Reviews & Articles

Tower defense games are unique in the strategy genre. This is twofold. First, all you have to do is “plant” a few towers and watch the sparks fly. Second, the games requires some excellent strategy — mostly in the form of micromanagement. Either you have to improve your towers or send your hero to slow things down enough for the turrets to destroy the opposition. Suffice to say, depending on the game, things can get difficult very quickly. But let me introduce you to one of the most accessible tower defense games: Lock’s Quest for the DS.

There comes a time when a game will come out as the complete package — a well-rounded game that has all the right elements, including an engaging story, fun gameplay, memorable music, interesting characters and timelessness. Chrono Trigger is one of those games.

Trains are something all boys love — at least in my experience. And it isn’t something we guys seem to outgrow. I know if my dad had the time, he would definitely be at a train store staring at all of them before setting them up somewhere. And riding the train at Oil City/Titusville was a blast all those years ago. What is it about trains that captures our imaginations? Is it simply their raw power and ability to take people almost anywhere? Is it because they stimulate our imagination for adventure? Or is it something else? With this in mind, I present to you The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks for the Nintendo DS.

C.O.R.E. calls itself an action/shooter game, but I found myself doing little of either. The game drops you into the shoes of a member of an armed soldier tasked with discovering what happened in a top-secret laboratory, but before I found out why any of that was important, I found myself wandering around the very first level wondering where the hell to go.

Nintendo stopped by the W Hotel in Times Square last week to show off the upcoming spring titles. I had a chance to put my mitts on four great-looking games, including a new edition in the Endless Ocean series and a digital cookbook/culinary class designed to engage the entire family.

The THQ Kids, Family and Casual games division stopped in New York during its Q1 Media Tour, and this little journalist had the chance to check out some of the latest family-friendly titles coming to gamers this spring, including SpongeBob's Boating Bash, Beat City, World of Outlaws: Sprint Cars and Nancy Drew: The Model Mysteries.

Very few items make it into public consciousness. No matter how hard you try, you cannot escape them. No, this isn’t about the fads of a decade. What I am writing about are the touchstones of humanity, things that you owe to yourself if you are a living, breathing person. One such example is The Wizard of Oz. It doesn’t matter if you read the book, saw the play or watched the movie; you know the basic gist of the plot and characters. (An old dog of mine was Toto in the play version several years ago.) The Wizard of Oz: Beyond the Yellow Brick Road is similar to the original story but has a few twists.

Survival horror is a genre that works best when you can absorb yourself in the game completely and shut out your surroundings. It’s surprising, then, that Dementium: The Ward works as well as it does, since it’s on the Nintendo DS. I usually play my DS when I’m stuck in line, on a long car trip or in any environment where I’m generally occupied by something else. And yet Dementium: The Ward manages to be engrossing, challenging and even scary.

Capcom was one of the few software companies at the Consumer Electronics Show, and I got to see quite a few of its games, including Mega Man 10, Final Fight Double Impact, Super Street Fighter 4, Lost Planet 2, Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth and Monster Hunter Tri. For more information about Capcom games, visit www.capcom.com/us/.

I remember when SquareSoft would come out with a game and it meant I was about to be sidetracked by something grand for a good month. SquareSoft definitely made sure to hand out nothing but RPG gold, and it did so pretty effortlessly. Enix eventually came along and, well, ruined that. Not being a huge fan of much that’s come out of the SquareEnix group, the Kingdom Hearts series has not yet hit a real snag and has maintained interest for me as an RPG lover. Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days is a portable spin of the console series and is between the first and second games.

This game doesn’t mean to toot its own horn ... it just does. The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks is a smooth ride across the land of Hyrule, by train rather than by boat. A successor of epic proportions to Phantom Hourglass, the first DS Zelda game, Spirit Tracks carries on the tradition of massive boss battles, picturesque visuals and an entertaining tale.

Weddings are hectic. Months, sometimes years of work go into creating the perfect day. Rarely do things go perfectly; most of the time, they do not. Zoo Games attempts to capture the ugly side of matrimony in Wedding Dash for the Nintendo DS. In Wedding Dash, there are three ways to experience the madness: Story mode, Multiplayer or Endless Reception.

I’ve enjoyed my fair share of Diner Dash entertainment, and Diner Dash: Flo on the Go has all the elements that made the original so popular. Waitressing is never this enjoyable in real life, but Flo has the power to turn a crap job into a captivating activity. That said, I’m not a fan of the “Let’s see how far we can stretch a brand until it loses its selling power” school of thought, and I’m wondering how many adventures Flo and her copy-written image have left.

I wouldn’t call myself a true fan of The Sims series. From the outside looking in, I couldn’t understand how directing people could be fun. Oddly enough, it was fun ordering people about to do my bidding. Mwhahaha — cough, cough. Granted, I had a blast playing The Sims 2. Who wouldn’t if they took the time to understand the system? I admit that I have been interested in My Sims: Agents for awhile now. The main reason was the television commercial I saw. I love spies. And I really wanted a good espionage game. Sadly, My Sims: Agents doesn’t deliver on that front.

Style Savvy is deceptive. On first glance, the game doesn’t look like much more than a digital version of Paris Hilton’s closet. I was skeptical. Most of my experiences with games marketed toward the female demographic include large amounts of disappointment and little amounts of store credit on my GameStop card. But when I started playing, I realized I was in for a treat.

Let me confess up front that while I own a few old Hardy Boys mysteries, I’ve never read them. Trixie Belden and her friends were my teen sleuths of choice. I can tell you how the gameplay worked for me, but I’m not going to know how well they captured the spirit of the Hardy Boys in general, and for that, I apologize.

Over the past 15 to 20 years, role-playing games have changed a lot. Graphics are now smoother and look more realistic when compared to their 8-bit counterparts. Music can be downright addictive with lush orchestrations instead of basic “beeps” and “bloops.” Stories have become not only more dramatic but also more sophisticated due to increased memory space of DVDs and cartridges. However, some things have stayed the same. No matter how active the battles are, victories always occur thanks to well-done strategies and the proper equipment. This all leads to one of the more important role-playing series and the world of Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen .

I am a huge fan of the Shin Megami Tensei games. The reason is simple: fun role-playing games in a vastly different setting than other games. Cliches? Ha! It takes them and transforms them into something more pure. The concepts transcend their archetype. The newest entry into this long-running series is Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey for the Nintendo DS. And Atlus’ Aram Jabbari was kind enough to show us a quick demonstration of the game.

I am not a movie buff. I watch three movies a year. That is it. One of the movies I watched this past year was Monsters vs. Aliens , a “B-movie” inspired by the old drive-in horror movies from the 1950s and ’60s. To say that my dad liked it is an understatement. He loved it. So how does the videogame tie-in of the same name fit with the movie? It comes together decently and allows novices to have fun but falls a bit short.

It's been so very long since I've played a Pokémon game. I haven't had enough money to buy a new one since Red Rescue Team, and I was skeptical about the new Pokémon. However, when I got Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky, I found that I really liked the new Pokémon. The chance to be a Pokémon instead of a human who uses them to fight other Pokémon was refreshing and fun.

The day Falcon Heene (the boy who supposedly flew off in the homemade balloon) hid in the attic, I was at Big Daddy’s Diner with my face buried in a build for the upcoming release of Wedding Dash on the Nintendo DS. Weddings, much like useless national rescue missions, are hectic. Months of work go into creating the perfect day. Sometimes things go perfectly; mostly, they do not. Zoo Games attempts to capture the ugly side of matrimony in Wedding Dash for the Nintendo DS.

For the past several months, I have noticed that very few games have had ad time on television. This is a shame to me. There are many great games out there waiting to be discovered. Most of them will not even be acknowledged. All I remember of the aired TV ads were Rhythm Heaven, Kingdom Hearts 368/2 days and the one I was greatly anticipating: Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box. Is the good Professor still worth your time? Yep. Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box is the most refined puzzle/adventure game to date. And that is no small statement.

I had been looking forward to playing Star Wars: The Force Unleashed with some relish, and after sitting down and popping it in my Xbox 360, I was pleased with many aspects of the game yet also disappointed with some minor details that I think could have easily been fixed or altered. But overall, I enjoyed it.

In the world of Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor for Nintendo DS, internal demons are no longer internal. And it is awesome.

For those of us old enough to remember the halcyon days of NES classics like The Guardian Legend, Dragon Warrior or 1942, Retro Game Challenge for the Nintendo DS provides a gleeful trip down memory lane. For younger players, it offers a chance to know what old-school gaming was really like.

Deserted islands. What is it about an island that sets up games for decent, if not great, adventures? Would we have loved Adventure Island without the island? Or how about Super Mario World — a game set up on a series of multiple islands? Or how about Star Tropics, a sleeper hit series for the Nintendo? Would these games be as cool if they didn’t take place in a cool setting? Away: Shuffle Dungeon for the Nintendo DS also takes place on an island, and it is a pretty decent game to play on the go.

The Shin Megami Tensei series is known for its unique blend of role-playing elements, (very) lengthy plot-driven stories and horrible things happening in Japan. This particular outing on the Nintendo DS tries its hand at a new direction by stepping away from the token role-playing game of Persona 4 and toward the strategy genre. Worry not, however, as there is still the very good possibility that Japan will be destroyed. Some things never change.

I do not remember much about the original Super Mario Bros.. All I remember is how much I enjoyed it. And even though New Super Mario Bros. has been out for a few years on the Nintendo DS, I decided to try it — keeping in mind my nostalgia and the fact that a version is coming out for the Wii.

In the early 1990s, Nintendo and Sega were in the midst of their console wars. While each console had its own strengths and weaknesses, it was inevitable that one would come along that would define the age and push other consoles forward. One of those games for the Sega Genesis was Landstalker: The Treasures of King Nole. It is a 2-D and a one-fourth perspective game. And there was nothing like it at the time. Add awesomely tight controls and level design, and it became one of the best platformer adventures at the time. As well as one of the most frustrating as it took some time to get used to figuring out distances between platforms. Fast-forward almost 18 years, and now gamers have the opportunity to play its spiritual successor: Steal Princess. Does it live up to the 16-bit classic? Is it a good game overall?

Do you like anime? Well, I don’t really care for it. Back in the mid 1990s, “Sailor Moon” and “Pokemon” shows were on television. (And “Pokemon” still hasn‘t left the air!) They were not bad, per se, but they quickly became repetitive, and I could easily see where each episode was going. It was a fun romp for the duration, but nothing more. And do not even get me started on how much I abhor “Dragon Ball Z.” The only anime that has held my attention (and admiration) as of late has been “Ghost Hunt.” It’s not really creepy, though it can be rather suspenseful at times. It is serious, and at the same time, there is this light thread of humor underneath at all times just waiting to pop out and release the tension. I could go on, but this is a game review, not an editorial on anime or even a review of the show. The reason I bring this up is because I have been playing Super Robot Taisen OG Saga: Endless Frontier on my Nintendo DS. And I feel like I have been playing interactive, portable anime.