. However, in terms of content, Legacy of Ys is nothing more than a re-release of Ys Complete I&II with new graphics, new music, and a new control system.
	Unsolved Crimes review (DS) Reviewed on March 18, 2009 This night seemed to beg for a horrific murder. The power had been knocked offline for a couple of hours, and the storm was still raging. Rain had blown inside through the broken window – the killer's alleged escape route – and drenched the victim's dress and shoes. They were the only solid remnants of the young woman left in the dingy motel room. Her naked corpse had already been taken away, or at least, the mutilated pieces of it. Scattered chalk markings showed where each of her limbs ha...
	Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles review (DS) Reviewed on March 16, 2009 Because of humorous mystery games like Phoenix Wright, you may have forgotten that murder is a serious business. Jake Hunter is here to remind you of the harsh reality. Under the name Jinguji Saburo, the private detective has been solving crimes in Japan for over twenty years. Rebranded for North America, Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles revisits three of his earliest cases. Unfortunately, you'll be following his footsteps rather than stepping into his shoes. A lack of real i...
	Blue Dragon Plus review (DS) Reviewed on March 16, 2009 Blue Dragon Plus is ultimately too well-designed an RTS to allow for the most basic strategies, but at the same time, it doesn’t offer the most complex, either. Simply grouping all of your units together and rushing mindlessly from one encounter to the next often won’t cut it, especially when the difficulty escalates in the latter half of the adventure. At the same time, attempting to formulate any advanced strategies, trying to really make the most of your available unis, will result in aggravation.
	TrackMania DS review (DS) Reviewed on March 05, 2009 The DS version doesn’t do a very good job at selling itself. More on that later, though, because while at first I suspected that Trackmania was going to be collecting dust on my shelf alongside Trace Memory and Lost in Blue, I have found myself playing it every night without fail.
	Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon review (DS) Reviewed on March 04, 2009 Spend a few hours with any Fire Emblem game and you’ll see why the series is revered in the world of turn-based strategy games: Its emphasis on the immediate and long-term effects of death is brilliant. The knowledge that each downed soldier is down for good makes you more considerate of individual lives. Being more considerate, in turn, makes you more cautious, less reckless. You come out of a Fire Emblem game a better player than you were when you entered.

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