Games Included in Retro Game Challenge:

• Cosmic Gate – 2D spaceship shooter
• Haguru Man – Side-scroller.
• Rally King – Top-down racing game.
• Star Prince – 2D spaceship shooter game.
• Haguru Man 2 – Side-scroller.
• Guadia Quest – RPG
• Rally King SP – Top-down racing game.
• Haguru Man 3 – Side-scroller.

These ‘pseudo retro’ games are what really makes this title unique and different than other 8bit collections out there. A lot of attention was paid to very little details. You don’t have to have seen the Japanese tv show or even played a lot of old retro games to get something out of Retro Game Challenge, though.

In the ‘challenges’ you face in the past, you don’t have to just beat the retro games. There are certain assignments or tasks you have to complete – like getting a high score, or playing one of the games with a handicap (not using a particular item or ability, etc.) It’s this that makes the game a little unique too, as it’s not just a collection of old games you can play, but there’s a story wrapped around them as well.

If you’ve played Retro Game Challenge or are a fan of retro 8bit games, leave a comment below.

Til next time… remember Pong.

One thing that Moon does well with is weapons – there are a lot of different weapon options available.

You play the game as Major Kane, who is called in to investigate (and get to the bottom of) a very strange hatch (Lost, anyone?) that has been found on the Moon. As you can imagine, when the hatch is opened, there’s not too much good going on deep in the Moon.

The controls are very intuitive, with the same set-up as most other first person shooters for the Nintendo DS. They’re simple controls, but sometimes that’s a good thing for a game – especially a shoot-em-up FPS like Moon.

If you like action and shooting, running and ducking, you’re going to get some enjoyment out of Moon. The action is constant, with enemies coming at you from everywhere, trying to make sure you don’t make it.

The inside of the hatch is very alien-like (as if we’d know what alien architecture on the moon is supposed to look like!) – but the levels do get a bit tedious and the same after a while.

The soundtrack and music for the game is good, though, letting you get into the mood of the Moon.

Unfortunately, there are NO multiplayer modes. It’s still a fun way to lose yourself for a little while.

If you’ve played Moon for the Nintendo DS, we’d love to know what you thought! Leave a comment below and let us know.

Until next time … be wary of opening hatches, especially on the Moon!

The original Elebits came onto the scene right after the Nintendo Wii was introduced. It’s been a while, but the sequel is finally here, although now for the Nintendo DS. The controls, of course, are a little different, but that won’t stop fans of the original Nintendo Wii game.

And there’s a time machine in the game! What game that includes a time machine could be bad?

Along with the artwork and visual design of the game, the characterization isn’t really there. Sure, your character is named Kai, but there’s not much more to it than that.

Elebits are used for energy in the game, and you have to chase them down and round them up to be able to get power to do other things. Elebits in the game have different abilities that you can use to get from level to level.

The game does have its share of flaws and things that would make it better, but it’s still a great little game for puzzle lovers of all ages.

If you played the original Elebits on the Nintendo Wii or find yourself addicted to Elebits on the Nintendo DS, we’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment below and let us know what you think.

Until next time, remember to charge the batteries on your Nintendo DS!

All that said, Robocalypse is a pretty interesting RTS game. It combines traditional RTS fun with a dash of humor – from the team who brought the world Spongebob Squarepants. Yeah, it’s gonna be kinda funny.

The sounds and music in the game are said to be a little annoying and repititious, though. If you can get beyond that, or play without the sound on, Robocalypse is good for hours and hours of single player gameplay.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention (small smile) the game offers free WiFi play – which in non-geek speak means you can play deathmatches and other modes with your friends or other people around the world.

Oh, and toasters. Yup. The game has toasters. And lots of robot mayhem.

Unlike a lot of RTS games, you don’t have a lot of choices when building structures (or even where to place them), but you do have a lot of choices as to the types of units you want to build.

The DS touch screen is used for all controls in the game, which is kinda different but well suited to an RTS game. (How long before there are touch screen controllers for the other platforms and a lot of games that use them? Hmmm…)

More on the multiplayer – there are two modes, one where you try to amass more resources than your opponent and another (deathmatch) where you try to destroy the other player’s HQ. The two multiplayer modes allow up to four players to go at it with tiny robot armies. Nice.

If you’re a fan of this rare RTS for the DS, we’d love to hear from you! Leave a comment below immortalizing this game that’s bound to become a classic for the DS in years to come.

That was back then, though, in the 1990s. Ever since Sonic made the leap from a side scroller to a 3D virtual environment, the game just hasn’t been the same. Maybe it has something to do with it being more awkward to move so fast in a 3D environment or that it takes more wrangling of the controls to get Sonic to go where you want, but whatever it is, the recent incarnations of Sonic the Hedgehog just do not match up to the Sonic side scroller games from the 90s.

Beyond the controls or other problems in this latest incarnation of the game, it’s been said that the gameplay just isn’t up to par. From enemies that stand around absentmindedly until you attack them to repititious levels, there seems to be more frustration than fun in Sonic Unleashed. There are two styles of gameplay in the latest Sonic game – platforming (where Sonic used to shine, running fast, fast, faster!) and combat (beating up monsters.) Unfortunately, both types of gameplay have more things wrong than right, which makes for a not too fun game, especially when you add all the problems with controlling Sonic in a 3D environment.

All that said, if you’re a Sonic fan, you’re going to want to have this in your collection. If you agree that the creators of Sonic need to get back to basics with the game, email or write them a letter. Or better yet, send them many letters begging them to take a little more time and talking with gamers about what used to make Sonic the Hedgehog such a great game.