DS Previews

Starting on September 28, anyone with a Nintendo 3DS or DSi and an Internet connection will be able to download The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition for free. The original was as fun to play as it was difficult to manage – requiring each player to have not only a Game Boy Advance and a copy of the game, but a link cable to hook the Game Boys together. Technology has caught up with Four Swords, and not only will this version allow for more convenient play wirelessly between the 3DS and DSi, but it will feature a number of new levels based on classic Zelda areas...

After a string of quirky, well written Ace Attorney games, Capcom is throwing gamers a curveball with Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth. The game introduces new gameplay elements and third-person views, and most notably focuses on fan favorite Miles Edgeworth instead of series staple Phoenix Wright. We put the game’s producer, Motohide Eshiro in the hot seat and grilled him for evidence

Did the Spanish Armada get eaten by a giant beetle? Was Waterloo won when Napoleon found himself scythed into chunks by the talons of a sphinx? Did Cromwell seal a decisive victory at the Battle of Naseby by the tactical deployment of a minotaur?

Why the upcoming tie-ins might actually do Tim Burton's film justice

More than 25 years ago, Ridley Scott’s Alien hugely inspired the original NES Metroid. The parasitic monsters and claustrophobic alien world of the film translated perfectly into Nintendo’s moody sci-fi adventure, and years later, in Super Metroid, the tonal and atmospheric parallels between the two became even clearer. Today, the inspiration has come full circle, as developer WayForward is using Metroid’s explorative gameplay as the template for Aliens: Infestation...

Do you have the reflexes of a champion? How about the dexterity of a missile-equipped death mech? If you answered yes to at least one of those questions, then Treasure’s Bangai-O Spirits is up your alley. Developed as a sequel to the Dreamcast favorite, you pilot an anime-like mech against a battalion of nukes, laser bullets and enough formidable opponents to turn your tears into ash.

Only ever released in Japan. A very limited edition. By legendary software house Treasure. Any one of those would make pixel-eyed shoot-’em-up fans reach for their credit cards, but Bangai-O ticked all three boxes on N64. Being a brilliant game didn’t do it any harm either. Of course they ruined some of that cred by rehashing it for a global release on Dreamcast, but the N64 one remained the best and is still prized by collectors

When you think of firework games, the mind immediately pings to Boom Boom Rocket (or for us older stagers, Fantavision). Both of these were cracking little titles - but developer Arkedo reckons it’s not a bit like either one of them - and it’s definitely not a puzzler!

Instead it appears to be a ballistic-based battler, a shoot-’em-up-into-the-sky, if you will. The object is to create barrages of beautiful