I’ve been quite busy on various other things, and as such my rate of reviewing stuff has slowed to a tortoise-pace. Nonetheless, by stacking them all up into one post I can now surprise anyone reading this with a flurry of activity!

First, a Top Spin 3 review for Worthplaying. Executive summary: as good as a DS tennis game can get, but that’s not saying a huge deal.

Secondly: Castle Crashers for Worthplaying. A superb 4 player beat-em-up with a delightful cartoon art style.

Finally Viva Pinata: Pocket Paradise: An amazing conversion of a classic 360 game to a machine a fraction of its power. Thumbs up!

2 more reviews for your delectation, and I seem to have struck it lucky in terms of quality. Soul Bubbles is the kind of game that the DS has been missing since the Lite version wowed everyone with its curves. Original, delightful, charming and with a universal appeal, it’s the kind of game everyone should play.

Then there’s Unreal Tournament 3 - a game that should need no introduction. Despite being nearly a year behind the PC and Playstation versions, and appearing on a format that has more first person shooters than the Dragons’ Quest series has spin offs, it’s a brilliant addition to the catalogue which has seen me travel back to the carefree days of 2001 when the original first appeared.

Good times, good times. I didn’t know Worthplaying.com has an “Editor’s Choice” graphic until these two gems came along…

In a remarkably similar post to my last one, three of my reviews have gone up all at once!

As you’ll see in the del.icio.us tab, there are now reviews of Sea Life Safari, Wacky Wheels: Crash and Dash and Zoo Tycoon 2 DS.

Wacky Wheels in particular is an odd licence to revive… a 40 year old cartoon doesn’t seem to fit with the DS’ demographic, but maybe all those who’ve recovered their memory through Brain Training will bask in a new sense of nostalgia. Or they would, if the game were any good.

I’ve been a bit remiss about updating. Lots of stuff going on at the moment - that’s my excuse, and I’m sticking to it.

Anyway, as you’ll see from the del.icio.us tag in the bottom corner, 3 (count ‘em) 3 reviews have gone up since my last update. The oddly late Winning Eleven 2007 DS Review, the retro-tastic Aces of the Galaxy Review and the mediocre Big Beach Sports Review.

Busy, busy, busy. Especially as I have 3 promos in my flat that need attention at the moment…

A new review is up: Quake Wars: Enemy Territory. It’s not a bad game by any means, but it does show just how truly outstanding a shooter you need to be to make any kind of headway on the Xbox 360 these days. It’d be smarter for developers to target something with a little less competition on the format, surely?

It’s always nice to review games where you have (almost) unadultarated praise for them. It’s a really good sign when I’m still playing the games when my review pen has been put to one side, and both the latest I’ve given the once over stand up to this kind of scrutiny.

Grand Theft Auto 4 needs zero introduction, and it was quite an honour to review such a high profile title for the site. Suffice it to say, it really does not disappoint, and the multiplayer is a laugh a minute hilarity fest that me and my friends will continue to play long after the single player is forgotten. In many ways it’s a perfect imitation of the old top down games’ cult classic multiplayer… right down to the way running over someone is called a “gouranga kill”.

Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 on the Wii was a less expected treat, but brilliant in its own understated way. It’s fair to say that I haven’t been this impressed with a sports game in quite some time, and the wiimote controls are the most revolutionary thing to happen to virtual football since the transition to 3d.

Good times all round, then.

I’m not dead - I’m not even comatose, and according to Wii Fit I shouldn’t be pushing daisies any time soon either. It’s a bit hard to judge its long term worth when you’re spending a week reviewing it, but I’m confident it can guilt people into losing pounds by the feel of disappointment you get from the cutesy balance board.

Elsewhere, I also reviewed Tokyo Police Club’s debut album and was rather impressed. When the album’s right, it is absolutely spot on and leaves you missing the songs when they’re not blasting out of speakers - which is quite often given the band’s seemingly psychological evasion of anything longer than 180 seconds.

My review of the 360 version of Football Manager 2008 is up. As enjoyable as ever, once you get past the idiosyncrasies of the control scheme…

With Pokemon increasingly niche, it surprises me that there’s enough room for a clone on the DS system, but having spent the last couple of weeks reviewing Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker, I think I’m closer to understanding what the fuss is about. The Pokemon series (with the exception of Snap - a favourite of my girlfriend) has always left me cold, but this “I can’t believe it’s not Pokemon” title is charming, graphically rich and compelling.

Bravo Square Enix!

Like buses, after a spell spent missing out on games promos, a few to review turn up at once. This one, I was particularly excited about, being a massive Phoenix Wright fanboy.

For whatever reason though, this one left me a little cold. Still enjoyable, but missing that special something… maybe I’m just getting tired of the series.

This blog post is notable for being the first to be written on my dinky new ASUS eee PC. The tiny keyboard’s going to take a lot of getting used to, but I forgive it for being generally beautiful.