Harvest Moon On The DS

Three Harvest Moon DS games, none of them yet in the States. What’s the deal? While many of us are looking forward to mostly all of these games, only two have US release dates… And surprisingly, the first true Harvest Moon DS game, which came out around March of last year, is coming here in September. I really don’t know what justifies such an enormous time frame for merely localizing the game, but regardless… I, along with IGN, will profile each Harvest Moon game here, all of which will most likely come to the US and beyond… Eventually.

Wii Makes Music

Orchestra is a demo created for E3 to show off how the remote might be used in a musical game. It is apparent from the very first glance that It’s simply a demo at the moment..The characters making up the orchestra are toy-like models with no arms or legs and simple balls for hands. Each has a different face, though some are repeated, and they perch in front of their music stands with instruments in hand waiting for you to begin conducting your masterpiece.

Star Fox Commands!

When E3 2006 hit Los Angeles just a few months back, Nintendo dropped a bomb on DS fans worldwide when the company released a new version of the Start Fox franchise, titled Star Fox Command. In his most recent (and now touch-controlled) adventure, Fox and the gang are sticking to their roots, delivering a flight-specific shooter to Nintendo’s newest handheld. Mixing in a dash of strategy to keep things interesting, Star Fox Command attempts to blend classic gameplay with innovation, and for the most part it looks like it works.

Mario is Hoop’n It up.

Baseball, soccer, golf, tennis. You name it, Mario’s played it. He hasn’t hit the parquet yet other than in a cameo of NBA Street Vol. 3 on the GameCube — and that’s where the partnership with Nintendo and Square Enix goes: Mario and company are ready for some b-ball, and the two companies are taking it in a direction you might not expect. Mario Hoops 3 on 3  hit Japan earlier this week, and to see if we can handle the rock in the Mushroom Kingdom as well as we can with the big boys in the NBA in other games. Our verdict – if you’re looking for a true basketball experience on the Nintendo DS you may walk back to the showers disappointed. But if you’re ready for a rendition that offers a whole lot of Mario-style embellishment as in past Nintendo sports games, you’re in for a treat.

Yoshi’s Island 2 DS preview

 If you owned a Super NES, chances are pretty good you have fond memories of a game called Yoshi’s Island. Shockingly, this is its sequel — which means that unlike its semi-sequels (Yoshi’s Story, Yoshi Touch & Go, etc.) it both looks and and sounds like it plays like the original. And that is very good news.

Yggra Union Preview

The Game Boy Advance still has some life left in it, of the strategy RPG type in particular. Yggdra Union is a hybrid, taking the strategy template and throwing in a dash of card-battling mechanics to liven things up a bit. The playable version at Atlus’ E3 booth was still in Japanese, but I was still able to glean some details about this handheld title.

Children of Mana Preview

Square Enix is trying to revive the good spirit of the Mana series with two new games: Children of Mana and Dawn of Mana; My focus in this particular preview is on the former and not the latter, because it sure promises to bring back all the elements that made Secret of Mana such a hit with U.S. SNES owners.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

System: Wii
Published by: Nintendo
Developed by: Nintendo
Genre: Fighting
Release Date: 2007
Written By: DarthGohan1

With the release of the Nintendo’s next home console coming later this year, it is no surprise that the hype for many of the announced games for Wii is incredible. Super Smash Bros. Brawl continues the Super Smash Bros. franchise, after Super Smash Bros. on N64 and Super Smash Bros. Melee, the #1 selling Gamecube game. The franchise has evolved since Super Smash Bros. was released on N64 way back in the early part of 1999, starring the likes of Mario, Luigi, Samus, Link, Pikachu, and a few others. After the days of only being able to play as 12 characters in Super Smash Bros., Super Smash Bros. Melee, released during holiday season of 2001, allowed gamers to play as over double as many characters from Nintendo’s famed franchises, with new additions including Mewtwo, the Ice Climbers duo, Mr. Game & Watch and Dr. Mario.

Phamtom Hourglass Preview

There had been much talk of a new Zelda game coming to the Nintendo DS right back early on in the system’s life. However, many were unsure whether it was to be a full-blown adventure RPG or something similar to the Four Swords spin-off series, since both were mentioned at one time or another. Then earlier this year gamers were blown away as Nintendo sharply drew back the curtain on its ‘secret’ project – Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, a title that looked as beautiful as Wind Waker on the GameCube and seemed to play more like the classic Link to the Past, much to the relief of those frustrated by certain sections of Wind Waker.