Reviews
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow Review: Dracula’s Castle, Year 2035
Every monster’s soul is a weapon in the finest Castlevania on any handheld — Aria of Sorrow pairs the series’ boldest story with its most flexible ability system.
Author: Sal Benedetto
From the Vault columnist. Grew up feeding quarters to the Ms. Pac-Man machine at his uncle's pizza place; still owns his childhood SNES and every Nintendo Power he ever begged his mother for. Writes the retrospectives and the hidden-gem hunts.
Reviews
Advance Wars Review: Pocket-Sized Strategy Perfection
Intelligent Systems turned turn-based war into a colourful, compulsive masterpiece — Advance Wars remains the standard against which handheld strategy is judged.
Reviews
Golden Sun Review: The Little Handheld’s Epic RPG
Camelot’s 2001 landmark gave the GBA a world-spanning JRPG with Psynergy puzzles, a shape-shifting Djinn class system and presentation that punched through the handheld ceiling.
Reviews
Metroid Fusion Review: The Hunter Becomes the Hunted
Samus infected, her suit cut away, and something wearing her old armour stalking the station — Metroid Fusion is the GBA’s defining action-adventure and its most frightening Metroid.
Features
GameCube Hidden Gems: 10 Underrated Classics Worth Hunting Down
Beyond Mario and Zelda lies the GameCube’s second shelf: Chibi-Robo, Cubivore, Killer7, Ikaruga and six more genuine classics the best-seller lists forgot.
Reviews
Tales of Symphonia Review: The GameCube JRPG at Its Silkiest
Two worlds, two discs, sixty hours and battles at 60fps that later versions surrendered: Symphonia is the GameCube’s essential JRPG, best played in its original form.
Reviews
Star Wars Rogue Leader Review: The Launch Showpiece That Still Flies
Factor 5 put the Death Star trench run on a launch console in 2001 and nobody has bettered its medal-chasing Star Wars flight since. Rogue Leader, reviewed.
Reviews
Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem Review: The Horror Game That Plays You Back
Two thousand years of doomed heroes and a sanity system that attacks the player directly: Silicon Knights’ literary horror epic remains the GameCube’s great cult classic.
Reviews
Luigi’s Mansion Review: A Miniature Haunted Masterpiece
No Mario platformer launched the GameCube — a frightened brother and a vacuum cleaner did. Luigi’s Mansion is brief, atmospheric and quietly perfect.
Reviews
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door Review: Nintendo’s Funniest RPG
Wrestling federations, a train murder mystery and battles performed for a live audience: the 2004 GameCube original of Nintendo’s wittiest, warmest RPG, reviewed.