Matthew Pollesel

Reviews By Matthew Pollesel

Mario Party: Island Tour Review (3DS)

By Matthew Pollesel () - 8.0 out of 10

Mario Party: Island Tour is the 13th game in the Mario Party series, and the first on the 3DS. For the most part, it's exactly as you'd expect a Mario Party game to be: you race other characters around a board, hoping to be the first one to reach the end. (Not surprisingly, luck plays a huge role.) Almost everything is redeemed, however, by the inclusion of Bowser's Tower, a solo mode that combines all the best aspects of the game into one fairly lengthy package. Read More.

Dragon's Crown Review (Vita)

By Matthew Pollesel () - 9.0 out of 10

Dragon's Crown is the first game that truly takes advantage of Cross-Save between PS3 and the Vita. It's a deep, immersive RPG that will have you playing for dozens of hours, but it mixes up its content enough that it never feels like a mindless, repetitive hack'n'slasher. Read More.

Soul Sacrifice Review (Vita)

By Matthew Pollesel () - 7.5 out of 10

Here's the unfortunate truth about Soul Sacrifice: for all of Sony's positioning of the game as the Vita's "big release" for Spring (and I mean that literally; it's the only Vita game getting a physical release between March 21st and June 21st), it's an extremely niche game. Not only that, while the niche it targets may be huge in Japan -- specifically, people love Monster Hunter-style grinding -- there's not exactly an abundance of evidence suggesting the genre is about to be embraced by North Americans gamers in any significant way.

Oh, and unfortunate truth number two: Soul Sacrifice probably isn't good enough to change any of that. Read More.

Scribblenauts Unlimited Review (Wii-U)

By Matthew Pollesel () - 8.5 out of 10

Let's be honest: there's no real reason for Scribblenauts Unlimited to be on the Wii U. It's not a graphical powerhouse. You don't need a TV screen to get the full effect of the game. For the most part, in style and substance, it's not that different from the previous iterations of the series that have appeared on the DS and on iOS devices. Read More.

Nintendo Land Review (Wii-U)

By Matthew Pollesel () - 6.5 out of 10

I didn't really enjoy Nintendo Land.

I've been trying to come up with some way of saying that more artfully for hours now, but the more I thought about it, the more troll-like my sentiments became. Ultimately, I figured that it would be best to just come right out and say it. So...there you go. Read More.

Rabbids Land Review (Wii-U)

By Matthew Pollesel () - 5.5 out of 10

Want to hear something shocking? Rabbids Land isn't that bad.

I mean, it's not particularly good, either. But for a franchise that's basically become a bunch of lazy minigame collections half-decent represents a major step forward. Read More.

WWE '13 Review (PS3)

By Matthew Pollesel () - 8.0 out of 10

This is going to sound a little odd, but here goes: as I play through WWE 13, the game that I'm most reminded of is NBA 2K12. Or NBA 2K11, take your pick. But bottom line, as I'm playing a wrestling game, I'm reminded of a basketball one. Read More.

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