GamesRadar - DS Reviews

F-24 Stealth Fighter (Review)

Mar 26, 2007

F-24? What ever happened to Fs 1 through 23? Ho ho. Why begin with some light-hearted jesting? After just one minute with Stealth Fighter, its clear that it was intended as some form of joke, so we thought wed play ...

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (Review)

Jul 24, 2007

While we recently talked about how games can be short and sweet, there is a certain limit to how short you can go and still get your moneys worth. Lets do some math here – a movie averages at 10 bucks for 90 minutes. The DS version of Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer costs 30 bucks and lasts about an hour. Okay, maybe someone might want to play it twice in order to unlock some stuff. The length could be entirely forgivable if it had some hefty replay value, but alas, you can ...

Far East of Eden II [import] (Review)

Jun 22, 2007

Youre thinking: Far East of what? Japans thinking: something in Japanese that translates as “Oh, that 2 million selling RPG, which brought proper cutscenes and CD-quality music to the genre via the PC Engine in 1989 and provided admirably stiff competition for yer Final Fantasys and yer Dragon Quests.” In other words: this remake of Far East of Eden II is big news to those in the know. Its traditional, all right - village boy sets off for take-turn battles to rescue Japan from ...

Feel the Magic XY/XX (Review)

Apr 11, 2006

The DS can do a lot of peculiar things that other handheld systems can't - and it does most of them in Feel the Magic XY/XX, an exciting and unique little sampler pack of potential. As a visual treat, its equally stimulating, indicative of the kind of happily offbeat games the DS would one day come to be known for. But when those qualities are a games greatest assets, the best you can really say about it is that its a novelty act - an immediately entertaining curiosity that loses … well, ...

FIFA Soccer 07 (Review)

Nov 6, 2006

So many games are called "football," yet there is really only one that can be called the world's most popular organized sport. It's the version we simply call soccer and it doesn't require helmets or involve "scrum" in any way. We dare say at times it seems more popular than "snogging" to the rest of the world, though that technically isn't a sport and is rarely organized. Just as there are many sports named "football," there have been more than a dozen incarnations of FIFA video games over ...

FIFA Street 2 (Review)

Mar 20, 2006

The old saying went that America's streets were paved with gold. Maybe that's because the rest of the world's streets are paved with the skin and blood of unruly soccer players having a match wherever there's some spare asphalt. Now that FIFA Street series has come to the Nintendo DS, you too can get your kicks anywhere you see fit. Sadly, the blacktop under your feet will be dotted with the bitter tears of disappointment. Arcade sports games are usually great on the go, giving you a chance to ...

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates (Review)

Mar 5, 2008

It’s Final Fantasy, but not as you know it. That is, unless you played Crystal Chronicles on the GameCube, and given its wallet-knackering requirement for four GBAs and link cables, hardly anybody ever did. On DS its prospects are slightly better, although players will need their own copy of the cart (and a DS) to get a taste of the four-player fun that makes this such an excellent party game. The aim is to explore deep into ...

Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales (Review)

Apr 16, 2007

Lets get this out of the way: If youre looking for the next DS RPG masterpiece, Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales will certainly disappoint. Despite the franchise attached to it, its really a collection of stylus-based mini-games with an RPG-style overworld. Likewise, if you want WarioWare -styled breakneck insanity, youll also be let down. But Chocobo Tales is by no means a bad game, especially if you know what to expect. In fact, we found it to be a very pleasant ...

Final Fantasy III (Review)

Jan 2, 2007

If you were to judge this remake of the Japanese Final Fantasy III solely on its appearance, you'd be right to think its a modern-day re-imagining of an 8-bit classic. However, that assessment would only be half right. The visuals, music and platform may all be the latest in handheld tech, but the top-notch recreation can't hide the hard-assed, 1990 gameplay that dwells underneath the shiny surface. You want character development? None of that here. Final Fantasy III loosely touches on a tale ...

Final Fantasy IV Advance (Review)

Feb 28, 2006

One of the best things about tearing into a remake of a classic game is not just the satisfaction you get from embarking on an adventure that's stood the test of time. No, it's the contentment you get when you realize, halfway through the adventure, that the developers of today have lessons to learn from the past. Final Fantasy IV Advance is an absolute blast from beginning to end. If you, like many, missed the game the first time around, you'll still be in for a sweet ride. The adventure ...

Final Fantasy IV (DS) (Review)

Jan 31, 2008

Final Fantasy IV (known as Final Fantasy II on the SNES) is the one where you play a dark knight called Cecil, roaming the kingdom of Baron in search of love, crystals and the truth. Like FFIII, the main thing that sets it apart from previous retellings of the story is the graphical treatment it has received on DS, although there are enough minor tweaks and changes to make it worth playing again if the previous versions have faded in your memory. ...

Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift (Review)

Jun 20, 2008

Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift, the long awaited follow up to Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, is nearly everything we hoped it would be. Everything we loved from Tactics Advance is intact, with lots of little improvements sprinkled throughout. The grid-based battles are as addicting as ever, with an even wider range of jobs, races and abilities to sink hours into exploring. Like its predecessor, A2 presents a kinder, gentler tactical ...

Final Fantasy V Advance (GBA) (Review)

Nov 7, 2006

Final Fantasy V has hit a few speed bumps on its way to the West. Originally published in Japan in 1992, it came to North America in 1999 for the Sony PlayStation. Unfortunately, the first American version of the game suffered from poor translation and technical issues, marring an otherwise great game. The second time's a charm for FFV, as Final Fantasy V Advance is the best this excellent game has ever been. Fans of modern FF games will surprised to learn that story and character development ...

Final Fantasy VI Advance (GBA) (Review)

Feb 13, 2007

There are very few games that inspire the sort of emotions that Final Fantasy VI does. For many old-school RPG players, this was the game that defined the 16-bit generation, and to this day there are still fans devoted to picking every single nuance of FFVI apart. Now, almost 13 years since its original release, Square-Enix has seen fit to reissue the game for GBA, complete with extra content to give fans something to drool over. While its not as amazing as it was when it was first released, ...

Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings (Review)

Nov 16, 2007

Nov 16, 2007 The Final Fantasy for everyone. That's a promise likely to make hardcore fans fear for this spin-off from the epic PS2 game, but while it's definitely not in the same league of complexity as last year's FFIII remake, it's undeniably a more immediate ...

Flash Focus: Vision Training in Minutes a Day (Review)

Nov 12, 2007

Nov 12, 2007 We would love to be able tell you that with diligent practice at Flash Focus: Vision Training in Minutes a Day, your powers of vision will grow freakishly, allowing you to dole out Bruce Lee death chops to those in your periphery, astonish police sketch artists with your photographic memory, and spot cleavage in New York from your deck in San Francisco. Look closely at the following text: Sorry, it aint gonna happen. Just as expecting spiritual sister Brain Age to morph you into ...

Flipper Critters (Review)

Apr 6, 2007

At first glance, Flipper Critters initiates its intended response: Awwwww… and we even had to edit out a couple ws. The characters and presentation exude adorability - headed up by our plucky heroes, Tiger and Monkey. As their quirky adventures unfold youll celebrate birthdays, tend to a cows clinical depression, and even take a trip to the moon - all through the magic of, uh, ...

Flushed Away (Review)

Nov 27, 2006

Flushed Away for the DS is a misguided take on a familiar 2D platformer with an otherwise good looking 3D skin. Playing as either the pampered pet mouse Roddy or the spunky mouse captain Rita, you explore the Piccadilly sewers for clues, collecting coins and treasure while leaping between pipes, avoiding biting barnacles, attacking rats, batting away nasty frogs - by the way, most enemies just go to sleep and then wake up again - and finally fighting big boss ...

Fossil League (Review)

Feb 14, 2007

Dinosaurs fascinated a lot of us as kids. But the basic, unavoidable truth is that theyre extinct (you, with the Nessie t-shirt in the back - don't say it). And because we unfortunately have no way of traveling back in time to interact with (read: get eaten by) these amazing creatures, we must rely upon movies, books, and games like prehistoric Pokemon-clone Fossil League to satisfy our desire for dino ...

Freshly Picked: Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland [import] (Review)

Oct 31, 2007

Oct 31, 2007 Hang on, isnt Wario supposed to be the Nintendo character whos all about the cash? Were only asking because having played numerous games where the fat yellow AntiMario jumps through hoops just for a sniff at a chest of treasure, its strange to see somebody steal his main personality flaw, and do it so extravagantly. In the Rosy Rupeeland, Tingle is money. The rupee is the only language anyone is willing to speak, and our hero actually bleeds the stuff whenever he gets hurt in a ...