Review No. 138 Bravely Default (12+) - 3DS

Strong Points:
A mix of old and new
Great voice acting
Rebuilding Norende was a good past-time
Lots of jobs
Intuitive battle system
Great variety of weapons
Specials are cool to see
Great music
Classic story with some modern themes
Funny
Great cast of characters
Good pacing, for the first half at least

Weak Points:
SP was an unneeded cash-grab
Can't see everything on the map, especially if the menu's up
Voices and mouths don't always match
Some character costumes reduce the dramatic effect of dialogue
Sometimes requires 'cheesing' the battle or be ready for a long fight

Spoilers ahead:

Review No. 114 Pilotwings Resort - 3DS (3+)

Strong Points:
Graphics are quite good...
Music is good
Lots of missions
Lots of vehicles
The vehicles are quite varied and have different playstyles
Free Flight Mode is great
Exploring Wuhu Island is fun
The vehicles handle pretty well
The altitude and speedometer are a nice inclusion

Weak Points:
...although some points (such as the water) haven't aged brilliantly
The controls can be a bit fiddly
Landing can prove a problem and take away a few minutes of hard work
The scaling's a bit off - you are about the size of a building
The squirrel suit is only used once

Review No. 106 Pokémon Shuffle - 3DS (3+)

Strong Points:
Cute, cartoony graphics
Great music
Good, solid, match three gameplay
Mega evolutions, support Pokémon and abilities add more to the gameplay with a Pokémon spin
500 coins for checking in each day makes getting coins much easier
Getting a higher catchability for more using less moves adds a reward for skill (or blind, combo-based luck)
Lots of levels
Lots of Pokémon
Expert and Special levels add more variety to the game
Doesn't force you to pay real money
Keeps you coming back for more
It's a free Pokémon game!
Super Catch Mode makes it easier to catch rarer Pokémon, occasionally (although why they didn't call it Ultra Ball?)
Mega Speedup Candies let you Mega Evolve quicker

Weak Points:
No 3D (it just seems lazy, really)
Some Pokémon are ridiculously hard to catch (3% catchability for Riolu? Really?)
Great Balls are very expensive for what they do
Items are really expensive
Levels don't give out very many coins
A lack of story
Too many Pokémon have the same abilities (if I see another Pokémon with Opportunist...)
Pokémon only have one type which, while making it simpler, makes some well known type matchups unusable
Not using Play Coins as a currency is a bit of a missed opportunity
Lots of events forces you to keep playing which feels a tad underhanded
Too many of the starting Mega's are normal types which makes them rather underpowered to begin with

Rating: 77%

Review No. 101 Super Smash Bros. for 3DS - 3DS (12+)

Strong Points:
Superb gameplay
(Mostly) Brilliant balancing
Lots of content
Lots/variety of characters
Lots/variety of modes
Lots/variety of items
Lots/variety of stages
Lots/variety of music
Lots/variety of collectables
Lots of unlockables
Solo modes are good
Great fun to play
Local connection is very good
Trophy Shop is helpful
Customisable moves allows for a more varied playstyle
Intensity system in Classic Mode is helpful
Online is split into For Fun and For Glory which is useful for both casual and competitive players
The 3DS enables quick pick up and play matches
Can be used as a controller for the Wii U version
Omega Forms for stages are great

Weak Points:
You can get multiple copies of the same customisable move/trophy (and it records it as such)
No way to sell extra trophies/customisable moves
Online is shaky and laggy
Characters can appear very small on battles with more than two characters
No amiibo support (although this is promised)
Smash Run can take some getting used to
No co-op play for solo modes (besides All-Star and Multi-Man
Trophy Rush isn't very good
Loading times are very long

Rating: 95%

First Impressions: Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire

How do you begin a remake of a cherished childhood memory? How do you change an old 2D game into a new, 3D one, without losing the magic that made the game good in the first place? These are the challenges that Pokémon ORAS faced and, judging by their opening sequence, they may have succeeded. But why, you might ask? Read on to find out... (But be warned as there are spoilers).

Review No. 77 Animal Crossing: New Leaf - 3DS (7+)

Strong Points:
Ability to change a lot of your town
Can have 4 people on one game card to live in the same town
Lots of bugs, fossils and fish to collect and donate to your museum
Online visiting to other towns is fun
People can't spam your place unless you let them come to your town by opening it
Dream suite allows you to visit other towns even if you don't have any friends
Swimming is a nice addition
You can create your own town tune and flag
Graphics are surprisingly good for a 3DS game
Controls are easy to pick up
Gifts can be nice to receive
Ability to send letters with gifts is cool
Quests can be good as you will gain gifts as rewards
Characters have really different personalities even on different games
Awesome accessories

Weak Points:
Some of the characters that already live in the town are really annoying
Place is really small
You have a choice of 4 places and can't change where anything is
New villagers can be annoying on where they choice their house to be
Quest can be repetitive
Voices can be stupid as they say each letter out loud and character voices are dumb as they make no sense

Rating: 92%

Review No. 76 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D - 3DS (12+)

Strong points:
Good graphics
Fun minigames
Good music
Ocarina was good
Storyline was good
Nice travelling in time gimmicks
Cool items
Great bosses
Side quests are good

Weak points:
Very slow to start off
Water temple "too hard" for some
Not very fast at first when moving, best way to move is running backwards
Legendary sword isn't the best in game?!
Side quests are hard to find

Walkthrough No. 3 Fire Emblem: Awakening, Train Your Team!

The Walkthrough:
This isn't going to be a complete walkthrough as the game tells you what to do mostly, this will focus on recruitable characters, DLC and the like:

First Impressions: Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire (Demo)

This game is already shaping up to be one of the best Pokémon games of recent times!

From just the demo (which is a special version that includes islands and events that aren't in the main game) I've seen/heard/done many great things including flying on Latios/Latias (Hoenn has never looked so good as from the air!), revisiting the music of my childhood (Pokémon Emerald was the first Pokémon game I'd played), battled Team Magma and Aqua, caught a Mega Glalie and seen a Pokémart! 

Sadly I haven't been able to go into the Pokémart or any other buildings yet due to it being a demo but I have been able to talk some of the people including Gym Leader Flannery. The demo is set in Mosdeep City and the plot is that you are helping Stephen Stone with various jobs (such as finding a Skitty or battling some trainers) around various islands. However, first of all you have to fight some Team Aqua members in front of a space centre, fight some more Team Aqua members and Team Magma members in a forest, fight the two admins of the group (who for some reason have teamed up to defeat you) and finally catch a Glalie (Steelix in Japan). And to aid you in your quest is either Combusken, Marshstomp or Grovyle (who later evolve and then can mega evolve as well). After the first mission you get control of all four of these Pokémon so you can test them out in preparation for the main game.

But it's not just preparation that you can send to the main game but also Glalie, Pokéballs and other rewards! Playing through it every day is also said to give you a reward (which I suspect to be Mega Metagross as Stephen hinted at it). Not that I need an extra excuse to keep playing of course.

The final new things that I have seen is the upgraded Pokénav which has been changed into four different versions. The demo only contains one, which is the Buzznav. This Nav acts as a continuous news feed on your bottom screen and makes the games world seem more alive as you see things that have normally been confined only to in-game TV screens. Another new thing is the ability to 'Sneak Walk' which has you moving extra slowly and apparently lets you sneak up on Pokémon. Sadly, I haven't been able to test out this feature in the demo version but as soon as I get the full game, I will be sure to do so. Finally, the battle screen has been revamped so that the buttons look like something from a comic book.

Overall, the game looks absolutely brilliant so far and I can't wait to play the full game this November! Until then...

Goodbye for now, Harry  

First Impressions: Super Smash Bros. for 3DS (Demo)

Well, after being able to finally download the demo (my internet wasn't working for a while for some reason) I started to play. And then kept playing. And playing.

Review No. 69 Pokémon X and Y - 3DS (3+)

Strong Points:
3D graphics (with slider) in battle
Breeding for IV's easier than ever
Main legendary easy to catch
Battle animations are much better
Roller skates make getting around much easier
Storyline is darker
PSS makes connecting to people a lot easier
Global Link is much easier to use
Very big regional Pokédex
3D graphics adds height, depth and better overall graphics to the game
Random people have more of a personality
Luminouse City is huge
Graphics for HM's are much better
EV's are much easier to get and record
BP is easier to get
Map is much less linear
Cinematic cut-scenes!
Character customisation
Restaurant Le Wow makes it easy to get money

Weak Points:
3D effect (with slider) not in overworld
Scary house not really scary
Not very many new Pokémon
League is not very hard
No VS Seeker
Not many legendries (yet?)
Main legendary is easy to catch
Framerate is shaky when in battle
Not as many training spots

First Impressions: Pokémon X and Y

I've played this game for about four hours now and I have to say I'm impressed. From the word go the game introduces you with a cinematic video that starts the game, the closest to a proper cut scene in the Pokémon series yet. Then you see yourself and the room you're in and I actually had to check if I was playing the right game, the graphics were so different. The next change occurred as soon as you stand up, when I moved the circle pad expecting a normal grid based movement, I was greeted with something that was also free movement! OK, it's no Dragon Quest or Skyrim like movement but it's still a huge improvement.

Review No. 53 Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity - 3DS (3+)

Strong Points:
Storyline is good, can be surprising
Variety of buildings
Great music
Nice graphics
Some new mechanics are good

Weak Point:
Not much to compel you to keep playing after completion
Paid DLC to complete Pokémon "friended"
Only 150 Pokémon
Old mechanics like hunger are missing in main dungeons
Easier than other three

No personality test to decide starter Pokémon

Only five starter Pokémon

Walkthrough No. 2 Animal Crossing New Leaf - 3DS (7+)

This walkthrough is a walkthrough in the loosest sense. As Animal Crossing isn't a game you can walk through (is it even a game?) so I suppose that this is more than a tips and tricks section more than anything. But in the interest of keeping the amount of different types of things we do to a relative minimum I'll call it a walkthrough.
Warning: spoilers, obviously.

Review No. 35 Super Mario 3D Land - 3DS (3+)

Strong Points:
Nice Graphics
Nice gameplay style
Good for beginners and experts
Good 3D
Lots of content
New powerups are fun
Addictive
Streetpass features are good
Invincibility Leaf is good for beginners

Weak Points:
Not enough powerups
Huge difficulty spikes on some levels
Gets repetitive
Bosses are too easy
The P-Wing makes the game to easy

Review No. 29 Luigi's Mansion 2 - 3DS (7+)

Strong points:

Funny, detailed characters who show their emotions really well

Very Detailed

Addictive, just one more level kind of game

Some 1/2 hour long levels mean you can fit the game in to a bus journey

Collecting the gems and ghosts is fun 

Looks amazing

Puzzles are inventive

The Poltergust 5000 is just brilliant

Boo fights are amazing and challenging

Weak Points:

Can get repetitive

Having to start at the beginning of the mansion each time you start a level means it takes ages to get to the part you need to get to

Ghost fights are easy and repetitive 

Controls are difficult to get used to 

Review No. 28 Fire Emblem Awakening - 3DS (12+)

Strong Points:

Lots of content

All of the characters have strong personalities

Lots of different weapons

Lots of battles

The maps are all different and present their own challenges

Great storyline

StreetPass and SpotPass capabilities are good along with lots of DLC

Side stories are good and so are the random Risen battles

No characters are completely useless or ultimately powerful

The support, marriage, child system is great and the pairing system is helpful and adds more strategy to the game

Permadeath makes you be more strategic

Graphics and music are really good

You can turn off permadeath for casual playthroughs

Weak points:

There is no ability to replay old levels

On some levels, you can just send a squad of some of your best people to complete the level

Most of the time you can ignore the weapon triangle and just hack at the opponents

Most of the opponents are the same and can get boring

If you lose a level, replaying it can be boring

Not enough video cut scenes

Update: All DLC has now come out for this game

Walkthrough No. 1 Mario Kart 7 - 3DS (7+)

Warning: These next paragraphs contain all the best tried and tested cheats for Mario Kart 7. So be warned.

Review No. 16 Kid Icarus Uprising - 3DS (12+)

Strong Points:
Brilliant Storyline
Lots of weapons
Humorous conversations
Good online modes
Good twists
Lots of cameos
Good vehicles
Amazing collectibles
Great music


Weak Points:
Controls are difficult to get used to
Can hurt wrists if you don't use the stand
Can sometimes get repetitive
Conversations can sometimes get repetitive

Review No. 9 Super Pokémon Rumble - 3DS (7+)

Strong Points:
Nice art style
Lots of Pokémon to collect
Lots of modes
Lots of levels
Lots of replayability

Weak Points:
Gets repetitive
Weak storyline
Short