We take a look back at how Super Smash Bros. has fared in our family, in particular what our increasing collection of amiibo are doing to the game.

We look at all the different versions of Nintendo 3DS handhelds you can buy and consider which may be the best fit for you.
We also check out the NFC peripheral for existing 3DS owners as well as cover plates.

Luigi’s Mansion Dark Moon parent’s guide.

1. Genre

Luigi’s Mansion Dark Moon is an exploration and puzzle game. Through a series of missions, you control Luigi, who is equipped with the Poltergust 5000, a specialised vacuum cleaner used to capture ghosts.

Through beautifully drawn 3D rooms and chambers players guide Luigi and push, pull and open furniture to find ghosts, money and the hidden gems. The vacuum adds further interactions both to capture ghosts as well as reveal hidden objects.

The main mode has you retrieving pieces of the shattered Dark Moon by seeking them out in the five haunted mansions locations.

There is a cooperative multiplayer mode that can be played locally or online via Nintendo Network. This offers a download play option so multiple people can play with one copy of the game.

2. Story

King Boo has escaped and shattered the Dark Moon crystal causing the ghosts to become hostile. Professor E Gadd, sheltering in a bunker, recruits Luigi to find the five pieces of the Dark Moon, which have been scattered to different mansions.

3. Developer

Luigi’s Mansion Dark Moon was developed by Next Level Games and published by Nintendo.

4. Format

Luigi’s Mansion Dark Moon retailed at £39.99, but can now be found at a reduced price.

5. Duration and Difficulty

Luigi’s Mansion Dark Moon is a substantial game on the handheld, feeling more like a console title in both game-play and duration. It should take around 20 hours to finish the main campaign while the multi-player will extend play-time considerably as will collecting every hidden object.

6. UK Rating

In the UK and Europe, PEGI rates Luigi’s Mansion Dark Moon as suitable for persons aged 7 years and over only. It contains pictures or sounds likely to be scary to young children

7. Other Ratings

In the US, the ESRB rates Luigi’s Mansion Dark Moon as suitable for those 10 and over. “Players can fire seeds at plant creatures, set off “cartoony” explosions, and shoot spiked balls at enemies; characters whoop or squeal in a whimsical manner when they take damage. One sequence depicts a large monster that emits flatulent sounds and balls of slime at Luigi.

8. Themes

Luigi’s Mansion Dark Moon plays to its horror theme well without becoming overly dark. There are creepy overtones throughout but this is more a Sunday matinee style scares than anything physiologically disturbing.

9. Why people play:
Luigi’s Mansion Dark Moon is a superbly produced handheld game that easily matches many full console experiences. Not only is the central mechanic well implemented, it also develops intelligently as the game progresses.

Small touches like the flash of Luigi’s torch, the original DS styled communicated, and even Luigi’s nervous whistling while he creeps around the hunted mansions give the game a sense of finesse. Each level is like a fresh world in miniature to explore and conquer. The amount of hidden content will have players returning to completed locations time and time again.

For both younger players, adventure game fans or played together in a family Luigi’s Mansion is like peering into a beautifully sculpted diorama and discovering you can walk around in it.

We take a look at what the New 3DS has to offer families as well as list the five games that we’ve got the most out of recently.

We look at:
– Mario Kart 7
– Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire and X/Y
– Animal Crossing New Leaf
– Tomodachi Life
– Super Smash Bros.

Here’s an updated build of Terraria on the 3DS with new features and enhanced interactions. Since playing at Gamescom this has certainly come on some with the experience feeling snappier and sharper than ever.

In particular I enjoyed the zoomed in create and crafting using the zoomed in lower screen. This not only frees up the other screen but offers much more accuracy.

Full unboxing of the New Nintendo 3DS Happy Home Designer Special Edition pack. We look at what’s in the pack, open some amiibo cards as well as the NFC reader for original 3DS and 3DS XL.

The faceplates in the Limited Edition are not available separately although there are some other Crossing Faceplates available.

We have a chance to talk to Josh Taub, director of Skylanders at Activision. He talks about the 4 year journey of the Skylanders franchise and we get to ask some pressing question:
– Value for money this year in Skylanders Superchargers?
– Digital owners portal pack?
– Backwards compatibility of Portal?
– Support for Wii game?

“The Wii is an important part of our fan base. Rest assured it’s going to be a great gaming experience. We think there is a very active install base on the Wii and 3DS who deserve great content. On Skylanders they have been our biggest fans over the years. We want to be able to be where our fans are and we think it’s important to develop on that platform as long as we can for them.”

“The category we’ve created is about 4 billion dollars, retail space hasn’t been an issue. Our retailers understand the need for shelf space. We do things with each retail partner in different ways. Toys R Us has been a great partner in terms of the largest toy store but we also have had great relationships with other retailers across the country.”

This week we have sight of the packaging and official name for the Wii and 3DS game, Skylanders Superchargers Racing. With a vehicle theme already present in the main game it’s not a huge stretch to imagine a Mario Kart style experience that uses the different Skylanders rides in a battling raceway.

The question is how the game will combine the three classes of air, land and water. Will there be separate races for each type or will they be able to race against each other? Also how will the driver-car combos work out in a racing scenario?

However it breaks down Skylanders Superchargers Racing looks like it will take the kart customisation of Mario to the next level with an impressive array of mods already shown for the Wii U game. This enables players to apply modifications to the vehicles in the main game before bringing them to the Wii or 3DS where, presumably, these mods would be supported.