Nano Assault EX is an enhanced port of the 2012 3DS game, Nano Assault. Like the original, EX is a good-looking game, and everything that worked last year continues to work now. The nanite ship feels extremely responsive, the varied stages make for a fun campaign, and the boss fights are a standout. READ MORE

The console Castlevania games have taken a peculiar path since the polygonal transition, with various experiments on the N64 and PS2 garnering mixed reception. The handheld titles, on the other hand, have shown a consistent brilliance on the GBA and DS, adhering to a formula that works while focusing on combat precision and varied boss battles. On the 3DS, the series has taken just a bit of a nod toward the console style, while still maintaining something resembling the classic gameplay.

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Poisoft’s eShop offering Kersploosh! is a difficult game to evaluate, due to its almost-insignificant price point. In an era where even re-releases of decades-old NES titles go for five dollars (like my much-beloved Mega Man 2, which I have effectively purchased for the fourth time now), how does one accurately value a game costing a little more than half of that? Even a mere hour of mediocre gameplay should be considered insane value for that price by most metrics, no?

Fortunately, the gameplay in Kersploosh! is quite above mediocre, and I’ve already put about an hour an a half into it. It’s a difficult game to play for long stretches, especially with the 3D on, but as bite-sized time killers go, I have enjoyed far worse. READ MORE

Fire Emblem: Awakening, the latest from Intelligent Systems, strikes a tough balance. It’s at once a celebration of the series’ peculiar quirks and a friendly introduction to newcomers, a reinvention for the modern age and a reminder of days past. That it does it so gracefully is a testament to the developers’ attention to detail, and the resulting game is one that can be different things to different people. READ MORE