Review: Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy (3DS)

Nintendo finally lands its true Ace Combat title

When it comes to the long running Ace Combat series, Nintendo’s been stuck in the hangar bay with only the forgettable Ace Combat Advance releasing on GBA. For all those who’ve missed out on the excellent aerial dog fight action all these years, this disservice has finally ended with Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy blasting onto 3DS. Combining elements from the series past along with the new, this 3D-fuelled outing should be considered the début title for Nintendo consoles.

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Review: Power Rangers Samurai (DS)

Go go Power Rangers

Centuries ago, dark forces threatened to destroy civilisation in Japan. The danger was thought to have been destroyed by a clan of fearless warriors wielding power symbols that had been passed down for generations. Now these dark forces have returned to finish the destruction they started so long ago, and the survival of Earth rests on the shoulders of six ordinary teenagers – the Power Rangers Samurai.

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Round Table: Looking Ahead to Nintendo in 2012

Should be a good ‘un

It’s a new year, with a recovering 3DS and a fresh home console on the way from Nintendo: these are certainly interesting times. We decided to have a chat about the prospects for Nintendo in 2012, including our thoughts on the company’s prospects, as well as our hopes, dreams and fears.

Joining features editor Thomas Whitehead this time are editor James Newton and writers/contributors Ron DelVillano, Marcel van Duyn, Mark Reece, Christopher Ingram and Dave Frear.

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Game of the Year: Nintendo Life Staff Awards 2011

What won our votes this year?

With the launch of 3DS in March, the Wii U’s unveiling at E3 and a Christmas period that included new Zelda, Mario and Mario Kart games, we rather think 2011 was a pretty good year all in all.

But what were the very best stand-out games of the year? What moments will we think of when we reminisce about 2011? The Nintendo Life team filed their ballots for the biggest and best games of 2011.

Continue reading to find out our 2011 NintendoLife Staff Awards

NintendoLife Round Table: Let’s Talk About the GameCube and Wii

From a cube to the revolution

With the GameCube recently reaching its tenth anniversary and the Wii five years old, we decided to get together to discuss both consoles, assessing their impact and legacy. These two consoles are in an interesting position of being relatively close in terms of graphical technology, yet wildly different in gaming experiences.

Joining Features Editor Thomas Whitehead are Editor James Newton and writers Jamie O’Neill, Christopher Ingram, Jamie O’Neill and Mark Reece.

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Feature: How Japanese Folklore Inspired Mario’s Tanooki Suit

What’s a Tanooki, anyway?

Ever since Super Mario Bros. 3 landed on store shelves, when Nintendo fans hear the word “tanooki” they almost always produce an excited smile and start reminiscing about days spent flying through levels as Racoon Mario. If you were to utter this same word today around these same Nintendo fans you’d probably get a much larger outcry of joy, seeing as the Tanooki Suit is about to make its triumphant return inSuper Mario 3D Land. But, have you ever wondered what actually inspired the creation of Mario’s Tanooki Suit? Ever wondered why it is sometimes called the “Racoon Suit” instead? Let’s unravel the mysteries as we take a look at the Tanooki Suit that we know today, and also step into the mysterious world of Japanese Folklore to understand the origins of this legendary suit.

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Feature: The Best Games on GameCube and Wii

Celebrating the cube and the waggle

The one and only cube

This week presents a rather unique opportunity, as we’ll be celebrating major anniversaries for two consoles. The GameCube celebrates the tenth anniversary of its North American release on November 18th, while November 19th is the fifth anniversary for the Wii in the same territory. Not only does this dual celebration entitle us to twice as much cake, but also provides a unique opportunity to look at both consoles and explore their similarities and major differences.

Later this week we’ll look back at each console individually and discuss them in a roundtable, but for now we’re taking the bold step of declaring our top 10 games for both platforms. Not necessarily directly linked to review scores but lists that, in the view of the current team, represent the best games on Wii and GameCube. A total of nine staff members nominated 98 games over the two platforms, with votes and scores then tallied together. Naturally, limiting ourselves to a top 10 when addressing entire game libraries means that many exceptional titles miss out, but we hope that you’ll agree with us on one thing: these are all awesome games.

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Review: Mario Pinball Land (GBA)

A flipping good time?

Our beloved hero Mario has starred in a multitude of sports throughout his long career: golf, tennis, hockey, soccer, basketball, go-karts, etc. It seems there’s hardly anything the famous plumber can’t do — even going so far as winning a gold medal at the Olympics against his long-time rival, Sonic the Hedgehog. Nintendo has taken us through all sorts of alternative titles with our beloved hero throughout the years, and back in 2004, Mario took on another of our favourite pastimes: pinball. Instead of going the easy route of creating a few Mario-inspired pinball tables, Fuse Games and Nintendo used the wonderful worlds of past Super Mario games to craft another Mario Land, but this time around its played pinball-style. Sound a bit crazy? It should, but it’s crazy in that charmingly Nintendo way that only they can pull off.

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Feature: Castlevania – The Terrifying Ten

Our favourite Dracula quests

As the dreaded night of Halloween continues to loom ever closer, we are now turning our attention to the Castlevania franchise, which recently celebrated its 25th Anniversary. All of this week there’ll be features looking at the series, as we join the hunt to take Dracula down once and for all.

In previous features we’ve produced lists of games in no particular order, such as our N64 and GBA favourites: now we’re getting off the fence with our top 10 Castlevania titles. The criteria was that only Castlevania games released on Nintendo systems could be included, which includes titles that have been released on the Wii Virtual Console, while one game that served as a spoof of the series also makes the cut. Our series experts Damien McFerran, Corbie Dilliard, Marcel van Duyn and Christopher Ingram all put forward their cases: below is the final result, in descending order.

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Feature: Staff Memories of the Resident Evil Series

Remembering the horror

This week we’ve been celebrating the Resident Evil franchise, a series of games that has set the benchmark for survival horror and is perfect for this spookiest of months. Before we move onto our next Halloween horrors, some of the Nintendo Life team have cast their minds back to their experiences with Resident Evil titles and what’s made them memorable.

Reminiscing on moments of gaming terror may not be good for us, but these games are worth it.

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