I’m actually surprised it took as long as it did for Kirby to go the 3D platformer route. While Mario’s been exploring (and consistently reinventing) 3D adventures since the N64 days, and even Donkey Kong dabbled a bit with Donkey Kong 64, Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards was still a …
I really want to like Ganryu 2. From the instant you load it up, its vibrant, detailed pixel art and slick character designs call to mind the twilight years of the Neo Geo arcade system, when SNK (and other developers) were really pushing that hardware as hard as they could. …
I don’t know what I was expecting when I spent five bucks on a cheap-looking Metal Gear Solid clone, but it sure wasn’t whatever the hell Hundred Fires: The rising of red star is. For one thing, I thought I was getting a full game, since nowhere on the eShop …
When you think of “Taito milestones”, what comes to mind? Space Invaders, surely, as one of the most influential videogames of all time? The inimitable charm of Bubble Bobble? The unique style and innovation of Darius? You’ll find none of these in Taito Milestones. This new 10-game compilation is touted …
I always get a little… suspicious when non-Japanese (and Western, especially) developers claim to be trying to capture the spirit of Akira Kurosawa in their work. Too often, what that means is a generically Japanese-looking thing with a grainy black-and-white filter slapped over the top, maybe with some shakuhachi in …
I am loving this new subversive streak from Tetsuya Nomura and Kazushige Nojima. They’ve worked together plenty as a creative director/scenario writer duo and often push the bounds of creativity (whatever jokes you want to make about what Kingdom Hearts has become, it remains a fascinating concept). But more recent …
Pure adrenaline and meditative calm might seem like polar opposites, but—as anyone who’s ever tried their hand at an extreme sport will know well—they can be different sides of the same coin. It’s not a balance that videogames are great at finding, generally speaking. Not Grand Mountain Adventure: Wonderlands, though—this …
Between Touhou Luna Nights and Record of Lodoss War -Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth-, Team Ladybug is onto something: with the right foundation, just about any property can make a compelling metroidvania. Case in point: I didn’t know a whole lot about Record of Lodoss War going into Wonder Labyrinth, and …
“Dynasty Warriors mashed up with Romance of the Three Kingdoms.” That’s the elevator pitch for the Dynasty Warriors Empires spinoffs—the turn-based strategy of Koei Tecmo’s Romance of the Three Kingdoms series, but with battles playing out in Dynasty Warriors action-strategy fashion, instead of simply icons on screen to show you …
It’s easy to get caught in the spectacle of The Floating Castle. This comedy-drama retelling of the 1590 Siege of Oshi—in which a small force of some 3,000 soldiers, mostly peasants, held off repeated attacks by an army numbering more than 20,000—has no shortage of action, excitement, and comical banter. …
