Nintendo

Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (Nintendo DS) Review

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It’s time to wave goodbye to the “Metroidvania” style Castlevania games as we look at Order of Ecclesia, essentially the swan song of the original timeline/run of games, minus a few multiplayer and phone things anyway. It ends the series with a bang though, not just presentation-wise or gameplay-wise but also a “bang” in the sense of knocking into something hard as the game is really challenging, to put it politely. They knew the people playing at this point would be veterans rather than newcomers, I guess. Well, let’s take a look then, and bring an end to this particular brand of Castlevania on this site (I will get round to the classic and 3D games one day, I’m sure…)

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Phantasy Star Online: Episodes I & II (GameCube) Review

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Ten years ago today I posted my first review ever as I kicked off the blog that would become this site. It was of “Last Battle” one of my least favourite games ever (which you can still look at by clicking here!) So I thought to celebrate ten years I’d do the opposite and review one of my favourite games ever, which given I’ve reviewed a lot of those already it was initially hard until me and my friend started replaying Phantasy Star Online Episodes I & II for the GameCube and I remembered why I’d sunk well over 100 hours into it back in the day. Sadly I can’t capture original hardware so I can’t show you my Level 60+ Hunter character but oh well, this new run via an emulator has been plenty fun as well. So let’s take a look at what will probably be the only online multiplayer RPG to appear on this site (as I played it exclusively offline single player/split-screen multiplayer…)

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Mario Kart 8 (Wii U) / Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch) Review

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Back in March of 2022 I started a look at all the Mario Kart games tying in with each DLC release for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and stated that I’d end with a look at the game itself, so let’s do that, even though it’s been nearly a year since I looked at Mario Kart 7, but hey… it’s been a busy year. I’ll be looking at both versions but let’s be honest, 8 Deluxe is just 8 with more stuff so there isn’t really any reason to look back at the Wii U original too hard…

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Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (Nintendo DS) Review

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Continuing with my playthrough of the DS Castlevania games thanks to the Dominus Collection we have “Portrait of Ruin”. Thankfully the game pulls all the way back on the touch screen stuff and it adds some fun new gameplay elements, but it also doubles-down on the lighter tone and anime aesthetics and makes some not-so-fun gameplay decisions! A mixed bag indeed… Let’s take a look!

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Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (Nintendo DS) Review

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It’s time for the next stop on my first play through of the Kingdom Hearts series, and it’s the DS game “358/2 Days”, pronounced “Three-Five-Eight Days over Two” which means really it should’ve been stylised “358 Days/2” but… whatever. Also I was following the main menu of the “Story So Far” PS4 game so played this next (by buying a physical copy! Who’d of thought I’d be buying a DS game in 2024…) then later found out it was released AFTER Kingdom Hearts 2 in order to fill in some gaps. Did it matter? No, in fact I really enjoyed myself here, seeing it as a sequel to Chain of Memories that fleshes out the Organisation plus sets up the prologue of KH2 to boot. I guess I’ll just have a different experience with the series than people who played it at the time! Let’s take a look anyway.

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Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (Nintendo DS) Review

David HoganLeave a comment

Well, given I have a couple of other on-and-off game review series going I wasn’t planning on starting another one, but while I knew it was always in the cards the sudden release of the Castlevania: Dominus Collection has shifted my priorities a bit as I’ve been waiting to play these games with a comfortable controller and on a big screen for many years. Sadly I’ll have to say that “Dawn of Sorrow” isn’t the massive hit I was expecting, in fact I think its prequel “Aria of Sorrow” was far better, that doesn’t mean this is bad by any means, just not up to that standard. Intrigued? Read on!

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Metal Gear (MSX / NES) Review

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After skipping forward (or backwards game-continuity-wise!) to MGS3 due to the remake being on the horizon it’s time to get this on-and-off look at the Metal Gear franchise off proper by looking at the very first game in the series. I actually own and played the NES version back in the day so unlike a lot of people who started with MGS on the PS1 this game does hold a lot of nostalgia for me. Okay, I was really bad at the game at the time and the NES version is much worse than the MSX original as it turns out, but regardless it’s always fun to head back here, and thanks to the “Master Collection” it was even easier to play the original AND the NES version on my regular TV this time round. So let’s take a look at the game that started it all.

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The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages (Manga) Review

David HoganLeave a comment

The next Zelda manga adaptation is, unsurprisingly, the Oracle of Ages, following on from Seasons last time (though the games could be played in either order, for the record). After a magic seasons-changing rod and some talking animals gave Seasons a unique feel Ages feels more in-line with your standard LoZ affair, including time travel and even a battle with Ganon at the end (though again that would happen at the end of Seasons if you played the games the other way around…) So let’s get to it!

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WWE WrestleMania XIX (GameCube) Review

David HoganLeave a comment

This time next year will mark 10 years since this review site/blog began and the second ever review I did was the first “Wrestling Game Rundown” review… safe to say I haven’t gotten through these as quickly as I’d hoped back then! Still, I want to see if I can get through the remaining ones before we hit that milestone next year, and given its WrestleMania XL weekend right now why not get the next entry up, given it’s a WrestleMania game! XIX will forever be remembered for its frankly bizarre, almost scrolling beat ‘em-like “Revenge Mode” but what about the rest of the game? Let’s take a look!

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Mario Kart 7 (3DS) Review

David HoganLeave a comment

Surprise! … to even myself really. As I’ve been playing through all the Mario Karts I’ve talked about how this was the only non-arcade Mario Kart I’ve never played due to not owning a 3DS, but guess what happened last month? I brought a New 3DS XL in CeX for just over £100 like new and brought this with it (plus Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days for later review as I get through that series, though that’s an original DS game this has a bigger screen than my old regular DS I’ve used over the years) So before we actually end this look at the Mario Kart series with 8/8 Deluxe, let’s take a look at Mario Kart 7, my first 3DS gaming experience despite the year being 2024…

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