Staff reviews, page 156

The Dog Island review

Some of that innovation should have instead been saved for the different missions you'll attempt. These regularly amount to nothing more than running back through several areas to someplace you've already been—just to sniff out some secret…

Jason Venter · May 11, 2008

Staff PC HG exclusive

Jack Keane review

"This is Monkey Island done right, at last," the box proudly proclaims. It's somewhat appropriate that the first comparison to the iconic adventure series would be made before you even start the game, given the parallels. Still, it's high…

Josh Higley · May 10, 2008

Staff PlayStation 2 HG exclusive

SNK Arcade Classics: Vol. 1 review

SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1 collects 16 arcade classics, which doesn't sound like a significant number until you realize that a lot of what's here is much beefier than the norm. There's nothing wrong with a bunch of puzzle games, something…

Jason Venter · May 10, 2008

Staff PC HG exclusive

Sam & Max 205: What's New, Beelzebub? review

Let's get the forewarning over with now: if you've not been playing Season 2, then the end chapter is not the place to start. In fact, you shouldn't really be reading this: I just spoiled the ending of 203 by revealing the death of the…

Gary Hartley · May 9, 2008

Staff Wii HG exclusive

Emergency Mayhem review

Crisis City is swarming with activity. Pedestrians crowd the sidewalks. Traffic is thick and boasts a pleasing variety of vehicles, while the scenery is frequently beautiful with great draw distance. There's definitely a pleasing artistic…

Jason Venter · May 9, 2008

Staff PSP HG exclusive

R-Type Command review

As the game's packaging indicates, there are more than 80 different units available. These fall into several categories. You'll choose from agile jets, slower support vehicles, Force pods, carriers and an assortment of other units. It…

Jason Venter · May 7, 2008

Staff Xbox 360 HG exclusive

Rocketmen: Axis of Evil review

If you're mainly a solitary gamer, pass this one up. However, if you have a huge love (or even a passing liking) for loot-gathering dungeon-crawlers, are tired of the genre being taken up solely by medieval fantasy trappings, and have at…

Jason Grant · May 7, 2008

Staff DS HG exclusive

Teenage Zombies: Invasion of the Alien Brain Thingys! review

These monsters are planted in specific locations, and your zombies' only defense against them is based on their current ailments. Lefty uses her right arm to whack enemies senseless. Fins uses his tentacles (Or are they fins? They look…

Louis Bedigian · May 6, 2008

Staff DS HG exclusive

Hurry Up Hedgehog! review

Hurry Up Hedgehog is instead a modest title based upon some German board game I’m not even going to try and spell. It presents players with a grid full of pits and challenges them to get three of their four hedgehogs to the other side…

Gary Hartley · May 6, 2008

Staff DS HG exclusive

Powershot Pinball Constructor review

As much as the concept of creating your own tables sounds really appealing, the editor is so lacklustre and limiting that it may as well have not existed. And if I’m judging Powershot Pinball Constructor as an ordinary pinball title, its…

Freelance Contributor · May 5, 2008

Staff Wii HG exclusive

Secret Files: Tunguska review

In one scenario, a Russian military hospital that has Nina imprisoned in a rat-infested cell with only a stinking foam mattress for company, Max flies out to the rescue (for some reason, in Tunguska, everyone has a plane license, despite…

Gary Hartley · May 5, 2008

Staff PC HG exclusive

Utawarerumono review

Utawarerumono doesn’t start off particularly promising, and you’d be forgiven in thinking that, based upon its archetype-ridden beginnings, it would drown in a flood of clichés well before it hits endgame. But you would be largely mistaken.

Gary Hartley · May 3, 2008

Staff PC HG exclusive

Sins of a Solar Empire review

It’s not uncommon for a game to end with hundreds of ships on screen at once, engaged in constant combat while each player struggles for dominance. Frankly, the hours you’ve invested in this game only help to heighten the emotions brought…

Mike Suskie · May 2, 2008

Staff Turbografx-CD HG exclusive

Last Alert review

Last Alert's 'advanced speech' is in stark contrast to its visuals: the game uses an overhead view (much like the one employed by Guerrilla War) to chronicle the adventures of our favourite Guy, who happens to be a bruising special forces…

Marc Golding · May 1, 2008

Staff Wii HG exclusive

Super Paper Mario review

The lack of challenge is the game’s biggest issue, but it opens the playing field to people looking for a more casual experience.

Danyal Vierheller · May 1, 2008

Staff DS HG exclusive

Draglade review

As much as Draglade might sound like a cheap energy drink, it’s actually a DS action-RPG that feels like a cross between Pokemon and Megaman Battle Network, with an element of music-and-rhythm thrown in for good measure.

Paul Josua · April 28, 2008

Staff Wii HG exclusive

Bomberman Land review

Thing is, if you can dig through the gloopy mire of problems that plague Bomberman Land then you can find a decent collection of mini-games to play though. And, if you don’t have the patience, then you can simply fall back on the tried and…

Gary Hartley · April 27, 2008

Staff NES HG exclusive

1943: The Battle of Midway review

The game treats you much differently depending on the choices you make and it never coddles you. Souping up your special weapons right away so that you can fire amazing rapid-fire bursts or shell your enemies relentlessly with a barrage of…

Jason Venter · April 26, 2008

Staff PlayStation 2 HG exclusive

Fatal Fury: Battle Archives Volume 2 review

It seems unusual to see the high-quality backgrounds swapped out from one game to the next, rather than simply finding them supplemented by a few new ones. Just the fact that things work like that, though, is a point in this compilation's…

Jason Venter · April 25, 2008

Staff Wii HG exclusive

Dream Pinball 3D review

When you're playing and the ball is moving too quickly, it seems like the camera just isn't ready to follow it appropriately. The developers chose a default perspective where not everything fits all in one screen and thus the view will…

Jason Venter · April 25, 2008